Among the state security strategies are efforts to foster international security, and encouraging alliances with other states. In this way, one could say, the state expands its power, i.e. its security in the international context. Because the concept of a connection of any kind is inherently abstract (although the benefits derived from that relationship may be tangible), metaphors are almost inevitably needed to put these relationships into context. This can be observed through the metaphors of friendship, an interpersonal realm that has in certain instances been transferred to the world of geopolitics. On the other hand, this domain also includes the ideas of attachment or tying, attaching one object to another, for example with a rope. This meaning is included in the two ideological themes of the metaphor: RELATIONSHIP IS CLOSENESS/COHESION, together with lexical items such as connecting, making people feel that they belong together, binding, hooking, entangling…; and the second ideological theme of the metaphor SECURITY/RELIABILITY IS STRENGTH along with lexical items such as steadfast, reliable, constant, firm, loyal, stable, and so on.