3. Does collective security work?

Activity 1 - What is collective security?

Activity Tasks

Define - What is collective security? With a partner, share your ideas on what collective security is and try to negotiate a definition in your own words.
Review - Examine and review the information on Slides 3-4 of the Lesson Presentation. How does collective security differ from national security?
Research - Review the information on Slide 5. Why did the League of Nations fail as a collective security organisation? Conduct some brief research using the internet and try to find three reasons why.
Identify - Using Slides 6-10 of the Lesson Presentation, identify how collective security is supposed to work according to the United Nations. What powers does the UN have to ensure international peace and security?
Discuss - Review the different perspectives on collective security from Slides 11-12. Which theoretical perspective do you think best encapsulates the concept of collective security?

Activity Tasks

Explore - Although a similar concept, collective defense is actually different from collective security. Explore the official website of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) to find out more about collective defense.
Investigate - Using the website above, try and answer the following questions to help you understand NATO more closely. You may present your answers in prose, or visualised in a mind map:
1. When was NATO formed?
2. Which countries are members of NATO?
3. What is the aim of the alliance?
4. How are decisions taken within NATO?
5. What is Article 5? Why is it important?
6. How and why is NATO involved in Afghanistan?
7. Who is the General Secretary of NATO?
8. What role is NATO currently playing in regard to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine?
9. What is meant by the principle of collective defence and how does this relate to NATO?
10. How much does NATO cost? Who pays for it?
11. What recent operations has NATO been involved in?
12. How does NATO affect the principles of national sovereignty and self-determination?
13. What partnerships is NATO involved in outside of the alliance?
Discuss - In your opinion, is NATO more effective than the UN at ensuring collective security for its members?

Activity Tasks

Watch - Watch and make notes, using this worksheet, from this YouTube video about the role of NATO in global politics. In the first column make notes on how it could be considered a guardian of peace. In the second column, make notes on how it could be considered a bully.
Read - Now read the following sources and add notes to your worksheet table on whether NATO is a guardian of the peace or a bully:
1. ''We answered the call'' - the end of Operation Unified Protector - Guardian of Peace
2. Libya: This is Nato's dirty war | Benjamin Barber - Bellicose Bully
3. NATO made ready for war in Afghanistan. - Guardian of Peace
4. Afghanistan: Taliban leader wants US and NATO troops out - Bellicose Bully
Write - Using your completed note-taking tables, write an extended answer to the question “NATO: A Guardian of Peace or Bellicose Bully?”.