Source: "Security Index", No.3-4 (88-89), Summer/Fall 2009, pp. 135-140

MODERN AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY AND NATIONAL SECURITY
Alexander Golikov

Most people won’t hesitate to name a strong army as the foundation of national security. That is only to be expected. Napoleon’s dictum that a nation that doesn’t wish to feed its own army will have to feed someone else’s has been an adage for over two hundred years. Therefore a strong army, well equipped and well trained, is seen as the best guarantee of national security. But a strong army is only the tip of the iceberg where national security is concerned. Most people tend to forget about the massive apparatus the army needs to be able to function – the logistics and technical services, the managers, the medics, let alone the civilian companies that supply the equipment and technology. These services are far more numerous than the army itself – otherwise the army will not be able to function properly. And even these services aren’t worth much unless they are backed up by a reliable system of national food security that is not dependent on foreign sources. Bismarck completed Napoleon’s truism by adding that a nation that does not want to feed someone else’s army must feed its own – emphasis on “must feed”. This “must feed” is, I believe, the key element of national security, and it is large  ly based on stability and competitiveness of national economy.

Full article: http://www.seedquest.com/News/pdf/2009/GolikovAlexander.pdf

Security Index is a Russian Journal on International Security
Alexander Golikov is Executive Secretary of the Black Sea Biotechnology Association (BSBA)

Website: http://www.bsbanet.org

Published: September 8, 2009