La Cultura de Seguridad Nacional
On February 17, 2023 INCIPE held the event entitled The Culture of National Security, in collaboration with the Department of National Security. The session included the participation of General Miguel Ángel Ballesteros, director of the Department of National Security (DNS), who explained the activities to promote the culture of homeland security carried out by the DNS and other areas of the Spanish Government. The meeting was introduced by the ambassador and secretary general of INCIPE, Manuel Alabart. The presentation was followed by a round of questions moderated by the director of INCIPE, Vicente Garrido.
The director of DNS began by mentioning that when the Forum of Integral Culture of National Security was created by ministerial order, it was intended that think tanks should be represented. It was agreed that a body that was not part of civil society, in this case, the Spanish Institute for Strategic Studies, would be the one to temporarily designate the representative of the think tanks, and INCIPE was the chosen institute. Miguel Ángel Ballesteros continues by warning that, in order to be able to predict crises in a world as convulsive as today’s, digitalized systems are needed that allow for an infinite amount of data, which must be integrated in real time. For this, it must be taken into account that threats are no longer found only on land, at sea and in the air; attention must now also be paid to cyberspace, deep space and cognitive space.
Second, the director states that there have always been disinformation wars, but social networks have exacerbated the problem. Both think tanks and the other agencies involved must manage crises in an integrated manner and make use of hybrid strategies, without forgetting that today’s wars are fought in the military, economic and technological arenas, the latter being a major source of disruption. In fact, there is a geopolitics of technology, through which cyber-attacks, disinformation campaigns and actions in outer space are studied. Miguel Ángel Ballesteros advocates revaluing intelligence, and announces that work is being done on collective security despite the obstacle posed by Russia’s right of veto at the UN.
A key concept of the presentation is that of human security, which is divided by Ballesteros into seven fields: economic, food, pandemic and epidemic, environmental, human, communication, political and minority security. From these are derived sixteen fields of action in which National Security operates, in which the citizen plays a fundamental role. As do the Autonomous Communities in the National Security Sector Conferences, without forgetting the situation committees (which have created working groups such as cybersecurity, reception of Ukrainians and monitoring of energy saving) and other bodies that participate in the National Security System. It should be taken into account that the Department of National Security has to integrate information, advise the President of the Government, maintain a warning system and special communications networks.
Regarding the National Security Law, Miguel Ángel Ballesteros points out that it sets out the existing threats and risks, and that there are three priority axes that determine the relevance of each section: vital interests, essential interests (prosperity and welfare of citizens) and strategic interests (peace and international security). In addition, the law promotes a greater culture of defense and national security in Spain, for which a Comprehensive National Security Culture Plan has been drawn up with four areas of action: training, public communication, projection abroad and active participation of society, the public sector and the private sector. The aforementioned Integral National Security Culture Forum, as can be seen, is part of an Integral Plan that was drawn up taking into account the strategic compass of the European Union.
As a result of the questions asked, the director of DNS states that school and sports are vehicles for the transmission of values, which influences the concept of national security as this is based on solidarity, work and sacrifice for the team. He also claims that Spain needs think tanks and universities to promote the culture of national security, and that the great boost to the defense budget must continue until it reaches 2%. For his part, the secretary general of INCIPE, Manuel Alabart, concludes by saying that INCIPE receives the representation of think tanks with a vocation of service and responsibility, ensuring an upcoming work plan.
Jaime Osorio
INCIPE
