Security Dilemma

A structural trap under anarchy, coined by John Herz (1950): because a state cannot be certain of another state's intentions, and because most capabilities that improve defense also improve offense, one state's genuinely defensive actions (an arms buildup, an alliance) can look to a neighbor like preparation for attack, prompting a response that in turn looks threatening to the first state. Robert Jervis (1978) distinguished a spiral model (mutual fear, where reassurance de-escalates) from a deterrence model (genuine aggression, where firmness is required) and added the offense-defense balance: security dilemmas sharpen when available military technology favors the attacker and ease when it favors the defender.

Learn about this term

Related Terms