CBSE Class 12 · Security in the Contemporary World

Non-Traditional Notions of Security and New Threats (Class 12 Political Science)

Updated 15 October 2026 · Fact-checked

Non-traditional security widens the question 'security for whom?' from the state to individuals, communities and all humankind. It includes human security, which protects people from violence and also, in broader versions, hunger, disease and disaster, and global security against shared threats like global warming. New threats include terrorism, human rights abuses, poverty, migration and epidemics.

Traditional security protects only the state circle; non-traditional security adds the individual, the community and all humankind, with wider threats.

Illustration drawn for QuestionBuddy.

Understand Non-Traditional Notions of Security

Why this topic matters. This is the most heavily tested part of Chapter 5. Boards ask for the meaning of human and global security, narrow versus broad human security, three or four new sources of threat, refugees versus migrants, and cooperative security. NCERT sections: 'Non-traditional notions', 'New sources of threats', 'Cooperative security'.

1. What changes from the traditional view? Non-traditional notions go beyond military threats to everything that endangers the conditions of human existence. They question all four elements of security: who is secured (the referent), what is secured, from which threats, and how.

Question	Traditional	Non-traditional
Security for whom?	The state, its territory and institutions	Individuals, communities, all of humankind
Threats	Military attack	Violence, hunger, disease, disaster, poverty, climate change, terrorism
Names	National security	Human security, global security

The 1994 UNDP Human Development Report argued that security had been read too narrowly, tied to nation states rather than to the everyday concerns of ordinary people.

2. Human security. Its primary goal is the protection of individuals. Human and state security should coincide, and often do, but a secure state does not automatically mean secure people: in the last 100 years more people were killed by their own governments than by foreign armies.

Version	Threats it covers
Narrow	Violent threats to individuals; in Kofi Annan's words, protecting communities and individuals from internal violence
Broad	Also hunger, disease and natural disasters, which kill more people than war, genocide and terrorism combined
Broadest	Also economic security and threats to human dignity: 'freedom from want' and 'freedom from fear'

3. Global security. Emerged in the 1990s because some threats are global: global warming, international terrorism, epidemics like AIDS and bird flu. No country can solve them alone, and some suffer far more than others: a 1.5-2.0 metre sea-level rise would flood 20% of Bangladesh, submerge most of the Maldives and threaten nearly half of Thailand's population.

4. New sources of threats.

Threat	Key points from NCERT
Terrorism	Political violence aimed at civilians deliberately and indiscriminately; international when it involves citizens or territory of more than one country. Aims to change a situation by force, using public fear against governments. Classic cases: hijacking planes, bombs in trains, cafes and markets. Attention grew after the 11 September 2001 attack on the World Trade Centre; earlier attacks were mostly in the Middle East, Europe, Latin America and South Asia
Human rights	Three types: political rights (speech, assembly), economic and social rights, rights of colonised people or ethnic and indigenous minorities. No agreement on which are universal or what to do when violated. Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, the Rwanda genocide and killings by the Indonesian military in East Timor sparked debate on UN intervention: some say the Charter allows armed action for human rights; others say powerful states' interests decide where the UN acts
Global poverty	Population 760 crore, heading to nearly 1000 crore by mid-century; half of growth in six countries (India, China, Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Indonesia); poorest countries' population may triple in 50 years. Rich get richer, poor get poorer, widening the North-South gap. Sub-Saharan Africa, the poorest region, has most of the world's armed conflicts
Migration	Poverty drives migration from South to North, causing friction. Migrants leave voluntarily; refugees flee war, disaster or persecution (states should accept refugees, not necessarily migrants); internally displaced people flee but stay in their country, e.g. Kashmiri Pandits in the early 1990s. From 1990 to 1995, 70 states fought 93 wars, killing about 55 lakh; in the 1990s, all but three of 60 refugee flows matched an internal armed conflict
Health epidemics	HIV-AIDS, bird flu, SARS spread through migration, business, tourism and military operations. By 2003, about 4 crore had HIV-AIDS, two-thirds in Africa, half the rest in South Asia; costly drugs helped rich countries, not Africa. New diseases (Corona, ebola, hantavirus, hepatitis C); old ones (tuberculosis, malaria, dengue, cholera) turning drug-resistant. Animal epidemics: Britain's mad-cow losses; bird flu halted Asian poultry exports

5. A limit on widening. Not every disease or distress is a security issue, or the idea loses meaning. A threat qualifies if it endangers the very existence of the referent: rising seas for the Maldives; HIV-AIDS in Southern Africa (one adult in six; one in three in Botswana); the 1994 killing of nearly five lakh Tutsis by Hutus in Rwanda within weeks. Like traditional notions, non-traditional ones vary with local context.

6. Cooperative security. Most new threats need cooperation, not confrontation: force cannot reduce poverty, manage refugees or stop epidemics, and often worsens matters.

Levels: bilateral, regional, continental or global, depending on the threat and states' willingness and ability.
Players: international organisations (UN, WHO, World Bank, IMF); NGOs (Amnesty International, the Red Cross, charities, religious bodies, trade unions); businesses; great personalities such as Mother Teresa and Nelson Mandela.
Force as a last resort, e.g. against governments that kill their own people or against terrorists, is far better when sanctioned and applied collectively than when one country acts alone.

Key quotations

Short lines worth knowing by heart: who says them, when, and why they matter.

the concept of security has for too long been interpreted narrowly
UNDP Human Development Report 1994 (quoted in NCERT, Chapter 5): The report that popularised the idea of human security.
Shifts attention from states to people.
more people have been killed by their own governments than by foreign armies
NCERT, Chapter 5: On the last 100 years, explaining why human security matters.
The state itself can be a threat to its people.
secure states do not automatically mean secure peoples
NCERT, Contemporary World Politics, Chapter 5: On the gap between state security and human security.
The core argument for human security.
the concept of security stands to lose its coherence
NCERT, Chapter 5: Warning against treating every disease or distress as a security issue.
Explains the 'threat to existence' test.

Non-Traditional Notions of Security: key facts

Traditional versus non-traditional: Referent state versus individuals, communities, humankind
Threats military versus wide range affecting human existence
Means force versus cooperation
Names national security versus human and global security; The starting table for any 'differentiate' question.
Human security: three versions: Narrow violent threats, internal violence (Annan)
Broad plus hunger, disease, natural disasters
Broadest plus economic security and human dignity; freedom from want and freedom from fear; Primary goal in all versions: protecting individuals.
Five new sources of threat: Terrorism
Human rights violations
Global poverty
Migration and refugees
Health epidemics; Each with one fact or example.
Who moves, and why: Migrant leaves voluntarily; states need not accept
Refugee flees war, natural disaster or persecution; states generally should accept
Internally displaced person flees but stays within borders, e.g. Kashmiri Pandits, early 1990s; Two differences are enough for 2 marks.
Cooperative security: Levels bilateral, regional, continental, global
Players international organisations, NGOs, businesses, great personalities
Force last resort, best when collectively sanctioned; Use for 'how should the world respond' questions.

Referent	state versus individuals, communities, humankind
Threats	military versus wide range affecting human existence
Means	force versus cooperation
Names	national security versus human and global security

Narrow	violent threats, internal violence (Annan)
Broad	plus hunger, disease, natural disasters
Broadest	plus economic security and human dignity; freedom from want and freedom from fear

Migrant	leaves voluntarily; states need not accept
Refugee	flees war, natural disaster or persecution; states generally should accept
Internally displaced person	flees but stays within borders, e.g. Kashmiri Pandits, early 1990s

Levels	bilateral, regional, continental, global
Players	international organisations, NGOs, businesses, great personalities
Force	last resort, best when collectively sanctioned

How to answer Non-Traditional Notions of Security questions

Non-traditional security questions range from 1-mark identification (which is a new threat?) through 2-mark definitions (global security, refugees versus migrants) to 6-mark analyses of human security or three new sources of threat. Examples and figures lift answers above the average.

1Open with the referent shift: from the state to people and humankind.
2For human security, give its primary goal and then narrow, broad and broadest versions.
3For new threats, name each threat, define it in a line, and add one NCERT figure or example.
4For refugees and migrants, contrast voluntariness and states' obligations; add internally displaced people if space allows.
5For 'comprehensive' or 'evaluate' questions, add the threat-to-existence test so the answer is not one-sided.
6End with cooperative security: who must act, and why force alone fails.

Non-Traditional Notions of Security in real life

The idea, met in an everyday situation. Answer the question in your own words, then compare with the model answer. The one-line hook is what to remember.

Secure state, insecure people

Suppose a country has a powerful army and has never lost a war, yet thousands of its villagers die every year from floods, hunger and untreated disease, and some are harmed by their own officials.

Is this country secure? Use non-traditional ideas.

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

In traditional terms, its sovereignty and territory are safe.
In human-security terms, its people face hunger, disease, disasters and state violence.
So a secure state does not automatically mean secure people.

Answer: The state may be secure, but its people are not; human security asks governments to protect people from want and fear, not only borders from attack.

Memory hook: Strong walls, hungry homes.

Epidemics cross borders

Imagine a new flu appears in one town. Within weeks, travellers, traders and tourists carry it to cities across many countries. One country hides its cases; its neighbours' infections rise.

Why is this a security issue that requires cooperation?

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

Disease spreads through migration, business, tourism and military movement.
One country's failure raises infections elsewhere.
Armies cannot stop a virus; sharing information and medicines can.

Answer: Epidemics make borders less meaningful and show why global security needs cooperation through bodies such as the WHO rather than military force.

Memory hook: Viruses carry no passports.

Tricks to remember Non-Traditional Notions of Security

Short memory aids. Say each one aloud once, then use it on a question the same day.

T-H-P-M-E
Terrorism, Human rights, Poverty, Migration, Epidemics: 'The Hungry Poor Migrate Everywhere'.
Use it when: New sources of threat.
N-B-B
Narrow = violence; Broad = + hunger, disease, disaster; Broadest = + want and dignity.
Use it when: Versions of human security.
Choice, Flight, Inside
Migrant = choice; Refugee = flight across a border; IDP = flight but still inside.
Use it when: Migrant, refugee and IDP distinctions.

Non-Traditional Notions of Security: solved examples

Ordered from board level to HOTS. Try each one before you open the solution.

Example 1: Internally displaced · 1 mark · MCQBoard level

Kashmiri Pandits who fled the Kashmir Valley in the early 1990s but stayed within India are an example of
(a) migrants
(b) refugees
(c) internally displaced people
(d) indigenous people

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

They fled their homes but remained within national borders (1 mark).

Answer: (c) internally displaced people

Example 2: Global security · 2 marks · Very short answerBoard level

Why did the idea of 'global security' arise in the 1990s? Illustrate with one example. (2 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

Idea from the 1990s; global threats no country can solve alone (1 mark).
Example: global warming and its effect on Bangladesh or the Maldives (1 mark).

Answer: Global security is a non-traditional idea that emerged in the 1990s in response to threats that are global in nature, such as global warming, international terrorism and epidemics like AIDS and bird flu, which no country can resolve alone. For example, a sea-level rise of 1.5-2.0 metres would flood 20 per cent of Bangladesh and most of the Maldives, so international cooperation is vital.

Example 3: Assertion and reason: force and new threats · 1 mark · Assertion-reasonHarder board level

Assertion (A): Military force is the most effective way of dealing with most non-traditional threats.
Reason (R): Threats such as poverty, refugee flows and epidemics cross national borders.
(a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.
(b) Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A.
(c) A is true but R is false.
(d) A is false but R is true.

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

NCERT: force cannot alleviate poverty, manage refugees or stop epidemics, and may make matters worse, so A is false; R is true, which is why cooperation is needed (1 mark).

Answer: (d) A is false but R is true.

Example 4: Narrow and broad human security · 4 marks · Short answerHarder board level

Human security puts the individual first. Explain its main aim and how its narrow and broad versions differ. (4 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

Primary goal: protection of individuals (1 mark).
Narrow: violent threats; Annan's definition (1.5 marks).
Broad: hunger, disease, disasters; broadest adds want and dignity (1.5 marks).

Answer: All supporters of human security agree that its primary goal is the protection of individuals rather than only the state. They differ on the threats included. The narrow concept focuses on violent threats to individuals, which Kofi Annan described as protecting communities and individuals from internal violence. The broad concept adds hunger, disease and natural disasters, arguing that these kill far more people than war, genocide and terrorism combined, so policy must protect people from them too. The broadest version also includes economic security and threats to human dignity, summed up as 'freedom from want' and 'freedom from fear'.

Example 5: Source-based: wars and refugees · 4 marks · Source-basedHarder board level

Read the data (based on NCERT's figures) and answer.

Between 1990 and 1995, 70 states were involved in 93 wars that killed about 55 lakh people. In the 1990s, of 60 refugee flows, all but three coincided with an internal armed conflict. In 2017, the largest share of the world's displaced people (30%) was hosted in Africa.

(i) Who is a refugee? (1)
(ii) What link between conflict and refugees do these figures show? (1)
(iii) Why is this a security issue for both poor and rich countries? (2)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

(i) Definition (1 mark).
(ii) Refugee map matches conflict map (1 mark).
(iii) Insecurity for those displaced; frictions over migration to the North (2 marks).

Answer: (i) A refugee is a person who flees his or her country because of war, natural disaster or political persecution. (ii) Refugee flows follow armed conflict, especially internal conflict, so the world refugee map almost matches the world conflict map. (iii) For poor regions, war and displacement destroy livelihoods, identities and environments, and host countries in the South carry heavy burdens. For rich countries, poverty and conflict in the South drive large-scale migration to the North, creating political friction. Because these effects cross borders, they require international cooperation.

Example 6: Long answer: are non-traditional notions more comprehensive? · 6 marks · Long answerHOTS / competency

Do non-traditional ideas give a fuller picture of today's dangers than the traditional view? Argue with three new threats and note one limit. (6 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

Referent and range compared (1 mark).
Three threats with examples (3 marks).
Need for cooperation (1 mark).
Limit: threat-to-existence test (1 mark).

Answer: Traditional security protects the state against military attack; non-traditional security asks 'security for whom?' and answers: individuals, communities and humankind. It covers human security, from protection against violence to freedom from want and fear, and global security against problems no state can solve alone.

Three new threats show its wider reach. Terrorism is political violence aimed deliberately and indiscriminately at civilians, often across borders; the attack on the World Trade Centre on 11 September 2001 showed that it threatens people far from any battlefield. Global poverty is another: world population of 760 crore is heading for nearly 1000 crore, half the growth is in six countries, and low incomes and high population growth keep poor states poor, widening the North-South gap; sub-Saharan Africa, the poorest region, also has most armed conflicts. Health epidemics are a third: by 2003 about 4 crore people had HIV-AIDS, two-thirds in Africa, and diseases like SARS, bird flu and Corona spread through travel and trade. Military force can do little against these; cooperation through international organisations, NGOs and states can.

There is a limit. If every disease or distress becomes a security issue, the concept loses coherence. NCERT therefore suggests a test: a threat qualifies when it endangers the very existence of the referent, such as rising seas for the Maldives or HIV-AIDS in Southern Africa. With this test, non-traditional security is both more comprehensive and still meaningful.

Where students lose marks in Non-Traditional Notions of Security

The slips examiners see most often, and what to write instead.

Mistake: Listing threats without explaining
Treating a 6-mark question as a list.
Wrong working
Threats: terrorism, poverty, migration.
Right working
Each threat defined, explained and supported by one NCERT fact.
Do this: Name, explain, example.
Usually costs: Half the marks.
Mistake: Confusing refugees with migrants
Both cross borders.
Wrong working
Refugees go abroad to find better jobs.
Right working
Migrants choose to move; refugees flee war, disaster or persecution.
Do this: Choice versus flight.
Usually costs: 1-2 marks.
Mistake: Calling terrorism traditional
It involves violence and weapons.
Wrong working
Terrorism is a traditional threat because it is violent.
Right working
NCERT lists terrorism among new sources of threat in the non-traditional view.
Do this: Non-state, civilian-targeted, cross-border: non-traditional.
Usually costs: 1 mark.
Mistake: Forgetting the referent
Jumping straight to threats.
Wrong working
Non-traditional security is about diseases.
Right working
It widens the referent to individuals, communities and humankind, and so widens threats.
Do this: Always start with 'security for whom?'
Usually costs: 1 mark in 'differentiate' questions.

Exam tips

Asked in: 2025 board paper 59/4/1 Q28(a) (6 marks, three new sources of threats); 2026 board paper 59/4/1 Q28(a) (6 marks, non-traditional security as human security); 2026 board paper 59/3/1 Q30(b) (6 marks, non-traditional notions more comprehensive than traditional); 2024 board paper 59/1/1 Q21(a) (4 marks, goal of human security, narrow and broad concepts); 2026 board paper 59/2/1 Q16 (2 marks, refugees and migrants); 2024 board paper 59/2/1 Q14 (2 marks, global security). Answers here are our own.
Learn one figure per threat: 760 crore; 4 crore with HIV-AIDS by 2003; 93 wars from 1990 to 1995.
Use the 1994 UNDP report or Annan's words to open human security answers.
Use the existence test to show judgement in 'evaluate' questions.
Cooperative security is the natural conclusion to any long answer here.

Practice questions on Non-Traditional Notions of Security

Write each answer on paper first. Open the hint only if you are stuck, and the answer only when you have finished.

Q1 · 1 mark · MCQBoard level
Pick the threat that belongs to the traditional view of security.
(a) Terrorism
(b) War between two states
(c) Global poverty
(d) Health epidemics
Hint
Military threat from another state.
Answer
(b) War between two states.
Q2 · 2 marks · Very short answerBoard level
A family leaves its country for a better-paid job; another flees a civil war. Which is a migrant and which a refugee? Give two differences between the two. (2 marks)
Hint
Choice and obligation.
Answer
(i) Migrants leave their home countries voluntarily, often for better economic opportunities, while refugees flee war, natural disaster or political persecution. (ii) States are generally supposed to accept refugees, but they are not obliged to accept migrants.
Q3 · 4 marks · Short answerHarder board level
Explain terrorism and human rights violations as new sources of threat to security. (4 marks)
Hint
Definition plus example for each.
Answer
Terrorism is political violence that targets civilians deliberately and indiscriminately in order to change a political situation by force; international terrorism involves the citizens or territory of more than one country. Terrorists choose civilian targets, for example by hijacking planes or planting bombs in trains and markets, to use public fear against governments. After the 11 September 2001 attack on the World Trade Centre, governments paid it much more attention. Human rights violations are another threat. Rights are classed as political, economic and social, and those of colonised people or ethnic and indigenous minorities, but states disagree on which are universal and how to respond. Cases such as Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, the Rwanda genocide and the killings in East Timor raised the question of whether the UN should intervene, with some arguing the Charter allows it and others fearing that powerful states' interests decide.
Q4 · 2 marks · Very short answerHarder board level
Why does NCERT say that not every disease or distress should be treated as a security issue? (2 marks)
Hint
Coherence; existence test.
Answer
If everything becomes a security issue, the concept loses its coherence. So an issue should qualify only if it threatens the very existence of the referent, as rising seas threaten the Maldives or HIV-AIDS threatens Southern Africa, where one adult in six has the disease.
Q5 · 1 mark · Assertion-reasonHarder board level
Statement I: The idea of global security emerged in the 1990s.
Statement II: Global warming affects all countries equally.
Choose the correct option:
(a) Both statements are correct.
(b) Statement I is correct, Statement II is incorrect.
(c) Statement I is incorrect, Statement II is correct.
(d) Both statements are incorrect.
Hint
Bangladesh and the Maldives.
Answer
(b) Statement I is correct; some countries, such as Bangladesh and the Maldives, bear a disproportionate share.
Q6 · 4 marks · Short answerHOTS / competency
Suppose a new epidemic breaks out in your region and neighbouring countries close their borders. Suggest four measures, based on cooperative security, to deal with it. (4 marks)
Hint
Levels, players, sharing.
Answer
(i) Share information quickly and honestly with neighbours and the WHO, since one country's success or failure in limiting a disease affects infections in others. (ii) Act regionally or bilaterally, for instance through joint screening at borders instead of blanket closures that hurt trade and livelihoods. (iii) Involve NGOs such as the Red Cross, charities and local organisations to reach poor and remote communities. (iv) Seek international funding and affordable medicines, remembering that costly HIV-AIDS drugs helped rich countries but not Africa. Military force cannot stop an epidemic; cooperation among states, organisations and citizens can.
Q7 · 6 marks · Long answerHOTS / competency
"Human security and state security should be the same, but often are not." Analyse this statement and explain how cooperative security can bridge the gap. (6 marks)
Hint
Own governments; poverty; cooperation and collective force.
Answer
Ideally, a state that protects its territory also protects its people, and often this is true: defence against foreign attack is a necessary condition for individual security. But it is not sufficient. In the last century more people were killed by their own governments than by foreign armies. People also face hunger, disease and disasters that kill more than war, genocide and terrorism combined, and poverty that keeps poor groups poor. The Rwanda killings of 1994 and the HIV-AIDS crisis in Southern Africa show threats to people's very existence that armies did not prevent.
Cooperative security can bridge the gap. Since force cannot reduce poverty, manage refugees or stop epidemics, cooperation is more effective, at bilateral, regional, continental or global levels. It brings in international organisations such as the UN, WHO, World Bank and IMF; NGOs such as Amnesty International and the Red Cross, charities, religious bodies and trade unions; businesses; and figures like Mother Teresa and Nelson Mandela. Where force is needed, against governments that kill their own people or against terrorists, it is better when sanctioned and applied collectively by the international community than by one country alone.
Thus the statement is valid: state security does not guarantee human security, and closing the gap requires cooperation that places people, not only borders, at the centre.

Test your recall

Answer in your head or on paper first, then open the card. Pulling an answer out of memory makes it stick far better than re-reading.

1.Which report of 1994 promoted human security?Show answer
UNDP's Human Development Report.
2.What is international terrorism?Show answer
Terrorism involving the citizens or territory of more than one country.
3.Name the three types of human rights NCERT lists.Show answer
Political rights; economic and social rights; rights of colonised people or ethnic and indigenous minorities.
4.Which six countries account for half the world's population growth?Show answer
India, China, Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh and Indonesia.
5.How many people had HIV-AIDS by 2003, according to NCERT?Show answer
About 4 crore, two-thirds of them in Africa.
6.What happened in Rwanda in 1994?Show answer
Nearly five lakh Tutsis were killed by the rival Hutu in a matter of weeks.

Non-Traditional Notions of Security: frequently asked questions

What is non-traditional security?

A view of security that protects individuals, communities and humankind, not only the state, from a wide range of threats beyond military attack.

What is the difference between human security and global security?

Human security focuses on protecting individuals; global security deals with threats such as global warming, terrorism and epidemics that are global and need international cooperation.

What are the new sources of threat to security?

Terrorism, human rights violations, global poverty, migration and refugee flows, and health epidemics.

What is cooperative security?

Dealing with threats through cooperation among states, international organisations, NGOs, businesses and individuals, with force only as a collectively sanctioned last resort.