CONCEPT OF NATIONAL SAFETY: TRANSFORMATION OR ABOLITION

Abstract

The traditional conception of safety, also called state-centric, is based on the so called "Westphalian" model of state and the protection of its values and interests. The state is, in such approach to understanding the problem, the only relevant fact of safety, and everything, concerning safety, is observed through the role and functions of the state. The events from the end of the last century influenced the redefinition of positions from which the safety is observed. The essence of new tendencies in the development of safety, and also the challenges that states confront in keeping the national safety is the change of the characteristic of threat. Besides, an ideological political antagonism is excluded, and the classic safety risks and possibilities of resolving the conflicts between states or military and political groups are considerably reduced or almost eliminated. All the mentioned changes, as well as others influence the seeing of the concept of national safety in a new safety environment.

The changes made on the international scene after the Cold War were influenced by the changes of ideas and concepts of national safety. The mentioned changes are manifested through the increasing of the number of protagonists, the nature of threats and the manner of their appearance. Among other things, that made the concept of national safety a changeable category, which needed to be filled up with the new current ideas. The conception of safety is significantly extended and developed, so that nowadays it is observed from different levels and sectors included by safety. However, the question is if those new approaches to the safety managed to overcome the significance and the role of the state or its role is just being transformed?