er from insecurity in other forms. A country where children go to bed at night not knowing whether they will have anything to eat in the morning is not a secure country, regardless of how many weapons it has accumulated.
The security of a nation must be viewed as that which provides peace and stability for its citizens as well as for its government, and in that interpretation, economic security is an essential component of security as well. People who have no assurance of employment, food to eat, or housing are not secure. Those who cannot afford medical insurance or medical care are not secure. And those who cannot count on their government to provide assistance in catastrophe are not secure. Furthermore, at the national level, a nation that has no economic security at the government level cannot be politically secure, either. An economically unstable government is vulnerable to political unrest and to other agencies that would exploit the people for political gain. Economic insecurity goes hand in hand with espionage, terrorism, and political or social captivity. People who do not have the means to take care of their families are susceptible to crime, traitorous acts, and other desperate acts as a means of supplying food and shelter. A nation where large numbers of people are poor and starving lends itself to rioting, looting, and even murder. Therefore, economic security is absolutely critical to national security.
The Growing Importance of Economic Security
As Walter Lippmann is quoted as saying half a century ago:
A nation is secure to the extent to which it is not in danger of having to sacrifice core values, if it wishes to avoid war, and is able, if challenged, to maintain them by victory in such a war1.
This perspective challenges the traditional view of security as being primarily military, pointing out that the real issue of a nationÆs security is predicated on whether it can protect what
1. M...