Commodore Sujeet Samaddar, NM (Retd)
Non traditional security threats arise from non-military sources. These do not impinge on territorial sovereignty or political autonomy of the state but impair subsistence, impact livelihoods and disrupt social order of its citizens. Such threats broadly arise from disputes over water; energy; food; engineered societal unrests leading to extremism & terrorism; agriculture and habitats; and trade barriers, sanctions to access technology, markets, materials and minerals necessary for national development and growth.
They create political instability, impair people’s wellbeing and increase the likelihood of intra-state conflict. These threats and challenges are not mitigated by the armed forces though an increase in tensions heighten the risk, or increase the severity, of traditional security threats which may arise from human migration or smuggling of contraband.
Many of these security threats arise from faulty economic environment and public policies within the state and sometimes between states. Such threats usually also become transnational – particularly through the dark web and cyberspace. This transnational scope of non-traditional security issues necessarily demands a coordinated international response, as unilateral action from one state often will not suffice to quell the threat if no action is taken by other states – particularly for climate which impacts water, food and energy security. Nations sometimes fail to recognize clearly where the national interest rests and where transnational concerns must dominate for the benefit of the whole of mankind. This requires a highly nuanced and delicate approach to resolution of conflicts and disputes that arise from non-traditional threats to security. Chapter VI and VII of the UN Charter which mandate to preserve international peace and security has rarely been, if ever, resorted to mitigate conflicts and disputes that arise from non-traditional security threats that impact mankind.
Connectivity, in this conyext is a double edged sword. Non-Traditional Threats are facilitated by connectivity – through Access, Dark web commerce, dependencies on external energy. water and food, pollution, emissions and work force migration that alters demography. It is also mitigated by connectivity – through better Awareness – ISR & Response, data driven decisions, alternate markets and new opportunities and just transitions to a sustainable world – both local and global.
Against this background, the mitigation of non-traditional threats through the use of armed force is ineffective, ineffecient and uneconomic – net-net ‘unproductive’. Alternate mechanisms and structures are needed. A root cause analysis and a serious deep dive into the core of the core issues that create non-traditional security threats and its relationship with connectivity and commerce is now necessary in this new Anthropocene epoch. The International Conference PURVODAYA: REFLECTIONS ON REGIONAL CONNECTIVTY by #theenergyforum in partnership with #cii #ministryofexternalaffairs was a timely discussion.