Security in the Contemporary World

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms, concepts, treaties, and definitions from Chapter 5: Security in the Contemporary World.

Security

Freedom from threats, specifically relating to extremely dangerous threats that endanger core values such that those values would be damaged beyond repair if not addressed.

Deterrence

A component of traditional security policy concerned with preventing war by promising to raise the costs of war to an unacceptable level.

Defence

A component of traditional security policy concerned with limiting or ending war when it actually breaks out.

Balance of Power

A traditional security policy component where governments build military, economic, and technological strength to maintain a favorable power relation relative to other countries.

Alliance

A coalition of states that coordinate their actions to deter or defend against military attack, usually formalized in written treaties.

Biological Weapons Convention (BWC)

A 1972 convention banning the production and possession of biological weapons, acceded to by more than 155 states.

Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC)

A 1997 convention banning the production and possession of chemical weapons, acceded to by 193 states.

Anti-ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty

A 1972 treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union aimed at stopping the use of ballistic missiles as a defensive shield to launch nuclear attacks.

Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)

A 1968 arms control treaty regulating nuclear weapons acquisition by allowing countries that tested and manufactured nuclear weapons before 1967 to keep them, while prohibiting others from acquiring them.

Confidence Building

A traditional security process in which countries share information about military intentions and plans with rivals to prevent war caused by misunderstanding or misperception.

Human Security

A non-traditional security conception focused on protecting individuals and communities from threats to their existence, health, dignity, and safety, rather than protecting only the state.

Global Security

A concept emerging in the 1990s in response to widespread threats such as global warming, international terrorism, and health epidemics that require international cooperation.

Terrorism

Political violence targeting civilians deliberately and indiscriminately to terrorize the public and pressure governments or conflicting parties.

Migrants

People who voluntarily leave their home countries to seek better economic opportunities.

Refugees

People who flee across international borders due to war, natural disaster, or political persecution.

Internally Displaced People

Individuals or communities forced to flee their homes who remain within their national borders, such as Kashmiri Pandits in the early 1990s.

Cooperative Security

An approach to non-traditional threats that relies on international, regional, or sub-national cooperation among states, non-governmental organizations, international bodies, and businesses rather than military confrontation.

Kyoto Protocol

A 1997 international agreement signed and ratified by 160 countries, including India, which sets a roadmap for reducing greenhouse gas emissions to combat global warming.