From Crisis-to-Crisis Management

Abstract

A crisis constitutes an exceptional, sudden, and acute phenomenon that threatens the stability of both human and natural systems, characterized by information scarcity and limited decision-making time. This paper explores the conceptual transition from "crisis" to "crisis management" as a scientific discipline and practical framework aimed at predicting, preventing, and containing crises, or transforming their inherent risks into beneficial opportunities. The study traces the historical roots of the term from ancient Greek medicine, through Taylor's scientific management and Weber's bureaucracy, to its political and media institutionalization following the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, which shaped the strategic management of international crises. Analytically, the paper deconstructs national security crises, attributing their root causes to structural imbalances within the components of a state's national security strategy. Consequently, the study classifies these crises into six distinct types resulting from such imbalances: crises arising from flaws in objectives, capabilities, means, methods, probabilities, or remedies. The paper concludes by emphasizing the necessity of shifting from traditional, reactive crisis handling to a scientific, sustainable preventive approach. This transition requires activating early warning systems, developing scenario-based planning, and building the capacities of crisis management teams to effectively counter existential threats to core.