For some forty five years the grand narrative of the Cold War shaped our understanding of security. However, recent events have shown that the narrow military focus of the realist security paradigm cannot adequately address the ever-diversifying range of non-state, trans-border security threats which have emerged in the post Cold War era and which stem from the onset of globalisation.
This dissertation argues that, in light of the failure of recent attempts to address security concerns by recourse to military intervention - the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq as part of a global ‘war on terror' for example - there is a pressing need to adopt an alternative security framework. This study adopts a qualitative methodology, this approach having been deemed most suitable for the analysis of the body of literature which informs this study. The process by which one particular issue is incorporated into security discourse ("securitisation") is examined through the lens of the case study of cross-border migration. The use of a case study will provide the necessary context and specificity to complement our analysis of the theoretical aspects of the security debate.
The dissertation concludes that the human security framework certainly enriches the security debate at the present moment of relative stability but would prove less useful in the event of a resurgence of military threats, when the realist paradigm would be better equipped to offer explanations of actor behaviour. It is also concluded that the human security framework will be better able to cope with the change that will characterise the decades ahead, rather than a rigid and inflexible realist security narrative.
Rachel Carlill is a recent graduate from the University of Manchester's Institute of Development Policy and Management (IDPM) and studied MA International Development: Social Policy and Social Development.
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January 17, 2012
Talha Bin Tariq, Government College University, Lahore, Pakistan, Gold Contributor (102)
he interconnected risks that the modern world faces, from conflicts and natural disasters to deep poverty and disease, means a much broader definition of security is needed to ensure that individuals can live their lives with dignity and autonomy, the General Assembly heard today.
Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro told the Assembly, which is holding an informal debate on human security, that recent events such as the tsunami and earthquake in Japan or the uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa show that populations – whether in countries rich or poor – are as vulnerable as never before.
“That is why we need an expanded paradigm of security that encompasses a broad range of conditions threatening the survival, livelihoods and dignity of individuals,” Ms. Migiro said, noting that “threats can be as sudden and unpredictable as a tsunami or they can be as protracted and unyielding as an oppressive dictatorship.”
Today’s debate and panel discussions, held at United Nations Headquarters in New York, follow the release of a human security report by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon last year in which he urged governments to devise policies that are “people-centred.”
UN Member States are discussing how to define human security, beyond the outline from the World Summit in 2005, when global leaders agreed that it includes both freedom from fear and freedom from want.
General Assembly President Joseph Deiss told today’s debate that any definition or concept of human security must put the three pillars of security, development and human rights at the heart.
He stressed that events today indicate the need for holistic responses to crises and problems which transcend national borders and clear subject boundaries.
The participants at today’s panel discussions include: Margareta Wahlström, the Assistant Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction; the former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo; and Cheick Sidi Diarra, the UN High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States.
Regards,
Talha Bin Tariq