Human Security National and International Security

Question: Discuss about the Human Security for National and International Security. Answer: What is human security and is it a useful concept for the analysis and promotion of contemporary security? According to the human security approach adopted towards national and international security, significance is attached to the human beings and the complex social and economic interactions that are present between them. Sen (2000) had stated that Human security has many useful definitions and characterizations. Therefore it can be said that the notion of human security remains a departure from traditional security studies that had their focus on the security of the state. On the other hand, Gutierrez-Espeleta, 2000 claim that the individuals are the subject of human security approach and the end goal of this approach is to protect the people from traditional (military) and non-traditional threats like disease and poverty. By taking the security agenda beyond the security of the state, it is not replaced but it involves complimenting and creating on it. It is also essential under this approach to comprehend that the deprivation of human security can undermine peace and stability betwee n the states and within the states and similarly, overemphasis on the security of the state can prove to be detrimental for human welfare (Edralin, 2000). Although the state is still the main source of security but the security of the state is not a sufficient requirement for human welfare. The issue of human security significantly entered the academic and policy debates during the 1990s. Although it has been widely used in national and international policy circles but according to Walter (2000) still the definition of this concept is highly contested. As a result of the holistic vision to protect the security of the people, a number of interpretations are available, that have been shaped by the relative understanding of what amounts to a hazard to human security, how to measure the intensity and repercussion of a given thread and with the help of which possible means, such a threat can be removed or prevented. The super national organizations and the coalition of states that have supported this approach can rely on various accomplishments like the Ottawa Convention, establishing the International Criminal Court and also the Optional Protocol to Convention of Rights of the Child (De Ferrantiet al, 2000). According to the 1994 Human Development Report, human security has been described as the safety of the people from long-lasting threats and protecting them from unexpected hurtful disruptions in their everyday life. In this regard, seven types of security have been listed as the various components of human security. These were economic security, health security, environmental security, food security, personal security, political security and community security (Davis, Ed. 2001). A similar definition of human security has also been adopted by the government of Canada that is one of the main supporters of the notion of human security. This definition provides that human security is related with the freedom from prevalent threats to the rights, safety and the lives of the people differ (Hampson and Malone, Eds. 2001,). Depending on what is considered as amounting to the rights and safety of the people, this classification of human security can be considered as constricted or wide. In pr actice, the Government of Canada had decided to focus the human security agenda on the dimension of personal security, in part so that it can be made more different from the notion of human development and also to allow focus conservation on the issues that require international attention (Lincoln, 1995). In the post-cold war era, there have been a number of internal conflicts in which millions of people have lost their lives in Asia, Africa and in the Eastern Europe. These incidents of ethnic cleansing, genocide, mass flow of refugees and lawless States required for immediate response from the international community (Cernea and McDowell, Eds. 2000). In the present age of global communications, where the world has become a global village, it is no longer possible for any governmental turn a blind eye towards the human atrocities being committed on the people in the hotspots of the world. At the same time, Hampson et al., (2002) claim that the international media also significantly contributes in the emerging global conscience by transmitting live images of human suffering and brutal conflict. Therefore, as a result of the humanitarian imperative it is sometimes also called the CNN effect, particularly when it is the result of media reports, pressurized nations and also the individual s to indulge in new initiatives and policy responses for saving the lives of the people and alleviating human suffering (Buzan, Ole and Japp, 1997). In the domain of human security, where this activity of human life is considered as being most important, the most urgent need was to discover effective means and mechanisms that can be used for protecting human beings, particularly the large number of innocent sufferers of armed assaults. Along with this humanitarian action, there was also a need for active efforts for preventing conflict as well as post-war recovery. The notion of stretching the idea of security from state security to the security of individuals was first developed in 1982 by the Independent Commission on Disarmament and Security Issues. Bruderlein (2001) claims that the detailed criticism of purely military approach towards security was provided by the Common Security report and it also stressed upon the need for imaging the relationship that exists between the well-being of individuals and security. After several years of latency, there was a significant point in the history related with the rise of the idea of human security. This point was the finish of the Cold War and the reemergence of the long standing arguments within progressive policy circles after it became clear that even if the military threats by the superpowers have disappeared, it does not necessarily mean that the citizens within the states have an enhanced level of security (Brown et al., 1995). The development of the security discussion was also impacted by th e need for dealing with the global social problems that have arisen in context of a globalizing world. The likely threats caused to the lives and well-being of the individuals were in this way extended from being mainly military threats to broadly including economic, health, social and environmental issues. In context of the period immediately after the Cold War and the new development agenda, a new authoritative meaning of human security was provided by the human Development Report of the UN Development Program in 1994. Apart from the military and territorial concerns, it was argued in this report that basically human security is related with human life and dignity. For the purpose of analysis, the UNDP disentangled the four basic characteristics; it is universal, the constituents of human security are inter-reliant, it can be best safeguarded by prevention and focus of human security is people (Berdal, 1999). At a more substantive level, the report provides the definition of human security that is broad and all-encompassing. Therefore, human security means safety from long-lasting dangers like disease, hunger and the repression for UNDP. At the same time, it also means protection from harmful and sudden disruption created in the everyday life pattern of the people. When human security is understood in these terms, it also includes the policy axiom of "freedom from want" and freedom from fear. Although the UNDP acknowledged different intensity of the possible threats caused to human welfare, these threads have been grouped by the UNDP in seven non-exhaustive security categories. These are, community, food, economic, political, personal, environmental and health. Although the definition of human security that as we provided in this report is too broad and there is an apparent conceptual weakness in it, but the general prescriptions that have been outlined in it remains successful in providing a springboard for academic debate and proved to be a useful organizing concept regarding the work of international organizations during the 1990s (Alkire, 2002). The report of the UNDP in 1994 provided an outlet for academic redefinition of human security. There have been several scholars who have tried to disentangle the dimensions of what looked like an overly unrestrained analytical tool, which due to its all-encompassing nature, may lose meaning. Several scholars have also worked for the re-categorization of what can be called as, the threats to human security (Axworthy, 2001,). As a result of this reconceptualization of human security, the scholars have been involved in a fierce academic debate. But some are in the favor of narrowing the theory of human security to a valuable essence. On the other hand, some other one to preserve the wall is the character of human security. Similarly, it has been argued by some scholars, on the basis of analytical rigour, policy relevance and pragmatism, that the single denominator for the agenda of human security should be the focus on violent threats. According to this view, any list-like description of a possible "bad thing" that may be suffered by the individuals causes a risk to conceptual clarity and due to it, a casual analysis becomes nearly impossible (Annan, 2000). On the other hand, this approach has been opposed by the advocates of broad theorization. According to them, once the referent of security agenda is the individual, it is not possible to disentangle the violent threats faced by the individuals from othe r issues like poverty, disease and environmental degradation that directly cause of death to the safety, self-realization and the freedom of the humans. According to this view, the meaning of human security is not only to fulfill the basic requirements but it also includes the realization of human dignity. There have been some other scholars who have adopted the middle approach by bringing closer the narrow and brought conceptualizations. These scholars have produced an analytical scheme which not only includes elements that, according to them, the human beings may fight or risk their lives for. However the debate is still not settled and is a source of controversy (Adelman, 2001). Particularly, all the attempts that have been made to amend the definition of human security, had to face the exclusive problems of either attaching a value and a priority to the probable threats to human life and they have really justified a choice or to maintain the undefined connotations that were embedded in the original proposal. The term human security is used for the amalgamation of threats that are related with war, genocide and displacement of people. At a minimum level, it includes the freedom from violence and also from the fear of such violence. As compared to the traditional concepts of security, under which the focus is on protecting the borders from outside military aggression, in case of human security, the focus is on the security of the individuals (Acharya, 2001). Therefore it can be said that the concept of human security and national security need to be mutually reinforcing. However this does not mean that secures this also means secure people. It needs a mention in this regard that a large number of people have been killed by their own governments instead of the foreign armies. In this regard, all the advocates of human security are of the opinion that individuals need to be the focus of security. But this consensus is not available when it comes to deciding the threats to the individuals tha t can be considered as the human security issues. The supporters of narrow definition of the term human security are of the opinion that focus should be on violent threats faced by the individuals and communities. The supporters of broad definition, which was also mentioned in the 1994 HDR, believe that threats to livelihoods, human dignity, hunger, pollution, disease and other harms, apart from violence should also be treated as the issues falling under human security. References Acharya, A. 2001. Human Security: East versus West. International Journal. 442-460 Adelman, H. 2001. 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