India has arrived on the global stage, celebrated for its fastest-growing economy, educated professional class, urban-based prosperity, and Bollywood-fueled cultural influence abroad. However, while some parts of the country bask in newfound affluence, others continue to toil in abject poverty. This other side of India is also plagued by violence and unrest, which increasingly targets the government. Although there is some disagreement over whether it is possible to categorize security threats as internal versus external, it is undeniable that the country faces numerous security challenges. Therefore, this essay will analyze various security challenges of India and argue that India's security challenges are primarily internal. The first part of the paper will define "internal" and "external" security challenges. The second part will present the domestic and foreign security challenges of India. Finally, the third part of the paper will argue that internal challenges are more significant than external challenges. Etymologically, security implies the absence of real or perceived threats, whether originating from internal turmoil, external sources, or incumbent economic disparities and inequalities. Over the past two decades, the understanding and definition of security threats have undergone a two-fold transformation. Firstly, the evolution of the international security environment has led to a diversification and decentralization of security threats, transcending state borders and actors, and spreading across political, economic, social, and environmental dimensions. Secondly, as a consequence, a major reprioritization of security threats followed, making non-traditional "hybrid" threats more conspicuous. In this essay, "internal security" represents the nation-state's capacity to secure its sovereign power, government, defined territory, and permanent population from all domestic threats.
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Long debates outlined two confronting approaches, of traditionalists and wideners, first adherents of the realist school of thought, define security as a freedom from any objective military threat and security studies is defined, for example, by Stephen Walt as “the studies of the threat, use, and control of military force”. Tradi...
Wars and conflicts between India and Pakistan. (n.d.). Princeton University. Retrieved February 10, 2014, from http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Wars_and_conflicts_between_India_and_Pakistan.html
I am pursuing a Master’s in International Affairs through American University’s Global Governance, Politics, and Security Program. My emphasis is on security risks that arise from great powers and non-state actors in the international system. To these ends, I have taken courses on great power politics, countering terrorism, insurgency/counterinsurgency, and intelligence in foreign policy. The takeaways
...twell, J., & Mendelsohn, E. (1995). The Middle East Security Environment. Bulletin of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 49 (3), 21-50. Retrieved from JSTOR database.
Another reason that contributes to the importance of this issue is that it’s time to realize self-aggravate ourselves about the issue that in the wake of eliminating terror we have actually explored and fueled greater venues for its effective and enforcing proliferation on multitude scales. In such topics it is always better to streamline the various aspects that we will deal with. It is important that we have a look at the policy conflicts that occur between states which results in the happening of war. It is also important to shed light on the various methodologies and schools of thought and the ways they look at the issue and fin...
In late 1947, the newly created states of India and Pakistan went to war over the valley of Kashmir. A United Nations brokered ceasefire divided the state into Indian and Pakistani controlled territories, and resolved that a referendum would be held in which the people of Kashmir would be able to choose to join either country. The referendum has not been held to this day. India granted its portion of Kashmir a special status within its constitution, allowing for a great degree of self-autonomy. However, successive Kashmiri governments have been dissolved by the government of India, and elections have only been held in the presence of its armed forces. In 1965, Pakistan and India waged a second indecisive war over Kashmir. In the 1980s, resistance within Kashmir itself against the Indian government took on a violent nature, with guerilla attacks against Indian army bases. India responded with heavy army clampdowns, and since then the situation has only escalated and get worse. It is estimated that well over 34,000 people have died within the valley, and the relations between the two countries have become increasingly acrimonious. India blames Pakistan for the militant uprising, claiming Islamabad is supporting cross border terrorism. Pakistan responds that it merely provides diplomatic and moral support arguing, furthermore, that India’s history of human rights abuses in the valley is to blame. With both countries now in possession of nuclear arms; the recent war in KARGIL and the increasing number of civilian deaths, refugees, and other human rights issues within Kashmir, the conflict seems to be taking on a more serious nature. In this paper I will discuss the Kashmir conflict in some depth, examining the problem in...
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On the one hand, national security focuses on the defense of the state from external threats, such as other state or non-state actors (such as terrorist groups and transnational gangs) (Bailey, John and Dammert, Lucia 1). Where the military is usually the institution that is entrusted with ensuring national security (Bailey, John and Dammert, Lucia 1). On the other hand, public security as the name implies, can de defined as the safeguarding of citizens and governmental institutions from violence and criminality (Uang, Randy Sunwin 27). Dangers derive from actors such as felons, terrorists, drug gangs and any individual acting against the public good who is actively contributing to the deterioration of society (Uang, Randy Sunwin 27). Responses to public security risks are mainly managed by law enforcement agencies such as the police and intelligence services (Bailey, John and Dammert, Lucia 11). Therefore, the actors that are charged with protecting it must abide by the rule of law and respect the civil rights of individuals (Herrera-Lasso, Luis 293-294). Both of which necessitate an effective law enforcement that prioritizes citizen security and protection from any extralegal or illegal coercion by state officials or other actors (Herrera-Lasso, Luis
“In India, we went straight from no telephones to the latest in mobile technology. Andthe same with internet-connected computers. They came in all of a sudden and no onewas taught even the basic facts about cyber security,...
Kashmir — a beautiful mountain state with clear rivers, evergreen forests and one of the highest death rates in the world. It is at the center of an age-old dispute between Pakistan and India that has dragged on from the independence of both nations over fifty years ago to the present time, with no resolution in sight. The combined population of the two nation totals over a billion, so no conflict between them is of passing importance, especially when nuclear weapons are involved. Pakistan and India share a common heritage, language, and traditions, yet the subject of Kashmir can push them to the brink of annihilation. Fifty years of animosity have built up as a result. A proxy war still brews in Kashmir, claiming dozens of lives every day, running up a casualty total over time into the hundred thousands. Kashmiris have suffered untold horrors and Kashmir has the notorious reputation of being one of the world’s most dangerous flashpoints.
Overall India’s recent political environment has been largely unstable due to international events & continued tension with Pakistan.