Gefira #39: Ring out the old, ring in the new

Description

Security is almost synonymous with independence or freedom. One cannot be independent or free if one is stripped of the right or capability to control one’s destiny. What does it mean to be in control of one’s destiny? It means to be able to persist in existence, preserve heritage, take sovereign decisions, freely dispose of material and human resources, pursue desired policies in an attempt to achieve specific targets. None of these is given once and for all: a nation is always under the threat of being deprived of its sovereignty, of it independence – in a word: of its security. Security is generally viewed as the ability to defend one’s interests in a military way. Such a view is admittedly legitimate but security can also be compromised or undermined by a myriad of other actions pertaining to economy, international politics or the noosphere. The problem of ensuring security must be based on the assumption that (1) the world is divided into a number of entities and that (2) the interests of these entities are on a collision course. The latter may result from someone’s ill will (a proverbial creepy dictator having a desire of military conquest) or from the very nature of things: nations, businesses, groups – just like individuals – compete.