Analysis of Approaches to National Security Assessment in Countries Over the World

The evaluation of the current state of national security and the prospects for development in the field of defense capability is of great importance for any country in the world. Therefore, the aim of this research is to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the methodological approaches to national security assessment used in countries over the world. The article identifies the features, advantages, and disadvantages of existing methodologies for assessing national security risks employed in Great Britain, the Netherlands, and New Zealand. As a result of the carried out research, it is found that the overwhelming majority of researchers and specialists attempt to assess the level of national security in countries worldwide using indices calculated by leading international organizations and rating agencies. Among such global indices and rankings, one can mention the following: the Global Peace Index, the Fragile States Index, the Composite National Power Index, the Military Strength Index, the Global Terrorism Index, the Corruption Perceptions Index, the Rule of Law Index, the Democracy Index, the Prosperity Index, the Global Food Security Index, the Global Hunger Index, the Global Competitiveness Index, the Human Development Index, the Global Innovation Index, the Sustainable Development Index, the Globalization Index, the Economic Freedom Index, as well as global indicators of governance. Some of the aforementioned indices directly characterize the state of national security of the surveyed countries, while others reflect the level of development of key security components. The work analyzes the dynamics of indicators that reflect the state of military security and defense capability of certain advanced countries in the world, namely: Great Britain, India, Italy, China, Germany, South Korea, the USA, Saudi Arabia, France, and Japan. Based on the conducted analysis of methods, instruments, and approaches to assessing the components of national security, it is found that a wide range of them is currently applied; however, there is no universally accepted standard. The various methods used in assessing the components of national security have their own specifics, advantages, and disadvantages, which makes it impossible to favor one over the others. It is proposed to pay special attention in the future to the development of a comprehensive methodology for assessing the state of national security, as well as the resilience of the State and society to various threats and challenges.