Conclusion: Southern Instability, Security and Western Concepts — On an Unhappy Marriage and the Need for a Divorce

Abstract

It is usually the case that Western security experts attempt to analyse Southern security by reference to concepts and tools of analysis which originate in the First World. Often, many of these tools are transposed onto Third World states in a wholly inappropriate fashion. This has led, and continues to lead, to confusion rather than enlightenment. Particularly significant here is the concept of ‘national security’ which has its roots in Western liberal societies, yet which has been adopted both by Western analysts and many leaders of Third World states to explain and legitimise certain policies. The first part of this paper questions the validity of the term ‘national security’ when used to analyse and describe the security problems of Third World states. A case is made for divesting the term ‘state security’ of the negative connotations associated with it in Western literature, and regarding it in a neutral fashion. This would be helpful since state security seems to be a far more appropriate tool of analysis for many Third World states when discussing security. It is suggested that some of those Third World states most admonished by Western politicians and analysts for the pursuit of state security are the very Third World states which come nearest to fitting the Western notion of national security. The second half of the paper discusses the ‘strong and weak states’ debate flourishing in contemporary Western social science, and suggests that for such a conception to be really useful in the context of Third World security, there is a compelling and urgent need for redefinition rather than inflexible application.