Yuan Zhenlong: Building a New Security Pattern Requires Adhering to Systems Thinking | Marxism Research Network

National security is the foundation of national rejuvenation and a crucial cornerstone for the stability of the state. The Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee ^[1] made systematic arrangements centered on "advancing the modernization of the national security system and capacity, and building a higher-level Peaceful China." It emphasized the need to "consolidate a centralized, unified, efficient, and authoritative leadership system for national security, accelerate the construction of a new security pattern, and enhance strategic initiative in maintaining and shaping national security." Currently, as changes unseen in a century accelerate ^[2], traditional and non-traditional security issues are intertwined and superimposed. The connotation of national security is richer than at any time in history, its spatial and temporal scope is broader than ever before, and the internal and external factors influencing it are more complex than at any point in the past. To construct a new security pattern, we must firmly establish the Holisitic Approach to National Security ^[3], employ the systematic thinking methods of Marxism, and holistically consider multiple dimensions—such as basic national conditions, stages of development, comprehensive national strength, and major power competition—to propose integrated and forward-looking response strategies.

General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out: "Party committees and governments at all levels must adhere to systematic thinking, further establish the concept that development is a 'hard truth' and security is also a 'hard truth' ^[4], and consciously unify development and security in their work, planning them together, deploying them as one, and ensuring they promote each other. We must persist in the 'national chess game' ^[5], with all levels exerting force together, creating conditions for overall national security by ensuring the security of every locality, region, and industry, and fortifying the foundation for the long-term stability of the country by resolving security problems one by one as they arise." The various fields of national security are interconnected and inseparable; maintaining national security requires overall planning and all-around consideration. Systematic thinking involves using a systems perspective to observe things comprehensively and through their universal connections, properly handling various major relationships. It emphasizes integrity, synergy, and dynamics.

Employing holistic thinking to construct a "Greater Security" system. In the current era, security issues exhibit high degrees of complexity and interconnectedness; the traditional "fragmented" security governance model can no longer satisfy realistic demands. Constructing a multi-field, multi-level "Greater Security" system through holistic thinking has become an inevitable choice. Holistic thinking advocates grasping the essence and laws of development from the perspective of the whole, intrinsic connections, and dynamic evolution, adhering to the priority of the whole while focusing on correlations, interactions, and hierarchical structures. National security involves multiple fields such as politics, economy, technology, and biology. Among these, political security is the root of national security, as a stable political environment provides a strong guarantee for economic development and technological innovation; economic security is the foundation, as strong economic power provides material support for security in other fields; technological security is directly related to core national competitiveness; and biosafety is closely linked to the lives and health of the people. Only by treating these many fields as an organic whole, breaking down sectoral divisions and departmental barriers, and forming a collaborative and linked governance pattern can we effectively prevent and respond to various security threats, achieving long-term national stability and ensuring the people live and work in peace and contentment.

Employing synergistic thinking to strengthen multi-actor linkage. Synergistic thinking emphasizes the conscious design, management, and optimization of interactions and cooperative processes within a system and between related systems. This ensures that various elements, resources, and actions coordinate in time, space, and function, complementing each other's strengths to maximize overall effectiveness. In practice, various functional departments play unique roles in security affairs. By strengthening linkage mechanisms between multiple actors and establishing regular communication mechanisms and joint emergency response plans, the ability to handle complex security threats can be significantly enhanced. For example, security risks faced by different regions have distinct geographical characteristics but also influence one another. Regarding cross-border crime, when border regions strengthen entry-exit controls and inland regions strike deep into criminal networks, a full-chain crackdown on cross-border crime can be better realized. Various regions can break geographical restrictions and form a joint prevention and control effort through regional security cooperation meetings and joint law enforcement actions. Furthermore, military-civilian linkage holds a vital position in the national security system. The military possesses strong combat capabilities and specialized technology, while local governments possess abundant social resources and extensive information channels. In disaster relief, the military quickly deploys forces for rescue, while local authorities organize logistical support and relocate affected residents. Only by achieving efficient military-civilian synergy can a powerful combined force be formed.

Employing dynamic thinking to improve the closed-loop mechanism of security governance. Dynamic thinking emphasizes understanding and grasping the essence of things through their movement, change, evolution, and development. Security risks possess characteristics such as transmissibility and coupling, and are in a process of constant change. This requires us to use dynamic thinking to establish a security governance closed-loop mechanism of "pre-event early warning, mid-event disposal, and post-event evaluation." Pre-event early warning is the first line of defense in security governance. By using advanced technological means such as sensors, big data, and artificial intelligence, and strengthening the functions of platforms like citizen hotlines and Comprehensive Governance Centers ^[6], we can conduct real-time monitoring and analysis of data across political, economic, and social fields, capturing and responding to potential security risks in a timely manner. Once a risk occurs, mid-event disposal must be rapid and effective, which requires scientifically sound emergency plans and close coordination between departments to form an efficient emergency response mechanism. Post-event evaluation is a crucial link in the closed-loop mechanism; conducting comprehensive and scientific assessments of security incidents, analyzing the causes and coupling factors, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of the disposal process, helps identify vulnerabilities in the security protection system, allowing for timely repairs, upgrades, and the improvement of relevant systems and emergency plans.

On the New Journey ^[7], only by adapting to the complex and volatile security situation, transforming systematic thinking into an actionable and evaluable framework of "all-element synergy, full-chain governance, and all-means application," and accelerating the construction of a new security pattern, can we achieve the scientific, precise, and efficient governance of national security.

Integrating security resources to achieve all-element synergy. All-element synergy aims to break through the "fragmentation" dilemma and "island effect" of scattered security resources and divided departments, achieving optimal resource allocation through efficient coordination mechanisms. To this end, we should improve the "Four Beams and Eight Pillars" ^[8] institutional system, with the National Security Law as the lead, refining the legal, strategic, and policy systems. We must establish specialized mechanisms for risk monitoring and early warning, emergency management, crisis control, and post-event recovery. We should promote the shifting of the center of gravity of security governance downward toward the grassroots, with sub-districts, communities, enterprises, public institutions, social organizations, and residents actively participating, fulfilling security responsibilities, and forming a powerful collective force for the whole of society to maintain national security. At the same time, we must improve regional joint prevention and control mechanisms in areas like Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and the Yangtze River Delta. Through information-sharing platforms and joint exercises, these regions can achieve synergistic linkage of security forces to jointly respond to cross-regional security threats such as natural disasters and public health events. Emphasis should be placed on cross-field synergy, improving the security guarantee system for the Belt and Road Initiative, organically combining security and development, and coordinating responses to security challenges in politics, economy, culture, and other fields while promoting economic cooperation with participating countries.

Strengthening process control to achieve full-chain governance. Full-chain governance focuses on the entire process of security risk prevention and control, aiming to form a closed-loop management from source prevention to end-stage disposal to effectively prevent risk transmission and secondary disasters. Source governance emphasizes identifying potential security hazards in advance through scientific risk assessment mechanisms, nipping threats in the bud. Process control relies on advanced technologies like big data and artificial intelligence to build intelligent early warning systems. This requires integrating data resources from multiple departments and using large algorithmic models to conduct dynamic analysis and early warning of various security risks, achieving early discovery, early judgment, and early prevention. End-stage disposal focuses on the improvement of the emergency plan system and combat-oriented drills. For example, for emergencies such as natural disasters or industrial accidents, detailed emergency plans should be formulated, and their feasibility tested through regular drills to enhance emergency response capabilities and disposal efficiency.

Innovating governance tools to achieve all-means application. All-means application aims to comprehensively use various methods to form a collective force for national security governance. For example, focusing on ideological security, we can resist the ideological infiltration of external forces and build a solid ideological line of defense by strengthening the dissemination of mainstream values and enhancing public opinion guidance. Using the "Chain Chief System" ^[9] for industrial chains as a pivot, we can strengthen the independent control of key links and core technologies by building an industrial and supply chain security guarantee system, thereby ensuring national economic security. We should promote the innovative application of frontier technologies such as quantum communication and blockchain to enhance network security protection capabilities and respond to new types of security threats in the digital age. We must improve the system of laws and regulations in the field of national security to provide a solid legal basis for national security governance and raise the level of modernization of the national security system and capacity.