Total Defense: The New Deal and the Invention of National Security

The concept of Total Defense necessitates the mobilization of all national resources, including labor, to ensure comprehensive national security. This study examines the demand and supply dynamics of labor resources within the defense forces under the Total Defense framework. It explores how Total Defense influences recruitment, training, and retention strategies in the defense sector, particularly in the context of the Georgian Defense Forces. The analysis delves into the factors driving the demand for military and civilian personnel, such as heightened security threats and technological advancements, and evaluates the supply side, considering demographics, labor market conditions, and societal attitudes towards military service. Explores examples of total defense concepts developed by various countries, while assessing supply-side demographics, labor market conditions, and public attitudes toward military service. The interplay between these factors is critical in shaping effective human resource strategies to maintain a robust and responsive defense force. This research aims to provide insights into optimizing labor resource management to support Total Defense objectives, thereby enhancing national resilience and security readiness. Keywords: Total Defense, Military Economy, National Security, Georgian Defense Forces, Resources, Recruitment, Deterrence, Resilience.

The article deals with the «total defense» concept considering it to be part of Sweden’s strategic culture and provides an overview of how this concept defines Sweden’s approach towards the defense cooperation within the EU. «Total defence» remains staple in the Swedish defence planning and the perception of risks to national security, but has not yet received sufficient attention from Russian researchers. The announced restoration of the effective total defense system potentially comparable to that of the period of bipolar confrontation is associated with significant difficulties due to the gradual reduction in defense spending after the end of the Cold War and the decentralization of the national crisis preparedness structures which was initiated in the early 2000s. The total defense itself also reveals tensions between the demands for consolidation and centralized decision-making and the liberal, open nature of the Swedish society and national economy, as well as the principles of responsibility, subsidiarity and similarity that underline the present Swedish emergency response system. The total defense, is, therefore, regarded as an attempt at creating an effective crisis preparedness system that would function successfully in a democratic society, both under the conditions of peace and potential armed conflict, without the need to declare an emergency and endow individual bodies or a selected group of individuals with exclusive powers. The Swedish strategic culture, therefore, stipulates that it is important not only to resolve a crisis effectively, but also to do so in a way which would not endanger the regular functioning of political institutions and the rule of law. Within the EU Sweden has earned credit for developing civilian or non-military elements of crisis management, while «more hardware» defense cooperation within PESCO and the European Defense Fund is defined by the pragmatic economic interests of Swedish defense companies rather than by strategic considerations. The Swedish Experience with «total defence» will continue to face the same dilemma – the need to rebuild a robust and self-reliant national defence while preserving the liberal principles in politics as well as in economy.

The content and status of national defense education in Taiwan are deeply influenced by nation-centric internal and external political and economic systems. This article attempts to analyze the implications and changes in the post-war national defense education system from the perspective of historical structuralism and in terms of globalization trends such as domestic political and economic changes, cross-strait relations and post-Cold War relations. Based on these perspectives, this study provides in-depth discussion on the development of national defense education during the Martial Law Era, the Era of Democratic Transformation, and the Era of Democratic Consolidation. The Martial Law Era refers to the period from the declaration of martial law in 1949 to its abolition in 1987. During this time, the government adopted an authoritarian party-state system, during which political power strongly intervened at all levels of political, economic and social arenas. Government organizations clearly dominated the development of societal change. At the time, factors such as historical background, time and space were catalysts that naturally led to the foundations of the “total defense” concept, which was internalized into mainstream thought. Taiwan and China were at daggers and the citizenry was already well aware of the enemy and national defense. It was a period of great hardship as people were at all times ready to sacrifice for their country. However, despite the threat of confrontation cross-straits relations remained quite stable. After the lifting of martial law in 1987 and up until the election of the DPP in 2000, power had completely transferred hands marking the Era of Democratic Transformation. In this period, state power had been relaxed as political participation was extended throughout society, and economic policy adhered to market mechanisms. During the transformation from state control to relative freedom after the end of martial law, civil society began a stage of vigorous development. The concepts of individual liberty and diversity of values were in constant collision with the previous system and standards, thereby weakening national identity and “total defense.” The period from the transfer of power in 2000 to the present is referred to as the Era of Democratic Consolidation. Taiwan’s “total defense” came about as China suddenly appeared on the horizon and the age of anti-terrorism came about in the post-911 era. International cooperation trends and the occurrence of various intimate cross-straits economic and academic exchanges resulted in a citizenry much less aware of potential security threats. This study probes the three levels of military education, social education and school education based on the political and economic changes during the above three eras, and provides in-depth discussion of the emergence of “total defense education” in Taiwan. The purpose of this research is to uncover the main political and economic trends that influence change in “total defense education,” and to reflect on the direction of national defense education. Taiwan’s “Total Defense Education Act” was promulgated in February 2005. A gradual increase in the extent of research and emphasis given to “total defense education” highlights the potential for “total defense education” to become a mainstream value of national security in the future. The conclusions and findings in this research will be provided as a reference to competent authorities responsible for “total defense education.” It is hoped that vision and innovation toward the establishment of a “total defense education” system will lend a hand in strengthening national power.

With the current National Security Strategy, the Republic of Serbia has adopted the total defense concept to respond to the proclaimed military neutrality. The decision in question, among other things, affects the direction of the overall defense capability of the state and society as a whole. There are several fundamentally important issues in which a choice must be made. One of the essential questions is which tasks are best performed under the auspices of the Armed Forces and which should be assigned to civilian actors. In other words, a clear division of responsibilities between the civilian and Armed Forces involved in total defense is necessary. On the other hand, the Republic of Serbia has a negative legacy that dates back to the conflict on the territory of the former state, as well as certain decisions that contradict the decision to develop a total defense and confident decisions that have a direct impact on the adopted concept of national defense. The paper presents the possible content of the total defense of the Republic of Serbia through the analysis of the concept on the examples of individual countries. In this connection, it should be noted that the Defense Strategy of the Republic of Serbia had to expand the content of the total defense concept. This is necessary not only for a more complete understanding but also for the fact that the provisions of the Strategy are further operationalized through documents of lower generality.

The article analyzes the strategy and principles of building the national security strat-egy of the Russian Federation, considers the priorities of ensuring national security. Security doc-trines are aimed at security in the military, political, and informational environment. The article highlights the priority tasks in the field of national defense of the Russian Federation. The review analyzes the integrated security strategies of the countries of the Baltic region – Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia; analyzes the effectiveness of the doctrine of “total defense” of Estonia, the procedure and forms of its implementation. It is stated that the Baltic countries are considering various options to improve security, the concept of “total defense”, is based on the protection of the position of neu-trality, the defense policy of the countries is based on cooperation with large European and regional countries (Finland, Sweden, Poland). The article states that the military security of countries is associated with the need to deepen cooperation with NATO. The doctrine of territorial defense of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, directions of defense policy and territorial security is analyzed.

This article analyzes the Wallenberg family’s central role within Sweden’s neutrality-industrial complex (NIC) during the Cold War, highlighting their secret collaboration with the military intelligence service. Drawing on archival evidence from the Swedish War Archives and the family bank SEB, the study shows how the family’s uniquely dominant position in industry, banking, and national defense made them a close partner to the intelligence community. By applying the Resource Mobilization Model from the literature on military-industrial complexes, the article further argues that Sweden’s NIC mainly developed as a corporatist response to perceived Soviet threats, requiring close coordination between state, military, and business elites. The Wallenbergs’ cooperation with the military and economic intelligence services—specifically through their control of SEB and large Swedish exporting firms—had both business and nonbusiness-related reasons, including nationalism and elite consensus on total defense. This study adds to the sparse literature in business history on the relationship between the business and intelligence communities and demonstrates how elite business families can use access to senior decision makers and classified information in the service of both national security and to advance their own strategic positioning.

The article is devoted to the actual problem of preparation and conduct of hybrid wars. It is noted that preventive defense is aimed at preventive blocking of potential threats before they can turn into real threats to the national interests of the United States. It is established that the multipolar world, the development of science and modern technologies indicate that the concept of absolute national security today is nothing more than a myth, today complete security and total defense are unattainable. The concept, essence of hybrid warfare and hybrid warfare through the geopolitical confrontation of states are considered. The basic principles of conducting and distinguishing features of hybrid warfare are determined. It is emphasized that, within the framework of the hybrid war, the so-called network wars are being waged. In conclusion, it is stated that the factor of the increasing role of modern communication technologies in the issues of information warfare and their impact on the formation of a “new world of political processes” is also relevant for the network-centric format of the hybrid war of the XXI century.

The article explores the theoretical and methodological foundations, as well as practical mechanisms, for implementing State policy in the field of national security during wartime and post-wartime recovery in Ukraine. It identifies key trends in the transformation of the State’s security paradigm under the influence of new geopolitical challenges, hybrid threats, digitalization, and the growing role of international partnerships. Approaches to strategic security management based on the principles of cyclicality, adaptability, risk-oriented planning, and forecasting are summarized. The conception of national security strategizing is substantiated as an ongoing process that includes consecutive stages of diagnosis, planning, implementation, monitoring, auditing, and policy adaptation according to the dynamics of threats and the State’s resource capabilities. The methodological foundation of the study is based on systemic-analytical, institutional, comparative, and strategic approaches, which enabled a comprehensive analysis of the structure and functional interaction of national security actors. Methods such as content analysis, structural-logical generalization, and comparative analysis were used to compare Ukrainian and international strategic security management practices (notably, according to the models of the EU, NATO, the United Kingdom, Japan, and Poland). Based on the synthesis of global experience, principles of integrated strategizing were identified, combining the defensive, economic, energy, digital, and institutional dimensions of State policy. An analytical assessment of the current National Security Strategy of Ukraine «Human Security – National Security» (Presidential Decree of Ukraine No. 392/2020) was conducted, revealing the need for its updating in line with contemporary realities. A substantive model of Ukraine’s new National Security Strategy for 2025–2030 has been proposed, which provides for the institutionalization of the strategic planning cycle with a clear distinction of the roles of management entities; the introduction of a system of strategic indicators and regular strategic audits; the expansion of cyber and digital resilience; the integration of economic and energy security into the overall resilience architecture; and the institutional consolidation of total defense mechanisms and cooperation with EU and NATO partners. Special attention is paid to the implementation of the principle of «managed adaptability» in the strategic management system – through building a transparent vertical of «strategy ? capabilities ? results ? monitoring». Based on the conducted analysis, proposals have been made for the establishment of the National Center for Strategic Forecasting and Security, a digital open analytics platform, as well as a SOC cyber defense network for government authorities and critical infrastructure. General and targeted recommendations have been developed for the main institutions of the security system – the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, the Cabinet of Ministers, the Ministries of Defense, Economy, Digital Transformation, Energy, Education and Science, as well as the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine – aimed at improving the strategic, legal, and organizational support of security policy. The scientific novelty of the study lies in deepening the conception of national security strategy by integrating risk management principles, digital transformation, and indicator-based evaluation into strategic management processes. The proposed model combines systemic and process approaches, ensuring the operational adaptation of policy to the dynamics of external and internal threats. The practical significance of the results lies in the possibility of using the formulated proposals in the development of the updated National Security Strategy of Ukraine, as well as strategic plans for the defense, energy, digital security, and socioeconomic resilience sectors in the post-wartime period. The synthesis of the research results allowed for the conclusion that an effective national security system should rely on an integrated predictive-resilient strategic model focused on collaboration between State institutions, the private sector, and international partners. This approach promotes the strengthening of defense and economic capacities, the development of digital and energy resilience, and ensures Ukraine’s advancement toward full integration into the European and Euro-Atlantic security space.

The purpose of this study is to describe the increasing escalation of military, non-military, and hybrid threats to the Republic of Indonesia’s defense system. These risks pose a challenge to national security for the Ministry of Military (MoD) and the TNI, made worse by other countries’ increasingly advanced military forces. The goal of this research is to improve the Total Defense System (Sishanta) and the availability of the national defense budget, particularly for modernizing the TNI’s main weapons system equipment. The research method used is qualitative research, with a descriptive research type. The results of the research show that to offset the military strength of other countries, the MoD and the TNI, among others, are optimizing the Sishanta by modernizing military forces, developing science and technology, developing the Strategic Environment, predicting future threats, and increasing international cooperation, as well as fostering awareness of defending the country. To meet the challenge of national securities, it is required to have the participation of reserve and supporting components, as well as optimal budget assistance, in order to protect the Republic of Indonesia’s sovereignty

The article presents a systematic analysis of NATO countries' military-legal models for regulating military service, aiming to identify effective mechanisms suitable for adaptation within the context of Ukraine’s national security and defense. The study encompasses both fundamental legal acts (constitutions, laws, statutes) and departmental regulations aligned with international standards. It is generalized that the legal systems of NATO member states are structured in a cascade–from overarching state principles to specific instructions–ensuring both the stability and flexibility of military governance amid dynamic threats. The research explores several national cases: the United States (UCMJ reform, Blended Retirement System, GI Bill), Germany (Soldatengesetz, social packages for contract soldiers, the legal doctrine of the “citizen in uniform”), France (ethical principles of military status), Poland (integration of voluntary contracts into the Total Defense model), Scandinavian countries (gender-neutral selective conscription), and Canada and Estonia (digital platforms for recruitment and personnel assessment). Special attention is devoted to comparing three models of military service–professional, mixed, and conscription-based–in terms of their social effectiveness, human resource capacity, and mobilization potential. It is demonstrated that NATO countries are gradually converging around key principles: rule of law, civilian oversight, and compliance with international humanitarian law norms and STANAG standards. Within disciplinary law, emphasis is placed on the gradual transition from authoritarian to rights-based models: independence of military prosecutors, access to legal counsel, and the functioning of military ombudsman institutions. The importance of social guarantees–from pension models to veteran reintegration and rehabilitation programs–is emphasized as a strategic component of personnel policy. The comparative analysis results in a set of practical recommendations for implementation: introducing short-term contracts with robust social packages, expanding the legal status of reservists, integrating digital platforms for recruitment and evaluation, and institutionalizing gender equality in personnel policy. The study concludes that the optimal model for Ukraine is a multi-level system of legal regulation of military service, which combines NATO standards with flexible adaptation to national needs.

The U.S. national defense program is very expensive and notoriously plagued by waste, fraud, and mismanagement. Members of Congress, whose duty it is to oversee the program, often complain about it and take various actions, ostensibly to repair its flaws. Unfortunately, as Representative James Courter (R-N.J.) has said, “Congress is not the answer to waste. Congress is the problem.” Economist Herbert Stein, a member of the Packard Commission, has observed that major defense problems “are compounded when the decisions move to Congress.” The root of congressional misfeasance, says Stein, is that “hardly anyone [in Congress] feels a primary responsibility for the defense program as the safeguard of our national security. Too many are able to look upon the defense budget as a big pot of money from which they can serve their special interests.”1 Analysts often dismiss this aspect of defense budget waste as “small potatoes.” But is it? In the 1980s, Assistant Defense Secretary Lawrence Korb estimated that the congressional pork barrel cost “at least $10 billion a year [for] things we don’t want, things we don’t need,” but which are put into the budget “to protect vested interest.” Richard Stubbing, a longtime defense specialist at the Office of Management and Budget, considers Korb’s estimate probably too low.2 The defense pork barrel looks small only in relation to the gargantuan total defense budget. In any other context, it looks like “real money.”

At all levels of social development, there are trends of change and adaptation to the dynamic security environment. Defense systems based on solid foundations of national and collective security, along with monitoring the scientific and technological achievements of the modern age, see an equal need for revitalization as well as modernization of their potential. Traditional concepts of the defense system confirm their inviolability in the face of long-term crises even in the third decade of the 21st century. However, the success of the sustainability and reorganization of the defense system depends on the implementation of the results of the work of scientific and professional circles. The concept of total defense shown in the case study of the Republic of Serbia will describe the elements of the defense system common to all national states, but also the specifics of a comprehensive approach to the concept of total defense at the national level.

The defense-security expenditure structure is focused on the contribution/share of the three components of defense-security expenditure, namely: routine expenditure, goods expenditure, and capital expenditure. Defense-security expenditure is total defense expenditure for the Ministry of Defense (Ministry of Defense and TNI) and security expenditure for the National Police. In conditions of security stability, strategic industrial growth, and macroeconomic stability that have not been established; it is not yet known what kind of transformation strategy of the defense-security expenditure structure is needed to encourage sustainable economic growth and decrease income inequality as a potential threat to national defense and security. This research uses explanatory method that aims to explain causal relationship and test hypothesis (hypothesis testing study). Secondary data in the study are time-series data semesterly in period of year 2000-2018. The research model was formulated as a recursive linear model in the form of Cobb-Douglas production function and analyzed using multiple linear regression analysis with Ordinary Least Square method. The research findings are The security stability and strategic industrial growth simultaneously influence the macroeconomic stability.

The main aim of this publication is the aspect of the Swedish state's of security, by including its capabilities of crisis management and civil protection in the event of a crisis situation or threat to the security of the state but primarily in the context of a threat of war or even war. In particular, the problem of the role of the civil defense subsystem in the foremost territorial defense system of Sweden was analyzed from the point of view of crisis management and civil protection in peace and during the war. The basic questions that guided the undertaken considerations referred to the issue of implementing assumptions of conducting total defense of the state in two main pillars: military and civil through civil defense, whose main goal is to ensure the protection of civilians threatened by related activities with: occurrence of an emergency situation, threat to national security or war, as well as activities of the civil defense subsystem in responding to the needs of the social (civic) sphere. In course of the research process, local solutions were analyzed in the area of cooperation between the military and civil sphere in the aspect of civil planning issues and coordination of activities between military structures of territorial military administration and management units of civil defense forces and derivatives from the sphere of non-governmental organizations

T HE NATIONAL SECURITY program of the United States, as outlined in the July 1951 report of the President's Council of Economic Advisers, envisaged that total defense expenditures would reach, at mid-1952, an annual rate of about 19 per cent of gross national product, which was expected to be at the level of $345 billion (in terms of prices in the first half of 1951). The probable level of civilian employment in the United States, when the current program reaches its planned "peak," is obviously of direct importance to the stabilization policies not only of the United States but also of other nations. An estimate of this level is provided by an analysis of the relationships between output and employment in the United States during the past two decades-for the economy as a whole and, as far as possible, for important industrial divisions.' With revisions in the current defense program, the "peak" estimates for employment and production required to fulfill a revised program will differ from those calculated for the program as outlined in 1951. The statistical relationships obtained in this paper would not be invalidated, however, and estimates corresponding to a revised program could easily be derived from them. The period covered by the analysis presented here starts with the year 1929 since many of the statistical series used are not available earlier. The official gross national product statistics compiled by the Department of Commerce provide the most notable example of this restriction. While GNP estimates for earlier years have been made by the Department of Commerce, they have never been officially released