Historically, rulers of various countries and dynasties have faced painful problems such as dynasty replacement, foreign invasion and internal turmoil. This also gave birth to the concept of national security. In ancient society, although people did not formally use the concepts of "security" and "national security", their basic meanings were reflected in many documents. China's ancient literature Zuo Zhuan mentioned "prepare for danger in times of peace"; Wenyi Bao mentioned: "The monarch, the ship, the Shu Ren and the water. The knife cuts bread and fingers. If you think about danger with this, there will be no danger. " These have become the cautionary proverbs of the rulers of past dynasties to maintain their rule. Hobbes, a famous British political scientist, also mentioned in Leviathan that as long as a country feels unsafe, it will "stare at each other as a gladiator and aim its weapons at each other". It can be seen that safeguarding national security and survival is the instinctive reaction of every country.
Although the concept of "national security" has a long history, it was not until the emergence of modern nation-state that "national security" was formally put forward as an international political term. Western scholars generally believe that it was not until the French Revolution that the subject of the concept of "security" really expanded from "individual" to "country". It was not until the 1940s that "national security", as a complete and clear vocabulary concept, was first put forward by American columnist Lipman. After World War II, the US Congress passed the National Security Law and established the National Security Council according to this law. Since then, the concept of "national security" has frequently appeared in the names or legal provisions of government agencies in various countries and has become a common standard concept in international politics.
The complete concept of "national security" did not appear until modern society, mainly because there have been two different understandings of the subject of the country for a long time. One is a country divided by class attributes in traditional political science, and the other is a country divided by the specific characteristics of life. In contemporary international political terminology, when people talk about "national security", its subject has been basically limited to the country in ethnology, not the country in political science. Here, a country has three elements, namely people, territory and government. In other words, the subject of national security refers to the modern nation-state, and only the modern nation-state can talk about real national security. The connotation of national security is dynamic.
The connotation of "national security" is determined by the threats to national security and the security goals set by various countries. In history, the competition for resources was mainly in the form of extreme competition such as war. The war led to the country's demise, resulting in countless loss of life, which is the main and long-term threat to the national security of all countries in the world. Therefore, building a strong army and defending the territory from infringement has become the main content and goal of national security of all countries. Therefore, in a sense, military security seems to be equivalent to national security. Both attacking countries and defending countries regard strengthening armaments as the main measure to safeguard national security. A well-organized nation, as long as it is brave and good at fighting, can protect itself at home and attack abroad. Throughout thousands of years of human history, although military factors are the security foundation for the rise of many great powers, the alienation of military security has become the main reason for the decline of some great powers. Paul. Kennedy pointed out in the book "The Rise and Fall of Great Powers": "If a country spends a large part of its resources for military purposes instead of creating wealth, in the long run, it will probably lead to the weakening of its national strength. Similarly, if a country over-expands strategically, it will take risks: the potential benefits of external expansion are likely to be offset by the huge price it pays. " It can be seen that war is the choice of competitive means. Even for powerful countries, its role is limited.
With the development of society, people's interests are expanding, the fields and means of competition are also expanding, and the connotation of "national security" is also expanding. In other words, the threats faced by the main body of the country and the means and ways to achieve security change with the times. In different times, national security has different connotations and different emphases. Therefore, the connotation of national security is dynamic. Today, great changes have taken place in the field of international struggle, and the problem of "non-traditional security" corresponding to "traditional security" such as military affairs has become increasingly prominent. Non-traditional security mainly involves economic security, information network security, resource security, environment and pollution, international terrorist activities and organized crime. Economic security problems caused by economic globalization occupy a very important position in all fields of non-traditional security; Information network security is the latest and rapidly developing problem in non-traditional security; The flow and competition of resources are very fierce areas in non-traditional security; Environment and pollution are global issues, involving the vital interests of all countries; How to deal with the relationship between absorbing foreign advanced culture and inheriting the excellent cultural traditions of our nation has become a deep-seated problem of national security; International terrorism and organized crime have also become one of the main threats to the security of all countries. It is generally noted that it is not enough to focus only on military security. Security issues not only involve military issues, but also show a trend of all-round development. In recent years, various new national security concepts have been put forward. Among them, the new concept of "comprehensive security" has become a fashionable security vocabulary and has been quickly accepted by politicians and diplomats from all over the world. People are increasingly aware that the competition between countries is essentially the competition of comprehensive national strength. Nowadays, the concept of "national security" is no longer limited to military security in the traditional sense, but also covers economic security, ecological security, resource security, information security, cultural security and many other aspects.
National security depends on strong comprehensive national strength, and in the competition of comprehensive national strength, economy and science and technology are the core contents. The 20th century is an era of scientific and technological revolution, and a series of major scientific discoveries and technological inventions have profoundly changed the face of human society. The strength of science and technology is the source of economic development. If the "locomotive" of science and technology is broken, the train of the national economy will not be able to move forward quickly. Developed countries have achieved industrialization, and now they have taken the lead in the process of informatization and are at the forefront of knowledge accumulation, which has formed knowledge hegemony for developing countries to some extent. For the latter, how to carry out knowledge innovation is an important issue that cannot be ignored. Innovation is the soul of a nation's progress and an inexhaustible motive force for the country's prosperity. A nation without innovation ability can hardly stand among the advanced nations in the dead world.
When it comes to national security, we must distinguish between "international security" and "world security". "International security" is aimed at several countries, and it is more understood from the international political level of state relations. And "world security" is more explained from the global system of globalization and "global village". Generally speaking, with the development of globalization, integration and informatization, the interaction and interdependence among countries have accelerated, and a country will inevitably be restricted by "international security" and "world security" when pursuing national security. In other words, the relationship between "national security" and "international security" and "world security" is unity of opposites. On the one hand, "national security" cannot be a pure behavior of a country. While pursuing national security, all countries must consider the reaction and cooperation of other countries, so that their national security has global and international factors. On the other hand, "national security" is opposite to "international security" and "world security". Because the world is still a system established by sovereign countries, countries often pay more attention to national security when pursuing "international security" and "national security", and the pursuit of international security often serves national security. Pursuing international security and global security beyond national interests is not in line with the essence of current international politics.