Threats to Britain’s national security do not only come from the possibility of a terrorist attack, according to a new report, published in mid-February by the Institute for Public Policy Research (ippr).
ippr argues that new frontlines are emerging in the battle to maintain our security and issues including climate change, energy security and disease and bio-security are becoming increasingly important.
The report, published ahead of the Government’s forthcoming National Security Strategy, is the first paper to be presented to ippr’s Commission on National Security, co-chaired by Lord Ashdown, former High Representative to Bosnia and Lord Robertson, former Secretary General of NATO.
The report argues that in the past national security has been too narrowly defined as protecting the UK from a military or terrorist attack and this definition is now out of date. ippr’s research shows that the world’s increasing interdependence means that the UK needs a more comprehensive assessment of security. A new national security strategy must address the full range of threats and risks facing the UK such as:
Climate change: The potential for dangerous climate change to have direct and indirect impact on UK security is increasing, whether this is through disruption caused to important security installations by unpredictable weather, tension and conflict caused by water stress in parts of Asia and Africa, or through environmentally induced increases in migration across the Sahara and into southern Europe.
Energy insecurity: The UK is moving from being an exporter of energy to an importer. This will increase our vulnerability to supply decisions taken in states and regions such as Russia, the Caspian Sea region, central Asia, Nigeria, and Algeria and comes at a time when competition over energy supplies is likely to increase.
Global poverty: Tackling poverty overseas and widening economic opportunity will remove a key background factor to conflict and failed states, which serve as safe havens for not only terrorist groups but also transnational criminal networks that smuggle drugs and other illicit substances over our borders and onto our streets.
Disease and bio-security: Preventing and containing disease outbreaks such as bird flu and SARS, whether occurring naturally or as result of bio-terrorism, is a key new challenge, particularly given the exposed status of London as a major global hub for people movement.
National infrastructure: The interdependence of key elements of our national infrastructure such as power, water, transport and communications, means that weaknesses in one area could have a cascading effect leading to breakdown in others.
Ian Kearns, ippr Deputy Director and report author, said: “The world has changed and notions of security that helped protect us in the 20th century are no longer able to protect us in the 21st century. Terrorism is a very real threat but we must not allow it to dominate discussion about national security. The frontline in the battle for security today is more complex than ever before. How we deal with the threats posed by climate change, energy insecurity and infectious diseases must now be at the forefront of any national security strategy.”
Lord Ashdown, Co-Chair of ippr’s Commission on National Security, said: “Providing a secure environment for its citizens is the first job of any government. This paper sets out in stark detail the full range of challenges to government in this area today and provides the Commission with the foundations on which to build forward-looking policy recommendations. It should play an important role in framing the policy debate moving forward, since it tables the kind of fundamental and challenging questions on national security that any UK government must surely now address.”
