ThailandÆs Crisis: A Critical Analysis of Thai National Security
The Cold War between the United States (U.S.)ùallies includedùand the Soviet Union lasted roughly from the end of World War II to early in the 1990Æs and was characterized by a lack of direct armed combat in the field. Unlike a typical war, it did not pit countries against each other in terms of soldiers or battles. Rather, it was fought primarily strategically, through indirect means, such as economic pressure, the spreading of propaganda, and other non-combative political tactics. A long ôwar,ö the Cold War was in many ways responsible for political insecurity that extended around the world, even to those countries such as Thailand who were not involved in the conflict. One reason for this is that the arms race between the Soviet Union and the NATO countries resulted in a massive build-up of weaponry that posed a threat to everyone, particularly since the arms race between the Soviet Union and the U.S. in particular featured a competitive build-up of nuclear weapons. Although the Cold War did not take as many lives as traditional wars, it focused the attention of the world on the possible threat of nuclear extinction, and as such it had a significant impact on the thinking and responses of people and nations for a long time to come. If there was any overriding effect of the Cold War, it was a deep and understandable concern about securityùespecially military security.
However, in the aftermath of the Cold War, as the nations of the world struggled to readjust to its effects, it became obvious that military security was not the only force that must remain strong in order to provide overriding security for a nation. Military security in the sense of the number of fighter planes in the hangar or the number of rockets ready to be launched only covered one aspect of a nationÆs security. A nation could be militarily secure but the people could still suff...