new hs agendas
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AppliedResearchCentre inHumanS ecurity
Human Security Agendas:A Working Paper
Alan HunterNicky BlackMathis Goujon
February 2008
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About the authors
Nicky Black is a Research Fellow at Coventry Universitys Applied Research Centre
in Human Security (ARCHS). She is also a doctoral candidate in Strategic and
Human Resource Management at the University of Waikato, New Zealand.
Mathis Goujon studies business at the French Grand Ecole CERAM and in Prague;
he worked as intern at ARCHS in summer 2007.
Alan Hunter has worked for human rights and refugee organisations, and as a
sinologist. He is currently Associate Director of ARCHS and of the Centre for Peace
and Reconciliation Studies at Coventry University.
Note: two of the authors of this working paper, Nicky Black and Alan Hunter, work atARCHS; but views expressed in the paper are their individual opinions, and do notreflect any official position of ARCHS as a Centre.
Applied Research Centre in Human SecurityFutures InstituteFaculty of Business, Environment and Society Coventry University CV1 2TL UK Tel: +44 (0)24 7679 5757
http://www.coventry.ac.uk/archs
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Contents
Introduction ................................................................................................................. 1 Section One: Human Security Contexts..................................................................... 2 Section Two: Human Security Institutions................................................................... 6 Section Three: Critiques of the Human Security paradigm....................................... 13 Section Four: Growth points..................................................................................... 14 Section Five: Human Security, Business, New Global Governance......................... 17
List of Abbreviations
ARCHS: Applied Research Centre in Human SecurityCERI: Centre detudes et de recherches internationalesCHS: Commission on Human SecurityCRISE: The Centre for Research on Inequality, Human Security and EthnicityIDP: Internally displaced personMNC: Multi-national corporation
NGO: Non-Governmental OrganisationUN: United NationsUNDP: United Nations Development ProgrammeUNIDIR: United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research
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IntroductionThis paper maps and further develops the concept of Human Security as set out, for
example, in Human Security Now (UNCHS 2003). The first section of this paper
tracks the development of Human Security discourse, and also examines thebroadening of the security concept in recent years. The second section reports on
institutions with a specific interest in Human Security, for example within the UN
system and in universities. The third section acknowledges some critiques of the
Human Security paradigm.
Various synopses and analyses of current thinking on Human Security have already
been published, including an accessible account from the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) (Jolly and Ray 2006). A report for the UN Centrefor Regional Development Perspectives from the early years of the millennium
provides another good overview of Human Security (Mani 2002). The last two
sections of this paper report on new directions that may, we believe, enrich the
Human Security agenda at the time of writing in 2008. Some Human Security
discourse is still rooted in the traditional language of the aid-agency/UN
development/ economic growth models that emerged from the 1950s onwards, often
hostile to the corporate and business sector, and sometimes negligent of
sustainability and climate change issues. Another limited, and in our opinionoutmoded approach, is an exaggerated focus on Western interventions, especially
military ones, as a solution to problems in poor or conflict-prone areas. We argue for
a more inclusive agenda, which we have started to promote at The Applied Research
Centre in Human Security (ARCHS) at Coventry University. ARCHS is a new
research and teaching Centre which aims to develop innovative approaches to
Human Security, peace, and sustainable enterprise.
We argue that proponents of a Human Security approach should welcome efforts to
remove the barriers between enterprise, corporates, aid- and development-
agencies, government agencies, citizen groups and the UN; and work towards multi-
stakeholder approaches to vulnerable populations. We also argue that such an
approach is vital in responding to the imperative of action on climate change. We
conclude with an agenda for positive engagement between the aid/development
community and more business-oriented interest groups. We are already finding a
positive response from enterprises about Human Security issues and possible
contributions to it from the business sector. There are several reasons why
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2Hunter, Black, Goujon: Human Security Agendas
businesses may want to engage with the needs of vulnerable populations:
companies need secure trading environments; they may also have corporate
citizenship drivers which induce them to respond positively to customer, shareholder
and employee concerns; many consumers are interested in fair-trade, peace and
social justice as well as green issues.
Section One: Human Security ContextsHuman Security as currently understood encompasses at least the following:
a set of ideas and ideals concerning improvements to development andprotection for communities living in complex poverty
a trans-disciplinary analysis of multiple factors in vulnerabilities and
interventions
a paradigm for UN and other development agencies
an agenda within which to situate interventions, including those legitimated byResponsibility to Protect arguments
a named discipline in academic institutions
a terminology adopted by several nations, e.g. Canada, to describe anorientation for international work in the past decade
an opportunity for creative inputs to development/protection agendas.
Some key features of Human Security are that it should be people-centred and
gender-sensitive; multi-dimensional; inter-connected; universal; and contextualised.
It offers an analysis of the vulnerabilities of a specific population; and also
recommendations for responses to these vulnerabilities, e.g. by intervention and
development. Human Security Now (UNCHS 2003) lists issues requiring concerted
action which are relevant to most vulnerable communities:
Protection from violent conflictProtection from arms proliferation
Supporting refugees and IDPs
Providing relief in post-conflict situations
Encouraging fair-trade and other pro-poor economic activities
Providing minimum livelihoods (i.e. lifting out of extreme poverty)
Universal basic health care
Universal basic education
The report overall notes that poverty-related health threats are probably the mostmassive single threat to vulnerable populations.
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For some decades after the Second World War, security was mostly conceptualized
as the security of nation-states in the context of possible military conflicts, for
example between NATO and the Soviet bloc. Global events and trends, particularly
since the late 1980s, have to a great extent transformed the security agenda. One
impetus was the changing nature of violent conflict, with more evident militarized
intra-state, ethnic and religious conflicts. In the past two decades it became
increasingly apparent that communities are also threatened by environmental
destruction induced both by climate change and direct human impacts - forced
migration, epidemics including HIV/AIDS, and other issues.
In the 1990s, institutions and researchers began to propose alternatives to the
conventional security agenda. In 1994, for example, the UNDP extended policy
debate using the then new concept of Human Security. The report set out a broad
definition of Human Security, including seven core values: economic security, food
security, health security, environmental security, personal security (freedom from fear
of violence, crime and drugs), community security (freedom to participate in family life
and cultural activities) and political security (freedom to exercise ones basic human
rights) (United Nations Development Programme 1990-). As Johan Galtung has
pointed out, security in this sense represented a continuity from the basic human
needs paradigm that was influential in developmental agendas from the 1970s
(Galtung 2004). A wide range of new security thinking has been published in the
Berlin-based Hexagon Series on Human, Environmental Security and Peace,
including a 2007 volume with papers on human security (Brauch 2007).
Looking back further, one can trace the origins of Human Security concerns to
religious and early socialist ideals of community or commonwealth; and to Roman
and Prussian, among other, state ideals of national security, law and order. Many ofthe humanitarian concerns were encapsulated in the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, 1948, Article 25:
Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and
well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and
medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the
event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack
of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
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livelihoods and access to food, water, and medical care. Some theorists, however,
object that the very broad definitions of Human Security make the term amorphous,
almost meaningless, or at least impossible to realise.
Mller distinguishes the narrow state-focused concept of national security that is
used in realist security studies from three extended or widened security concepts.
He labels societal security as incremental; Human Security as radical; and
environmental security as ultra-radical. Moving beyond the classical realist security
paradigm, Mller analyses these concepts with regard to the different referent
objectsstate, nation, societal groups, individuals, humankind, and ecosystemthe
values at risk, and the sources of threat (Moller 2003). This classification has inspired
subsequent additions and modifications. For example Oswald raises the particular
needs of protection for women and for marginalized indigenous peoples (Oswald
2006). Groups of researchers have proposed another strand of Human Security as
freedom from hazard impacts (Brauch 2005). A tabulation of some of these
concepts looks as follows:
Denomination Referencesobject (securityof whom?
Value at risk(security ofwhat?)
Sources of threat(security from whomand for what?)
Global security World order,internationalcommunity
Global stabilityand co-operation
Militarized regimes
Power-bloc confrontation
National Security(political, military)
The State Sovereignty,territorialintegrity
Other states, terrorism,sub-state actors
Societal Security Nations, societalgroups
National unity,identity
Culture-clash, host-migrant tensions,economic collapse
Human Security Individuals,communities
Survival, qualityof life
Armed attacks (para-militaries/ stateagencies). Extremecomplex poverty
EnvironmentalSecurity
Ecosystem,humankind
Sustainability Nature, humankind
Security ofmarginalizedgroups
Genderrelations,indigenous,minoritieschildren, elders
Equity, identity,solidarity, socialrepresentations
Patriarchy, totalitarianinstitutions (government,religions, elites, culture,intolerance)
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Section Two: Human Security InstitutionsA number of institutions include Human Security in their titles, while other agencies
deal with issues closely related to Human Security without making explicit use of the
term. The major institutions can be conveniently considered in three broad
categories.
A: The United Nations and affiliates
In March 1999, the Government of Japan and the UN Secretariat launched the UN
Trust Fund for Human Security. Much of its funding was directed towards
developmental concerns in thematic areas such as health, education, agriculture and
small scale infrastructure development. At the UN Millenium Summit in 2000,
Secretary-General Kofi Annan called upon the world community to advance the twingoals of freedom from want and freedom from fear. As a contribution to this effort,
an independent Commission on Human Security (CHS) was established, led by
Amartya Sen and Sadako Ogata. In May 2003, after two years of deliberation, the
Commission submitted its final report, entitled Human Security Now, to the
Secretary-General. This report, available on the internet, is perhaps the best
readable summary of UN aspirations (UNCHS 2003).
Based on the recommendations of the CHS, the Advisory Board on Human Security
was created to among others promote Human Security and advise the Secretary-
General on the management of the Trust Fund. The Human Security Unit was
established in September 2004 in the United Nations Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs, its overall objective being to integrate Human Security in all UN
activities.
Other UN-affiliated agencies, and International Non-Governmental Organisations
(NGOs), are either explicitly or implicitly deeply involved with issues close to Human
Security concerns: for example the Center for Research on the Epidemiology ofDisasters, Belgium; the UN University, notably the campus for Environmental and
Human Security, Bonn and programmes in Peace and Governance, Tokyo; and the
UN Food and Agriculture Organization. Ramesh Thakur writes authoritatively on the
evolution of the agenda within the UN (Thakur 2006).
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B: National/inter-governmental organizations
Several governments, most notably the Canadian and Japanese, have been pro-
active in the Human Security Agenda. A detailed review of Japanese official
commitments is available in English on the website of the Japanese Ministry of
Foreign Affairs: http://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/human_secu/index.html (accessed
November 2007).
The Canadian government has a similar website at
http://www.humansecurity.gc.ca/psh-en.asp (accessed November 2007). Among
many other materials, it offers the following statement of priorities:
As Canadians, we are committed to building a world where people can live infreedom from fear of threats such as terrorism, drug trafficking and the illicit
trade of small arms. This new generation of threats shows no respect for
national borders and inevitably becomes the source of our own insecurity.
Human Security is a people-centered approach to foreign policy which
recognizes that lasting stability cannot be achieved until people are protected
from violent threats to their rights, safety or lives.
The Canadian Government has also funded various initiatives such as the CanadianConsortium on Human Security , the Uppsala University Human security Project in
Sweden, and a training programme for the civil police in Kosovo.
By 2006, fourteen national governments had joined in an official Human Security
Network which held a series of joint ministerial meetings and laid down an agenda
for co-operative ventures. A report of an intergovernmental meeting held in May
2005 was published on the internet at
http://www.humansecurity.gc.ca/canada_hsn_ministerial_2005-en.asp (accessed
October 2007). This network may be vulnerable to shifts in politics: for example there
were signs in the summer of 2006 that the Canadian government would downgrade
its commitment to the Human Security agenda, as it had already downgraded its
commitment to climate change issues, to reflect a closer alignment with the Bush
administration. Other governmental initiatives include Swiss support, by the
intermediary of the federal department of foreign affairs, to fund the Human Security
Centre. The Swiss government also supported humanitarian policy and conflict
research located in Harvard business school; and the Swiss Ministry of Defence
founded the Geneva Centre for Security Policy. The UN Trust Fund for Human
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Security, mentioned above, was an initiative of the Japanese Government. Swedish
and UK governments have also helped Human Security projects, as have other
donors to UN projects.
Of course, many other governments have agencies, like the UKs Department forInternational Development, which may respond to some or all of the issues covered
here as Human Security, although not in the same bundle or using the same
terminology. The formulation of the Millennium Development Goals has also been
influential, despite its avoidance of reference to armed conflict. Discussions with
similar agendas but slightly different approaches, all of which include conflict-
reduction among goals, include Our Common Interest produced for the UK
government (Commission for Africa 2005).
C: Academic Institutions and Research Centres
Many academic institutions undertake research and teaching in security issues,
peace studies, disaster management, epidemiology, environmental sciences and
other concerns of the Human Security agenda. One prospective benefit of academic
research into the Human Security agenda could be to promote understanding of
linkages and synergies between different kinds of vulnerabilities and threats; and
possible responses to them. To give an obvious example, many populations in the
Horn of Africa are vulnerable to local militias, they suffer from a failed state and lack
of health services, poor nutrition, and at the same time an environmental collapse
and possible further impact from climate change. Their terrain is also contested
between radical Islamists and pro-US forces. None of these issues can be resolved
in isolation. (Hampson and Hay 2002) is a brief introduction to research in Human
Security, now a few years out of date.
A smaller number of institutions explicitly use the term Human Security in their titles,
for example the Human Security Centre at Simon Fraser University (formerly at the
University of British Columbia), the Center for Peace and Human Security at
Sciences Po (Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques, Paris), the Institute for
Human Security at Tufts University, and a research unit at Tulane University.
Current research can be conveniently accessed via a Canadian research and
information database regrouping thousands of electronic and bibliographic resources
on Human Security catalogued according to key Human Security issues. TheGateway is accessible on-line at http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/ (accessed
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November 2007), where it catalogues a wide range of resource types including
articles, reports, experts, bibliographies, events, courses, audio-visual materials, and
organizations. For each resource, the Gateway provides a link to the resource itself,
as well as summary information such as author, title and publishing organization. The
Gateway is bilingual, with French and English resources. Across the Atlantic, the UK
Economic and Social Research Council has funded a series of seminars to be run in
2008/09 to strengthen UK academic understanding of Human Security.
A number of research centres, usually affiliated to academic institutions, focus on
Human Security. Most of them concentrate their efforts on a key theme or area, or
cluster of key themes. The UN Universities (Bonn and Tokyo) conduct advanced
research in Human Security issues, specifically with reference to environmental
challenges and global peace. The United Nations Institute for Disarmament
Research (UNIDIR), located in Geneva, is an autonomous institute within the United
Nations which conducts research on disarmament and security with the aim of
assisting the international community in their disarmament thinking, decisions and
efforts. UNIDIR activities on Human Security and disarmament include cross-cutting
research on small arms collection, weapons as a public health issue, and security-
building measuressuch as peace-building, humanitarian action and the impact of
landmines. Through its research projects, publications, small meetings and expert
networks, UNIDIR promotes creative thinking and dialogue on the disarmament and
security. The Institute actively seeks to involve civil society groups and NGOs in
disarmament and security debates.
Canada
The mission of the Human Security Centre, based in Vancouver, is to make Human
Security-related research more accessible to the policy and research communities,
the media, educators and the interested public. The Centre's flagship publication, theannual Human Security Report , is complemented by The Human Security Gateway
the online database of Human Security resources referenced above (developed in
collaboration with the Canadian Consortium on Human Security), and two online
bulletins, Human Security News and Human Security Research . The Human Security
Centre undertakes its own independent research, and hosts workshops that bring the
research and policy communities together to discuss a range of Human Security-
related issues. Previously based at the University of British Columbia, it moved in
June 2007 to the Simon Fraser University, also in Vancouver. Several other
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Canadian universities, for example Victoria, Waterloo and Royal Roads, include
elements of Human Security in their teaching and research programmes.
France
The Centre dtudes et de recherches internationales (CERI) programme for peace
and Human Security is hosted in Sciences Po in Paris. The overall aim of this
program is to promote Human Security by different means: conferences, scholarly
publications, academic research and policy tools. Several courses taught in the
Sciences Po Paris Program also contribute to the Human Security agenda, CERI is
also the home of the Human Security Journal , which is a multi -disc iplinary
academic journal run by graduate students of Sciences Po, and which
promotes cutting edge research and analysis on human security by
researchers and students around the world
http://www.peacecenter.sciences-po.fr/index.htm (accessed January 2008).
Japan
Japanese conceptualisation and implementation of Human Security is complex and
sophisticated, encompassing government, academic, and NGO agendas. Human
Security is one pillar of the Japanese foreign policy establishments programme for
the foreseeable future. For example the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is charged with
developing and explaining the concept to other governments to build an international
consensus around the idea of empowering vulnerable populations. This approach is
also strongly emphasized by the Japanese government within the UN system, not
least by its support for the UN Trust Fund for Human Security. In the aid and
development world, the Japanese International Co-operation Agency is a major
player; and it is headed by Ms Sadako Ogata, who has been one of the main driving
forces behind the human security agenda in the past decade. Thus human security
concepts and practice are becoming embedded through well-funded institutionsworking in developing countries. Other official or semi-official bodies carry similar
remits.
There is also a growing research expertise which by no means ignores the threats
posed by organised violence. For example, Japan has a rich heritage of African
studies, with many specialists working on vulnerability issues partly from a Human
Security perspective. Specific Human Security academic research is now conducted
at a number of major universities including the University of Tokyo (which also offersan MA programme in Human Security), Ritsumeikan in Kyoto, and others.
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Japanese scholars are also interested in the links between human security and
corporate citizenship; and with peace and reconciliation studies. the UN University
Peace and Governance Programme is located in Tokyo; the Tokyo University of
Foreign Studies has an active peace and conflict studies faculty; and Waseda
University is interested in human security and corporate citizenship. The Japan
Centre for International Exchange and a Human Security Research Institute at Keio
University are geographically specialized, primarily dealing with Human Security
issues in Asia. With the exception of work at the UN University in Tokyo and Peace
Studies at the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, the above activity is almost
entirely Japanese-language.
UK
A promising development for Human Security research in the UK is a series of nine
seminars on Human Security to be held in 2008-09, supported by the Economic and
Social Research Council. The aim of this series is to increase mutual knowledge
about research currently undertaken in the UK on human security, broaden the public
debate about human security, increase awareness of the concept among a range of
constituencies and generate a critical agenda around the concept. Participating
universities include the London School of Economics, Bradford, Ulster, Sussex and
Coventry. These universities all have research and teaching programmes in
international relations, peace and conflict studies, development studies and related
areas.
The Applied Research Centre in Human Security (ARCHS) in Coventry is mainly
oriented towards research and teaching on the complex links between sustainable
enterprise, corporate citizenship and Human Security. In 2007, ARCHS organised an
innovative sequence of Roundtables and a major conference at the Eden Project inCornwall. Its first MA programme in Human Security started in early 2008. Coventry
University also has an established Centre for Peace and Reconciliation Studies,
which works closely with ARCHS and contributes to its non-violence ethos.
The Centre for Research on Inequality, Human Security and Ethnicity, Oxford (UK)
(CRISE) aims to investigate relationships between ethnicity, inequality and conflict,
with the aim of identifying economic, political, social and cultural policies which
promote stable and inclusive multiethnic societies. CRISE published 45 working
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papers during the last four years and has made several policy briefings. Although
CRISE does not have a teaching programme, it is an important research centre.
USA
The Africa Centre for Health and Human Security, founded in 2004 in George
Washington University, Washington DC, brings together different parties to address
the challenges that threaten Africa. The goals of the Centre are: to provide a forum
for policy discussions that includes the executive branch, Congress, academics,
journalists, diplomatic corps, funding agencies, non-governmental organizations,
think tanks, private sector, and concerned individuals; to conduct research,
workshops, and training initiatives in Africa; to educate policy analysts, health care
providers, scientists, and other specialists for Africa. The Centre has few publications
to date, but it does train African students in the main concepts of Human Security.
The Global Environmental Change and Human Security programme, based in Irvine,
California, situates environmental changes within the larger socioeconomic and
political contexts that cause them, and which shape the capacity of communities to
cope with and respond to change. Its research focuses on the way diverse social
processes such as globalization, poverty, disease, and conflict, combine with global
environmental change to affect Human Security. Established in 1999, the programme
brings together scientists and academics from all over the world. The programme has
published many original papers and organised conferences, specializing in climate
change issues.
The Global Equity Initiative, at Harvard University, has attracted high-profile
individuals, including Amartya Sen, who work here as scholars, policy-makers,
activists, and negotiators with the goal of increasing awareness of Human Security
around the globe. It is a key agency in the field of health issues related to HumanSecurity, and has published widely on this subject. Also at Harvard University, The
Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research is a research and policy
programme that provides technical assistance and information support for
international organizations engaged in conflict prevention and management. The
Program was established in August 2000 as a collaborative effort of the Harvard
School of Public Health, the Executive Office of the UN Secretary-General, and the
Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. It has produced policy briefs,
occasional papers series, book chapters and journal articles.
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Finally, the Institute for Human Security at The Fletcher School for Law and
Diplomacy, Tufts University focuses on human rights and conflict resolution; while
The Complex Emergency Response and Transition Initiative mostly works on post-
conflict scenarios.
Section Three: Critiques of the Human Security paradigmThe Human Security agenda has attracted criticism from a variety of perspectives.
Some argue that the concept is too amorphous, diffuse and idealistic to be useful. If
one asserts an aspiration to provide peace, prosperity, healthcare, education,
environmental goods and so on to populations of impoverished countries, it could
easily remain an empty dream with no outcomes or pragmatic policy implications. A
parallel criticism was frequently heard decades back when peace researchers startedto insist that peace was only meaningful in a bundle, as peace with justice or with
fulfilment of human potential rather than peace as absence of violent conflict. Critics
argued that absence of violence might possibly be achieved in specific situations, but
fulfilment of human potential is just hot air aspiration, a distraction from less
grandiose but more achievable objectives. Human Security may also be subject to a
critique as component of an elitist, dominating discourse (as are terms such as
development, sustainability, equity, fair-trade, aid) that is occasionally deconstructed
by post-modernist critics.
Some institutions in the USA use the term Human Security, one of them being the
Carter Center ( http://www.cartercenter.org/ ) which has hosted colloquiums on the
subject. However in summer 2006, the Bush administration apparently decided to
oppose the concept; this was, allegedly, a main reason why the Canadian
government downgraded its commitments in the area. We do not yet know how
much truth there is behind such reports, but one may speculate as to reasons: first, it
might distract public attention from the over-riding concept of the war on terror or
struggle between good and evil that is being presented as the major international
priority. Second, it might be part of an overall strategy to reform the United Nations
into a less developmental trajectory. Third, Human Security priorities might conflict
with causes like the free flow of capital, privatization of utilities and the arms trade
which are upheld by the US. On the other hand, one might have thought the US
would find it useful to appeal to a responsibility to protect for some of its
interventions, so perhaps aspects of the agenda may still be acceptable. Two UK
academics (Duffield and Waddell 2004) have recently published an analysis on the
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securitization of the Human Security and parallel agendas: see
http://www.bond.org.uk/pubs/gsd/duffield.pdf (accessed December 2008).
Another point, raised for the first time as far as we are aware by Galtung, is while
Human Security may represent a genuine epistemological paradigm shift in the
Kuhnian sense, from earlier security thinking, it may also be a tactical ploy by a
younger generation of aspiring academics and bureaucrats to advance their own
careers, easing out the exhausted managers of exhausted paradigms (Galtung
2004). Following this train of thought, one reason for official support for the new
position, for example in Canada, is perhaps that it again makes government agencies
and the military indispensable: this time apparently in the interests of the
development/protection agenda rather than the Cold War, providing new justification
for interventions. Many Asian governments object to the concept for this reason.
One researcher has clarified that East Asian governments will have their own terms
of reference for humanitarian protection (Lee 2004). Saul provides a well-
documented account of Asian responses to developmental and interventionist
initiatives, for example reporting the reaction of the Singaporean government in 2005:
what are asserted to be rights are essentially contested concepts, and Asians could
legitimately resist the self-righteous and zealous penchant of some states to present
their views as universal norms (Saul 2006).
Section Four: Growth pointsWhat scope if there for further growth and conceptual innovation in this area? It may
be that any further expansion of scope would make the project still more open to the
charge of being over-extended, another route to utopia. Still, innovative people do
formulate creative solutions over time, and we continue this overview with a few
recent developments: a focus on security in urban areas; extension to populations
within developed economies, and to aboriginal peoples; and the role of business.
The Myth of Development by former Peruvian diplomat Oswaldo de Rivero (Rivero
2001) became influential in Latin America and subsequently internationally because it
seemed to provide a more realisticor pessimistic depending on your point of view
evaluation of the whole development project. De Rivero explained in an interview
that large areas of the developing world are not making economic or social progress;
on the contrary they are regressing into ungovernable chaotic entities:
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Basically the government loses control over large segments of its territory and
population. In such economically non-viable countries, poor income
distribution, spiralling population growth and technological backwardness lead
to social exclusion, which in turn stirs up ethnic, ideological and religious
animosity. Large areas of the country fall under the control of warlords, drug
traffickers, ideologically motivated guerrillas or a mixture of all three. So
chaos grows, civil society virtually disappears and the population becomes
dependent on the Red Cross or Doctors without Borders. The country is in a
state of permanent destabilization. This is what I call an ungovernable
chaotic entity (UCE). UCEs are in a constant state of internal violence, where
fighting alternates with truces, as, regrettably, we have seen in Angola, Sierra
Leone, Afghanistan, Somalia, Liberia, Cambodia, Rwanda, Burundi, Bosnia,
Chechnya, Haiti, Albania and Colombia (Urbina and Kuntz 1999).
De Rivero is pessimistic about change, but it may be that his honesty is a first step
towards new models of intervention. The international community may recognise
that the populations of many vast cities and their hinterlands are doomed to, perhaps,
decades of poverty, violence, and environmental degradation: neither free-market
capitalism nor state interventions nor donor policies will make significant differences.
Would there then be an argument for reverting to the basic needs concept and
providing the entire population of metropolitan areas with a secure, if minimalist
provision of, say, drinking water, food supplies, and protection against armed thugs
before considering more grandiose aspirations?
The Canadian Consortium on Human Security followed up on some of the issues
concerning safety in sometimes violent and fragmenting cities. The Consortium ran a
large-scale research programme on Human Security in Urban Areas, on which it
also co-hosted a conference in summer 2006. The conference report, downloadablefrom the Consortium website , (accessed January 2008) notes that broadly speaking,
participants were able to agree on certain key issues:
Most cities are inherently resilient and have important roles to play in national
security.
While some slums are characterized by violence and insecurity, most slums
are generally peaceful most of the time. In exploring poor Human Security
outcomes in slums, we should be mindful of understanding how
empowermentscapes can be peaceful, dynamic, and adaptive.
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People should be viewed as agents capable of positive change rather than
passive victims. Similarly, children and youth who participate in violent
activities should be seen as actors making rational choices.
Local-level empowerment at the community level is key to building conflict-
resilient cities.
There is a need for a better understanding of the origins of conflicts, including
historical factors, migration pressures, ethnic segregation, and poverty.
However, themes upon which participants did not find common ground included:
The analytical and policy value in the theory of social capital. Since social
capital can be either good or bad, does it add value to our understanding of
Human Security?
Comparing children in armed urban gangs to child soldiers. Is it beneficial or
counterproductive to use such a term for organized armed youth gang
members?
The value in applying the Human Security paradigm to urban areas.
Determining thresholds for Human Security should Human Security be
defined narrowly to refer to physical threats to peoples lives, or more broadly
to include issues such as marginalization, inequality, poverty, and human
rights violations?
Whether or not cities in developed nations, should be incorporated into
discussions on human insecurity in cities rather than limiting these
discussions to their developing country counterparts.
This last point touches another area which may perhaps come under scrutiny: is the
concept of Human Security relevant to city, or indeed any, life in developed
countries? Arguably it is, since citizens in any state may feel vulnerable to serious
crime, marginalization, terrorism or other problems. In August 2006, for example,Italians were shocked to discover the extent of marginalization and mutual antipathy
between immigrants and local residents in the affluent city of Padua renowned for its
ancient university and medieval frescoes by Giotto. Yesterday, however, it acquired a
less attractive claim to fame: a steel wall, 84m long and 3m high, blocking off a run-
down housing estate with a high immigrant population and a reputation for drugs,
violence and prostitution (Owen 2006). Other EU states, among the most affluent
countries in the world, had recently seen serious problems: violent riots in France,
bombings in London.
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Another issue in many countries, including developed ones, is the status of aboriginal
peoples, for example in Australia, Canada and the USA, among richer countries; and
in Latin America, China and India among developing ones. Many communities in
these countries were almost wiped out by policies close to planned genocides in
some cases, and by neglect, displacement and disease in others. They often ended
up demoralised, fragmented, and with high levels of alcoholism and criminalization.
A particularly vicious sustained onslaught was that on native villagers in Guatemala
between 1954 and 1995, conducted by militias and military with US assistance.
Nevertheless, there have been some major improvements in the past decade, some
of them pro-actively negotiated by governments in, for example, New Zealand, and
some concessions after years of pressure. Links to Aboriginal Resources
http://www.bloorstreet.com/300block/aborl.htm (accessed December 2007) is an
excellent website to keep up with news on this topic.
Section Five: Human Security, Business, New GlobalGovernanceThe role of business has barely been raised in most discussions on Human Security.
Moreover when it does arise, it tends to be in rather traditional debates: free-
marketers against socialists; proponents and opponents of globalization etc. Much
of the development agenda stems, for the most part, from a more interventionist,
statist approach to national economies rather than a business perspective; and most
of those who discuss Human Security tend to be based in governments, UN
agencies, universities or other public bodies, rather than in corporates. Their
economic thinking is often slanted towards public provision, price controls and
equitable distribution rather than entrepreneurial flair and competitiveness. Yet this is
definitely a weakness in the debate, which should seek contributions from the
corporate sector also. The revival of business and entrepreneurship are one of the
major indicators of a return to normality after a period of upheaval, and a high level
of employment is a key to social stability.
The last decade has seen a growing interest in the role of enterprise in conflict-
management, resolution and peace-building. The relationship between enterprise
and conflict has drawn the attention of NGOs such as Global Witness and
International Alert; policy institutes such as the International Institute for Sustainable
Development and the International Peace Academy; and Inter-governmental bodies
such as the World Bank and the United Nations. For some years, business leaders
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have also been driven, or felt motivated, to engage with this issue, for example
through the Business Council for Peace, and the International Business Leaders
Forum.
Engagement with conflict issues is becoming an increasingly critical area of
management for most large companies, either as part of the risk profile in their direct
operations or in the Corporate Citizenship arena. With over 60,000 Multi-national
corporations (MNCs) operating in more than 70 conflict regions, MNCs can have a
direct and wide-ranging influence on the nature and dynamics of conflict. This impact
is only just beginning to be understood (Bais and Huijser 2005).
Business sectors such as armaments and resource extraction often operate in
conflict zones where their impacts are easily identifiable; the growing socially
responsible investment movement is also drawing attention to the role of financial
institutions in supporting these companies. Through these advocacy efforts, and an
associated reframing of political and operational risks in business, responsibility for
the role of companies in conflict regions is being expanded beyond the immediate
zone of business operation, or theatres of war. The great majority of MNC staff and
their share-holders undoubtedly share a massive sense of outrage at the extreme
poverty, vulnerability and suffering of populations in conflict zones, or in countries
where the government retains power by brutal oppression. Many senior managers
would like to do all they can to reduce conflict and extreme exploitation in such
regions; and even if they are not so motivated, shareholder meetings, and corporate
responsibility advocates, increasingly demand action.
Typical dilemmas faced by MNCs are:
Is it ethically acceptable to do business with failing states or conflict regions?
Is it acceptable to do business with companies in the arms trade?Is it possible to run an extractive industry with clean hands?
Can one maintain profitability and yet engage in corporate social
responsibility in poor countries?
There are no easy answers, though some suggestions have been put forward
recently, for example by the Collaborative Development Associations Corporate
Engagement Programme. Among ideas they consider are:
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Conflict sensitivity: for all staff, at least all senior staff, to be aware of
implications of their operations on conflict zones: especially where core
business might be initiating or prolonging an armed conflict.
Trying to mainstream support for peace and stability into core business
especially in the developing world.
Building partnerships with NGOs which mitigate conflict impacts
Investment in environmental protection and protection of rights of indigenous
peoples during industrialisation initiatives
Engage local populations with income-generating projects
Invest in education and health projects to support implementation of
Millennium Development Goals.
Join and support industry and multi-sector initiatives to raise and address the
role of business in conflict and peacebuilding.
A number of companies are entering into novel partnerships with NGOs to ameliorate
their negative impacts on the population in a conflict. These partnerships can be
difficult in themselves, since the relationship between businesses and NGOs may
face issues around trust, conflicting interests and organisational and cultural
differences. Yet NGOs are increasingly playing roles other than provocateur or
adversary. Organisations such as Amnesty International and Save the Children are
working closely with some companies to try to deepen understanding of these issues
and to support the organisational changes necessary in companies and the
frameworkslegal, political, social, economicwithin which they operate.
Over the last decade the corporate social responsibility movement has played a
central role in meeting challenges to the contemporary division of business and
society. Whilst the movement combines a number of different priorities bothenvironmental and social it is of particular relevance in areas of conflict and weak
governance. Through their roles in shaping the economic conditions under which
conflict and oppression occur at the individual, state and regional level, their direct
and indirect provision of material or other support to warring parties, their production
and supply of the tools and weapons of war, and their potential political influence, the
private sector is involved in conflict formation and resilience. Through a deeper
understanding of these activities and their dynamics, business can be engaged as a
partner in conflict-transformation and peace-building.
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Emerging ideas concerning new global governance and tri-sector partnerships are
closely linked with the above discussion; again they are almost completely missing
from most of the discussions of human security in the past decade (Wilkinson and
Hughes 2002). The influential Global Governance Project co-ordinated in
Amsterdam defines its agenda as:
characterised by the increasing participation of actors other than states,ranging from private actors such as multinational corporations and (networksof) scientists and environmentalists to intergovernmental organisations('multiactor governance').
marked by new mechanisms of organisation such as public-private andprivate-private partnerships, alongside the traditional system of legal treatiesnegotiated by states.
characterised by different layers and clusters of rule-making and rule-implementation, both vertically between supranational, international, nationaland subnational layers of authority ('multilevel governance') and horizontallybetween different parallel rule-making systems.
I.e. it is a move away from the simplistic notion that decisions are made and
implemented primarily by national governments or the UN. Our evermore networked
societies inevitably produce new forms of power-sharing and decision-making, which
again must reach to new levels of co-operation to deal with Human Security issues
like climate change.
Conclusion: Sustainable Human Security
The term sustainable has been fashionable in recent decades. The sustainability
imperative is now perhaps more critical than ever before: both scientific and public
opinion recognises that the impacts of climate change, resource depletion and
environmental degradation may soon radically transform our way of life. The Human
Security agenda will surely have to engage with these issues with increasingurgency. There are many signs that businesses are engaging with them also. This is
partly in response to consumer pressure for ethical trading and lower carbon
emissions, partly to cope with regulation and higher fuel costs, and for a variety of
other reasons. The term sustainable enterprise is becoming more widely used to
denote the strategies involved in these developments and changes in the wider
economy. There are fundamental linkages between the sustainable well-being of
economic activity, the environment, and human populations in both the developed
and developing worlds. We need to engage with a dynamic for sustainable HumanSecurity.
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