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International Relations & Diplomacy vocabulary · Conflict & Security

Collective security

Meaning in international relations & diplomacy, with examples

nounCommon term

In international relations & diplomacy, collective security means: An arrangement in which states agree that an attack or threat against one of them concerns all of them and will be answered jointly.

In Turkish: kolektif güvenlik, ortak güvenlik

How it is used

A core idea behind the League of Nations and the UN Charter, under which the Security Council acts on behalf of all members. Scholars distinguish it from 'collective defence', as in NATO, which protects members against outside threats.

Example sentences

  1. The UN Charter is built on the idea of collective security.

  2. The League of Nations' system of collective security failed in the 1930s.

  3. Students often confuse collective security with collective defence.

Common collocations

  • system of collective security
  • collective security arrangement
  • collective defence
  • regional collective security
  • allianceA formal agreement between two or more states to support each other, especially militarily, and the group of states that make such an agreement.
  • NATOThe North Atlantic Treaty Organization, a military alliance of North American and European states founded in 1949, whose members commit to defending each other.
  • Security CouncilThe UN organ with primary responsibility for international peace and security. It has 15 members and can take decisions, such as sanctions, that all UN member states must carry out.
  • deterrenceThe strategy of preventing an attack by making a possible attacker believe that the costs, such as a strong response, would be greater than any gain.

More terms: Conflict & Security

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