Published Online:October 2026
Product Name:The IUP Journal of International Relations
Product Type:Article
Product Code:IJIR011026
DOI:10.71329/IUPJIR/2026.20.4.7-25
Author Name:Nawid Aria
Availability:YES
Subject/Domain:Arts and Humanities
Download Format:PDF
Pages:7-25
Traditional Westphalian national security approaches emphasizing state sovereignty, territorial integrity, and military aspect are inadequate for the analysis of security in fragile states, whose state institutions cannot provide even the most basic functioning of governing systems. This paper provides a theoretical basis for national security reconsideration and reconceptualization through a survival-oriented approach that emphasizes human security, while taking into account the fact of hybrid governance. Combining the ideas from Hybrid Political Orders Theory, Human Security literature, and Resilience Approaches, the paper proves that the concept of security in such a context cannot be studied only in terms of state-centric approaches. In fact, security is the result of interactions among formal and informal institutions, non-state actors, and community-based structures that together allow survival under conditions of insecurity and weak institutions. The paper also discusses the impact of the approach on international relations and explains why international actors should act inside the existing hybrid political order.
Throughout the modern history period, perceptions of national security have been influenced by the Westphalian vision of the state and focused on the importance of territorial sovereignty, borders protection and military forces development. Under the circumstances of this conception, security was viewed as the task of central government that had both legitimate and material opportunities to establish a monopoly on the use of force, maintain domestic stability and protect the people from any possible external threat. However, developments in international security situation after the end of the Cold War increasingly challenged these ideas1.