The period after the end of the Cold War – the last decade of the twentieth century – brought cardinal changes to the European and global security situation.  The collapse of the Warsaw Pact and the disintegration of the Soviet Union put an end to the bipolar world model, and its related view of the main challenges and tasks of security policy. The new era brought rapid changes from an authoritarian and state-administered economy to democracy and the free market to a number of European and Central Asian countries.

A simultaneous side effect of these changes in some of these countries was a flare-up of ethnic and territorial conflicts, a weakening of state power and control, and an inability to prevent the escalation of organised crime. The establishing of Western political, economic and cultural advantages in the new global environment generated a counter-reaction among those political forces which found it difficult to accept these changes. In a number of countries, the mood of the socially dissatisfied strata of the population moved towards social, national or religious radicalism. Accordingly, issues which had been suppressed in the bipolar world arrangement came to the forefront in international relations.

Thus the present new threats to state and individual security are rooted not so much in hostile interstate relations as in the inadequate socio-economic development of  large regions, strengthened by the spread of radical ideologies, and in many countries a weak state power which permits groups of extremists to launch terrorism on a global scale. 

A significant potential danger is created by issues within the administration, circulation and use of energy resources. The world population and scope of manufacture are increasing rapidly, thereby increasing energy consumption. A growing competitiveness for the use of the dwindling resources of natural fuel is evident among countries and regions, while on the other hand, the use of these resources continues to have an increasingly negative impact on the ecology.  

In order to withstand the new threats, a complex approach is needed; military force alone can resolve only a small part of the problem. Concerted actions by the community of countries sharing common values and having a similar view of the global situation are important, and these include political, economic, and diplomatic, as well as military elements. In the modern world it is not possible for Latvia to avoid the individual negative consequences of globalisation, and therefore it is in the interests of Latvia to join and support the internationally-directed actions of similarly-thinking democratic countries.