The Security Dilemma

This article mainly a review from what has been written by John H. Herz

The security dilemma or Power and security dilemma is a social constellation in which units of power (such as states or nations in international relation) find themselves whenever they exist side by side without higher authority that might impose standards of behavior upon them and thus protect them from attacking each other.

From above definition, the security dilemma regard as an overestimate threat of a states or nations security of the persistence threat of feeling insecurity that might come from outside.

It appear by the state behavior of feeling insecurity that derived from mutual suspicion and mutual fear, this feeling compel this units to compete for more power on order to find more security. The consequence would be the states or nations as a unit tend to acquire more power as to find more security, an effort which ultimately unobtainable, because complete security is impossible.

The impacts of security acquisition by a unit obviously impose the threat on insecurity for other unit. Because the fact by other makes him appear to them as their potential enemy. Thus, there arises a mutual constellation or mutual suspicion and a mutual dilemma: the dilemma of ‘kill or perish’ of attacking first or the running the risk of being destroyed.

The power and security dilemma thus affect the relationship between all groups, the relation between states would be based on suspicion, and particularly if one a unit develop its defense capability to minimize the feeling of insecurity it might lead to the other unit of being attack.

The security dilemma also called ‘predicament of Hobbesian fear’ that is a grand dialectical jam of a kind that exasperate men. It can be illustrated as two enemies, armed with handgun or pistols locked in one room though both of them would like to throw the pistols out of the window, but yet it defeats the intelligent to find the way of doing so. Hence, in international affairs it is this situation that has hitherto defeats all the endeavor human intellect. However, even if a nation could based the international relation on mutual understanding, yet how could it trust the continuance of good intentions in the case of collective entities with leaders and policies that forever changing with difference circumstances.