National, Local, Human, and Environmental Security
National security is an important concept which has often been mistakenly used to refer to protection against external threats. With people gaining better knowledge of the term security, national security has become a complex term that involves human as well as environmental security. For a nation to feel completely secure, it should not only be protected against external threats and aggression but also against internal problems that might make its citizens feel less safe. National security also includes local or internal security which is often defined separately as if it was not a part of the broader term. We must understand that if a person feel threatened in his own country due to any reason such as racism, religious persecution or environmental problems, then he cannot consider his country secure for himself. Local insecurity leads to national disturbance which might make a country and its people feel vulnerable. For many people, national security refers to "the capacity of a nation to protect itself from external invasions and internal coups. National safety often means different things to developed and developing countries. Since developed countries possess a tremendous amount of resources, they are able to invest in mi
But there are some trade-offs involved when security becomes an important concern. We need to understand that among environmental, human and national security issues, governments often need to set priorities. They need to prioritize these issues according to their seriousness, urgency and effects. Most often it is the national security precisely referring to external threats that take precedence over human or environmental security. For example in recent past, we saw how homeland security became a burning issue and how government began targeting Muslims and people from certain countries residing in the US. This was done primarily to ensure maximum security and to protect that country against terrorist attacks, but it did hurt the rights of many Muslim US citizens who felt threatened in their own country. Their lives and properties were subjected to governmental surveillance and this violated their civil rights. However it had to be done because this trade-off was in the best interest of a large majority. We must understand that no matter how much we desire national, human and environmental securities to work together and to enhance each other; it is not always possible. This is when we
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Approximate Word count = 803
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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