National security

National security and home front

For an independent and sovereign country, there cannot be anything more important than national security. Security, both internal and external, is a sine qua non for a people to lead their lives in peaceful, orderly, economically prosperous, and dignified conditions enabling their genius to flower and their potential to develop to its maximum. Insecurity, on the other hand, can endanger the very existence of a country through loss of independence and internal chaos and disintegration. A nation beset with external threats and armed conflicts, and mired in internal disharmony can hardly hope to prosper or even survive.

The foremost task of the national leadership, therefore, is to safeguard a country’s security defined in a comprehensive manner covering its political, economic, diplomatic and military dimensions. External security undoubtedly requires as its centerpiece military means—-armed forces and armaments—-to deter and, if the deterrent fails, to defend the country against external aggression. However, because of the changed nature of warfare in modern times, defense against external aggression requires not just military means but also the support of economic and technological strength. Therefore, emerging powers have generally built up their military power on the foundation of a strong economic and technological base rather than the other way around, particularly in the modern era starting with the industrial revolution.