Since World War I, regional and international security systems have significantly evolved. After WWI, nations moved away from a balance of power system, instead establishing the League of Nations to pursue collective security. However, the League failed due to lack of enforcement power, the absence of key nations (like the USA), and open defiance from others, ultimately leading to World War II.
Following WWII, the United Nations was created to improve collective security, but it has faced challenges due to dependence on a few powerful Security Council members and lack of broad representation. During the Cold War, security policy was dominated by military competition between the Western and Eastern blocs, focusing on avoiding direct confrontation but largely ignoring local causes of conflict.
After the Cold War, the concept of security broadened beyond military concerns to address complex, multidimensional threats. Conflicts shifted from interstate wars to intrastate violence, often fueled by the collapse of multi-ethnic states (like Yugoslavia and the USSR) and weak political systems in Africa.
Regional organizations, originally economic in focus, began taking on security roles, such as peacekeeping and promoting human rights. New regional security bodies also emerged, like ASEAN’s Regional Forum. Globalization increased interdependence, making it harder for any one country to address security risks alone and shifting the nature of conflict toward low-intensity, ethnic, and civil wars.
The concept of human security has further changed the understanding of security, emphasizing people-centered and non-military threats like poverty and underdevelopment, and questioning the state’s role as the sole security provider.
In summary, international and regional security have evolved from a state-centric, military-focused system to a more complex, multidimensional approach, heavily influenced by globalization and the rise of human security concerns. Military power is no longer the primary tool in addressing security challenges.
Summary of the article I wrote in 2016 For details:
