Question

Highlight any two internal threats which any state may face.

Hint:

Internal security is often more complex than external security because the "enemy" consists of the state's own citizens, making military-only solutions difficult.

Answer 1

Step 1: Understanding the Question:
The question requires identifying and explaining security challenges that arise within the territorial borders of a country, as opposed to external military invasions.
Step 3: Detailed Explanation:
A state may face various internal threats that challenge its stability and sovereignty. Two such major threats are:
1. Separatist or Secessionist Movements: These are movements where a group within a state demands a separate sovereign nation based on ethnic, linguistic, or regional identity. Such movements often lead to violent conflicts, civil unrest, and challenge the territorial integrity of the country. For example, various insurgencies in North-East India or the movement in Punjab in the 1980s.
2. Internal Armed Insurgency or Civil War: This involves armed struggle by groups within the country against the established government to overthrow it or to change its policies. Such conflicts result in massive loss of life, displacement of people, and economic breakdown. Naxalism or Left-Wing Extremism in India is a significant example of an internal armed threat that challenges the state's authority in several districts.
Step 4: Final Answer:
The two primary internal threats are secessionist movements that challenge territorial integrity and armed insurgencies that threaten the domestic peace and the constitutional order.