Social Sciences in China, 2022

Vol. 43, No. 2, 2022

 

A Theoretical Outline for National Security Studies for the New Era

 

Zhang Yuyan and Feng Weijiang

 

Abstract：China is tasked with attaining the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and facing global changes unseen in a century. To this end, a pressing task for China’s national security studies in the new era, under the guidance of a holistic concept of national security, is to provide an analytical framework and scholarly insights. Seven theoretical propositions can be derived when we clarify the relationships between security level, security capability, and security threats. They are: absolute security is out of reach; growing security investment that eyes absolute security will create a security dilemma; under closed conditions, the country should put the brakes on building relative security when it achieves equilibrium security; under open conditions, hegemonic powers may generate security capabilities that exceed equilibrium security and tend to “protect” or prey on countries whose development has relatively high output efficiency rather than those whose security capabilities have relatively high output efficiency; and following separate technical routes for dealing with intentional and unintentional threats may achieve a higher security level than managing in an undifferentiated way. The “Great Yu Improvement” pattern is pivotal to “Building a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind” as it can transform other actors’ capacity to address intentional threats into a capacity for shielding oneself against unintentional threats; and appropriate allocation of excessive security capability and stronger national system security capability are major solutions to the uncertain nature of security threats.

 

Keywords: holistic concept of national security, national security studies in the new era, security capability, equilibrium security, the Great Yu Improvement pattern