NCERT Solutions for Class 12 Political Science Chapter 5: Security in the Contemporary World (NCERT 2026–27)

These Class 12 Political Science Chapter 5 solutions cover Security in the Contemporary World from Contemporary World Politics, the NCERT textbook for the 2026–27 session. The chapter introduces two ways of understanding security — the traditional (national) conception centred on military threats and the non-traditional conception covering human and global security. It explains deterrence, defence, balance of power and alliance building, disarmament and arms control, and the newer threats of terrorism, human-rights abuses, global poverty, migration and refugees, and health epidemics, before examining India’s security strategy. Below you get step-by-step, exam-ready answers to every NCERT exercise question, plus key terms, extra practice, MCQs, Assertion–Reason and FAQs.

Class: 12 Subject: Political Science Book: Contemporary World Politics Chapter: 5 Topic: Security in the Contemporary World Session: 2026–27
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Class 12 Political Science Chapter 5 – Overview

At its most basic, security means freedom from threats to core values. Because life is full of threats, the term is reserved only for those that endanger core values so severely that they would be damaged beyond repair if nothing were done. The chapter groups notions of security into two families. The traditional (national security) conception treats military threats from other states as the greatest danger, and the state — its sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity — as the thing being protected; its tools are deterrence, defence, balance of power and alliance building, supplemented by cooperation through disarmament, arms control and confidence building. The non-traditional conception widens the referent from the state to people and even all humankind, giving rise to human security (‘freedom from want’ and ‘freedom from fear’) and global security. New sources of threat include terrorism, human-rights violations, global poverty, migration and refugees, and health epidemics. Such threats need cooperative security rather than military confrontation. The chapter closes with India’s four-part security strategy — military strength, international institutions and norms, addressing internal challenges, and economic development to lift people out of poverty.

Key Concepts & Terms

Security: at its most basic, freedom from threats to core values; the term applies only to extremely dangerous threats that could damage core values beyond repair.

Traditional (national) security: a conception in which the greatest danger to a country is a military threat from another country, and the values protected are sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity.

Deterrence: security policy aimed at preventing war by raising the likely costs of attack to an unacceptable level for the aggressor.

Defence: security policy aimed at limiting or ending war once it has broken out, so as to deny the attacker its objectives.

Balance of power: a state’s effort to keep a favourable balance, especially against powerful or hostile neighbours, by building up military, economic and technological power.

Alliance: a coalition of states that coordinate their actions to deter or defend against military attack; usually formalised in treaties and based on national interests, so it can change when those interests change.

Disarmament: states giving up certain kinds of weapons — e.g. the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) and the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).

Arms control: regulating the acquisition or development of weapons — e.g. the ABM Treaty (1972), SALT II, START and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT, 1968).

Confidence Building Measures (CBMs): a process in which rivals regularly share ideas and information about military intentions and forces, to avoid war through misunderstanding or misperception.

Non-traditional security: conceptions that go beyond military threats; the referent is expanded from the state to individuals, communities or all humankind — called human security or global security.

Human security: protection of people more than of states; the ‘narrow’ view focuses on violent threats, the ‘broad’ view adds hunger, disease and natural disasters (‘freedom from want’ and ‘freedom from fear’).

Cooperative security: dealing with non-traditional threats through bilateral, regional, continental or global cooperation rather than military confrontation, using force only as a collectively sanctioned last resort.

Other key terms: terrorism (political violence deliberately targeting civilians), refugees (those who flee war, disaster or persecution) versus migrants (those who leave voluntarily), and internally displaced people (those who flee but remain within national borders, e.g. the Kashmiri Pandits of the early 1990s).

NCERT Exercise — Full Solutions

All questions below are reproduced verbatim from the NCERT textbook’s end-of-chapter Exercises. Answers are original, written in exam-ready style.

1. Match the terms with their meaning: i. Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) ii. Arms Control iii. Alliance iv. Disarmament a. Giving up certain types of weapons b. A process of exchanging information on defence matters between nations on a regular basis c. A coalition of nations meant to deter or defend against military attacks d. Regulates the acquisition or development of weapons

ANSWER i – b: Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) — a process of exchanging information on defence matters between nations on a regular basis. ii – d: Arms Control — regulates the acquisition or development of weapons. iii – c: Alliance — a coalition of nations meant to deter or defend against military attacks. iv – a: Disarmament — giving up certain types of weapons.

2. Which among the following would you consider as a traditional security concern / non-traditional security concern / not a threat? a. The spread of chikungunya / dengue fever b. Inflow of workers from a neighbouring nation c. Emergence of a group demanding nationhood for their region d. Emergence of a group demanding autonomy for their region e. A newspaper that is critical of the armed forces in the country

ANSWER a. The spread of chikungunya / dengue fever — Non-traditional security concern. Health epidemics threaten the lives of ordinary people and form part of human/global security rather than a military threat. b. Inflow of workers from a neighbouring nation — Non-traditional security concern. Large-scale migration affects livelihoods, resources and social harmony, and can create international frictions, but it is not a direct military threat. c. Emergence of a group demanding nationhood for their region — Traditional security concern (internal). A separatist movement that seeks to break away threatens the state’s territorial integrity and unity, so it falls under internal traditional security. d. Emergence of a group demanding autonomy for their region — Non-traditional security concern. A demand for autonomy within the country seeks a greater say or self-governance, not separation, and is usually addressed through democratic political means rather than as a military threat. e. A newspaper that is critical of the armed forces in the country — Not a threat. Free criticism of the armed forces is a normal exercise of the freedom of speech in a democracy and does not endanger the country’s core values.

3. What is the difference between traditional and non-traditional security? Which category would the creation and sustenance of alliances belong to?

ANSWER Traditional security is concerned mainly with the use, or threat of use, of military force. Its referent is the state — its sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity — and the greatest danger is a military threat from another country. Force is both the principal threat to security and the principal means of achieving it (through deterrence, defence, balance of power and alliances). Non-traditional security goes beyond military threats to include a wide range of dangers affecting human existence. Its referent is expanded from the state to individuals, communities or all of humankind — this is human security and global security. It covers terrorism, human-rights violations, global poverty, migration and refugees, and health epidemics, and stresses cooperation rather than military confrontation. Alliances belong to the traditional security category. An alliance is a coalition of states that coordinate their actions to deter or defend against military attack, based on national interests — clearly a tool of traditional, military-centred security.

4. What are the differences in the threats that people in the Third World face and those living in the First World face?

ANSWER The security challenges of the newly-independent countries of Asia and Africa (the Third World) differed from those of the developed countries of Europe and North America (the First World) in important ways. Third World countries faced threats from two directions at once. They had to fear military conflict with neighbouring countries (often over borders, territories and control of people), and many also feared the possibility of an imperial war with their former colonial rulers. At the same time they faced serious internal threats — separatist movements demanding independent countries — and external and internal threats often merged when a neighbour helped or instigated a separatist movement. Internal wars came to make up more than 95 per cent of all armed conflicts. First World countries, after the Second World War, felt their internal security was more or less assured; the powerful Western European states faced no serious threats from groups within their borders. They therefore focused primarily on external threats — chiefly the danger of a military attack from the rival Cold War alliance. In short, the First World worried mainly about external (military) threats, while the Third World had to cope with external threats from neighbours and serious internal conflicts and separatist movements simultaneously.

5. Is terrorism a traditional or non-traditional threat to security?

ANSWER Terrorism is a non-traditional threat to security. It refers to political violence that targets civilians deliberately and indiscriminately; international terrorism involves the citizens or territory of more than one country. Terrorist groups try to change a political context they dislike by force or the threat of force, choosing civilian targets to terrorise the public and use that fear as a weapon against governments. Because the referent of the threat is ordinary people rather than a state’s borders, and because the danger does not come from the regular armed forces of another country, terrorism is counted among non-traditional (human/global) security concerns. Public attention to it rose sharply after the attacks on the World Trade Centre on 11 September 2001, though terrorism itself is not new.

6. What are the choices available to a state when its security is threatened, according to the traditional security perspective?

ANSWER According to the traditional security perspective, when a country is faced with the threat of war a government has three basic choices: 1. To surrender. A government may choose to give in when actually confronted by war, though it will not advertise surrender as the policy of the country. 2. To deter the attack (prevent war). It can prevent the other side from attacking by promising to raise the costs of war to an unacceptable level — this is called deterrence. 3. To defend itself. It can defend itself when war actually breaks out, so as to deny the attacking country its objectives and to turn back or defeat the attacking forces — this is called defence. Thus traditional security policy is concerned with preventing war (deterrence) and with limiting or ending war (defence).

7. What is ‘Balance of Power’? How could a state achieve this?

ANSWER Balance of power is the third component of traditional security policy. When countries look around them, they notice that some neighbours are bigger and stronger; this is a clue to who might be a threat in the future. A country may have no obvious reason to attack, but the very fact that it is powerful is a sign that at some point it may choose to be aggressive. Governments are therefore very sensitive to the balance of power between their country and others, and they work hard to maintain a favourable balance, especially with those nearby, with whom they have differences, or with whom they have had conflicts in the past. How a state can achieve it: a good part of maintaining a balance of power is to build up one’s military power. Economic and technological power are also important, since they are the basis for military power. A state may also form alliances with other states to increase its effective power relative to a rival. In short, a favourable balance is achieved through military, economic and technological strength and alliance building.

8. What are the objectives of military alliances? Give an example of a functioning military alliance with its specific objectives.

ANSWER Objectives of military alliances: an alliance is a coalition of states that coordinate their actions to deter or defend against military attack. The main objective is to increase the members’ effective power relative to another country or alliance, so that they can better protect their security. Alliances are usually formalised in written treaties and rest on a fairly clear identification of who constitutes the threat. Because they are based on national interests, they can change when those interests change. Example — NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation): NATO is a functioning military alliance formed by the United States and its Western allies. Its specific objective is collective defence — an armed attack against one member is treated as an attack against all, so the members pledge to come to one another’s defence and deter any aggressor. During the Cold War its purpose was to deter a military attack by the rival Soviet-led alliance.

9. Rapid environmental degradation is causing a serious threat to security. Do you agree with the statement? Substantiate your arguments.

ANSWER Yes, I agree that rapid environmental degradation is a serious (non-traditional) threat to security. Environmental problems are global in nature, so no country can resolve them alone, and they can endanger the very existence of the people they affect. Arguments to substantiate: (i) Global warming and rising sea levels: a sea-level rise of about 1.5–2.0 metres would flood 20 per cent of Bangladesh, inundate most of the Maldives and threaten nearly half the population of Thailand. For a low-lying country like the Maldives this is a threat to its very survival. (ii) Pressure on natural resources: environmental degradation, growing populations and competition over scarce resources such as water and land can sharpen tensions and contribute to conflicts. (iii) Disproportionate burden: in some situations one country may have to bear the brunt of a global problem such as environmental degradation, even though it did little to cause it. (iv) Need for cooperation: because these problems cross borders, they require international cooperation (such as the Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gases). This shows environmental degradation is a genuine, world-wide security concern that cannot be tackled by military force alone.

10. Nuclear weapons as deterrence or defence have limited usage against contemporary security threats to states. Explain the statement.

ANSWER Nuclear weapons were developed mainly as instruments of deterrence — to prevent war by threatening unacceptable costs — and, in a limited sense, of defence. Against the traditional threat of a large military attack by another state, they may help deter aggression. But against most contemporary (non-traditional) security threats they have very limited usage, for the following reasons: (i) Today many threats — terrorism, global poverty, migration and refugee movements, and health epidemics — do not come from the regular army of an enemy state, so there is no clear target against which nuclear weapons could be used. (ii) Military force, including nuclear weapons, can do little to alleviate poverty, manage migration or control epidemics; in most such cases the use of force would only make matters worse. (iii) Even where force has a role — combating terrorism or enforcing human rights — there is a clear limit to what force can achieve, and nuclear weapons are far too indiscriminate and destructive to be usable. (iv) These problems are global and require cooperation, not confrontation. Hence nuclear weapons, useful as a deterrent against state-to-state war, have little practical value against the changing nature of contemporary threats.

11. Looking at the Indian scenario, what type of security has been given priority in India, traditional or non-traditional? What examples could you cite to substantiate the argument?

ANSWER India has faced both traditional and non-traditional threats, from within as well as outside its borders, and its security strategy has used all four components in varying combinations — it does not focus on only one type of security. However, given its location and history, India has had to give considerable attention to traditional security, while also addressing non-traditional concerns. Examples of attention to traditional security: India strengthened its military capabilities because it has been involved in conflicts with its neighbours — Pakistan in 1947–48, 1965, 1971 and 1999, and China in 1962. Surrounded by nuclear-armed countries in the region, India conducted nuclear tests in 1998 (after first testing a device in 1974) to safeguard national security. Examples of attention to non-traditional / cooperative security: India strengthened international norms and institutions — supporting decolonisation, disarmament, non-alignment and the UN, working for a universal, non-discriminatory non-proliferation regime and an equitable New International Economic Order (NIEO), signing the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, and sending troops on UN peacekeeping missions. It has met internal challenges (militancy in Nagaland, Mizoram, Punjab and Kashmir) through democratic politics, and has worked to develop its economy so that the masses are lifted out of poverty. Conclusion: India has given priority to a balanced combination of both, but with strong emphasis on traditional security because of repeated external conflicts and internal separatist movements, while increasingly recognising non-traditional and cooperative security.

12. Read the cartoon below and write a short note in favour or against the connection between war and terrorism depicted in this cartoon.

ANSWER (The cartoon © Ares, Cagle Cartoons Inc. in the NCERT textbook suggests a close link between war and terrorism. Since the cartoon image cannot be reproduced here, a model note is given. Either side may be argued in the examination.) In favour of the connection (war breeds terrorism): Wars and armed conflicts create exactly the conditions in which terrorism grows. They destroy livelihoods, identities and living environments, generate millions of refugees and internally displaced people, and leave behind anger, insecurity and a supply of weapons. The destruction and humiliation of war can push some people towards political violence against civilians. History supports this — the US backed Islamic militants in Afghanistan against the Soviet Union in the 1980s, and some of those very forces later turned to terrorism, as in the 11 September 2001 attacks. In this sense the cartoon rightly shows war and terrorism feeding each other. A balanced conclusion: while not every war leads to terrorism, the cartoon makes a valid point that violence breeds further violence, and that lasting security therefore requires reducing the causes of conflict — poverty, injustice and unresolved disputes — through cooperation rather than force alone.

Extra Practice Questions

Short Answer Type Questions

Q1. What does ‘security’ mean in its most basic sense?

ANSWERAt its most basic, security means freedom from threats to core values. Since human life is full of threats, the term is reserved only for extremely dangerous threats — those that could damage core values beyond repair if nothing were done about them.

Q2. Distinguish between deterrence and defence.

ANSWERDeterrence is concerned with preventing war by threatening to raise the costs of an attack to an unacceptable level. Defence is concerned with limiting or ending war once it has actually begun, so as to deny the attacker its objectives and turn back or defeat its forces.

Q3. What is the difference between a refugee and a migrant?

ANSWERA refugee is a person who flees from war, natural disaster or political persecution, while a migrant is one who voluntarily leaves his or her home country, usually to seek better economic opportunities. States are generally supposed to accept refugees, but they do not have to accept migrants.

Q4. What is meant by ‘internally displaced people’? Give an example.

ANSWERInternally displaced people are those who have been forced to flee their homes but remain within their country’s borders rather than crossing into another country. The Kashmiri Pandits who fled the violence in the Kashmir Valley in the early 1990s are an example of an internally displaced community.

Q5. Name the two views within the concept of human security.

ANSWERThe narrow concept of human security focuses on protecting individuals from violent threats — what Kofi Annan called “the protection of communities and individuals from internal violence”. The broad concept also includes protection from hunger, disease and natural disasters, stressing ‘freedom from want’ as well as ‘freedom from fear’.

Long Answer Type Questions

Q1. Explain the various forms of cooperation that are possible within the traditional notion of security.

ANSWERTraditional security recognises that cooperation in limiting violence is possible, relating both to the ends and the means of war. It is almost universally accepted that countries should go to war only for the right reasons — primarily self-defence or to protect others from genocide — and that war must be limited in the means used: armies must avoid killing non-combatants and the unarmed or surrendering, must not be excessively violent, and must use force only after all alternatives have failed. Beyond limiting war, three further forms of cooperation are important. Disarmament requires states to give up certain kinds of weapons, as in the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention and the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention. Arms control regulates the acquisition or development of weapons, as in the ABM Treaty (1972), SALT II, START and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (1968). Confidence building is a process in which rivals share ideas and information about their military intentions and forces, demonstrating that they are not planning a surprise attack, so that war is not caused by misunderstanding or misperception.

Q2. Discuss the new sources of threat highlighted by the non-traditional conceptions of security.

ANSWERNon-traditional security focuses on the changing nature of threats, which affect people more than states. Terrorism is political violence that deliberately targets civilians to terrorise the public and pressurise governments. Human-rights violations — such as the genocide in Rwanda, the killings in East Timor and Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait — have raised debate on whether the UN should intervene to protect human rights. Global poverty is another source of insecurity: rapid population growth in the poorest countries, alongside shrinking populations in rich ones, widens the gap between the global North and South, and poverty in the South fuels armed conflict and large-scale migration. Migration and refugees create international frictions, and the world’s refugee map closely matches its conflict map. Health epidemics such as HIV-AIDS, bird flu and SARS spread rapidly across borders through migration, travel and trade, with one country’s failure to contain a disease affecting others. These threats are global, so they require international cooperation rather than military force.

Q3. Describe the four components of India’s security strategy.

ANSWERIndia has faced both traditional and non-traditional threats from within and outside its borders, and its security strategy has four broad components, used in varying combinations. First, strengthening military capabilities, because India has been involved in conflicts with its neighbours — Pakistan in 1947–48, 1965, 1971 and 1999, and China in 1962 — and, surrounded by nuclear-armed states, conducted nuclear tests in 1974 and 1998 to safeguard national security. Second, strengthening international norms and institutions: Nehru supported Asian solidarity, decolonisation, disarmament and the UN; India worked for a universal non-proliferation regime and an equitable New International Economic Order, used non-alignment to carve out an area of peace, signed the Kyoto Protocol and sent troops on UN peacekeeping missions. Third, meeting internal security challenges: several militant groups in Nagaland, Mizoram, Punjab and Kashmir have sought to break away, and India has tried to preserve national unity through a democratic political system that lets communities articulate grievances and share power. Fourth, developing the economy so that the masses are lifted out of poverty and huge inequalities are not allowed to persist — for democracy itself becomes a way to provide greater security.

MCQs & Assertion–Reason

1. At its most basic, security implies:

(a) military strength    (b) freedom from threats to core values    (c) economic growth    (d) a large population

2. In the traditional conception, the greatest danger to a country comes from:

(a) health epidemics    (b) global poverty    (c) a military threat from another country    (d) migration

3. Preventing war by promising to raise its costs to an unacceptable level is called:

(a) defence    (b) deterrence    (c) disarmament    (d) surrender

4. A coalition of states that coordinate their actions to deter or defend against military attack is called:

(a) an alliance    (b) the balance of power    (c) a CBM    (d) human security

5. The 1972 Biological Weapons Convention and the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention are examples of:

(a) arms control    (b) confidence building    (c) disarmament    (d) alliance building

6. The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) was signed in:

(a) 1945    (b) 1968    (c) 1972    (d) 1991

7. In non-traditional security, the referent of security is expanded to include:

(a) only the state    (b) only the armed forces    (c) individuals, communities and all of humankind    (d) only governments

8. The phrases ‘freedom from want’ and ‘freedom from fear’ are associated with:

(a) balance of power    (b) the broad concept of human security    (c) deterrence    (d) alliance building

9. Those who flee from war, natural disaster or political persecution are called:

(a) migrants    (b) refugees    (c) tourists    (d) settlers

10. India conducted its nuclear tests, justified in terms of safeguarding national security, in:

(a) 1962    (b) 1971    (c) 1998    (d) 2001

Answer key: 1-(b), 2-(c), 3-(b), 4-(a), 5-(c), 6-(b), 7-(c), 8-(b), 9-(b), 10-(c).

For each Assertion–Reason question, choose: (A) Both true and the Reason correctly explains the Assertion; (B) Both true but the Reason is not the correct explanation; (C) Assertion true, Reason false; (D) Assertion false, Reason true.

A-R 1. Assertion: In world politics each country has to be responsible for its own security.

Reason: There is no acknowledged central authority that stands above every state and can control behaviour.

A-R 2. Assertion: Alliances can change when national interests change.

Reason: Alliances are based on national interests and are formed to increase a state’s effective power against a rival.

A-R 3. Assertion: Secure states automatically mean secure peoples.

Reason: Protecting citizens from foreign attack is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for the security of individuals.

A-R 4. Assertion: Terrorism is a non-traditional threat to security.

Reason: Terrorism is political violence that deliberately targets civilians to terrorise the public and pressurise governments.

A-R 5. Assertion: Military force is the best way to deal with most non-traditional threats.

Reason: Cooperative security relies on international cooperation rather than military confrontation to tackle threats like poverty, migration and epidemics.

Answer key: 1-(A), 2-(B), 3-(D), 4-(A), 5-(D).

Exam Tips & Common Mistakes

How to score full marks in this chapter

Keep the two families of security clearly separate — traditional (state-centred, military) versus non-traditional (human and global). Memorise the four components of traditional security policy (deterrence, defence, balance of power, alliance building) and the three CBM/cooperation forms (disarmament, arms control, confidence building) with their treaty examples (BWC 1972, CWC 1997, ABM 1972, NPT 1968). For ‘classify the threat’ questions, justify each answer in one line. Always link the India questions to the four-component security strategy and use dated examples (conflicts of 1947–48, 1962, 1965, 1971, 1999; nuclear tests 1974 and 1998; Kyoto Protocol 1997).

Common mistakes to avoid

  • Mixing up deterrence (preventing war) with defence (limiting or ending war).
  • Confusing disarmament (giving up weapons) with arms control (regulating their acquisition/development).
  • Calling a demand for autonomy the same as a demand for nationhood/separation — only the latter is a traditional internal security concern.
  • Treating terrorism or epidemics as traditional threats — they are non-traditional.
  • Saying secure states automatically mean secure people — the textbook stresses this is necessary but not sufficient.
  • Forgetting that alliances belong to traditional security and that they change with national interests.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Chapter 5 of Class 12 Political Science (Contemporary World Politics) about?

Chapter 5, Security in the Contemporary World, explains that security means freedom from threats to core values and presents two conceptions of it — the traditional (national, military-centred) view with its tools of deterrence, defence, balance of power and alliances, and the non-traditional view covering human and global security, including terrorism, poverty, migration, refugees and epidemics. It ends with India’s four-part security strategy.

What is the difference between traditional and non-traditional security?

Traditional security is concerned mainly with military force, with the state as the thing being protected and military threats from other countries as the chief danger. Non-traditional security expands the referent from the state to individuals, communities and all humankind, covering human and global security threats such as terrorism, global poverty, migration and refugees, and health epidemics, and stresses cooperation over military force.

How many questions are in the Class 12 Political Science Chapter 5 exercise?

The end-of-chapter Exercises in Contemporary World Politics Chapter 5 contain 12 numbered questions, including a matching question and a classify-the-threat question, all answered step by step on this page.

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