Political Security

Idealistic product or concrete reality?

Adrian GHENADE

Abstract: In the context of the tragic events taking place on the international arena and observing the ephemeral desire of states to return to the specific real­politik approaches, this article is primarily a plea for the return to the ephemeral principles specific to human security and the restoration of human well-being and security as an epicenter of the concerns of states. Constituting one of the 5 dimensions of security on the basis of the acceptance of the principles of the Copenhagen School, political security addresses institutional stability and func­tionality as elementary principles for the existence of the state. Within the arti­cle, we will be able to see how many states that are labeled as „failed states” have poor political security with poorly developed political institutions. This pa­per is structured in two sections: one theoretical and one practical. At the level of the theoretical part, the theoretical and conceptual dimension of political se­curity is approached, addressing in this respect the main tools and ways in which it is realized and perceived as a section in the security process. At the lev­el of the practical part, a case study is conducted in which the author opted for an analysis on the political security of Romania. At the level of the practical part, by using relevant indexes on the relevant component parts in political secu­rity (peace, governance, fragility of public institutions, perception of corruption) , the author wants to test the idea of whether Romania is an institutionally stable state, respectively, whether the Romanian state has inclusive or extractive insti­tutions on governance over the population. At the end of the paper, a conclusion is expressed that is meant to summarize the whole process drawn up in the fol­lowing pages.

Key words: security, policy, political, index, international relationship, Romania.

“Political repression, systemic tor­ture, ill-treatment or disappearance of individuals” were still a reality in 110 countries according to the 1994 Human Development Report. Prepa­red by Pakistani Mahbub-al-Haq un­der the auspices of the United Nations, the HDR represents the first document in that the term political security will be used¹.

Defined as the prevention of gov­ernment repression, systematic viola­tion of human rights and threats from the military, the concept of political security will enjoy little attention in the aforementioned report, with ap­proximately 400 words devoted to it. We note in this sense that its defini­tion is summarized and ambiguous, not addressing a lot of essential di­mensions that must be covered in the realization of this process².

Other approaches define political security as the organizational stability of states, governance systems, and ideologies that give governments and states their legitimacy³. Also, another definition regarding political security belongs to Takashi Inoguchi who states that political security can be defined as the reasonable liberaliza­tion of action that allows the pursuit and achievement of objectives that national actors consider essential to defend, even in the potential/actual presence of external actors⁴.

Although we identify a differen­tiation in terms of nuances within each definition, we nevertheless note that, within each, the state and the notion of statehood constitute the common elements of the 3 defini­tions. Starting from the basic idea that political security is an extension and necessity of the notion of the state, we issue the following 2 ques­tions: to what extent is political secu­rity congruent with the notion of identity and social identification of the community on which it occurs? and political security is a product of classical state institutions, or are state institutions a product resulting from political security? Based on the 2 questions formulated, I will approach the idealistic dimension of the con­cept of political security, reporting on it based on theories from the sphere of liberalism and realism, with the aim of looking at it from different angles and perspectives.

Later, using quantitative data, I will analyze the main 5 indices that I consider relevant for the analysis of the concept of political security, so as to identify its main dimensions that can be applied in the concrete world, exemplifying the data through a state. Thus, we will identify the best way in which this process is carried out and the main characteristics of countries that show a failure, respectively a failure, in carrying out this process, so that we understand the best way in which this security product can be produced.

Part I

According to Article 1 of the Montevido Convention concerning the State from 1933⁵, in order for a state to be considered a legal entity it must meet 4 basic conditions: perma­nent population, defined territory, an executive power of the government and the ability to enter into relations with other states.

As we stated in the previous lines, in the first part we will approach the concept of political security from an ideational point of view, trying to capture its ideological dimension.

To begin with, I believe that it is necessary to frame the concept of political security in a paradigm of academic and political thinking that allows us to follow and frame its main dimensions. The end of the Cold War marked the entry into a new paradigm of thinking about the functioning of international relations. The new optics will also be reflected in the related environments, thus pro­ducing repercussions in the political, academic, social economic and mili­tary environment.

As there is an interconnectivity at the level of the previously listed envi­ronments, the new current of thought will also have repercussions on the security field, enjoying increasing popularity in this sense the concept of human security, which will thus mark the transition towards focusing on threats of a hybrid nature at the ex­pense of threats of a military nature. The new threats occurring in the in­ternational arena will thus require the creation of a new practical approach, and theoretically, thus imposing the need to create new operational con­cepts, respectively new strategies to combat hybrid threats.

Thus, in this context, at an aca­demic and scientific level, we ob­serve that the end of the 90s in terms of security will be marked by the concept of human security, a concept that was strongly animated by the principles of the Copenhagen School. As we already know, this school of thought claims that human security must be approached and ensured at a sectoral level, thus requiring the de­limitation of 5 dimensions of securi­ty: military, economic, environmen­tal, societal and political.

In this sense, I propose that we first analyze the concept of political security from a lexical-grammatical point of view, analyzing separately the 2 terms that make it up: political and security

According to the dictionary issued by Palgrave⁶, the term political is a term used in at least two important ways, first in the distinction between the political and the social, in which political means, roughly, pertaining to the state and its institutions; sec­ondly in the distinction between po­litical and other models of govern­ment political and other models of government.

Security is defined as the guaran­tor of safety, the political arrange­ments which make war less likely, which provide for negations rather than belligerence, and which aim to preserve peace as the normal condi­tion among states.

In this sense, analyzing the value of the two terms that make up the concept of political security, we can frame it as the prevention of any threats to the main political institu­tions of a state from internal and ex­ternal threats so that the population on which the governing act is drawn up there are no threats to life and lib­erty⁷.

In this sense, I propose that in this essay we refer to political security by means of two terms taken from the economic sphere.

The first belongs to Fracois Quesany⁸ which related to the econ­omy as a system, similar to that of the sago vessels. In this sense, we can thus relate to political security, as it is based on the proper functioning of the foundations of a state.

The other term is institutionalism. being proposed and produced by the American economist Douglas North⁹, which specifies that the institutions of a state that have some strong foundations will ensure the smooth functioning of a performing econom­ic system. Extending Douglas North’s approach and extrapolating it to all the political dimensions that ensure the functioning of the state, we ob­serve that the liberal institutionalist approach is a component intrinsically linked to the concept of political se­curity. In this sense, we note that po­litical security is closely aligned with state institutions. Starting in this sense from this assumption, we re­turn to the first question posed at the beginning: is political security a product of classical state institutions, or are state institutions a product re­sulting from political security?

Why Nations Fail¹⁰ by Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson, is an essential landmark for our attempt to provide an answer for the above question. They start from the idea that the difference between rich and poor countries lies in the fact that institutions provide different incen­tives for individuals and firms. These incentives are provided by economic institutions, but they are based on laws and political rules. Applying a principle also found in the 1994 HDR report, they state that in a developed country no one can expect to be taken from their home in the middle of the night without a clear reason, and the government cannot take pur and simpku, the house or business. But they identify the biggest discrepancy between rich and poor countries as being constituted by the idea of op­portunities. The opportunities and type of governance are the direct product of inclusive institutions (which have a democratic regime and include the people in the current gov­ernment) or extractive institutions (which use the people for the benefit of a few elites).

Thus, adopting a taxonomic sys­tem taken from Takashi Inoguchi’s model (which offered a taxonomy of political security at the internal-external level, later continuing to re­port on this concept through 8 types of approaches to political security), I propose to refer to the concept of political security by means of two dimensions: political security specific to states with inclusive institutions and the political security of states with extractive institutions, also adopting Takashi Inoguchi’s taxono­my regarding the internal-external dimension.

Before moving on to the taxo­nomic system proposed above, I con­sider it essential to define the terms of identity and to identify yourself.

The term identity was introduced by Erick H. Erikson, psychoanalyst, clinician, trained in the Freudian tra­dition, who developed a line of re­search towards the end of the 1930s and during the Second World War, having a remarkable contribution to the issue of development and the so­cialization of children and the rem­nants of their identification with their parents. In Erickson, we note that the conceptualization of identity com­bines his interest in the psychological development of the individual in rela­tion to the impact of historical and socio-cultural factors on the extent of their awareness.

In the attempt to define identity, it was stated that it is the embodiment and location of the psycho-social, that it provides a way of thinking about the links that exist between the person and society. That it represents a set of meanings that define who a certain person is who occupies a spe­cific role in society, as a member of a group or who possesses certain char­acteristics that classify him as a unique person¹¹.

The taxonomy of political security that I am going to make starts from the same assumption used by Takashi Inoguchi in his distinction between internal political security differentiat­ed from external political security. This exemplifies the fact that at the level of power exercised by a gov­ernment, in some situations, the pop­ulation internal does not identify with the ruling class, for the latter, politi­cal security can mean one’s own se­curity or the security of power.

The political security of inclusive type institutionalism is a product of states that first of all want the politi­cal institutions of which it is formed to ensure the fundamental rights and freedoms of citizens on their territo­ry, this being their main desired. In such a state, citizens automatically identify with the institutions that rep­resent them, the security of the state being in full accordance with their principles.

The political security of the ex­tractive type of institutionalism puts a pronounced emphasis on the charac­ter of identifying and not on the iden­tity of the citizens, in such a state, the political security being as a whole the security of the ruling and elitist class, which does not identify with the sev­eral times with the people over whom they exercise control. In this mean­ing, the exercise of power by the rul­ing class is directly proportional to its political security, the diminution of power being the direct equivalent to the diminution of its political security (which is the equivalent of its re­maining in government).

Thus, based on this taxonomy, we observe that the people are not al­ways the direct beneficiaries of polit­ical security, sometimes identifying more with the political institutions that make up the government appa­ratus.

Thus, the answer given to the first formulated question determines the need to provide an explanation for the second question: is political secu­rity a product of classical state insti­tutions, or are state institutions a product resulting from political secu­rity?

In the work On Democracy in America¹², Alexis de Toqueville ex­emplifies the fact that American de­mocracy and European democracy had two different routes, which thus conferred the birth of two democratic systems that present differences. In this sense, Toqueville explains the fact that democracy in America was born in a territory where previously there were no political institutions, a fact that allowed a different evolution of democracy. In this sense, it is not­ed that the American institutions were a direct result of the people, they were built and composed based on their character. Thus, we can ask the question: has there been political security for the American people in the absence of political institutions?

Seen from the perspective of insti­tutional liberal ideology, the answer is negative, since political security is achieved through institutions. Viewed instead from the perspective of realism, the political security of the American people was tied to its very identity, it being equivalent to its survival. Also, the existence of representatives of and from the peo­ple, the existence of a legal system, the existence of a national army to which certain government institutions can be added (although not under­stood in the modern sense as the Presidency, Congress) represented some elements through which the new American state born enjoyed all the eligibility criteria of the Montevido Convention. Thus, the answer to this question was there political security for the American people in the ab­sence of political in­stitutions? It is an affirmative one. Also, referring to the birth of modern political institutions in the USA and the way in which the component states of the union (which through negotiation will make the transition to federalism) negotiated the future political space of the American state offers us proof that the political secu­rity of a state can also exist as a pre­condition of institu­tionalism. As we stated at the begin­ning, political secu­rity is intrinsically linked to the secu­rity of the state and even to its sui generis existence. At the same time, referring to Takashi Inoguchi’s ap­proach, he identifies 3 basic elements through which politi­cal security can exist: the existence of national objec­tives, the existence of threats (which must primarily be ex­ternal) and the existence of freedom of action. In this sense, we infer that the political security of a state can exist in the absence of an institution­alism.

However, the dimension of exist­ence must also be complemented by the dimension of the quality of politi­cal security, which, as we will see in the second part of the paper, is ex­tremely varied.

Part II- The qualitative and quantitative dimension of politi­cal security

As I said, in the second part of the present paper I want to refer to politi­cal security from a practical point of view.

As can be deduced from the first part, we note that political security is equivalent to the existence of the state. Whether it is carried out on behalf of the population or a limited number of individuals, political secu­rity can be seen as the lifeblood of the state, upon which the existence of the state depends.

In addition to the previously of­fered definitions related to political security, I would like to add a few more related to threats to it.

Examples of political security

At the level of the notion of the concept of political security, we ob­serve the fact that it has evolved over time since the 1994 report as a result of the new realities appearing on the international scene determined by terrorism. Thus, following the war declared by the US and its allies on terrorism and the applicability of the Law of Armed Conflict¹³, based on Art.51 of the UN Charter¹⁴ terrorist detainees can be captured without trial, with the aim of preventing their re-entry into combat, in this sense the provisions of the Vienna Conven­tion¹⁵ are not applied, which applies to the rest of the prisoners of war.

Also, another innovative tool that resulted from political security was the founding of the United Nations Security Council established under resolution 1267¹⁶ in 1999, as a result of the fight against Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. The novelty of this council lies in the fact that its founding took place with the aim of guiding UN members to direct their efforts against individuals and groups sus­pected of terrorism. The novelty con­sisted in the fact that the definition of aggressors was directed against groups, and not against countries.

Also, at the level of political secu­rity, the category of failed states also enters, where the traditional and tra­ditionally recognized form of politi­cal governance is replaced by the seizure and exercise of power by ille­gitimate groups, which manifest ille­gitimate governance. Failed states are marked by flagrant human rights vio­lations. From the perspective of gov­ernance, relevant in this sense is the perspective of Jean-Germain Gros who suggests that the conceptualiza­tion of failed states has essentially the inability or unwillingness of public authorities “to carry out the end of what Hobbes called long ago con­tract” and provide public services on a wide range of welfare issues¹⁷.

Likewise, at the level of political security, there are detente zones or liberated zones that are geographical­ly and politically characterized as territories without a form of govern­ment or public services. These areas are characteristic of the favela of Rio de Janiero, cities in Africa or the bor­der between Afghanistan and Pakistan, as well as guerrillas in Colombia.

The notion of a failed state is also complemented by the notion of the failure of selective governance, or simply put, weak governance. In weak governance, the central authori­ty exercises its power over the territo­ry, respectively the population, but due to corruption, incompetence, they cannot exercise their power completely due to the existence of certain organized groups that thus create a parallel system of social and political relations. This is represented by mafia-type organizations that cre­ate the phenomenon also known as state within state, or parallel state.

Romania’s political security As a case study for the second part, I decided to report and analyze Romania’s political security.

I chose Romania as a case study for two reasons: one emotional, be­cause it is the country where I live and it is much easier for me to relate to the concrete reality of everyday life. And a second criterion related to how the concept of political security can make the transition from extrac­tive institutions to inclusive institu­tions, a transition that has been going on for 34 years. Compared to the po­litical security characteristic of states with extractive institutions, the case of Romania is more than interesting because in communist Romania there was the most repressive state appa­ratus directed against the citizens, the Security as an intelligence service being the most brutal of the entire communist bloc of the Pact from Warsaw. An idea of the brutality of this mechanism can be inferred from the simple fact that many historians consider the Pitesti Experiment more horrific and sinister than the Gulag Archipelago.

Returning to the current times, in the analysis of Romania’s political security I decided to use 6 indices that I considered relevant for reflect­ing the level of political security of a country.

But, to begin with, I want to offer a few lines related to the way the Romanian state evolved throughout its political transition.

we consider it necessary to ana­lyze the Amnesty International report from 1994 in order to observe how certain elements relating to Roma­nia’s political security were listed and to compare them with the 2023 re­port¹⁸.

We specify that in the respective report the elements listed are more from the sphere of human security, including certain elements from the sphere of political security at the in­ternal level, the emphasis being more pronounced on societal security.

The report states that the Romani­an state was at the level of 1994¹⁹ one of the countries that had ratified the European Convention on Human Rights, this taking place on June 20, 1994, and the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which Romania had ratified on September 30, 1994.

These conventions thus placed Romania outside the 110 states that did not have provisions in this regard.

Also, in the report, it was specified that in 1992 Romania, along with oth­er former communist states, received advice from the High Commissioner of the CSCE regarding national mi­norities.

At the country level, it is also men­tioned that the attempt by the presi­dent of the Republic of Moldova, Mircea Snegur, to organize a referen­dum to unite with Romania failed, the two states being considered separate political entities.

As negative aspects, the report states that five men were imprisoned because of their homosexuality, while two Roma people were killed, this act taking place with the apparent consent of the police, a fact that still shows the existence of a system that does not fully work in the benefit of citizens, there being strong discrimination.

At the same time, the report also criticizes the Judiciary Reorganization Law, which entered into force in July of that year. The main criticisms were that the independence of the judiciary had been compromised due to the cri­teria for the appointment and grading of judges. Another criticism brought was represented by the fact that the courts had a very high power to inter­fere with the work of the judges. An­other criticism was that the said law maintained the strong role of prosecu­tors and military courts as parallel justice systems, a fact that goes against certain human security princi­ples listed above. The report also not­ed that complaints regarding certain police abuses could only be made to the military prosecutor or the Ministry of the Interior, a fact that also limited a large part of citizens’ rights.

Thus, according to the report, Romania in 1994 was a country that wanted to go on a path of democrati­zation, but which knew serious defi­ciencies at the level of justice and public institutions, which were still not able to defend their citizens and which refused to work entirely in the public interest.

At the level of 2023, according to an Amnesty International report, we observe the fact that Romania had evolved quite a lot compared to 1994.

At the level of homosexuality, Romania had meanwhile repealed article 200 of the criminal code, this act took place during the government of Adrian Năstase in 2001, on dated June 22²⁰. Regarding the Roma prob­lem, we identify the fact that Romania is one of the states where hatred, physical harassment and vio­lence against the Roma has de­creased, according to the estimates made by the EU Agency for Funda­mental Rights (FRA).

At the level of critics, we find the unjust fine (according to the ECHR) of a peaceful protest regarding the realization of a mining project, the non-recognition of marriage and civil partnership between persons of the same sex (contrary to European norms from 2018 following the deci­sion of the Court of Justice regarding the need to harmonize the national law with European law) and the in­creased number of cases of sexual and gender-based violence.

Thus, although we have not yet found an ideal Romania, we can con­clude that the Romania of 2023/2024 is substantially improved compared to the period of the 1994s, our coun­try succeeding in the meantime in its integration into NATO and the EU.

Political Security²¹

As we have noticed, the concept of political security is a volatile one, it has in its composition a multitude of variables. In this sense, in order to be able to measure the level of politi­cal security as well as possible, I think it is essential to take into ac­count several indices that measure different constituent elements of this concept. Thus, in the analysis below, we referred to indices that measure the level of political stability, the lev­el of peace, governance, state fragili­ty and perception of corruption.

The Political Stability and Ab­sence of Violence/Terrorism Index measures the perception of the likeli­hood that a government will be desta­bilized or overthrown by un­constitutional or violent means, inclu­ding politically motivated violence or terrorism. This index is an average of several indices from the Economist Intelligence Unit, World Economic Forum and Political Risk Services. It reflects the possibility of a disorderly transfer of governmental power, armed conflicts, violent demonstra­tions, social unrest, international ten­sions, terrorism, as well as ethnic, religious, or regional conflicts. The source of the points measure is the World Bank, the value being between -2.5 (which is the weakest) and 2.5 (which is the strongest). The index takes into account 193 countries, the average being -0.07. Analyzing the data, we note that the highest values were recorded in Lichtenstein (1.64). Andorra (1.63), Singapore (1.49), Aruba (1.47) and New Zealand (1.44). At the opposite pole, we ob­serve that the states that have the lowest values are states known gener­ically as failed states such as Iraq (-2.4), Afghanistan (-2.53), Yemen (-2.59), Syria (- 2.66) and Somalia (-2.68).

At the level of Romania, we note that it occupies the 68th position out of 193 countries, its index having a value of 0.53 points, which places it above the world average, which is -0.07. Also, according to the index, Romania presents greater political stability than countries like France (0.37). These values can be attributed to internal and external factors that our country enjoys.

At the domestic level, we can mention the constitution, which pro­vides a precise and fair delimitation of the principle of separation of pow­ers in the state, which makes it prac­tically impossible for a single per­son/political formation to hold abso­lute power, helping the functioning and continuity of a somewhat stable democracy political view. Also, at the internal level (except for certain isolated episodes regarding the clash­es with ethnic Hungarians), Romania is a successful model regarding the integration of ethnic and religious minorities on its territory, there being no large-scale secessionist/separatist movements. The external causes are complemented by the external ones that reside in the membership of NATO and the European Union, which gives Romania guarantees in terms of military and political securi­ty, being at the same time institutions that ensure its democratic course. Another reason is represented by the efficiency of the intelligence struc­tures, which until now have managed to eliminate a multitude of potential terrorist attacks on the territory of the country and which make Romania a safe space from this point of view.

As a note, we specify that the in­dex measures data for the period 1996-2021

Peace Index²²

Produced by the Institute for Eco­nomics and Peace (IEP), the global peace index is the most important measure of global peace worldwide. The Global Peace Index covers data from 99.7% of the world’s population and is calculated using 23 qualitative and quantitative indicators. This in­dex measures the level of peace in 3 areas: the level of safety and social security, the extent of ongoing inter­nal and international conflict, and the degree of militarization.

The data are made for the year 2023, taking into account 163 coun­tries. The measurement scale is from 1 to 5, with a lower score reflecting that the country is peaceful.

The global average of this index is 3.14 points, the lowest values (im­plicitly also the most peaceful coun­tries) being achieved by Iceland (1.124), Denmark (1.31), Ireland (1.312), New Zealand (1.313) and Austria (1,316). At the opposite pole are countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo (3,214), South Sudan (3,221), Syria (3,294), Yemen (3,35) and Afghanistan (3,448).

Within this index, Romania occu­pies the 31st position, registering a score of 1.65 points, a fact that places it well above the average of the world’s countries.

According to the index, the fac­tors that determine these values are the perceived low crime in society (2.198/5), the police system (2.282/5), homicides (1.73/5), the population in prisons (1.965/5), ac­cess to weapons (3/5), political insta­bility (2/5), political terror (1.5/5), terrorist activity (1.274/5), deaths in internal conflicts (1/5) or safety and security 1.744676471/ 5. The certain high value in these measurements is found in relations with neighboring countries (3/5), which indicates cer­tain negative effects produced by the conflict in Ukraine which is in full conflict with the Russian Federation.

Also, another relevant index in this sense is the WorldWide Governance Index used by the World Bank

World Wide Governance²³

This index is made up of values that measure the level of corruption, government stability or law enforce­ment. Analyzing each country sepa­rately, the index does not provide an ordinal ranking of countries.

Having the most recent data until 2022, we note that Romania has an estimated control of corruption of 0 points, registering in this sense a per­centage of 55.7%. At the level of gov­ernmental effectiveness, Romania had registered 0 points, having a percent­age of 53.3%. At the level of political stability, Romania registered a value of 0.5 points, having a percentage of 60.8%.

At the level of compliance with the law, Romania obtained 0.4 points. Also, another relevant index to meas­ure Romania’s political security is the Fragile State Index

Fragile States Index (FSI)²⁴

It is an index produced by the Fund for Peace (FFP). This is an es­sential tool in highlighting the normal pressures that all states are under. It marks the highlighting of relevant vulnerabilities that contribute to the risk of state fragility. The index—and the social science framework and data analysis tools on which it is based—makes political risk assess­ment and conflict early warning ac­cessible to policymakers and the gen­eral public.

The index regarding the fragility of states has in its composition the analy­sis of 12 variables which are essen­­tial elements (such as demogra­phy, securi­ty, trust in public institu­tions) that are part of the dimension of political secu­rity.

In this sense, each analyzed dimen­sion has values between 0-10, the final score obtained by each country being generally the total sum of the values obtained in each separate section. The higher the amount, the more fragile and unstable the respective state is. The index was made on a sample of 179 countries.

In this sense, we note that the high­est values were obtained in the states of Somalia (111.9), Yemen (108.9), South Sudan (108.5), the Democratic Republic of Congo (107.2) and Syria (107 ,1). At the opposite pole, the countries that recorded the lowest score are Switzerland (17.8), New Zealand (16.7), Finland (16), Iceland (15.7) and Norway (14.5).

At the Romanian level, we note that it ranks 129 out of 179, with a score of 53 points. On the positive side, we note that with regard to the security component, Romania ranks very well, with a risk score of 1.9/10, being safer than Germany or Canada, and even surpassing in this respect Finland (which holds 2/10), but which unfortunately has values of 4-5 points for the rest of the components that make it up. Also, at the level of Romania, we observe certain vulner­abilities among the labor force and brain drain components where it has a score of 5.6, respectively the fac­tionalization of the elites, where it registers a score of 5.7 points. Alt­hough the values are moderate com­pared to some countries in the rank­ing, these factors constitute some elements that, if not mitigated, may affect our country in the future.

Another index relevant to political security is the corruption perception index

Corruption Perception²⁵

In this sense, the first positions at the level of 2022 were occupied by Denmark (90 points), Finland (87), New Zealand (87), Norway (84), Singapore (83).

At the opposite pole, the countries where the highest level of corruption was recorded were Yemen (16), Venezuela (14), South Sudan (13), Syria (13) and Somalia (12).

Within this index, Romania occu­pies the 63rd position out of 180 coun­tries worldwide, obtaining 46/100 points.

Arriving at the final part of the presentation, based on the theoretical information and comparative analyzes carried out previously, we will create a political security profile of Romania.

Starting with the strengths, we note that Romania enjoys a high level of internal security. The lack of ter­rorist attacks or secessionist move­ments proves that our country enjoys stable intelligence/defense institu­tions, which are professionals in car­rying out their duties.

Another factor that contributes to Romania’s political security is repre­sented by the political system. In this sense, he observes that, except for the first part of the 90s, Romania enjoyed a political pluralism, which always made possible the existence of the opposition and which thus managed to consolidate the main political insti­tutions necessary for the realization of the democratic act.

Also, at the domestic level, we note that although some civil rights are still violated, civic rights have mostly been respected. As I said in section I of the presentation, internal political security can know certain variables when the people no longer identify with the representatives who form the executive/parliamentary apparatus through which the govern­ing act is carried out. Relevant in this regard, I consider the case of the fall of the Ponta and Dăncilă Govern­ments, which following popular pres­sure, respectively ranking second in the parliamentary elections (which legally did not have a direct effect on the internal structure of political power) decided to dissolve.

Externally, we note that Romania is one of the states that, since the end of the Second World War, has not been in an active, direct military con­flict with any other state. This thus allows Romania to strengthen its main political institutions and pursue its national objectives in the short, medium and long term. Also, at the military, economic and political lev­el, Romania knows the unique chance to be part of NATO and the EU, institutions that represent some important guarantees regarding the political security of our country.

At the level of vulnerabilities, we observe the fact that one of the biggest diseases of Romania is represented by internal corruption, a phenomenon that weakens state institutions, thus substantially reducing their efficiency. Another problem is constituted by the inefficiency of justice, a fact that pro­duces a decrease in trust at the level of institutions among the population.

Externally, the major problem re­garding political security is the ag­gressiveness of the Russian Federa­tion, which constitutes a danger both from a military point of view and from the point of view of hybrid ac­tions aimed at destabilizing institu­tions at the domestic level.

Finally, after the theoretical, con­ceptual and statistical analysis we made of the concept of political secu­rity, we would like to end the presen­tation with a conclusion taken from the work Why Nations Fail? In this sense, we observe that political insti­tutions are of 2 types: inclusive and extractive through their relation to the population. Throughout history, the most stable countries that have had regime continuity have always been the countries capable of creating inclusive institutions for their citi­zens. Thus, we believe that the main way in which political security will be achieved and constantly improved will be through the ability to integrate the direct beneficiaries of the security product, the citizens, in the process of its realization, by facilitating an insti­tution-citizen partnership.

Conclusions

Having reached the end of the pa­per, I want to present some deduc­tions that I made along the way re­garding the notion and concept of political security.

First, unlike other security sectors that are able to provide concrete quantitative data, political security is a variable field, which it knows dif­ferent valences for each individual state, which can be approximated, but by no means accurately reproduced.

Second, political security and the existence of a state are two insepara­ble notions, the existence of the two being determined by their mutual existence. In this sense, a relevant principle seems to me to be that of quantum physics related to the postu­late according to which two particles that, at the origin, come from the same atom (in the present case the state) continue to form a single enti­ty, even though they are separated in space and time

Thirdly, I conclude with an ideal­istic conclusion, in which I express my desire that in the future, political security will be achieved primarily for the people, because, in essence, political security is, before anything else, a branch of human security, se­curity that considers the most im­portant security, human security!

Notes 

• https://hdr.undp.org/content/human-development-report-1994, (accesat 02.01.2024).
• https://www.theblacktrident.com/political-security, (accesat 02.01.2024).
• https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-540-75977-5_42, (accesat 02.01.2024).
• Takashi Inoguchi, Political Security: Toward a Broader Conceptualization, International Studies Association, 40 (2), 2003.
• https://www.ilsa.org/Jessup/Jessup15/Montevideo%20Convention.pdf, (accesat 05.01.2024).
• Roger Scruton, The Palgrave Macmillan Dictionary OF Political Thought, Ed. Palgrave Macmilan, New York, 2007, thrid edition, p.532
• Ibidem, p. 638.
• https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/ francois-quesnay-1694-1774-97818-html, (accesat 05.01.2024).
• https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/institutions-institutional-change-and-economic-performance/AAE1E-27DF8996E24C5DD07EB79BBA7EE, (accesat 05.01.2024).
• Daron Acemoglu, James Robinson, Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity and Poverty, Profile Books, London, 2013, p.15.
• Ioana Leucea, Constructivism si Securitate Umană, Institul European, 2012, București, pp.58-61.
• Alexis De Tocqueville, Democracy in America, ed. Wordsworth, London, 1996, p.57.
• https://lege5.ro/Gratuit/he3daojy/statutul-de-combatant-si-de-prizonier-de -razboi-protocol-1-1977?dp=giy-dmojyg42de, (accesat 07.01.2024).
• https://legal.un.org/repertory/art51.shtml, (accesat 07.01.2024).
• https://legal.un.org/ilc/texts/instruments/english/conventions/9_1_1961.pdf, (accesat 07.01.2024).
• https://www.un.org/securitycouncil/sanctions/1267, (accesat 08.01.2024)
• Jean Germain Gros, State Failure, Undervedevelopment, and Foreign Intervetion in Haiti, Routledge, London, 2011, p.123.
• https://www.amnesty.org/en/wp-con-tent/uploads/2021/05/pdf (accesat 08.01. 2024).
• https://reliefweb.int/report/world/amnesty-international-report-202223-state-worlds-human-rights-enar?g-ad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIs67KgMfdgwMVlp2DBx0hkAq9EAAYAiAAEgIcwfD_BwE, (accesat 08.01.2024).
• https://lege5.ro/Gratuit/heydinrt/art-200-relatiile-sexuale-intre-persoane-de-acelasi-sex-codul-penal?dp=giztonzwgqzte, (accesat 08.01.2024).
• https://www.theglobaleconomy.com/rankings/wb_political_stability/, (accesat 08.01.2024).
• https://www.visionofhumanity.org/maps/#/, (accesat 08.01.2024).
• https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/worldwide-governance-indic-ators, (accesat 10.01.2024)
• https://fragilestatesindex.org/, (accesat 10.01.2024).
• https://www.transparency.org/en/cpi/2022?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI1JecpsjdgwMVbZSDBx2I-wrrEAAYASA-AEgLkx_D_BwE&gad_source=1, (10.01.2024).

Bibliography

Books

ACEMOGLU, Daron, ROBINSON James, Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity and Poverty, Crown Currency, 2013.

GROS Germain Jean, State Failure, Undervedevelopment, and Foreign Intervetion in Hait, Routledge, New York, 2012.

LEUCEA, Ioana, Constructivism si Securitate Umană, Editura Institutul European, Iași, 2013.

SCRUTON, Roger, The Palgrave Macmillan Dictionary OF Political Thought, Ed. Palgrave Macmilan, New York, 2007.

De TOCQUEVILLE, Alexis, Democracy in America, ed. Wordsworth, London, 1996.

Articles and studies

INOGUCHI, Takashi, „Political Security: Toward a Broader Conceptualization”, International Studies Association, Hong Kong, 40 (2), 2003.

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https://hdr.undp.org/content/human-development-report-1994.

https://www.theblacktrident.com/political-security – .

https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-540-75977-5_42.

https://www.ilsa.org/Jessup/Jessup15/Montevideo%20Convention.pdf.

https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/ francois-quesnay-1694-1774-9781852784720.html.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/institutions-institutional-change-and-economic-performance/AAE1E2-7DF8996E24C5DD07EB79BBA7EE https://lege5.ro/Gratuit/he3daojy/statutul-de-combatant-si-de-prizonier-de-razboi-protocol-1-1977?dp=giydmo-jyg42de

https://legal.un.org/repertory/art51.shtml https://legal.un.org/ilc/texts/instruments/english/conventions/9_1_1961.pdf.

https://www.un.org/securitycouncil/sanctions/1267 .

https://www.amnesty.org/en/wp-content/ uploads/2021/05/POL1000021994ENGLISH.pdf.

https://reliefweb.int/report/world/amnesty-international-report-202223-state-worlds-human-rightsenar?gad_source =1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIs67KgMfdgwMVlp2DBx0hkAq9EAAYAiAAEgIcwfD_BwE –

https://lege5.ro/Gratuit/heydinrt/art-200-relatiile-sexuale-intre-persoane-de-ac-elasi-sex-codul-penal?dp=giztonzwg-qzte.

https://www.theglobaleconomy.com/rankings/wb_political_stability/.

https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/worldwide-governance-indicators.

https://fragilestatesindex.org/ .

https://www.transparency.org/en/cpi/2022?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI1JecpsjdgwMVbZSDBx2I-wrrEAAYASAAEgL-kx_D_BwE&gad_source=