Regional Security Issues

The most important and broad-reaching levels of security are those at the global, regional, and local levels. Each level of analysis requires its own interpretation of security risks, and each has complications that affect both few and many peoples. The elephant in the room when analyzing security strategy at each of these levels is that fact that there is no hierarchy between nations, and this state of anarchy means that inevitably, security concerns are subject to the unregulated cooperation of other nations. Uncertainty; leaving security to chance, is the most unfortunate consequence of the freedom provided by this system of nation-states. We cannot rely on other states whether friend or enemy to cooperate consistently nor as we anticipate.

The basic principles of regional security policy include border protection and a comprehensive understanding of the needs of one's immediate neighbors. In the United States we are fortunate enough to have generally positive relationships with our neighbors to the north and south, whereas in Europe where the former Soviet countries are at times less than amicable with the more western nations, security patterns may be less defined. Looking to Europe where the biggest security flaws are seen, terrorism is evidently one of the biggest threats facing countries in this region. Open borders between the EU member states has created a situation where terrorists can easily travel between countries with little to no data on where they are moving. Unlike the United States where we have two borders that are relatively easy to monitor, differing security practices from country to country around both eastern and western Europe mean that the movement of potential security threats are much more difficult to trace. In short, more localized regions are more transparent when it comes to examining security threats, and thus are subject to fewer consequences. Larger regions with many borders rely more on the security practices of all nations nearby which poses a greater threat. On the other hand, the brotherhood offered by international alliances such as the EU has created a situation where countries are more likely to cooperate

While it may not be prudent to do so, putting one's country first and others to the side is one way to handle localized security. For example, building a wall is a strategy that essentially disregards the input of an affected country, but would have the potential to increase domestic security. However, it should be noted that when the security interests of other nations are disregarded for the sake of domestic security, the repercussions may exceed the benefit when it comes to international determination of regional or global