Global Security, Privacy, & Risk Management

Collective Security & the Payment System June 11, 2012

I recently attended an event focused on payment security and fraud prevention.  It was an outstanding event and the presentations and panels were incredibly valuable – not something that I frequently say about payment security events these days.  However, one term came up a couple of times that got me thinking.  That term was “collective security.”  As many of you know, I have a background in public policy and my dissertation was, in fact, on US foreign policy and our strategic interests abroad, so the mention of collective security set off my poli sci radar.  But I wondered if collective security was really an appropriate phrase for what we’re doing in the payments industry.  To address that question, it is necessary to first define collective security in its traditional sense.

Collective security was first formally introduced by the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, a series of treaties that put an end to a number of wars that had been plaguing Europe.    Very simply put, collective security is an arrangement in which all stakeholders agree that their security depends upon the security of each of the other stakeholders.  (more…)