Contemporary security challenges

Security challenges in a modern world are definitely different than in history. There is no person who can say that traditional security challenges (like wars and armed conflicts) does not exist, but still, contemporary security challenges that effect most of the globe are much more diverse than before. Terrorism and transnational organized crime are the most visible threats but beside that, we have others, whose influence on the security we cannot exclude.

Climate change, poverty, media, social networks, politics, religion, health care, and many other issues. Humanity is now, more than ever, in danger and constant fear of, pollution, climate changes, overpopulation, nuclear catastrophe, etc. In that manner, we can say that every serious and responsible government have to take seriously these challenges.

Many countries, of course, in their National Security Strategy have to take seriously threats of armed conflict in any form, but if not involved in armed conflict at the time, they have to have strategies developed for different security issues depending on threats. Many security threats for countries are reliant on the region where the state is but also on the economic development, politic establishment, religion, cultural norms…

If we are talking about security challenges that are reliant on the region we can talk about many threats. We can divide those threats on natural, societal and criminal threats.

Natural threats

Natural threats are issues that are as old as the humanity, but at some point, we can see those threats as contemporary threats. How? Well, if we listen to the most of worlds scientists, we can say that in XX and XXI century, we are witnessing dangerous global warming. Constant melting of an old glaciers and snow and ice inside North and South pole are causing different species to move and their natural habitat is getting smaller. Pollution is also something that is caused by humans neglecting the nature. Pollution is causing harm on micro and macro level.

Intoxicating the air and water and that’s creating problems on the local level but the global pollution is the bigger issue, causing the „green house effect“ and global warming. If we don’t want to go deeper and to stop with problems that are caused by humans it would still be enough to take this world to the disaster. But unfortunately, that is not the end. Massive illegal hunting and fishing, illegal logging, that are done with intention or forest fires caused not by intention but by neglecting the nature are also very big issues for countries to deal with. In next articles on this website, we will write about many of this challenges connected to pollution and climate change.

Societal threats

Societal threats are the next challenges. Traditional national security threats were always connected to security of the borders and territorial integrity. In the modern thinking, big part of the national security is societal security. This security is associated with every part of the social life of the citizens like the economy, religion, ethnicity, education, sports, politics, health care and every other aspect of living that citizens are feeling unsecured without. Security is not based only in the perspective of the state and people that lead the state.

The feeling of security, lacking of threats that are pointed on the citizens and their feeling and opinion weather they are safe or not. The security is a matter of perspective. It is not on the state to tell people that they are safe but to give the people every reason not to feel insecure. In this threats we can place problems between ethnic and religious groups, freedom of media, political situation, health care system, social media, educational system…

Criminal threats

Criminal threats some wouldn’t associate with region and in some way, they would be right. However, from the second half of the XX century, developing of Transnational Organized Crime has a big influence on the national and global security and if we look criminal threats through the prism of the globalization it is very close connected to the regions.Counterfeit goods are coming mostly from central Asia, cocaine from South America, heroin from Southwest Asia (Afghanistan) etc. Like other security challenges, this threats will also be worked on in future articles on this website, for this is what this project is developed for. Why the Organized Crime is developing that fast? One of the reasons is economic revolution in the second part of the XX century. Production and distributing all kind of goods are increasing enormously and in the same direction illicit products and market are going.

As we can see, there are many security challenges that are different than traditional threats. Although we have examples where some countries have these kind of threats on their doorsteps, we can say that most of the countries have to deal with other issues that involves contemporary security challenges. All this challenges and influence on certain countries we will try to explain and also we will strive to give answers to this threats. That is our goal.