This study examined the rationale for formulating a national security policy for Botswana. The study probed the various ways in which national security is conceptualised by different actors in Botswana. These range from key government officials with portfolio responsibilities linked to national security and to civil society representatives and academics in the area of political science and security studies. The study also investigated the various threats, past, present and future, to Botswana‟s national security. These are categorised into national security vulnerabilities and shortcomings in terms of territorial integrity and sovereignty, key institutions and actors, security policy instruments, strategic national interests and human security. The latter was also used as a framework to assess the country‟s strengths and achievements in the area of national security with a view to informing the advisability or its lack thereof, of formulating a national security policy. The key research question was whether or not Botswana needs to formulate a National Security Policy in order to better contain its national security vulnerabilities. The study carried out a series of in-depth interviews with key office bearers in Botswana‟s security sector and a focus group discussion with members of various non-governmental organisations in Botswana. These interviews were both structured and unstructured. It also involved a content analysis of policy reports, documents and media reports involving decisions with a bearing on the country‟s national security. The study then compared information obtained in the interviews to what was found in the literature about national security policies. A key finding in this research is the fact that there is no commonly known and owned concept of national security in Botswana. Security means different things to different people depending on who one is talking to. Botswana is also confronted with many threats to its national security. These range from violent crime, poaching, espionage, HIV/AIDS, Foot and Mouth disease to illegal cross border traffic and a large number of illegal immigrants to mention a few. The country has many institutions in its security sector. The problem is that they are not well coordinated with clearly defined roles. The result has therefore been turf wars, imbalances in resource allocations and institutional jealousies which have resulted in a situation where institutions work and talk past each other

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