liberalism

Very closely linked, even inseparable from, military and political security is economic security. Economic security concerns access to the resources, finance and markets necessary to sustain acceptable levels of welfare and state power. At the state level of analysis, there are three broad categories of links between security and economics. Firstly, a strong economy may be a measure of power in the international system. The greater a state’s economic potential the greater is its military potential. The economy may provide the material and financial means for the military capability to protect national security. For example, the government has claimed that ‘We cannot have effective foreign policy or strong defence without a sound economy and a sound fiscal position to support them.’ Therefore, it is claimed that a state’s economic interest remains vital to its security interests, and military force may still be used. This may have occurred during the Gulf war where the US and the UK deployed forces to defend Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, arguably, to ensure continued access to the oil on which so many Western economies depend.

The second link between economic well-being and security concerns the inter-reliance of translational economics and transactions. It is possible for states to use such transactions to manipulate or change the attitudes and behaviour of others in the international field. States may use economic instruments to reward, punish, induce or coerce another state to behave in particular ways. Among the most common of these tools are: raising or lowering tariffs on imported goods; currency manipulations to alter terms of trade; granting loans or extending credit and the manipulation of foreign aid. Such econom...

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...le, in speeches concerning the alleged ‘War on Terror’, Tony Blair frequently talked of a ‘determination to defend national values’, and the things ‘that we hold dear in this country.’ The point is that, for nationalists, such declarations may be beneficial because they encourage the national community to treasure its national values: they may allow the nation to venerate its past and present triumphs and to re-establish a sense of its own identity. This thinking encompasses all those customs that are familiar and generate security and belonging. For nationalists, sharing cultural values and aspirations may help to break down barriers and build a sense of trust between people; it may promote a sense of social cohesion, order and stability. National values, such as political liberty or democracy may be celebrated and past national glories may be commemorated.