United States National Security Council
The United States National Security Council (NSC) is the principal forum used by the president of the United States for consideration of national security, military, and foreign policy matters. Based in the White House, it is part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, and composed of senior national security advisors and Cabinet officials.
President George W. Bush during a National Security Council (NSC) meeting at the White House Situation Room, March 21, 2003. The participants in the meeting, including Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Richard B. Myers, Secretary of State Colin Powell, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) George Tenet, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice and White House Chief of Staff Andy Card.
President Ronald Reagan's National Security Council. Participants include George Shultz, William F. Martin, Cap Weinberger, Colin Powell and Howard Baker.
President Barack Obama at an NSC meeting in the Situation Room. Participants include Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, NSC Advisor Gen. James "Jim" Jones, Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Dennis Blair, Deputy National Security Advisor Tom Donilon, White House Counsel Greg Craig, CIA Director Leon Panetta, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. James Cartwright, and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel
President Joe Biden discussing the Fall of Kabul with the National Security Council, August 18, 2021
National security, or national defence, is the security and defence of a sovereign state, including its citizens, economy, and institutions, which is regarded as a duty of government. Originally conceived as protection against military attack, national security is widely understood to include also non-military dimensions, such as the security from terrorism, minimization of crime, economic security, energy security, environmental security, food security, and cyber-security. Similarly, national security risks include, in addition to the actions of other nation states, action by violent non-state actors, by narcotic cartels, organized crime, by multinational corporations, and also the effects of natural disasters.
President of the United States Ronald Reagan in a briefing with US National Security Council staff on the Libya bombing on 15 April 1986
Security measures are taken to protect the Palace of Westminster in London, UK. The heavy blocks of concrete are designed to prevent a car bomb or other device being rammed into the building.
The SUPO headquarters in Punavuori, Helsinki
Refugees fleeing war and insecurity in Iraq and Syria arrive at Lesbos Island, supported by Spanish volunteers, 2015.