national security threat
State safety risk
A national security threat is anything that endangers a nation's sovereignty, territorial integrity, or core interests—foreign military aggression, terrorism, cyberattacks, espionage.
The phrase appears frequently in government and media to justify protective measures: The intelligence agency classified the hack as a national security threat.
Critics note the term can be stretched to suppress dissent or restrict civil liberties under the guise of protection.
- armed conflictMilitary combat between groups
- enemy combatantHostile military opponent
- trade warRetaliatory economic hostilities
- bioterrorismWeaponized infectious agents
- sleeper cellConcealed operatives awaiting orders
lone wolf · hacking · climate change · ransomware · cyber espionage · state actor · pandemic · proxy wars · civil unrest · misinformation campaigns · water scarcity · extreme weather events · debt crisis · currency manipulation · radicalization · nuclear proliferation · dirty bomb · border incursion
national security threatnational security
Safeguarding a country's interests
national stability · peace and security · peaceful coexistence · national defense · public safety
national security threatintelligence asset
Person supplying secret information
strategic ally · force multiplier · trusted partner · peace dividend
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