Collective Security: Theoretical Perspectives and Global Impact

This essay provides a comprehensive overview of collective security, tracing its evolution from ancient times to the modern era. It defines collective security as a framework where nation-states agree to protect each other, contrasting it with collective defense and balance of power. The paper explores the theoretical perspectives of scholars like Martin Wight and Jeremy Bentham, examining their views on international relations and the feasibility of collective security. The essay also analyzes the role of the United Nations in implementing collective security, highlighting its significance in the current global order. Furthermore, the essay evaluates the impact of collective security on the modern world, providing insights into its effectiveness and limitations in maintaining peace and security among nations.

Running head: COLLECTIVE SECURITY
Collective Security
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction
The various nation states of the world have been integrated with one another since times
immemorial. With the dawn of human civilization, the various societies wanted to stay isolated
with one another as they had hostile intentions towards the others in the world1. Each society
wanted to accumulate more power and resources which would allow them to increase their
standing with respect to the other communities. In this regard, it can be observed that the
societies around the world have been engaged in a fierce competitive battle with one another,
trying to garner more territories and resources for the fulfillment of their own selfish motives.
The destruction of human lives and property which was laid in the path, concerned the state
leaders2. They were of the opinion that some extent of checks and balance is required in the
world in order to protect the rights of the citizens as well ensure the existence of the society. This
was necessitated because certain countries and communities of the world were more powerful
than the others and they therefore held a hegemonic place in the society which was not accepted
by the others. The purpose of this paper is to understand the concept of collective security which
emerged as a result to resolve the hostilities that infected the world in the medieval times. To this
extent, the paper tries to understand the concept of collective security and its evolution through
the times. The theoretical perspectives have been taken in to consideration to get a
comprehensive insight. The paper also tries to understand the existing difference between the
ideas of collective security, collective defense and that of balance of power. It has used the
United Nations and its organs to understand the present context in which this ideology is
1 Thakur, Ramesh. The United Nations, peace and security: from collective security to the responsibility to protect.
Cambridge University Press, 2016.
2 McNair, Arnold D. "Collective Security 1." In The Use of Force in International Law, pp. 79-93. Routledge, 2017

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practiced. The essay concludes with the evaluation of collective security and its impact on the
modern world order.
Definition of collective security
Collective security is considered to be a form of international framework exercised by a
certain group of nation states3. It is primarily a security arrangement which is regional, political
or global in nature. Each of the participating member states agree that it is the maintenance of the
security of one another is which the primary concern for all of them. As a consequence of this
thought process, they commit themselves to a system of collective response to the various threats
that exists on the world against them and have the potential to breach the notion of peace and
security.
In this regard, it needs to be noted that the entire concept of collective security is more
ambitious as it seeks to include within itself the entire region of the participating states with a
notion of resolving the pertinent threats to the system. Collective security has certain
predetermined requisites which is essential to be taken in to consideration for it to work in an
effective manner4. Some of the essential prerequisites include that in the times of conflict, the
participating countries need to have a consensual agreement as to who is the aggressor.
Furthermore, the member countries are required to be equally invested in their purpose to contain
the aggression and to exterminate the aggressor, irrespective of the character or identity of the
aggressor.
3 Pick, Otto, and Julian Critchley. Collective security. Macmillan International Higher Education, 2016.
4 Hogan, Willard N. International conflict and collective security. University Press of Kentucky, 2015.

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Thus, it can be stated that collective security mainly refers to the idea of the practice
among states to defend one another with the intention of deterring aggression or to exterminate
the transgressor if the international order has been found to be breached.
Difference between collective security and collective defense
Collective security refers to a system which seeks to guarantee the security of the
participating countries against any aggression that occurs in the world. In this regard, the idea of
collective security is kind of an insurance system which tries to protect the victim states from the
aggressor by neutralizing the enemy state against the victim state5. On the other hand, collective
defense refers to the mechanism of organization of a consorted machinery for countering the
action of aggression by the enemy state against any participating member of the collective
defence mechanism.
In this context, one of the main difference that can be noted between collective security
and that of collective defense is that collective defense includes within itself certain limited
number of member countries6. Collective security, on the other hand, is an umbrella terminology
which involves almost all the states of the world. It is more of a permanent ideology when
compared to the idea of collective defense.
Another point of contention between the two ideas is that within collective defense the
potential threat is known to the member countries. On the other hand, within collective security,
the threat to the security is more sudden and spontaneous. This severely influences the kind of
5 Kogias, Eleftherios Kokoris, Philipp Jovanovic, Nicolas Gailly, Ismail Khoffi, Linus Gasser, and Bryan Ford.
"Enhancing bitcoin security and performance with strong consistency via collective signing." In 25th {USENIX}
Security Symposium ({USENIX} Security 16), pp. 279-296. 2016.
6 Kropatcheva, Elena. "Russia and the Collective Security Treaty Organisation: Multilateral Policy or Unilateral
Ambitions?." Europe-Asia Studies 68, no. 9 (2016): 1526-1552.

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action undertaken by the respective states within the two mechanisms which again underlines the
difference that exists between the two ideas.
Difference between collective security and balance of power
The ideas of collective security and that of balance of power are have more similarities in
them than differences. Both of them aim to protect the world order from any kind of aggression
or threat7. They try to instill peace and security in the region so that no power is tempted to attain
more power through aggressive measures.
However, one of the major point of difference between the two ideas is that the idea of
Balance of Power includes within itself the existence of an element of competitive alignments. It
makes the assumption that the states of the world are divided in to camps were certain states are
more hostile and aggressive than the other. The aim of Balance of Power is to maintain the peace
and security amongst the member countries. As compared to this, the idea of collective security
is more of a global or universal system which encourages cooperation from the various nation
states. They are considered to be equal within the broader idea of the international community8.
Another important point of difference which exists between the two concepts is that
within the idea of Balance of Power, the states have one common specific enemy. In other
words, the participating member countries have identified the enemy and they work to ensure
that any kind of aggression from the enemy state is properly addressed and mitigated. On the
other hand, collective security is more general in nature. The states do not have one specific
enemy. Rather, they are concentrated on the achievement of cooperation and that of agreement.
7 Engle, Karen. "The grip of sexual violence: reading UN Security Council Resolutions on human security." In
Rethinking peacekeeping, gender equality and collective security, pp. 23-47. Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2014.
8 Kitaoka, Shinichi. "A “Proactive Contribution to Peace” and the Right of Collective Self-Defense: The
Development of Security Policy in the Abe Administration." Asia-Pacific Review 21, no. 2 (2014): 1-18.

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They are of the idea that the threat to the system may arise from any part of the world and they
have to be vigilant in meeting this challenge in an efficient manner.
Evolution of collective security
The idea of collective security is essentially an age old concept. Its roots have been traced
back as early as the Greek civilization. The region of China has also experienced collective
security in the sixth and the seventh centuries A formalized idea of the notion took first found its
expression within the “Du recuperatione sancrai terrae” as proposed by Piierre Dubois who was
motivated by the situation existing in Europe in the fourteenth century9. Furthermore,
Maximilien de Bethune and duc de Sully formulated a plan which advocated to maintain the
peace and to the existing territorial status quo amongst the states by the way of a general pledge.
The idea gained favor amongst the latter day scholars and philosophers such as that of Jeremy
Bentham and Emmanuel Kant in the eighteenth century10. They were of the opinion that
collective security bears resemblance to the idea of universal alliance of the states within the
international community.
The first formalized practice of collective security occurred in nineteenth century within
Europe. The concert of Europe which was seen after the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815,
can be considered to be a form of collective security11. The conservative powers of the European
continent were desirous of maintaining their power and status quo in the region. As a result of
this, they opposed the revolutionary movements so as to weaken the various forces of
9 Austin, Greg. "Middle powers and cyber-enabled warfare: the imperative of collective security." Retrieved Jun 12
(2016): 2017.
10 Tzimas, Themistoklis. "International ‘public emergency’and Collective Security." Journal of Conflict and Security
Law 20, no. 3 (2015): 335-358.
11 Kelsen, Hans. "Collective security and collective self-defense under the Charter of the United Nations." In The
Use of Force in International Law, pp. 97-110. Routledge, 2017.

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nationalism. However, a common argument exists, questioning the character of collective
security since the Concert of Europe was more along the lines of the idea of Balance of Power.
The true form of collective security occurred after the end of the First World War by the
way of institutionalization of the League of Nations. The horrors of the First World War revealed
to the state leaders that a consorted and collective effort was needed in order to maintain peace
and security in the world. This was further improved upon by the institutionalization of the
United Nations Organization which is still functioning12. Thus, it can be stated that in the present
world scenario, the United Nations is the effective mechanism for guaranteeing the idea of
collective security.
Theoretical perspective of collective security
The idea of collective security has found been defined by many philosophers and scholars
in the world. Although, the basic idea is the same whereby it states the maintenance of peace in
the world by the member states, the lens through which the concept is looked upon, differs from
individual to individual.
Martin Wight
Martin Wight is considered to be a well-renowned British scholar of the twentieth
century within the field of International Relations. In his book “Power Politics” as published in
the year of 1946, Wight tried to portray a comprehensive picture about the prevailing
international politics, also known as Realpolitik13. Wight was essentially a pacifist and the
surrounding horrific activities of the Second World War terrified him. He became disillusioned
12 Sheth, Nina. "Collective Security: Theory, Law and Practice." NYUJ Int'l L. & Pol. 47 (2014): 920.
13 Collier, Stephen J., and Andrew Lakoff. "Vital systems security: Reflexive biopolitics and the government of
emergency." Theory, Culture & Society 32, no. 2 (2015): 19-51.

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by the nature of human kind and instead, supported the idea of Antichirst. It referred to a
situation where there would be demonic concentration of power and authority among the states if
the world. In this regard, he believed that it is for the survival of the modern state where the
loyalty of people lies and they would fight for it. The idea of rights and wrong has gave way to
the institution of a world where there is support of the ideas of power, dynasties, forces and that
of ideas.
In this regard, it can be stated that “Power Politics” refers to the states exploiting power
in order to achieve dominance and expansion14. In other words, the dominant powers of the
world aspires to become globally superior. In this regard, anarchy is present in the international
sphere. Thus, security is found to be inseparable form the idea of moral behavior and it depends
on the state to establish it themselves by constraining their need for a power struggle.
Jeremy Bentham
Jeremy Bentham is considered to be one of the most brilliant philosophers in the field of
legal theory and reform. He was of the idea that an ideal relationship must exist between the
governed and the governors15. The preoccupation of Bentham with the idea of security resulted in
the generation of inconsistent ideas which were often found to be conflicting in character. He
tried to understand the conduct of the nation states in the international sphere of activity.
Bentham attempted to use the concept of sovereignty in order to find out the feasibility of the
idea of collective security16. He believed that collective security for the entire human population
is not possible until it is accompanied by the consequent growth and development of technology.
14 Magee, Joseph C., Alison M. Andrews, Mark W. Nicholson, Jonathon Lance James, Henry C. Li, Christopher L.
Stevenson, and Joel Lathrop. "Collective threat intelligence gathering system." U.S. Patent 8,813,228, issued August
19, 2014.
15 Ruby, Felicity. "Security Council Resolution 1325: A Tool for Conflict Prevention?." In Rethinking
Peacekeeping, Gender Equality and Collective Security, pp. 173-184. Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2014.
16 Hettne, Björn, ed. The new regionalism and the future of security and development. Vol. 4. Springer, 2016.

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With regard to the existence of collective security, Bentham stated that at the beginning
of the sixteenth century the ideas of universal justice, universal polity and that of universal peace
existed. However, it was only possible to keep them alive through the institution of the world
organizations which contained within themselves the pledge and support of the various nation
states of the world to establish world peace and security17. Thus, he stated that the establishment
of collective security included the foundation of several globally recognized procedures which
would be effective to preserve international law and the domestic national rights on one hand,
while adjusting them to grow and develop in accordance with the changing situations in the
world.
Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant first advocated the idea of collective security in the eighteenth century, in
his book titled “Perpetual Peace”. In the book, he has opined that the law of the various nation
states of the world would be based on the federation of the free countries18. Thus, by employing
the mechanism of collective security, the member countries would be dissuaded and discouraged
from undertaking any activity which would have the potential to threaten peace and security of
the region. Thus, according to Kant, the main objective of collective security is to ensure the
avoidance of prevalence of conflict19.
To this extent, he supported the idea of forming constitutional republics. He was of the
idea that the universal historical development of the world led to the formation of a world of
republican state who lived peacefully with each other. Thus, it can be observed that the political
17 Hudson, Valerie M. "THE DEEP STRUCTURE OF COLLECTIVE SECURITy." The Evils of Polygyny (2018):
147.
18 Yoo, Chul Woo, and H. Raghav Rao. "Collective Security Efficacy and Group Security Compliance." (2014).
19 Acharya, Amitav. "Power shift or paradigm shift? China's rise and Asia's emerging security order." International
Studies Quarterly 58, no. 1 (2014): 158-173.

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idea of Kant was mainly the formation of a republican government and a global system of
international organization20. However, his theory was not regarded as pragmatic during the times
of turmoil of the nineteenth and twentieth century.
Idealistic proposition of Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson was one of the greatest Presidents of the United State of America. He
led the country to victory in the First World War. He even engineered a course which would
bring an end to the conflicts and rage that existed in the world at the end of the horrific War. One
of the most significant contributions of Wilson in the international sphere was that of the
formalization of the Fourteen Points in the year of 191821. Within this document, he stated that
there is a need to form a general association of the countries of the world who would be
governed by certain specific covenants and treaties. The purpose of them would be to afford a
mutual guarantee of territorial integrity of the nation states of the world and their consequent
political independence.
This formed the central idea of the League of Nations which could not be comprised
upon at any cost. According to Wilson, the human civilization seeks the reign and the imposition
of law and rules and regulations in the society22. However, they need to be formulated based on
the consent and agreement of the people who are governed. This laid the foundations for his idea
of collective security. He wanted to establish a state order where there would be prevalence of
peace and security based on the wants and desires of the common public. This would ensure that
20 Fierke, Karin M. Critical approaches to international security. John Wiley & Sons, 2015.
21 Sperling, James, and Mark Webber. "NATO and the Ukraine crisis: Collective securitisation." European journal of
international security 2, no. 1 (2017): 19-46.
22 Wang, Jianwei. "China’s Evolving Attitudes and Approaches toward UN Collective Security." In America, China,
and the Struggle for World Order, pp. 103-131. Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2015.

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the state leaders would be effective in understanding the aspirations of the citizens for a good
way of life and thereby, formulate their national interest based on such a conception.
Strengths and shortcomings of collective security
The idea of collective security has its own strengths and limitations. Collective security
refers to the need for the maintenance of peace in the world by all the nation states on the globe.
They do not have a specific common enemy, but rather they have the objective of challenging
any entity which seeks to adversely affect such peace and security in the world.
One of the greatest advantage or strength of collective security is that it seeks to preserve
the idea of security through the institution of collective actions. For all the nation states of the
world, the aspect of security is most essential23. In this context, the provision of national security
to the countries by the way of mitigating any threat posed to its territorial boundary or
international character, is determined under collective security.
Another important strength of the idea of collective security is that it accepts the fact that
the notion of aggression can be universal in character. In other words, the idea encompasses
within itself the notion that violence of the peace and security of a country would definitely
occur. The form or nature of aggression and war cannot be eliminated or separated from the
entire gamut of international relations.
However, on the other hand, there exists certain limitations which are found to be
associated with the idea of collective security. The first limitation that can be observed is that it
is too idealistic in nature. For example, the system works on the principle that the various
countries of the world would come to a consensus with regards to the nature of the threat and the
23 Thompson, Sue. The United States and Southeast Asian Regionalism: Collective Security and Economic
Development, 1945–75. Routledge, 2018.

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identity of the aggressor24. This is not possible in the real life scenario. The vulnerable and
weaker nation states are not in a position to actively condemn the acts of aggression undertaken
by the powerful countries of the world. They would not be comfortable to name the aggressor or
publicly condemn the actions in an explicit manner.
The second shortcoming of collective security is that it o often not possible to identify the
aggressive entity. This is due to the reason that for the aggressor, the action is justified. The
aggressor would try to provide reasons as to why the action had been undertaken and a selective
portion of the world community would come out in support of the aggressor, thereby breaking
the needed unity and consensus.
Case study of the United Nations and the United Nations Security Council
Towards the end of the twentieth century, the need for collective security increased to a
considerable extent. It assumed one of the most important mechanisms for the preservation of
international peace and harmony. In order to ensure the institutionalization of this idea, several
attempts were made in the beginning of the twentieth century by the way of establishment of the
League of Nations after the First World War and the foundation of the United Nations
Organizations after the Second World War25. The League of Nations failed miserably as the state
leaders were not empowered or strong enough to take decisive actions. Furthermore, the decision
of the United States of America not to join the international organization greatly reduced the
scope of activity of the other members of the League of Nations.
24 Rzhevskaya, V. "Defining and developing the concept of Collective security in study and practice of International
law." Evropsky politicky a pravni diskurz 3, Iss. 6 (2016): 17-24.
25 Fenton, Neil. Understanding the UN Security Council: coercion or consent?. Routledge, 2017.
Fierke, Karin M. Critical approaches to international security. John Wiley & Sons, 2015.