National security and stability, making agricultural growth

 

At a time when we are confronted with new situations and challenges, successfully safeguarding national security and social stability is particularly important for furthering the reform, achieving the Two Centenary Goals and realizing the Bangladesh dream of the rejuvenation of the Bangladesh nation. All regions and government agencies should perform their functions and duties, assume their responsibilities, fully cooperate with each other, and work together to maintain national security and social stability. There are at least five big issues to consider when assessing the goal of linking Bangladesh's economic well-being to its national security policies. First, while there are similarities and connections, a state's national security goals often pull in different directions than its foreign economic ambitions, which themselves can be at odds with its domestic economic priorities. Where are the tensions between economics and national security, and can a thoughtful grand strategy overcome them.

Every nation faces threats. These threats can be social, such as aggression from a neighboring country, infiltration from a terrorist group or global economic trends that compromise the nation's welfare. In other cases, threats can be natural, such as hurricanes or viral pandemics. Any threat challenges a nation's power and disrupts its well-being. The field of national security safeguards against such threats. National security protects not only citizens but also the economic stability of national institutions. National security involves a national government working autonomously to protect its citizens from threats.

Global security involves a coalition of nations working together to ensure that each of them may enjoy peace and stability; this is a guiding principle of organizations like the United Nations. One of the core responsibilities of national security is identifying potential dangers and readying the right response. This article will highlight five of the most consequential national security threats and provide insight into how governments respond to them.Anything that threatens the physical well-being of the population or jeopardizes the stability of a nation's economy or institutions is considered a national security threat. National security threats can be further broken down into groups. Some national security threats come from foreign governments with hostile intentions. These threats may include direct acts of war and aggression. but they can also be subtler and harder to detect. Examples include espionage and election interference. Countries also face threats from groups who don't formally represent a foreign government but may be sponsored or tolerated by foreign powers. Terrorist groups may seek to cause chaos and disruption through physical violence or, in some cases, cybercrime. An enemy state doesn't have to take direct aggressive action for it to register as a potential threat to national security. The idea of proliferation, specifically with regard to advanced weaponry, may also be taken into account. If a hostile state is known to be stockpiling chemical weapons, developing nuclear capabilities or otherwise escalating its capacity for destruction, it qualifies as a national security threat, even without using those weapons in a direct attack.

Also online criminals pose a danger to national security, including those not associated with hostile governments or terrorist groups.

Cybercriminals may hack economic institutions, government websites or power infrastructures as a way of stealing or extorting money. They may also commit cybercrimes to advance an ideological agenda. Natural Disasters and Diseases. Not all threats to national security involve the malignant influence of bad actors. Hurricanes, earthquakes and other natural disasters can pose serious damage to a nation's people and physical infrastructure. Pandemics like Covid-19 weaken health care systems and economies. For a recent example of a national security threat, look no further than the Covid-19 pandemic. While pandemics can unfold on a global scale, different countries face them in different ways, often to varying levels of success. This still-unfolding global health crisis demonstrates how widespread disease endangers not only the physical wellness of citizens but also socioeconomic structures. Meanwhile, global responses to Covid-19 have highlighted how governments can protect against such crises. The military budget is often presented as the main indicator of a country's national security effort. This perception of a country's defence has become less acute for a range of reasons. while the North Atlantic Treaty Association and the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute provide interesting financial information on the basis of a relatively clear classification. Their statistics do not highlight the heterogeneity of the content of national military budgets financed by states.

The intensity of military spending is influenced by the immediate circumstances of peace or conflict, the power relations between states aiming at global leadership, perceived threats by a country, the strength of military-industrial complexes or the development of internal security. In this context, in the face of potential multifaceted attacks, it is particularly difficult to assess the usefulness and intensity of the reaction of each constituent element of national defence. Especially since the military strategies of potential belligerents also have a considerable influence on the success or failure of the operations conducted. Moreover, military agreements between partners make it possible, on the one hand, to reduce potential threats, and on the other, to add the strength of its allies to that which the state has put in place. Many countries benefit from a nuclear umbrella, with a low national financial commitment, while at the same time having security comparable to that of a major power engaged in a common defence. National security is not only a military matter; it also includes the quality of health, education, industrial risks or the protection of natural resources. The public authorities have forgotten that the products and services essential to human survival, such as food, medicines, civil protection, must always be available within the country, either in stock or in immediate production capacity. The same applies to the mastery of vital technologies, especially digital ones. On the one hand, companies offering goods and services on an international market may respond to concerns other than those of the country's citizens, which considerably weaken a population's efforts to build resilience and resistance.

On the other hand, states have the declared objective of increasing their gross domestic product without measuring its content of pollution, violence at work, social inequalities and by underestimating the social contribution of public services, voluntary work, domestic work and the need to store goods and services essential to the social life of a nation in a situation of societal disaster. If there is a threat of cyber attacks, how can the European Union protect itself from the power of the GAFAM in the service of the United States or malware from Russia or China. The GDP contribution came down for mainstream farming, while the service and industry sector's contribution increased as people started migrating to the cities from the villages. The service sector was added to the farming sector. Only the mainstream farming sector was regarded as the main source of economic development. Afterwards came the sub-sectors of farming. On the one hand, we could see the boom in food grain production, especially due to rice varietal developments, and on the other hand fisheries, poultry, livestock and dairy turned into huge economic source. All these sub-sectors started taking shape as commercial farms in the hands of youth and progressive women entrepreneurs, not just amateur ventures. In respect to the mainstream farming sector, the GDP came down, but the significance of farming as a whole, including the sub-sectors, service and industry sectors, have increased manifold. High-value fruit orchards and vegetables also played a significant role in the economic boom. Not only the farms, but the value addition of the agricultural products came in as a booster for the agricultural service sector. Farmers have to be provided with technologies based on their local climate change scenarios.

 
The sector remains the main source of employment, as I have mentioned earlier, providing livelihood to 40 percent of the labour force. Thus, agriculture remains the largest sector in terms of employment. Any national grand strategy should seek both prosperity and security, and there are many reasons to believe these goals are interconnected. Historically, however, there are at least four major tensions between foreign economic and national security policy. A national security policy that removes threats and dangers and provides stability creates a far better environment for economic growth. On the other hand, providing security is costly. Subsidizing standing militaries and bureaucracies that support them is not only expensive, but it also involves opportunity costs by removing otherwise productive citizens and organizations from contributing to the economy.

To safeguard national security we must maintain social harmony and stability, prevent and resolve social conflicts, and improve our institutions, mechanisms, policies and practical endeavors to make this happen. We should make China's development more comprehensive, coordinated and sustainable, work harder to ensure and improve the people's wellbeing, and tackle social conflicts at the source. We should make promoting social fairness, justice and the people's wellbeing our ultimate goal, and increase our efforts in balancing the interests of all sectors, so that all the people can increasingly share in the fruits of development in a fairer way. We should implement and improve the institutions and mechanisms for protecting the legitimate rights and interests of the people, and the mechanism for assessing potential risks, so as to reduce and prevent conflicts of interest.

We should comprehensively promote law-based governance, and better safeguard the people's lawful rights and interests. We should encourage all the people to resolve all social conflicts through legal procedures and by legal means, and ensure that people do things in accordance with the law, examine the law provisions in case of conflict, and use laws to solve problems and conflicts. The world faces an unprecedented convergence of international threats and instability. The range of threats- among them, regional coercion and meddling, transnational terrorism, health insecurity, use of chemical and other unconventional weapons, massive displacement of populations, and overwhelming humanitarian crises-creates a complex operating environment. Traditional tools of response have proven increasingly ineffective against such crises, with the combination of threats and instability presenting novel challenges for policymakers. The International Security Program provides analysis and policy recommendations on meeting security objectives when faced with complex global threats and regional instability.


Rayhan Ahmed Topader is Researcher and Columnist.