Collective security
Collective security is a multi-lateral security arrangement between states in which each state in the institution accepts that an attack on one state is the concern of all and merits a collective response to threats by all.[1] Collective security was a key principle underpinning the League of Nations and the United Nations.[1] Collective security is more ambitious than systems of alliance security or collective defense in that it seeks to encompass the totality of states within a region or indeed globally.
The premise of a collective security arrangement is that it serves as a deterrent to aggression by committing an international coalition against any aggressor.[1] While collective security is an idea with a long history, its implementation in practice has proved problematic.[2]
Collective security is also referred to by the phrase "an attack on one is an attack on all". However, usage of this phrase also frequently refers to
History
Early mentions
Collective security is one of the most promising approaches for peace and a valuable device for power management on an international scale. Cardinal Richelieu proposed a scheme for collective security in 1629, which was partially reflected in the 1648 Peace of Westphalia. In the eighteenth century many proposals were made for collective security arrangements, especially in Europe.
The concept of a peaceful community of nations was outlined in 1795 in
International cooperation to promote collective security originated in the
The forerunner of the League of Nations, the
At the start of the twentieth century two power blocs emerged through alliances between the European
By the time the fighting ended in November 1918, the war had had a profound impact, affecting the social, political and economic systems of Europe and inflicting psychological and physical damage on the continent.[15] Anti-war sentiment rose across the world; the First World War was described as "the war to end all wars",[16][17] and its possible causes were vigorously investigated. The causes identified included arms races, alliances, secret diplomacy, and the freedom of sovereign states to enter into war for their own benefit. The perceived remedies to these were seen as the creation of an international organization whose aim was to prevent future war through disarmament, open diplomacy, international co-operation, restrictions on the right to wage wars, and penalties that made war unattractive to nations.[18]
In a 1945 American Political Science Review article, Frederick L. Schuman criticized notions that a new collective security organization could contribute to world peace. Schuman pointed to examples from history of collective security organizations that failed to facilitate world peace. He argued that the organization that would become the United Nations could only facilitate world peace if the United States, the Soviet Union, and the United Kingdom worked in unison, but that the organization would fail if there were divisions between the three powers.[19]
Theory
This article includes a improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (March 2022) ) |
Collective security can be understood as a security arrangement in which all states cooperate collectively to provide security for all by the actions of all against any states within the groups which might challenge the existing order by using force. That contrasts with self-help strategies of engaging in war for purely-immediate national interest. While collective security is possible, several prerequisites must be met for it to work.
Collective security also contrasts with
Sovereign nations eager to maintain the status quo willingly co-operate and accept a degree of vulnerability and, in some cases for minor nations, also accede to the interests of the chief contributing nations organizing the collective security. It is achieved by setting up an international co-operative organisation under the auspices of international law, which gives rise to a form of international collective governance, despite being limited in scope and effectiveness. The collective security organisation then becomes an arena for diplomacy, the balance of power, and the exercise of soft power. The use of hard power by states, unless legitimized by the collective security organisation, is considered illegitimate, reprehensible, and necessitating remediation of some kind. The collective security organisation not only gives cheaper security but also may be the only practicable means of security for smaller nations against more powerful threatening neighbours without needing to join the camp of the nations that balance their neighbours.
The concept of "collective security" was pioneered by Baháʼu'lláh,[20] Michael Joseph Savage, Martin Wight, Immanuel Kant, and Woodrow Wilson and was deemed to apply interests in security in a broad manner to "avoid grouping powers into opposing camps, and refusing to draw dividing lines that would leave anyone out."[21] The term "collective security" has also been cited as a principle of the United Nations and earlier the League of Nations. By employing a system of collective security, the United Nations hopes to dissuade any member state from acting in a manner likely to threaten peace and thus avoid a conflict.
Collective security selectively incorporates the concept of both
At the same time, the concept of global government is about centralization. Global government is a centralized institutional system that possesses the power use of force like a well-established sovereign nation-state. The concept strips states of their "standing as centers of power and policy, where issues of war and peace are concerned"[23] and superimposes on them "an institution possessed of the authority and capability to maintain, by unchallengeable force so far as may be necessary, the order and stability of a global community."[23] Despite different characteristics of balance of power theory, collective security selectively incorporates both concepts, centralization and decentralization, which can boil down to the phrase "order without government."[24] Thus, collective security seems to be more reliable alternative since it gathers power as a team to punish the aggressor, and it is an attempt to improve international relations and to provide solid rules under anarchy.
Basic assumptions
Organski (1960) lists five basic assumptions underlying the theory of collective security:
- In an armed conflict, member nation-states can agree on which nation is the aggressor.
- All member nation-states are equally committed to contain and constrain the aggression, irrespective of its source or origin.
- All member nation-states have an identical freedom of action and ability to join in proceedings against the aggressor.
- The cumulative power of the cooperating members of the alliance for collective security is adequate and sufficient to overpower the might of the aggressor.
- In the light of the threat posed by the collective might of the nations of a collective security coalition, the aggressor nation will either modify its policies or be defeated.
Prerequisites
Morgenthau (1948) states that three prerequisites must be met for collective security to successfully prevent war:
- The collective security system must be able to assemble military force in strength greatly in excess to that assembled by the aggressor(s), thereby deterring the aggressor(s) from attempting to change the world order that is defended by the collective security system.
- Those nations, whose combined strength would be used for deterrence as mentioned in the first prerequisite, should have identical beliefs about the security of the world order that collective security is defending.
- Nations must be willing to subordinate their conflicting interests to the common good defined in terms of the common defense of all member-states.
League of Nations
After World War I, the first large-scale attempt to provide collective security in modern times was the establishment of the
, both of which were League members. After the invasion, members of the League passed a resolution that called for Japan to withdraw or face severe penalties. Since every nation had a veto power, Japan promptly vetoed the resolution, severely limiting the League's ability to respond. After one year of deliberation, the League passed a resolution condemning the invasion without committing its members to any action against it. The Japanese replied by quitting the League.The
In both cases, the absence of the United States deprived it of another major power that could have used economic leverage against either of the aggressor states. Inaction by the League subjected it to criticisms that it was weak and concerned more with European issues since most leading of its members were European, and it did not deter Hitler from his plans to dominate Europe. Abyssinian Emperor Haile Selassie continued to support collective security, as he assessed that impotence lay not in the principle but its covenantors' commitment to honor its tenets.
One active and articulate exponent of collective security during the immediate prewar years was Soviet Foreign Minister Maxim Litvinov.[26]
After the Munich Agreement in September 1938 and the passivity of outside powers in the face of German occupation of the remainder of Czechoslovakia in March 1939, Western powers were shown not to be prepared to engage in collective security with the Soviet Union against aggression by Germany.
Soviet foreign policy was revised, and Litvinov was replaced as foreign minister in early May 1939 to facilitate the negotiations that led to the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact with Germany, which was signed by Litvinov's successor, Vyacheslav Molotov, on August 23. The war in Europe broke out a week later with the invasion of Poland, which started on September 1. Thus, collective security may not always work because of the lack of commitment and the unwillingness of states or the international community to act in concert (Mingst 1999).
United Nations
The 1945
However, collective security in the UN has not completely failed. The role of the UN and collective security in general is evolving with the rise of
Collective defense
Collective defense is an arrangement, usually formalized by a treaty and an organization, among participant states that commit support in defense of a member state if it is attacked by another state outside the organization. NATO is the best-known collective defense organization; its famous Article 5 calls on (but does not fully commit) member states to assist another member under attack. This article was invoked only after the September 11 attacks on the United States, after which other NATO members provided assistance to the US war on terror by participating in the War in Afghanistan.
Collective defense has its roots in multiparty
On the other hand, collective defense also involves risky commitments. Member states can become embroiled in costly wars benefiting neither the direct victim nor the aggressor. In World War I, France was obligated to join into war with Austria-Hungary and Germany because France's ally Russia was at war with them.[citation needed] Germany declared war on Russia on 1 August 1914 and on 3 August it declared war on France.[27]
See also
- List of military alliances
- World War I
- World War II
- Franco-Russian Alliance
- Triple Alliance (1882)
- Anti-Comintern Pact
- Grand Alliance (World War II)
- Franco-Soviet Treaty of Mutual Assistance
- Germany–Soviet Union relations before 1941
- Southeast Asia Treaty Organization
- Self-defence in international law
References
- ^ JSTOR 1952903.
The rock bottom principle upon which collective security is founded provides that an attack on any one state will be regarded as an attack on all states. It finds its measure in the simple doctrine of one for all and all for one.
- OCLC 979008143.
- ^ Decker, Jon (30 June 2022). "Biden at NATO Summit: 'An attack on one is an attack on all'". GrayDC. Retrieved 2023-04-05.
- ^ "Nato: Cyber-attack on one nation is attack on all". BBC News. 2019-08-27. Retrieved 2023-04-05.
- ^ Kant, Immanuel. "Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Sketch". Mount Holyoke College. Archived from the original on 2008-05-14. Retrieved 2008-05-16.
- ISBN 978-0-415-22073-6. Retrieved 17 October 2010.
- ^ "Immanuel Kant: Perpetual Peace". Archived from the original on 2019-09-30. Retrieved 2010-10-16.
- ^ Reichard 2006, p. 9.
- ^ Rapoport 1995, pp. 498–500.
- ^ Bouchet-Saulnier, Brav & Olivier 2007, pp. 14–134.
- ^ Northedge 1986, p. 10.
- ^ "Before the League of Nations". The United Nations Office at Geneva. Archived from the original on 2008-12-09. Retrieved 2008-06-14.
- ^ Bell 2007, pp. 15–17.
- ^ Northedge 1986, pp. 1–2.
- ^ Bell 2007, p. 16.
- ^ Archer 2001, p. 14.
- ^ Northedge 1986, p. 1.
- ^ Bell 2007, p. 8.
- S2CID 144163487.
- ^ Shoghi Effendi (1991). "The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh". Bahai-Library.com. US Bahá’í Publishing Trust. p. 206. Retrieved Sep 13, 2021.
- ^ Yost, David S. (1977). NATO Transformed: The Alliance's New Roles in International Security. London: Leicester University Press. p. 149.
- ^ I.L. Claude, Jr., "The Management of Power in the Changing United Nations", International Organization, Vol. 15 (Spring 1961), pp. 219–221
- ^ a b c Claude, p. 222
- ^ I. L. Claude, Jr. "An Autopsy of Collective Security", Political Science Quarterly, Vol. 90 (Winter 1975–76), p. 715
- ^ a b Ebegbulem, Joseph C (2011). "The Failure of Collective Security in the Post World Wars I and II International System" (PDF). Journal of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. 2.
- ^ "Maksim Litvinov". Encyclopaedia Britannica. 13 July 2023.
- ^ "World War I Declarations: Topics in Chronicling America". Library of Congress.
Works cited
- Archer, Clive (2001). International Organizations. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-24690-3.
- Bell, P.M.H (2007). The Origins of the Second World War in Europe. Pearson Education Limited. ISBN 978-1-4058-4028-6.
- Bouchet-Saulnier, Françoise; Brav, Laura; Olivier, Clementine (2007). The Practical Guide to Humanitarian Law. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-0-7425-5496-2.
- Northedge, F.S (1986). The League of Nations: Its Life and Times, 1920–1946. Holmes & Meier. ISBN 978-0-7185-1316-0.
- Rapoport, Anatol (1995). The Origins of Violence: Approaches to the Study of Conflict. Transaction Publishers. ISBN 978-1-56000-783-8.
- Reichard, Martin (2006). The EU-NATO relationship: a legal and political perspective. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. ISBN 978-0-7546-4759-1.
Bibliography
- Beer, Francis A., ed. (1970). Alliances: Latent War Communities in the Contemporary World. New York: Holt, Rinehart, Winston.
- Bourquin, Maurice (1936). Collective Security, A record of the Seventh and Eighth International Studies Conference. Paris: International Institute.
- Claude Jr., Inis L. (2006). Collective Security as an Approach to Peace in: Classic Readings and Contemporary Debates in International Relations ed. Donald M. Goldstein, Phil Williams, & Jay M. Shafritz. Belmont CA: Thomson Wadsworth. pp. 289–302.
- ISBN 978-0-19-958330-0.
- Organski, A.F.K. (1958). World Politics. Borzoi books on International Politics (1 ed.). New York: Alfred A. Knopf. pp. 461. Retrieved 15 October 2010.
- ISBN 978-0-415-47472-6.
- Sharp, Alan (2013). Collective Security. Leibniz Institute of European History (IEG).
- Wight, Martin (1977). Systems of States ed. Hedley Bull. London: Leicester University Press. p. 49.
External links
- de Wet, Erika, Wood, Michael. Collective Security, Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law
- President Carter Nobel Lecture