NCERT Solutions For Class 12 Political Science Chapter 5 - Security In Contemporary World
77. Match the terms with their meaning:
| 1. Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) | (a) Giving up certain types of weapons. |
| 2. Arms Control | (b) A process of exchanging information on defence matters between nations on a regular basis. |
| 3. Alliance | (c) A coalition of nations meant to deter or defend against military attacks. |
| 4. Disarmament | (d) Regulates the acquisition of development of weapons. |
Ans.
| 1. Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) | (b) A process of exchanging information on defence matters between nations on a regular basis. |
| 2. Arms Control | (d) Regulates the acquisition of development of weapons. |
| 3. Alliance | (c) A coalition of nations meant to deter or defend against military attacks. |
| 4. Disarmament | (a) Giving up certain types of weapons. |
78. Which among the following would you consider as a traditional security concern/nontraditional/ not a threat?
79. What is the difference between traditional and non-traditional security? Which category would the creation and sustenance of alliances belong to?
OR
Differentiate between the traditional and nontraditional nations of security.
| Traditional Security | Non-Traditional Security |
| It goes beyond military threats and include threats that endanger human existence. |
| It is concerned with threats that endanger the human than state. |
| Military is used as a last resort in this type of security. |
| Its concept threat is general environment. |
Creation and sustenance of alliances belong to traditional notion of security.
80. What are the differences in the threats that people in the Third World face and those living in the First World face?
Ans. The security threats and challenges faced by the people of the Third World were different from the ones living in the First World.
These are as follows :
- The nature of security threats was different in the Cold War era as the European countries divided themselves from the military alliances of the two superpowers. They were threatened of this Cold War actually escalating into a hot war.
- Many European countries also got worried about the violence in their colonies from colonised people who wanted independence, and that might have affected the European countries.
- For the newly independent countries, i.e. the Third World countries, the nature of security threat was different. They were threatened of being attacked by the former colonial rulers or of becoming targets of the Imperial War, since most of the Cold War related wars were fought in the Third World.
- The Third World countries were also threatened of being attacked by their neighbouring countries.
- They were also threatened by the rising aspirations of the people, culminating into secessionist movements and the demand for a separate statehood or greater autonomy. This type of threat was more challenging as they had to prevent the balkanisation of the country and retain its unity.
- The ethnic tensions and conflict served as a major threat to the newly independent nations. They also feared the separatist group being instigated and supported by the neighbouring countries leading to instability and strife.
Thus, they faced both internal and external challenges on their security.
81. Is terrorism a traditional or non- traditional threat to security?
Ans. 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.
- International terrorism involves the citizens or territory of more than one country.
- 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.
- The classic cases of terrorism involve hijacking planes or planting bombs in trains, cafes, markets and other crowded places.
- Since 11 September 2001 when terrorists attacked the World Trade Centre in America, other governments and public have paid more attention to terrorism, though terrorism itself is not new.
- In the past, most of the terror attacks have occurred in the Middle East, Europe, Latin America and South Asia.
82. What are the choices available to a state when its security is threatened, according to traditional security perspective?
Ans. Traditional security perspective emphasises on compromises to limit the violence by giving following three choices to the state if its security is threatened:
- 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.
83. What is Balance of Power? How could a state achieve this?
Ans. ‘Balance of Power’ is equalisation of power 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. It can be concluded that this could be achieved by building alliances.
84. What are the objectives of military alliances? Give an example of a functioning military alliance with its specific objectives.
Ans. The main objectives behind forming military alliances are:
- It is a part of traditional security to threats to deal between states and nations to deter or defend against military attacks.
- A country may enter into alliance or realliance depending on its national security interests.
- It is formalised in written treaties and identification of who constitutes the threats.
- Since it is based on the notion of collective security, where an attack on one is considered to be an attack on all the members of the alliance. So, it increases their effective power relative to another alliance.
- Alliances are based on national interests and can change when national interests change.
Example: India made an alliance in Sri Lanka.
85. Rapid environmental degradation is causing a serious threat to security. Do you agree with the statement? Substantiate your arguments.
Ans. Yes, we 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.
86. Nuclear weapons as deterrence or defence have limited usage against contemporary security threats to states. Explain the statement.
Ans. 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.
87. 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?
Ans. India has faced traditional (military) and nontraditional threats to its security that have emerged from within as well as outside its borders. Its security strategy has four broad components i.e. :
To strengthen its military capabilities:
- India has been involved in conflict with its neighbours as Pakistan in 1947-48, 1965, 1971 and 1999 and China in 1962.
- In South Asian region, India is surrounded by nuclear armed countries. Hence, India’s decision to conduct nuclear test in 1998 was justified to safeguard national security.
- India first tested nuclear device in 1974.
To strengthen international norms and international institutions:
- India’s first Prime Minister J.L. Nehru supported Asian solidarity, disarmament, decolonisation and the UN as a forum to settle down international conflicts.
- India took initiatives to bring about a universal and non-discriminatory nonproliferation regime to enjoy some rights and obligations with respect to weapons of
mass destruction. - It used non-alignment to help to carve out an area of peace outside the blocs.
- India signed the 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:
- Several militant groups from areas such as Nagaland, Mizoram, Punjab and Kashmir have sought to break away from India.
- India makes efforts to preserve national unity by adopting a democratic political system by providing freedom of speech and expression along with the right to vote.
To develop its economy:
- India develops the way to lift vast mass of citizens out of poverty, misery and huge economic inequalities.
- A democratically elected government is supposed to combine economic growth with human development without any demarcation between the rich and the poor.
88. Read the cartoon below and write a short note in favour or against the connection between war and terrorism depicted in this cartoon.
Ans. Terrorism is non-traditional threat to security as it is goal oriented political.
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