Traditional

and
nontraditional
security
threats in
PAKISTAN
Submitted by: KAMAL
KHAN

Submitted TO: Najam ul Asr

 Traditional and nontraditional security
threats
Traditional security threats:
Traditional security issues are the issues related to essential values of the state, integrity of the
territory and the political sovereignty basically means which are important to define traditional
security, consisting of weapons armaments systems, and the military and the diplomatic means
like pacts and alliances aimed at building special relations between states for security all these
purposes are the means of the traditional security .

Traditional Security- Connected to military strength and protection from external threats
like wars and attacks. Focus of security is on the 'state.'

Traditional/ hard notions of security- These deal with conventional issues, which
mostly involve violence or destruction, that pose a threat to a nation. These include Aggression
or War by other nations, Insurgency, civil wars, etc.
However, such notions of security were more relevant during both the World Wars and Cold
War . Notions of security differ from nation to nation. For instance, what constitutes a threat for
a third world country might not be a threat for the developed nations.

Ethnic conflicts, for example, used to be a threat in relatively under developed nations of Africa
but not for the nations of Europe or America.

Similarly, an attack by a nation of the rival alliance (NATO and Warsaw pact) during the peak of
Cold War (late 1950s to early 1960s) was a threat for nations of the First and the Second World
nations whereas most of the Third world nations were totally unaffected since they were non-
aligned
Earlier, it was considered and up to some extent it was true as well, that a nation requires enough
protection from attack outside its border.
Aim of such attacks: - To conquer another country and expand landmass or get control of certain
important resources.
Hence, such military attacks inflicted by on a country by any other country are called Traditional
notions of security.

Traditional security threats in Pakistan:

Nationwide safety is the foremost concern of each state and it’s the authorities’s accountability to
make sure its inner and exterior safety in accordance with its nationwide pursuits. Pakistan can
also be dealing with interlinked challenges inner and exterior from hostile neighbors. The safety
patterns of any state pawed the best way for exterior interventions and make it a bit of cake for
exterior ravels, worldwide actors and regional international locations to safe their very own
pursuits. Inner challenges embody unhealthy governance, corrupt and fragile establishments,
weak and tumbling economic system and lots of extra. Defeating militancy and extremism are
the precept challenges to Pakistan’s Nationwide Safety. The essential neighborhood is the prime
concern of Pakistan’s Nationwide Safety. Moreover, the relations of Pakistan with India,
Afghanistan and Iran are making it troublesome for Pakistan to deal with home issues as a result
of these three fronts together with the warfare on terror have posed persevering with safety
dilemma that hang-out the nation’s progress.

All the safety situation modified in Pakistan after 9/11 incident. Now, Pakistan is dealing with
varied sorts of threats; each conventional and non-traditional akin to extremism, sectarian
violence, separatist actions, political and financial instability, terrorism, and feudalism are the
normal inner threats linked with exterior elements. These actions are occurring in numerous
elements of the nation. Black Water, CIA, Uncooked, NDS, KGB and lots of different safety
companies of various sates are attempting their greatest to destabilize Pakistan, wherever doable.
FATA is strategically probably the most necessary elements of the nation, the place such safety
breaching actions are occurring on every day foundation and these companies have made sound
grounds there for his or her actions. FATA grew to become the supply of terrorism in nation and
proved a secure haven for terrorists and extremists. These terrorists are repeatedly difficult the
inner safety of the state, territorial integrity and are jeopardizing the accomplishment of its
nationwide pursuits. There are additionally confirmed evidences of the overseas involvement in
these actions. Together with FATA, the terrorist and rebel actions in Baluchistan are main threats
to Pakistan’s Nationwide Safety. In line with the overseas workplace of Pakistan, the militancy
in Baluchistan is gaining help from overseas gamers particularly our Japanese neighbor.
Separatist actions in Sind and Baluchistan added by sectarian violence are posing credible threats
to Pakistan’s Nationwide Safety. Significantly, the Sunni-Shia battle has crossed the edge and
has set the metropolitan cities on fireplace. Undoubtedly, it’s the most hazardous risk and a
plague to Pakistan’s integrity after terrorism.

The arch rivals; India and Pakistan who fought three wars since 1947 are nonetheless enjoying
chess with one another. We hoped a brand new period of relations after the BJP’s victory in India
and the Prime Minister Modi’s invitation to Nawaz Sharif to India. Nonetheless, Nerendra Modi
opted for his or her conservative agenda and proved detached from his predecessors. The
elevated border skirmishes on the India-Pakistan border are main each the states in direction of a
Nuclear Battle, if not dealt with well timed.

On this scenario, when Pakistan’s forces are working in North and South Waziristan towards
militants, India is attempting to distract Pakistan and creating downside on Line of Management.
India has modified its gestures underneath the BJP’s authorities and has opted for availing extra
choices like Chilly Begin Doctrine. It has made it troublesome for Pakistan to combat at two or
three fronts when the Zarb-e-Azab can also be occurring in Waziristan and Khyber Company.
The latest go to of Obama to India and their Nuclear Deal has imbalanced the regional safety
equipment, posing one other Safety risk to Pakistan’s Nationwide Safety. As a consequence of
these steps of India, Pakistan has the one choice of sustaining minimal credible deterrence.
India’s steady arms race and militarization is pushing Pakistan to extend and improve its navy
capabilities. In a way, Pakistan is compelled to make important quantitative and qualitative
enhancements to its nuclear arsenals.

Moreover, the soundness in Afghanistan is at all times questionable. Pakistan is sharing an

extended border with Afghanistan whose insecurity poses intense extreme threats to Pakistan.
Pakistan is at all times involved concerning the overwhelming presence and involvement of India
in Afghanistan. Pakistan has repeatedly raised questions concerning the growing variety of
consulates that are always denied by Afghan and Indian authorities. The growing presence of
Islamic State in Afghanistan is one other credible risk to Pakistan’s Nationwide Safety and
territorial integrity. It has began recruitments from Afghanistan and Pakistan and has additionally
appointed their representatives in Pakistan. Their presence is present in Karachi Safura Bus
carnage and assault on a DSP in Peshawar. If IS would succeeded in taking maintain of
Afghanistan or Taliban decides to affix IS or the each Taliban and IS would begin working
collectively then it might convey a devastating impact for Pakistan and the entire area.

Iran and Pakistan have seen good instances of their relations, however strains of their
relationship change into perceptible in 1974 when Iran denied the invitation of Islamic
convention in Lahore as a result of Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi was additionally invited.
Afterward, Iran’s position in Afghanistan and its strengthening ties with India created tensions
between two international locations and now each international locations have extreme
allegations in direction of one another. Iran is blamed for selling sectarian violence in Pakistan
and supporting shiaas and offering them materials help. Iran was additionally discovered
concerned in fuelling terrorism in Pakistan by majority Sunni and minority shia riots in 1980s
and 1990s. Inner stability and integration is now wanting as a nightmare with out curbing the
menace of sectarianism.

Baluch insurgency is one other necessary bone of competition between the 2 states. Now each
states jumped into border skirmishes, killing frontier crops personnel and holding residents
hostages and harassing them. Many instances Pakistan has warned Iran for coming into its forces
into Pakistan territory. To curtail the issues with neighboring international locations, Pakistan
wants a soul-searching train to demolish the devils within the inner system in addition to
spotlight the deteriorating overseas forces in Worldwide boards. The geo-strategic location can’t
be modified however selling good governance and enhancing regulation and order scenario can
convey appreciable optimistic modifications in inner stability, which finally can keep away from
the exterior forces to influent our residents by proxies.

The biggest challenge in Pakistan is maintaining national unity.

In order to achieve this there has to be “unity of command” inside the Pakistani Armed Forces -
specially the Army.

If the Army is unified, all other elements of the Pakistani deep state - the sister armed services,
the Army of the Jihad, the narco-trafficking enterprise, the murder-for-hire corporation etc..
etc… can be kept aligned with a well stated set of national goals.

If the deep state is united - then it can suppress any civilian dissent whether it is anti-
authoritarian or ethnic “splittist” (as the Chinese call these things).

To that end - a variety of strategies have to be used to “engage” in regional and extra-regional
conflicts. The typical strategy has a “in” , a “between” and an “out”. Barring unusual
circumstances, each engagement has a well understood horizon and the “in”, “between” and
“out” phases are well separated. Every once in a while something unexpected occurs and a phase
has to be rescheduled - this leads to a lot of internal friction and managing the “unity of
command” becomes critical.

It is in these exigent circumstances that the deep-state steps out of the shadows to realign its
elements and produce a coherent security picture.

Any form of diversity in views poses a direct security threat to this process of consolidation in
exigent circumstances. So a certain level of authoritarian response is part of the governance
package in Pakistan.

From a long term perspective, the challenge is to develop local wealth storage tools as the
Pakistani population grows. Without a gradual increase in accessibility to higher living standards
the entire system is unstable. To that end the main byproduct of the national security state in
Pakistan is a well controlled and steadily growing real estate sector.

This has historical parallels, in the days of the British Indian Army, Punjabi Musalman soldiers
from the Potohar plateau would get land grants after they retired from the forces. Today there is
no more land to give out and you tend to get flats allocated in a “Fauji Foundation” developed
real estate offering when you retire. As long as the value of these real estate developments
continues to grow - there will be unity of command in the armed forces. That Afghanistan's
Pashtuns will at regular intervals move back & forth in KPK province. The FC is having a tough
time in searching them physically at Torkham post.

Afghanistan has not recognized the Durrand line as official border with Pakistan. Afghanistan
says that KPK belongs to it.

Terrorists have penetrated all walks of life in Pakistan. This itself is a big threat.

Terrorists are wanting to catch hold of a few nukes & the “Pak army” is constantly shifting its
nukes here & there for fear of these terrorists.

The “Pak army” is worried that terrorists do not capture it fighter air crafts, naval vessels, Core
Commander, tanks & it is always on the alert.

Kabaili Balochis fire at the army in Balochistan.

is the *biggest* security challenge inside (and outside) Pakistan.

In a nutshell we can say that basic traditional security threats to Pakistan and the security
challenges that looks plausible are;

1. Regional challenges - regional ethnicities, Kashmir, India and Afghanistan

2. Internal Challenges - Fragile democracy, civilian control of Military, complex
geographic terrain, ethnic tensions.

Non Traditional security:

Non-traditional security issues have also been defined as those which are termed in contrast
to traditional security threats and refer to the factors other than military, political and diplomatic
conflicts but can pose threats to the survival and development of a sovereign state and human
kind as a whole
 Besides traditional threats there are so many nontraditional threats that are lethal for human
survival and for the state as well such as natural disasters food and water shortage, displaced
persons, transnational crimes, global warming, climate change, gender discrimination, irregular
diseases and infectious diseases.

The advancement in science and technology nuclear capability and militancy and environmental
challenges are contributing towards enhancing these nontraditional security threats.

Common characteristics of Nontraditional security threats:

Nontraditional security threats having a few common characteristics are as follow:

 The threats are transnational in nature with regards to their origins, conceptions and effects.
 They do not stem from competition between states or shifts in the balance of power, but are often
defined in political and socioeconomic terms.
 Non-traditional security issues such as resource scarcity and irregular migration cause societal
and political instability and hence become threats to security.
 Other threats like climate change are often caused by human-induced disturbances to the fragile
balance of nature with dire consequences to both states and societies which are often difficult to
reverse or repair.
 National solutions are often inadequate and would thus essentially require regional and
multilateral cooperation.
 The referent of security is no longer just the state (state sovereignty or territorial integrity), but
also the people (survival, well-being, dignity) both at individual and societal levels.

Difference between traditional and nontraditional security:

non-traditional security threats having a few common characteristics. They are generally non-
military in nature, transnational in scope - neither totally domestic nor purely inter-state and are
transmitted rapidly due to globalization and communication revolution. This implies that these
non-traditional threats are much more intimidating than the traditional ones as they require the
national leadership to look not only outwards to cultivate international cooperation, but also
inwards, with an open outlook to execute internal socioeconomic and political reforms. This
transnational threats are now increasingly discussed, not only in academic circles but also among
policymakers in almost all parts of the world, clearly reflects the enormity of the significance of
these issues in the contemporary world. However, military deterrence, diplomatic maneuverings
and short-term political arrangements are rendered inadequate in addressing non traditional
issues and would therefore require non-military means.

The traditional Security refers to the amalgamation of measures taken by states and international
organizations, such as the United Nations, European Union, Association of Southeast Asian
Nations, and others, to ensure mutual survival and safety. These measures include military action
and diplomatic agreements such as treaties and conventions. International and national
security are invariably linked. International security is national security or state security in the
global arena.

Nontraditional security threats to Pakistan:

 Climate change will negatively affect human activities and livelihoods in Pakistan through
increasingly frequent extreme weather events and changes in temperature and precipitation.
A rise in extreme weather has already led to an alarming increase in the number of people
killed, injured, or made homeless.

 Pakistan’s large population and high growth rate adversely affect all aspects of society, the
economy, and the environment. Population growth creates and exacerbates vulnerabilities
by endangering basic civic amenities, leading to a lack of clean water and space for housing
and ultimately burdening society.

 Growth in agricultural productivity has broadly kept pace with accelerating demand.
However, medium-term food security challenges will become far more daunting if
immediate attention is not paid to managing water resources, both underground and in the
Indus Basin river system.

 Water security is the most serious challenge for Pakistan due to several factors, particularly
the increasing pressure of population and urbanization, massive expansion of tube-well
 irrigation, reduced levels of precipitation caused by climate change, and the accelerated
retreat of Himalayan glaciers.

Detailed Explanation and Strategies:

Environmental degradation:
Pakistan, unlike its other Asian neighbors, is particularly vulnerable to climate change, as its
socio-economic fabric is largely agrarian, which makes it highly climate sensitive. Pakistan is
ranked at 8th position in the index of most affected countries by the effects of climate on the
Climate Risk Index 1992-2011. Pakistan can mitigate the adverse effects of natural disasters
through early warning systems, technological advances in building and infrastructure
construction, improved sanitation systems, increased disaster preparedness, and having an
effective emergency response strategy. Expanding and enhancing the information and knowledge
base on climate change, as well as mapping vulnerabilities, can help create adaptive measures for
reducing the effects of climate change. Apropos to the above, carry out an appraisal of domestic,
regional and global factors contributing to environmental degradation with a view to proffer
input for futuristic policy formulation to meet the challenges of environmental degradation and
to make Pakistan a sustainable, thriving and prosperous state.

Population explosion
Population explosion and resultant unbridled, unchecked and unplanned urbanization is clearly a
major issue afflicting Pakistan. Large population and high growth rate adversely affect all
aspects of society, the economy, and the environment. Population growth creates and exacerbates
vulnerabilities by endangering basic civic amenities, leading to food shortages, dwindling clean
water resources and space for housing, and ultimately burdening the state and the society.
Pakistan has the highest urbanization rate in the South Asian region, and the process of
urbanization is characterised by sharp socio-cultural and geo-physical diversities. Here, as with
many other developing countries, most population growth happens in areas that are below the
poverty line, and survive in a subsistence economy, living in disaster prone areas. Apropos to the
above, carry out an appraisal of the efficacy of policy measures undertaken thus far to regulate
population growth with a view to suggest a pragmatic approach suitable for our socio-cultural
milieu.

Food Security:
Growth in agricultural productivity has broadly kept pace with accelerating food demand in the
country. However, medium-term food security challenges will become far more daunting if
immediate attention is not paid to managing water resources, both underground and in the Indus
Basin river system. Due to scarcity of irrigation water, the farmers are shifting cultivation from
water intensive crops like rice, wheat, cotton and sugarcane (staple food) to low water intensive
crops and vegetables, thus putting pressure on food market. Moreover, the crops yield is
declining due to evaporation and sever temperatures during long summer season. Food insecurity
is a major hindrance to social and economic development of the country and needs critical
scientific inquiry, and idea of viewing this issue in terms of climate change carries with it a
multipronged strategy to address the issue seriously. Apropos to the above, carry out an appraisal
of the factors affecting food security in Pakistan with a view to suggest a holistic approach to
make Pakistan a sustainable, thriving and prosperous state.

Water security:
Water security is the most serious challenge for Pakistan due to several factors, particularly the
increasing pressure of population and urbanization, massive expansion of tube-well irrigation,
reduced levels of precipitation caused by climate change, and the accelerated retreat of
Himalayan glaciers. Pakistan receives less the average rainfall in the world, therefore, the Indus
River System which is the lifeline for Pakistan has been severely affected. However, the
political, economic, and technological management of water resources has been woeful because
of the lack of consensus on the construction of mega projects. According to the World Bank,
Pakistan is moving from a water stressed country to a water scarce country. From agricultural
purposes to power generation; from domestic use to industrial purposes, the water resources have
been used extensively without enough management on sustainable grounds. Recently, Pakistan’s
eastern neighbor has adopted an extremely hostile posture, linking cooperation on Indus Water
Treaty with situation in Occupied Kashmir. If not amicably resolved, this would further
aggravate the water security issue. Apropos to the above, carry out an appraisal of the inland and
trans-border factors affecting water security in Pakistan with a view to suggest a viable policy to
make Pakistan a sustainable, thriving and prosperous state.

POLICY IMPLICATIONS

 Pakistan can mitigate the adverse effects of natural disasters through early warning systems,
technological advances in building and infrastructure construction, improved sanitation
systems, increased disaster preparedness, and an organized health sector response.

 Expanding and enhancing the information and knowledge base on climate change, as well
as mapping vulnerabilities, trends in internal migration, and the incidence of disease, can
help create adaptive measures for reducing the effects of climate change.

 The successful implementation of mechanisms to address nontraditional security issues will

require that South Asian countries work together to adopt ecosystem-wide approaches that
incorporate transboundary strategies.