Economic Factors of Risk to National Security

Abstract

The article discusses the conceptualisation of fundamental concepts referring to interdependence between security and the economy. The concept of economic security that is dominant in Polish literature on the subject is in most cases identified with macroeconomic disequilibrium and instability. This makes it primarily an economic category. Hence the need to develop a catalogue of risks that are more extensively and comprehensively associated with national security. The article outlines two approaches to these issues. The sectoral approach delineates subcategories of security by industries and sectors of the economy (e.g. energy security). The problem approach singles out individual risk factors understood as mechanisms and phenomena carrying threats to the critical processes in the state. Basing on the problem approach, a catalogue of economic risk factors has been proposed: ownership structure, access to sensitive information and espionage, dependency on key raw materials, dependency on suppliers, state interventionism, corruption and fraud, social and economic instability, dependency on external decision-making centres, difficulties with financing security structures, and immigration.