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Uluslararası Yönetim Akademisi Dergisi https://doi.org/10.33712/mana.1116141
Yıl: 2022, Cilt: 5, Sayı: 2, ss.340-351
Regarding the Current National Security Challenges
Mevcut Ulusal Güvenlik Sınamaları Üzerine
Murat ŞENGÖZ Makale Başvuru Tarihi: 13.05.2022
Dr., Milli Savunma Bakanlığı, Makale Kabul Tarihi: 28.08.2022
muratsengoz74@gmail.com Makale Türü: Araştırma Makalesi
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6597-0161
ABSTRACT
Issues such as globalization, developments in communication and information technologies, and economic
and social inequalities that are becoming more evident between countries, cause conflicts to become
globalized beyond regional borders. Therefore, in the process of national security administration, it is needed
to be referred to the process and direction of developments, rather than creating pre-absolute equations. In
this context, the current security environment is characterized by an increase both in the number of military
conflicts and other human-induced problems that threaten human life and co-existence. These challenges
force national security professionals, whose primary mission is to establish security, to focus on security
issues in a multidimensional way in order to fulfill their duties. Therefore, the quality of the adopted national
security conception is critical to the establishment of today's security and peaceful environment. In this study,
which is carried out on current national security challenges; it is aimed to present the current security
environment and its challenges in detail. This study focuses on wider areas affecting the perception and
execution of national security and so provides a comprehensive overview of information about the dimensions
of the current security environment.
ÖZET
Küreselleşme, iletişim ve bilgi teknolojilerindeki gelişmeler, ülkeler arasında giderek belirginleşen ekonomik
ve sosyal eşitsizlikler gibi konular, çatışmaların bölgesel sınırların ötesinde küreselleşmesine neden
olmaktadır. Bu nedenle milli güvenlik yönetimi sürecinde ön mutlak denklemler oluşturmaktan ziyade
gelişmelerin gidişatına ve yönüne bakılması gerekmektedir. Bu bağlamda, mevcut güvenlik ortamı, hem insan
hayatını ve birlikte yaşamayı tehdit eden askeri çatışmaların, hem de insan kaynaklı diğer sorunların
sayısında bir artış ile karakterizedir. Bu zorluklar, temel görevleri güvenliğin tesisi olan ulusal güvenlik
profesyonellerini, vazifelerini yerine getirebilmeleri için güvenlik konularına çok boyutlu bir biçimde
odaklanmaya zorlamaktadır. Bu nedenle benimsenen ulusal güvenlik anlayışının kalitesi, günümüzün hem
güvenlik hem de barış ortamının tesisi için kritik öneme sahiptir. Bu kapsamda mevcut ulusal güvenlik
sınamaları üzerine gerçekleştirilen bu çalışmada temelde mevcut güvenlik ortamının ve zorluklarının ayrıntılı
bir şekilde ortaya koyulması amaçlamaktadır. Bu çalışma, ulusal güvenliğin algılanmasını ve yürütülmesini
etkileyen oldukça geniş alanlara odaklanmakta ve mevcut güvenlik ortamının boyutları hakkında kapsamlı
bir bilgi sunmaktadır.
Keywords:
Strategic Mindset,
Security Environment,
Changing Nature of
War,
Anahtar Kelimeler:
Stratejik Akıl,
Güvenlik Ortamı,
Savaşın Değişen
Doğası,
Uluslararası Yönetim Akademisi Dergisi, 2022, C.5, S.2, ss.340-35
341
1. INTRODUCTION
Globalization, developments in communication and information technologies, economic inequality, and the
emergence of sub-identities and conflicts have become regionalized and globalized. Globalization refers to a
process in which traditional social ties are unraveled, the decisiveness of nation-states decreases, all kinds of
relations between groups and individuals become easier and spread, production and distribution undergo a new
transformation, and the importance of borders and traditional actors diminishes. As a result of globalization, the
integrity of nation-states to question the importance and effectiveness of classical state boundaries and
traditional sovereign actors is undermined. Furthermore, the classical assumptions about the concept of the state
are being questioned again due to the change in the type of production and distribution, and the relations
between the state and the citizens and entrepreneurs. As nation-states lose their importance, supranational
companies and institutions become stronger. Power, capital, and knowledge are gathered in certain hands and
distributed to the world. Decentralization is increasingly being replaced by centralism. All these developments
affect national security concepts and doctrines. In this context, conventional war techniques have been replaced
by proxy war, which necessitates the use of special warfare and conventional operations concepts and doctrines
together. Today, proxy wars have blurred the battlefields as a component of the current war concept and have
allowed the sovereign powers to perform preventive military action beyond their borders for self-defense
(Rothschild et al., 2007). Thus, military conflicts became global. Economic and political stability has become an
important parameter of national security.
Nowadays, the most important issue that threatens world security is the opening of the prosperity scales between
the central states and their periphery. In a vicious circle, the central states are enriched by the sources of energy
and raw materials and the wide market opportunities offered by the peripheral states, while the peripheral states
are also becoming poorer and declining. This abnormal inequality between the central and peripheral states
threatens Western civilization through terrorism and radicalism, in particular population movements. Also, it is
of course debatable to what extent Mackinder’s theories of Black Domination, Spykman’s Edge Belt, or
Mahan’s Marine Domination can be applied or considered or even George T. Runner’s Theory of Air
Dominance has not foreseen that the struggle for air dominance would be carried into space. Perhaps the most
valid of classical security theories is Professor Karl Haushofer’s theory of the living space (Lebensraum), which
defines a territory claimed by a nation or state on the grounds that it is necessary for survival or growth.
Haushofer argued that states were essentially like living organisms; that grew stronger and had to spread as they
grow. So, Hitler, who is guided by him, carried the world and his country to a great disaster. It is a certain fact
that countries are getting stronger and expanding as they grow, but this process is being carried out in the
economic and cultural fields.
Fukuyama (1992, 1995) claimed that, with the end of the Cold War, military combats or clashes between
countries would be ended and that the world would unite in the form of Western civilization isomorphism with
the end of history and the last human theory, which is dated in 1993 (Şahin Ceylan, 2006:233-252). Huntington
argued that this unification would take place through the clash between civilizations and the prevailing victory.
In essence, these two theories were widely accepted as adaptation theories in management. The basic
assumption of the adaptation theory was that companies should be able to integrate backward and forwards and
thus have full control over the meeting point of resources and markets. Thus, it was argued that an order in
which the strong survived and others had to develop strategic alliances with the strong was inevitable.
As a matter of fact, in international relations, interstate clusters are formed by similar motives; there is no direct
hot conflict between civilizations today. The sharp struggle between civilizations never evolves into a mutual
hot conflict. The experts often agree well with the win-win method. Today, conflicts continue among the less
developed regional cultures, which are seeking strategic alliances or have not yet identified their clusters. But it
is also a reality that the great powers triggered these ongoing conflicts to open up new spaces of life for
themselves. In essence, these conflicts are nothing more than proxy wars. Proxy wars, as a postmodern method
of war, open up an area for themselves through various conflicts of interest, such as sectarian differences,
inheritance sharing, and fueled cultural differences. The wars of power of attorney are the global metaphor in
which the masses look at the tightrope while the thief grabs the wallets. With the power of proxy wars, the
period in which manpower was used as a whole by the parties which shared their triumphs in the field battles or
used maneuvering and intense firepower together, or the use of classical warfare techniques in special
techniques were used regardless of the depth of central planning and decentralized execution methods and errors
on large fronts ended.
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Today, warfares take place in the form of countries with advanced technologies and asymmetric power
multipliers exploiting the vulnerable and weak points of the states that they call enemies. The country which
cannot afford the cost of the losses in this war loses the war. The country with its reserves and deterrent power
wins the war. Today, because of the cultural differences of societies living in the same geography, ethnic,
religious, sectarian, and ideological motivated conflicts among themselves continue inexorably and in a bloody
manner. Perhaps the world is really a chessboard as Zbigniew Brzezinski predicted and Eurasia is the most
important playing field with its economic resources and vast market power. On the other hand, today, the
international system is consolidated using hybrid war theory through hot wars and conflicts, as well as economic
orientations and games of perception on governments and public opinion. This makes it possible for developed
democratic countries to develop and prosper while undermining and marginalizing backward countries from
more democratic norms. The only antidote to all conventional and non-conventional conflicts on a global scale
is the construction of democratic bridges between states and fair distribution and the use of regional resources
for the welfare of people in the region. Unfortunately, humanity prepares the end of human civilization with its
own hands with its inexhaustible greed and unrestrained ambition. The greed and ambition of humanity have
made the past century one of the bloodiest and most ruthless periods in world history. Millions of people were
killed in the First and Second World Wars as a result of the use of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons in
battle areas in addition to conventional weapons.
Military leaders are posed with the tasking role of adapting to the dynamic posture that threats in the current
security environment are taking. Advancement in human intelligence and technological evolution is the major
factor for the rise in insecurity. The rising population s also implements security as a challenge. This challenge
is due to the low ratio of security personnel versus the number of civilians to be protected. Security agencies are
thus tasked with providing security to a large number of people using limited resources. The use of intelligence
by the adversary is also another challenge for security personnel. This is due to the unprecedented nature of war;
this is mainly in tactics or strategies for attacking a country. The implementation of dynamic strategies to
counter the enemy is a difficult role that will take time and resources to implement. This chapter assesses the
security environment based on current threats in the security environment. Future threats are also explained in-
depth and solutions to averting them are analyzed as well. With the dynamicity of war and the adoption of
intelligence by the adversary, the likelihood of the orchestration of different tactics in war is prevalent in the
future. In this context, in the following parts of this study, issues related to the changing nature of war and the
strategic mindset that should be adopted have been compiled.
2. REGARDING CHANGING NATURE OF WAR (HYBRID WAR)
Conventional warfare as earlier illustrated refers to a war that blends tactics and sophistication warfare. This has
led to the orchestration of warfare around resilience, complexity in dynamics, and flexibility that relate to hybrid
warfare (Kimhi and Eshel, 2012:228-246). Hybrid warfare is related to the use of irregular, conventional and
cyber warfare in military strategy. The imminence of terror or threat that a country is posed with leads to the
review of strategies to avert the situation at hand. The U.S. Army according to Markov (2016), is the main
orchestrator of hybrid warfare; describes it as, “the use of a dynamic and diverse combination of irregular
forces, regular forces, criminal elements, or a combination of all these elements and forces to achieve a mutual
benefit”. Thus, based on this hybrid argument, threats are usually unprecedented, and foiling them requires a
resulting unique and powerful hybrid attack (Markov, 2016:509-516). NATO describes hybrid warfare as the
use of conventional and non-conventional warfare in pursuit of an objective (Rauchhaus, 2000:3-20). The
military is currently applying the following concepts of hybrid warfare in attacks and counterattacks relating to
hybrid war.
The above forms of hybrid warfare are orchestrated around strategy and proper coordination. This reflects two
perspectives on challenges in military operations in the current security environment. The first one is the
constraint on national security leadership and power. This is in the case of the likelihood of the occurrence of
one of the listed hybrid wars. Lack of proper military command skills such as investment in competitive
intelligence can lead to a surprise attack which may result in negative repercussions. The second challenge
created by hybrid warfare-to-military leadership is the need to use resources to accommodate competitive
intelligence in its military dimensions. This is due to the massive loss of lives and destruction of infrastructure
caused by undetected war. The need to foil hybrid warfare creates the non-conventional forms of war in hybrid
warfare that utilize competitive intelligence. In this context, some components and aspects of the changing
nature and characteristics of war will be included in this part of this study.
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2.1. Proxy War
The aftermath of World Wars I and II led to the onslaught of the cold war era, which was characterized by
countries influencing each other. These countries influence the decision-making of other countries and may
come to the aid of other countries or promote warfare between one country and another country to fulfill their
objectives. Proxy wars relate to the confrontation between two nations where neither country engages in one
other direction. This may be through aiding a country in fighting off another country to whom they are opposed,
or assisting an ally in fighting off an opponent. Countries may also contract paramilitary groups to instigate
attacks on an enemy country (Rauta, 2014:284). Proxy wars are also hybrid wars due to their unprecedented
nature. A country may go to war without enough sophistication or the knowledge that a particular state is aiding
the war on the enemy line. The results are catastrophic for the nation as a massive loss of lives and infrastructure
is typical.
The Chechen- Russian conflict is a perfect example of a proxy war. When Chechnya declared its independence
in 1991 and named it the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. The Russian government invaded Chechnya in 1999 in
a bid to have a controlling influence over Chechnya. This followed the initial deportation of people of non-
Chechen ethnicity, especially Russians, Armenians, and Ukrainians. The occurrence of war was blamed on
violence against non-Chechen populations. However, evidence suggested that the war was mainly caused by the
political ambitions of Boris Yeltsin, who was the Russian President. The war led to full control of Russian
authority over Chechnya, which was acquired forcefully (Waewer, 2008:151-178).
Also, proxy wars such as Operation Rolling Thunder between the USA and the USSR in Vietnam led to a
massive loss of lives whose result is still felt. The Arabs and Israelis have also engaged in proxy wars in the
Yom Kippur War, the Six-Day War, and the Arab-Israeli War (Rauta, 2014:284). The Arabs, who were the
weaker, formed a coalition to defeat the stronger Israelis. However, the exact opposite happened. Proxy war
may also be fueled by a majority of citizens who oppose conflict or entry into a conventional war. This was
characterized by the U.S. entry into the Syrian and Vietnam Wars.
2.2. Blurrent War
The depiction of war is on battlefields in which tactics or strategies are employed through the use of weapons.
However, war can also be fought or invoked through the mind or the heart. This is by influencing the
perceptions of civilians or a target group to influence their behavior. Blurrent war is another form of hybrid war.
The name blurred comes from blur, which means impartial insight or not clear. This may be propagated in a
hideous aspect or an aspect that is not easily understandable (Rauta, 2014:284). Blurred wars are mainly
propagated over media such as in newspapers or television. The ideals of blurred wars are mainly in digital
media, which provides a faster medium for propagation. The creation of attitudes is a build-up mainly
intervened by an individual within the media propagating the war. This may arise from their detest of an idea,
the government, or a certain individual, such as the president. It is a means of brainwashing or streamlining
people in a manner that may promote violent activities. Blurred wars pose a great military challenge due to the
rigorous nature of gathering intelligence.
2.3. Cyber War
Cyberwarfare refers to the penetration of a country’s network to cause disruption or damage. This may be
carried out by terrorist groups, activists, or companies. Lack of control over a network, especially in a country,
is a dangerous threat that may hurtle a country's socio-economic activities and political front. Cyber-attacks may
also be in the form of leaking private information. An example was Julian Assange’s move to leak United States
secrets on the famous Wikileaks forum. This exposed America’s secrets that developed mistrust between
America and some countries that were also compromised. Cyber-attacks may take the form of espionage, which
may be through spying. Sabotage is the disruption of systems such as military satellites or computers. Cyber-
attacks may also target electrical power gridlines by failing electric power (Fielding and Shortland, 2010:433-
447). Denial of service attacks come in the form of denying access to a particular network to users.
The computer is a household item and yet one of the most fascinating inventions. However, it comes with its
cons; these are characterized by the storage of information and running of many activities over the network.
Forecasts within security agencies prove that adversaries might exploit the network to carry out attacks. These
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attacks might be in the form of theft and attacks targeting infrastructures such as dams, power grids, or
transportation systems. Governments should thus draft measures for taking out terrorists likely to infiltrate their
networks. This is the foundation of elite squads of military personnel monitoring the network, and carrying out
security checks on the network (Kiltz, 2011).
2.4. Bio-Warfare and Nuclear Weapons
The proliferation of biological weapons in combat is a predictable terrorist weapon. Biological warfare revolves
around the spread of viruses or laboratory-created weapons for the destruction of human lives. Diseases or
viruses can spread through food, animals, or people. The proliferation of these weapons can hugely affect a
country once it is plagued with the virus. The majority of the predictable diseases or viruses to be developed are
likely to be communicable. This is to enhance their spread and terrorize civilians within a country. While
speculation remains high on the H1N1 flu, which is considered by conspiracy theorists as a biological weapon,
its spread and concentration around one region liken it to a biological weapon. A country thus needs to boost
efforts in research on biosurveillance to foresee the effect of biological weapons (Kiltz, 2011).
The ease of access to sophisticated weapons is a haunting affair in the global security environment. Nuclear
weapons are the biggest threat to the future security environment. This is due to the negative implications that
result from their proliferation in war. As countries strive to intercept nuclear materials in transit, the security
environment is unpredictable on the number of nukes in the world. (Aldis and Herd, 2004:169-186). However,
the biggest threat lies in the likelihood of terrorist networks having access to nuclear weapons. Governments,
through the military and other security agencies with good resource endowments, should vest research in
radioactive detecting equipment. Also, measures should be used to ensure that countries with nuclear power are
barred from ever-proliferating them in war. The Hiroshima and Nagasaki incident caused massive loss of lives,
and if measures are not implemented to curb the use of nuclear weapons, massive loss of lives and
environmental degradation will be witnessed in the future security environment.
3. REGARDING POSTMODERN THREATS TO THE SECURITY ENVIRONMENT
War was initially modeled around theft and expansion of territory or imperialism. However, this has
transformed from war to gain something to a war fought to promote or protect a set of values. The conventional
nature of war rotated from traditional means of warfare to nuclear weapons (Kober, 2004). Currently, war has
resonated to sophistication; this is in the use of heavy artillery in combat. This can also be reflected by the threat
posed by countries with nuclear arms. The transition from plunder to values illustrates the transition of warfare
from plunder to values (Markov, 2016:509-516). The concepts of extremism and jihadism articulate this well,
especially in countries such as Syria and Iraq. The wars mainly revolve around religion, which is an actual
contradiction of teachings as reflected by some sheiks given on Islamist extremism. During the onslaught of the
cold war, there was the creation of two warring fronts; The East led by the Soviet Union, as opposed to the post-
modern West led by the United States, and for this reason, the onslaught of the cold war began. (Kober, 2004).
This has further dictated the nature of war and divided nations around ideology.
So, war is an inevitable aspect of every phase of human generation. However, the difference between each step
of the security environment is the art that war resonates around. The current climate of security is full of
sophisticated weapons, from submachine guns to guided missiles. The current security environment is also
characterized by wars of virtue that revolve more around idealism and religion. This has led to fighting in a
majority of states, especially Iraq and Afghanistan. The same conflicts also pave the way for terrorism, as
radicalized religious militia counterattack intervening countries that hope to end the war in these conflicting
states. A security environment is an area within a government's jurisdiction in which the imminence of a threat
needs to be identified. This is done by investigating, identifying the aggressor, and acting ahead of the aggressor
by foiling their threat. According to Van and Niekerk (2004:322-340), the military is an arm within the security
sector vested with the duty of ensuring security in global nations. The occurrence of a terror attack, cybercrime,
or a general spark of a crime wave by insurgents shows a lack of effort on the part of military leaders. Thus, the
concern to change the tactics of war to strategy and the need to integrate competitive intelligence arise. The new
age of technology comes with the mass availability of information. Terrorists and insurgents have also deployed
new tactics in combat. This as well shows the need for the military to adopt strategies that gain information
about the enemy and come up with a means of ending the effects of war posed by their presence within a
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security environment (Gotz, 2013). In this context, some components about postmodern threats of war will be
included in this part of this study.
3.1. Refugees and Immigrants
The classical war threats of the bipolar world have been replaced asymmetrically with the global scale of
terrorism, especially when multinational unitary states and dictate regimes are subjected to intense terrorist
attacks caused by internal dynamics. The refugee and immigrant problem certainly create a serious security
problem in terms of international security (Kemp and Schmertzing, 2014:242-258). The problem of refugees
and migrants that cannot be solved fosters international terrorism as well. It is a problem that must be solved at
the root. The main cause of the refugee and immigration problem is the difficulty in opening the economic
prosperity gap between developed, developing, and underdeveloped countries. Rather than building walls at the
borders of developed countries against underdeveloped countries, they exploited for many years, undertaking
responsibilities that support corporate governance and development in the underdeveloped countries can only
benefit from lasting solutions.
By marginalizing the governments of the underdeveloped countries, both developed countries can easily control
the administrations of these countries and liquidate the governments they have marginalized at any time with
fourth-generation asymmetrical, vague, proxy war techniques. It is shallow and barren, but it is a short-term
policy that transcends problems. Instead, the development of democratic cultures in underdeveloped countries,
and support for health, education, and development projects should be prioritized and adopted by the developed
countries as a common and prosperous ideal of humanity. The attitude of the developed Western states in this
form is similar to the life of the King of France in the Palace of Versailles, who had isolated himself from
French society before the 1789 French Revolution.
3.2. Trans-National Crime
Transnational crime can be defined as crime coordinated by insurgents confined to more than one country.
Future wars will resonate around fighting insurgents with a dynamic presence under one wing. Transnational
crimes aim at undermining peace and stability in a country (Cooper, 2014:514-516). One of the atrocities
likened to transnational crimes is the trafficking of illegal goods. This may be in the form of weapons, narcotics,
or people (Aldis and Herd, 2004:169-186). The wares are likely to pose a huge security threat by constraining
security agencies within a given country.
Transnational crimes are orchestrated around porous borders and in seaways. The arch of instability caused by
these crimes has been felt in some countries. Countries such as Libya and Mali have witnessed the siege of
transnational crimes. However, these crimes can be easily detected and foiled. The dependence on a country’s
military to use intelligence and proper monitoring of entry points to a state is the original solution. This calls for
a country’s investment in the naval field in the case of seaways protection and enhancing security along
borderlines.
3.3. Climate Change
Climate change is another threat to the security environment surrounding military operations. Global warming is
a worldwide affair that is likely to affect the thriving of human beings. This is due to the need for coming up
with strategies for bolstering the likely effects of unpredictable weather patterns. The military apart from taking
part in combat and attacks on enemies is also mandated with the task of ensuring that the consequences of a
natural disaster are mitigated. This is done by using the military to help respond to and curb the threat presented
by the catastrophe (Aldis and Herd, 2004:169-186). The unpredictable aspects of climate and weather also
present constraints to the operations of the military. This is due to the nature of some of the threats whose results
may cost the lives of the personnel deployed to save human lives. Thus, more research should be done on how
to predict the outcome of weather patterns to avoid future disasters.
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3.4. Terrorism and Counterterrorism
Recently, a surge in the number of violent attacks carried out against humanity by non-state groups is occurring
throughout the world. These wars are mainly propagated by virtue and religion; terrorism mainly takes this path.
Terrorism is one of the current fears of the world due to the lives it takes. It can be defined as the use of violence
or terror whose aim lies within religion, ideology, or politics. Terrorism is fourth-generation warfare that helps
one to achieve their motives by exploiting human beings’ fear. Terrorism may also be classified into six
categories (Crelinsten, 1998:389-413). Civil disorder – this refers to forms of violence that interfere with
security, peace, or the normal functioning within a community; Non-political terrorism – this is terrorism whose
objective is for the collective or individual gain rather than a political aim; Quasi-terrorism – this is the use of
techniques or modalities applied by genuine terrorism for different purposes; Political terrorism – this is the use
of violence or a substantial segment of violence within a community to achieve a political purpose; Limited
political terrorism – this is a revolutionary approach towards a political or ideological motive towards a
concerted campaign whose aim is other than gaining control over a state; and state terrorism. These are terrorist
acts that are carried out by governments to instill oppression or fear in pursuing political objectives.
Counterterrorism is the incorporation of techniques, strategies, and military tactics by the army, intelligence
agencies, or government agencies to curb terrorism. Counter-terrorism requires the use of intelligence to
monitor an imminent threat and in mitigation (Crelinsten, 1998:389-413). Terrorism can be countered through
three means: preemptive neutralization, which is through killing or capturing terrorists; non-military tactics,
which may be humanitarian activities such as providing clean water for drinking, programs of vaccination,
education, provision of shelter and food, and protection from violence. Most counterterrorism strategies,
however, involve an increase in the number of intelligence or standard police. However, it’s important to
involve intelligence in the eradication of a terrorist network to properly infiltrate and eliminate the group.
Military tactics are used such as counter-terrorism; examples of military interventions are the U.S infiltration of
Afghanistan or the Russian invasion of Chechnya.
3.5. Financial Terrorism
Financial terrorism is when a terrorist group makes money to reach its secret goals and uses its money for acts
of terror. In this context, terrorist organizations receive financial resources through drug trafficking, smuggling,
and other illegal methods in the classical sense. However, in time, terrorist organizations also change tactics and
methods and use the revenues they generate through legal-looking firms they have established with different
techniques and for different purposes. In this context, terrorist organizations use illegal legal structures and
connections and use their financial resources, not in the scope of direct arms supply and execution of terrorist
activities, but in the field of education, press, and lobbying activities to create potential public masses in favor of
their organizations. It can also be said that terrorist organizations direct the security environment to institutional
intelligence rather than shape their interests.
The static structures of terrorist organizations have changed and adapted to the current challenges and
environment. At this point, it is important to reveal the ethics of the terrorist organizations from where and in
what ways they obtain the monetary resources, how they put the illegitimate money into the system and create
wealth, which funding and money transfers they use in the execution of weapons and terrorist activities. At this
point, it is necessary to develop international cooperation and act jointly and monitor how money moves from
place to place. Given the fact that even wealthy businessmen are now intentionally or unintentionally financing
terrorism and that terrorism has greatly increased the diversity of resources, the need for international
cooperation to monitor the money flowing to terrorism is clear.
3.6. Insurgency and Counterinsurgency
The balance of power within a country is an important political aspect. Political systems in a country allow an
individual or group of people’s objectives to be streamlined through protracted decorum pointed out in the rule
of law. However, when groups seek to fulfill their targets through unconventional means or the seizure of
power, then the balance of authority is toppled. Insurgency is referred to as rebellion against authority by people
who in some instances may be belligerent. The insurgency employs ambiguity, and complex terrain such as
jungles, mountains, and urban areas to produce asymmetric violence. Insurgency is also referred to as rebelling
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against authorities within an area of the jurisdiction whose rule is recognized by the United Nations (Hashim,
2006). However, not all rebellions are insurgencies; these are the insurgencies that are caused by people within a
country rebelling against poor or dictatorial leadership. The ouster of President Mubarak by the Egyptian
revolution in 2011 and the ouster of President Marcos decades earlier by a people power revolution in the
Philippines are examples of non-violent rebellions. (Fielding and Shortland, 2010:433-447). When a country,
for instance, is overwhelmed by an insurgency, the UN may be called in to counter the insurgency.
Counter-insurgency is the comprehensive military and civilian effort toward containing and defeating an
insurgency (Fischer, 2006). This is done by identifying the root cause and uprooting the perpetrators of these
vices. Counter-insurgency mainly takes the form of conventional operations by the military and other means
such as psyops, assassinations, and propaganda. The military also employs logistics to overthrow rebels. The
populace of the insurgents at the start is usually higher than the reigning government’s control in part or the
whole of the country. The military is then sent to such areas to provide civil security while carrying out combat
operations. The government then establishes rule by establishing measures to counter hampered governance.
Strategies deployed include restructuring infrastructure that may have been destroyed by the insurgents.
Economic development is also being put into place with the deployment of security forces to ensure that
insurgents are stamped out of these regions. Civilians may also employ demonstrations as a means of countering
insurgency in opposition to the belligerents.
4. ESTABLISHING A STRATEGIC MINDSET BEYOND CONSPIRACY THEORIES FOR DEALING
WITH NATIONAL SECURITY ISSUES
The issue of national security is debated to comprehend the process and direction of developments rather than to
form absolute equations. As the issue becomes more difficult to understand, the minds of ordinary people and
sometimes even strategic decision-makers can be confused with the influence of conspiracy theories,
superintendence, external powers, large global plans, deep esoteric structures, and global financial
organizations. However, blaming every problem on external forces, and taking shelter behind conspiracy
theories can only be explained by being lazy, having an inferiority complex, a helplessness syndrome, or having
a secret agenda. Conspiracy theories are a method of public relations, marketing and sales carried out by
influential agents as an effort to legitimize the plans and actions of certain focuses and these are processes
involving subliminal messages in a paradoxical context, preparing both the absurd realities and the disaster
scenarios. In this respect, it means to read and interpret the world continuously through conspiracy theories, to
serve the secret agenda owners whether they are aware of this or not. Conspiracy theories may, of course, lead
to the production of certain scenarios in strategy management, but conspiracy theories should not be attributed
to more than unverifiable assumptions. The assumptions can only be functional if they are verified through a
falsification process. Building plans on other kinds of assumptions is similar to building buildings in the swamp.
The most significant difference between the propositions that stem from the strategies and the conspiracy
theories is that, although the propositions are falsifiable, the accuracy of conspiracy theories contains self-
tautological information. Consequently, conspiracy theories are often put forward by the subcontractors of
mysterious supernatural minds. They aim to convince the masses about some of the events that the supreme
mindsets out or intend to do and to prepare them for events that are developed according to the planned and
fictitious sequence of events, besides presenting their plans as if they fit the usual flow of time or life. The most
negative impact of conspiracy theories is not only to mold the masses through opposing scenarios but worse to
accustom the masses to despair, to convince the imaginary rescuers that they will save them and thus push the
innocent masses desperately into the arms of their executioners. The term conspiracy theory refers to hidden
plans that have not, in essence, been revealed. Today, however, almost everything is realized clearly and
transparently with the effect of globalization and the development of communication and information
technologies. In this respect, the failure, inadequacies, and insolvency to be attributed to the higher intellect and
external forces, or the traitors within, are essentially a simple, useless and primitive reflex of self-defense. If it is
necessary to speak of the supreme mind in the national security debates, the opening of bets on the interests and
desires of the internal forces of power that determine the simple and dominant paradigm can always yield more
rational results. At this point, the critical issue is that the reflex of the emergence of tutelage is not forgotten
at the stage where the critical view is exhausted. Because the guardianship owners do not care about the truth,
they have no problems with solving the problems and increasing the welfare of the people. To consolidate their
power, guardians always resort to self-righteous and irreversible conspiracy theories, which require the
existence of fictitious internal and external enemies.
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International relations are not only stories of great achievements and victories. The wars which have been lost
are as important as those which have been won. International relations are a whole with all their experiences and
the effect of failures are as great as the successes and mourning as great as joys when civilizations are taken into
consideration; so that it can be transferred honestly to the next generations and the necessary lessons can be
taken. Moreover, the unilateral and unidirectional approach to international relations which is selective is
fundamentally contrary to the principle of unity in design and pride, one of the fundamental values of a nation.
Emotional engagement created as a result of a one-way partial approach to international relations triggers
chauvinism in a meaningless and useless manner and prevents the country from integrating with the world. In
every failure and disappointment, chauvinism creates a society that is self-insecure and believes in its lies as a
result of the burden of crime and responsibility on external forces. Under the influence of action films,
chauvinism creates an essentially unidentified and unconscious mass that runs rambling through the streets and
can be easily manipulated by certain forces. Such a mass is nothing but a mob that cannot do its job, contribute
to production, is far from taking responsibility, squeezed among the crowds, and thus has not developed itself
and become an adult.
Beyond the conspiracy theories of national security-related events, their success and failures are handled
together with courage and sincerity, making it possible to read the events from the eyes of other societies and
civilizations, draw the necessary lessons, and create the right strategies. The issue is the correct reading of both
sides of the coin. The issue here is to deal with national security issues in a self-confident, as deep as possible
(perspective), broad (panoramic), honest and holistic manner with all their mistakes and deeds. The debate on
national security should never be pushed into a vicious circle of the sanctification or condemnation of historical
figures because real politics is a whole that extends from the past to the future. At this point, maintaining contact
with the past supports decisive and stable steps for the future. It is based on the fact that desires do not prevent
reality and that ties with past and future calculations are formed within the framework of rationality, reason,
science, and logic. In this context, in this part of the study, two important themes and challenges of creating a
strategic mindset, which are crisis management and strategic communication will be elaborated.
4.1. Crisis Management
There is a need to bolster efforts to curb a prevailing crisis or threat. This is also relevant to means through
which a government can take towards averting a security threat. The biggest force in reviewing strategies to
govern or oversee that the security of a nation is upheld is military power. Proper means of addressing this is
through the employment of sophisticated tactical levels in combating actions that may cause harmful effects to a
secure environment. The same can also be stratified to contain and control levels of damage or prevention and
preparation for a threat. To manage such situations, a country may deploy the following frameworks in crisis
management in the context of armed forces.
Firstly, military leaders should always plan for any kind of hurdle or crisis that they might expect to occur. The
need to have objectives in averting a crisis produces specific actions to be deployed in mitigating the threat. The
second is identifying a spokesperson or a person who represents the armed forces to the general public. The
majority of the countries have spokespeople that represent the military to the media or the general public when
seeking truth on a crisis that may have sparked public outrage (Beeres and Friends, 2010:346-366).
Thirdly, military leaders should be honest and open to the factors causing the crisis towards the subordinates
who take the role of thwarting the crisis (Stern and Staathof, 2012). The same is also articulated to the public
through the spokesperson to warn the public about the predicament facing the security environment and mitigate
the likelihood of deaths. Crisis management within the armed forces should also be characterized by the need to
update the public or subordinates often and early. This is for preparedness in assessing the threat and reporting
on the developments resulting from managing the crisis plaguing the security environment. The military should
also take into perspective the need to update on the ongoing events of tackling a crisis on social media (Stern
and Staathof, 2012). Social media may offer a good ground for consultations and sharing of ideas between
civilians and personnel vested with the role of ensuring security. Constant updates are also faster as they are a
click away from spreading information due to the large numbers of people on social media.
Crisis management within the military also needs appropriate strategies for assessing the crisis (Stern and
Staathof, 2012). This helps to prevent hasty decisions whose results may not fully eradicate a threat. Instead,
military leaders should adapt to efficiency by rehearsing and planning. After successfully managing a crisis,
there is also a need to finalize the process by adapting key messages in mitigating the crisis. These may be
pointers when confronted by the same crisis in the future. Crisis management should also take into consideration
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post-crisis analysis. This helps in identifying the source of a crisis. The source of a crisis is kept close by
constant monitoring and anticipating the likelihood of the occurrence of such a risk, especially if nature
possesses it. Post-analysis of a crisis also helps in archiving the strategies for combating a crisis. Military
leaders should thus adapt the ideas superposed above in mitigating and fully wading out a threat caused by a
crisis. The armed forces must also be informed about pending crises that may require their input in thwarting.
The threats might be in the form of technological crisis, malevolence, terrorist attacks, confrontation, and
natural disasters (Ryakhovskaya, 2014:102). Military leaders are also tasked with acquainting trainees and
soldiers with a variety of crises. This can be ensured by exposing their personnel to this crisis, and by deploying
them in different security environments. The armed forces should thus take into consideration exchange
programs to expose personnel to a holistic range of crises.
4.2. Strategic Communication
Information recently has been a vital factor whose ultimate use can affect attitudes and behavior in individuals.
Therefore, there is a need for the government through security organs such as the military, to protect national
interests in the flow of information. Strategic communication refers to the communication of data, an idea, or a
process to allow for planning or communication over long distances (Sandhu, 2009:72-92). This form of
communication is usually for the coordination of actions or activities for non-commercial, military, or
commercial businesses. However, strategic communication can also be used for warfare. This is due to its
ability to align the perceptions of audiences. It is a close-knit manner of manipulating people or a target
audience to carry out an atrocity (Sandhu, 2009:72-92). Strategic communication is mainly deployed by
adversaries due to the ease in influencing the masses to act in retrospect to the intended purpose of the
communication. Strategic communication relies on some principles. The following are the principles applied by
the military in strategic communications;
Mass – this is the employment of all models, mediums, or time frames in communication to reinforce
word that promotes the national interest.
Objective – The setting of goals or policies that are easily understood by audiences and tailoring the
messages to suit the audiences to whom the information is relayed.
Offensive – This refers to the shaping of the environment that information rotates around. This is by
acting against actions or words propagated by adversaries. This may be through shutting off the medium
employed by the adversaries to propagate the information or campaigning against the information through
strategic communication.
Surprise – This is the use of disarming actions or words to undermine the adversary’s actions and mitigate
the risk of a free action occurring.
The economy of force – This is channeling efforts on direct or indirect objectives as relevant to the
national interests of a country.
Maneuver – This is the monitoring, adapting, adjusting, and listening to any form of communication
directed against or for the government. The responsiveness to communication that may put the
government under scrutiny is prudent in strategic communication.
Security – This is the communication of rules of engagement to people within the communication sector.
Simplicity – The use of concise and definite language in reporting policies that may act as guidelines for
the implementation of a government’s policy.
These are the policies that govern the operations of the military in enhancing strategic communication in
warfare.
5. CONCLUSION
The contemporary security environment is characterized by an increase in the number of wars and more human-
induced problems than ever before. With the military tasked with stabilizing the current security environment,
the quality of national security management becomes increasingly important to ensure the success of this
tasking. Today’s deployment-focused and fast-paced army require leaders who prioritize a ready and trained
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unit as well as focus on competitive intelligence in the military decision-making process and execution of the
current operation (Feinstein and Kaplan, 2011:281-295).
The first duty of States today is generally the establishment of security. Today's battles are carried out in a
vague and flexible warfare environment, which is characterized as hybrid and can be transformed rapidly. For
this reason, national security professionals need to be more versatile, with rapid decision-making capacities. To
realize their duties, they have to focus more on the quality of their leadership, which is critical to the
establishment of secure and peaceful environments. Today, high-level national security leaders have to behave
more like diplomats, intellectuals, and academics than ever before.
In conclusion, it can be said that the current climate of security has changed holistically, leading to changes in
the dimensions of war and general national security leadership. Change in structures within the national security
administration is an aspect that gives a new dimension to the security environment. The tidal wave of change
has led to a restructuring of positions in national security leadership. The old systems are continually adopting
the new systems. The need to adopt these changes comes with its challenges. The process of restructuring
national security leadership is long and rigorous. It also requires a lot of time to implement and standardize all
aspects of leadership to the newly amended changes.
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