NCERT Solutions for Class 12: Ch 7 Security in the Contemporary World Political Science
1. Match the terms with their meaning:| i. Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) | (a) Giving up certain types of weapons. |
| ii. Arms Control | (b) A process of exchanging information on defence matters between nations on a regular basis. |
| iii. Alliance | (c) A coalition of nations meant to deter or defend against military attacks. |
| iv. Disarmament | (d) Regulates the acquisition of development of weapons. |
Answer
| i. Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) | (b) A process of exchanging information on defence matters between nations on a regular basis. |
| ii. Arms Control | (d) Regulates the acquisition of development of weapons. |
| iii. Alliance | (c) A coalition of nations meant to deter or defend against military attacks. |
| iv. Disarmament | (a) Giving up certain types of weapons. |
2. Which among the following would you consider as a traditional security concern/non-traditional/not a threat?
(a) The spread of chikungunya/dengue fever.
► Non-traditional
(b) Inflow of workers from a neighbouring nation.
► Non-traditional
(c) Emergence of a group demanding nationhood for their region.
► Traditional
(d) Emergence of a group demanding autonomy for their region.
► Not a threat
(e) A newspaper that is critical of the armed-forces in the country.
► Not a threat
3. What is the difference between traditional and non-traditional security? Which category would the creation and sustenance of alliances belong to?
Answer
Traditional Security:
• The traditional notion of security is also concerned with military threats, balance of power and alliance building.
• It is also concerned with internal security.
• In traditional security, there is recognition that co-operation in limiting violence is possible.
• Its main focus is on force only to achieve the target.
• Non-traditional notions of security go beyond military threats to include a wide range of threats and dangers affecting the conditions of human existence.
• It is about the protection of people more than the protection of states.
• It consists of dangers such as terrorism, human rights, global poverty and health epidemics.
• It comprises cooperation, hence it protects human or global security.
Creation and sustenance of alliances belong to traditional notion of security.
4. What are the differences in the threats that people in the third world face and those living in the First World face?
Answer
The security challenges facing the newly-independent third world countries and the first world in many ways:
• The newly independent countries faced the military conflicts even with their neighbouring states.
• These countries faced threats not only from outside their borders, mostly from neighbours, but also from within.
• Internally, new states worried about threats from separatist movements which wanted to form independent countries.
• Sometimes, the external and internal threats merged.
• hence for the new states, external wars with neighbours and internal wars posed a serious challenge to their security.
5. Is terrorism a traditional or non- traditional threat to security?
Answer
Terrorism is a non-traditional threat to wound the peace and order in the country:
• Terrorism refers to political violence that targets civilians deliberately and indiscriminately.
• Terrorist groups seek to change a political context or condition that they do not like by force or threat of force.
• Civilian targets are usually chosen to terrorise the public and to use the unhappiness of the public as a weapon against national governments or other parties in conflict.
• It involves cases such as hijacking planes or planting bombs in trains, cafes, markets and other crowded places.
• After a terrorist attack on World Trade Centre on 11 September 2001, the other governments and public also are paying more attention to terrorism.
6. What are the choices available to a state when its security is threatened, according to traditional security perspective?
Answer
As per traditional security perspective, in responding to the threat of war, a government has three basic choices:
• To surrender when actually confronted by war, but they will not advertise this as the policy of country.
• To prevent the other side from attacking by promising to raise the costs of war to an unacceptable level.
• To defend to protect itself when war actually breaks out so as to deny the attacking country its objectives and to turn back or to defeat the attacking forces altogether
Hence, state’s security policy is to prevent war which is called deterrence and with limiting or heading war called defence.
7. What is Balance of Power? How could a state achieve this?
Answer
'Balance of Power’ is a balance between bigger and smaller countries by cooperating with each other economically and technologically. A smaller country is always suspicious to break out a war from bigger or powerful country. Hence, they maintain a balance of power to build up one’s military power together with economic and technological power-to protect one’s own security.
8. What are the objectives of military alliances? Give an example of a functioning military alliance with its specific objectives.
Answer
Military alliance also called 'Alliance Building' is an important component of traditional security
policy.An alliance is a coalition of states that coordinate their actions to deter or defend against military attack.
Objectives:
• Most alliances are formalised in written treaties and are based on a fairly clear identification of who constitutes the threat.
• Countries form alliances to increase their effective power relative to another country or alliance.
• Alliances are based on national interests and can change when national interests change.
Example: The US backed the Islamic militants in Afghanistan against the Soviet Union in 1980s, but later attacked them when Al-Qaeda, a group of Islamic militants, led by Osama Bin Laden launched terrorist strikes against America on 11th September 2001.
9. Rapid environmental degradation is causing a serious threat to security. Do you agree with the statement? Substantiate your arguments.
Answer
Yes, we do agree with the statement because in some situations one country may have to disproportionately bear the brunt of a global problem i.e. environmental degradation causing a serious threat to security, for example, due to global warming, a sea level rise of 1.5-2.0 meters would flood 20% of Bangladesh, inundate most of Maldives and threaten nearly half the population of Thailand, Hence, international cooperation is vital due to global nature of these problems.
10. Nuclear weapons as deterrence or defence have limited usage against contemporary security threats to states. Explain the statement.
Answer
Nuclear weapons have limited usage due to arms-control method of cooperation. One of the arms-control treaty was the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) of 1968 to regulate the acquisition of nuclear weapons. As per this treaty those countries that had fasted and manufactured nuclear weapons before 1967 were allowed to keep their weapons and those that had not done so were to give up the right to acquire them. The NPT did not abolish nuclear weapons rather it limited the number of countries that could have them.
11. Looking at the Indian scenario, what type of security has been given priority in India, traditional or non-traditional? What examples could you cite to substantiate the arguments?
Answer
India has faced traditional (military) and non-traditional threats to its security that have emerged from within as well as outside its borders. Its security strategy has four broad components:
• To strengthen its military capabilities because:
(a) India has been involved in conflict with its neighbours as Pakistan in 1947-48,1965,1971 and 1999 and China in 1962.
(b) In South Asian Region, India is surrounded by nuclear armed countries. Thus, India’s decision to
conduct nuclear tests in 1998 was justified by the Indian government in terms of safeguarding national security. India first tested a nuclear device in 1974.
• To strengthen international norms and international institutions:
(a) India’s first Prime Minister J.L. Nehru supported Asian solidarity, disarmament, decolonisation and the UN as a forum to settle down international conflict.
(b) India took initiatives to bring about a universal and non- discriminatory non-proliferation regime to enjoy some rights and obligations with respect to weapons of mass destruction.
(c) It used non-alignment to help to carve out an area of peace outside the blocs.
(d) India signed Kyoto Protocol in 1997 to be a part of roadmap for reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases to check global warming.
• To meet security challenges within the country:
(a) Several militant groups from areas such as Nagaland, Mizoram, Punjab, Kashmir have sought to break away from India.
(b) India makes efforts to preserve national unity by adopting a democratic political system by providing freedom of speech and expression alongwith the right to vote.
• To develop its economy:
(a) India develops the way to lift vast mass of citizens out of poverty, misery and huge economic inequalities.
(b) A democratically elected government is supposed to combine economic growth with human development without any demarcation between the rich and the poor.
12. Read the cartoon below and write a short note in favour or against the connection between war and terrorism depicted in this cartoon.
Answer
In this cartoon the relation between war and terrorism has been drawn. It is showing that war is feeding terrorism. It is almost true to identify war with terror as both are counter productive. Terrorist targets civilians deliberately and indiscriminately. Civilian targets are chosen to terrorise the public and to use the unhappiness of the public as a weapon against national governments or other parties in conflict.