In the latter half of the 20th century, scholars began to recognize that international security was a dynamic concept that required special attention, leading to the term’ national security.’ However, the phenomena that ‘security’ encompasses are much broader and older, and they continue to evolve. During the 20th century, the nature of threats to external and internal security started to change and multiply, necessitating a shift in our approach to their resolution.
Despite the advent of nuclear weapons, the size of armed forces continued to grow, prompting the General Assembly of the United Nations to adopt two landmark resolutions, 377 (V) and 379 (V), which established principles that must be strictly observed when using armed force. The use of armed force to suppress dissent was increasingly viewed as unjust. Many technological advancements pioneered in the West were quickly integrated into the armories of numerous states. Focused on their national security, the five major military powers often overlooked other states’ security concerns, leading them to form alliances as a self-help mechanism.
The concept of security and security in international relations has existed since antiquity but recently received a new meaning. The most popular definition was developed by the representatives of one of the leading trends in International Relations – the English school, who defined security as “a state of affairs where peace, justice, and political order come together to facilitate enduring social cooperation and prosperity among and between societies.”
The contemporary understanding of security is significantly different from its previous conception. Formerly, security was defined as the absence of threat or the use of force, the absence of war. The sufficient force of arms or organized violence ensured freedom, social justice, the spread of information, and other components of human existence.