National International And Human Security

This clear and concise new edition offers a comprehensive comparison of national, international, and human security concepts and policies. Laura Neack skillfully argues that security remains elusive because of a centuries-old ethic insisting that states are the primary and most important international actors, that they can rely ultimately only on themselves for protection, and that they must keep all options on the table for national security. This is particularly apparent with the increase in “glocalized” terrorism and the forced migration of millions of people. Although security as a concept can be widened to encompass almost any aspect of existence, Neack focuses especially on security from physical violence. Case studies throughout bring life to the concepts. New cases in this revised edition include the Syrian refugee crisis and the responses from European states, the growth and reach of jihadist terrorist groups and the unilateral and multilateral military actions taken to confront them, drug trafficking organizations and the Mexican government’s failure to protect citizens, the overt use of preventive war by major and regional powers and the increasing American reliance on drone warfare, multilateral "train-and-assist" operations aimed at peacekeeping and counterterrorism in Africa, UN civilian protection mandates in Libya and Côte d’Ivoire and their absence in Syria, and how terrorism and refugee crises are intimately connected. The first edition of this book was published under the title Elusive Security: States First, People Last in 2007.

Neack provides a thorough overview of how states pursue security against violence, how this pursuit puts those same states and others in the international system into more or less constant threat of violence, and the implications of state-security practices for human beings who are, always, the victims of this violence.

Deliberately challenging the traditional, state-centric analysis of security, this book focuses on subnational and transnational forces—religious and ethnic conflict, climate change, pandemic diseases, poverty, terrorism, criminal networks, and cyber attacks—that threaten human beings and their communities across state borders. Examining threats related to human security in the modern era of globalization, Reveron and Mahoney-Norris argue that human security is national security today, even for great powers. This fully updated second edition of Human and National Security: Understanding Transnational Challenges builds on the foundation of the first (published as Human Security in a Borderless World) while also incorporating new discussions of the rise of identity politics in an increasingly connected world, an expanded account of the actors, institutions, and approaches to security today, and the ways diverse global actors protect and promote human security. An essential text for security studies and international relations students, Human and National Security not only presents human security challenges and their policy implications, it also highlights how governments, societies, and international forces can, and do, take advantage of possibilities in the contemporary era to develop a more stable and secure world for all.

Climate change is occurring, is caused largely by human activities, and poses significant risks for-and in many cases is already affecting-a broad range of human and natural systems. The compelling case for these conclusions is provided in Advancing the Science of Climate Change, part of a congressionally requested suite of studies known as America's Climate Choices. While noting that there is always more to learn and that the scientific process is never closed, the book shows that hypotheses about climate change are supported by multiple lines of evidence and have stood firm in the face of serious debate and careful evaluation of alternative explanations. As decision makers respond to these risks, the nation's scientific enterprise can contribute through research that improves understanding of the causes and consequences of climate change and also is useful to decision makers at the local, regional, national, and international levels. The book identifies decisions being made in 12 sectors, ranging from agriculture to transportation, to identify decisions being made in response to climate change. Advancing the Science of Climate Change calls for a single federal entity or program to coordinate a national, multidisciplinary research effort aimed at improving both understanding and responses to climate change. Seven cross-cutting research themes are identified to support this scientific enterprise. In addition, leaders of federal climate research should redouble efforts to deploy a comprehensive climate observing system, improve climate models and other analytical tools, invest in human capital, and improve linkages between research and decisions by forming partnerships with action-oriented programs.

There is a real security gap in the world today. Millions of people in regions like the Middle East or East and Central Africa or Central Asia where new wars are taking place live in daily fear of violence. Moreover new wars are increasingly intertwined with other global risks the spread of disease, vulnerability to natural disasters, poverty and homelessness. Yet our security conceptions, drawn from the dominant experience of World War II and based on the use of conventional military force, do not reduce that insecurity; rather they make it worse. This book is an exploration of this security gap. It makes the case for a new approach to security based on a global conversation- a public debate among civil society groups and individuals as well as states and international institutions. The chapters follow on from Kaldors path breaking analysis of the character of new wars in places like the Balkans or Africa during the 1990s. The first four chapters provide a context; they cover the experience of humanitarian intervention, the nature of American power, the new nationalist and religious movements that are associated with globalization, and how these various aspects of current security dilemmas have played out in the Balkans. The last three chapters are more normative, dealing with the evolution of the idea of global civil society, the relevance of just war theory in a global era, and the concept of human security and what it might mean to implement such a concept. This book will appeal to all those interested in issues of peace and conflict, in particular to students of politics and international relations.

This book contains twenty-nine Best Paper Award-winning articles presented in the IIHSG International Conference 2022 on Human Security and Governance organised by Interdisciplinary Institute of Human Security & Governance, Delhi, India in collaboration with Amity Institute of Liberal Arts, Amity University Mumbai; Centre for Conflict Studies, Middlebury Institute of International Studies, Monterey, CA, USA, Security Women, United Kingdom; Department of International Relations; Central University of Jharkhand, India; Department of Defence & Strategic Studies, Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla, India and Department of International Relations, University of Chittagong, Bangladesh. Total 537 human security experts presented paper in this virtual event from every corner of the globe like Italy, Poland, Nigeria, Philippines, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Nepal, Pakistan, UK, USA, Bangladesh, Canada and so on. Best articles written by them is added in this volume. This book, Different Dimensions of Human Security & Governance tries to address various contemporary human security issues in global arena like – Health and Governance; Human Security, Education and Governance; Human Rights and Governance, Human Security and Sustainable Development; Women in Governance and Human Security; Human Security and Non-state Actors; Child Security and Governance; Human Security and Pandemic; Human Security and Law; Governance, State, Politics and Human Security’, Food Security and Governance and Defense, Strategy and Human Security’. I hope that this collection of essays can become a benchmark for the future as well as spur new research agendas and projects that will put the region into a much-needed conversation on the recent trends of human security and the modalities of tackling it by different types of governance.

This book, now available in paperback, traces the key evolutions in the development of the concept of human security, the various definitions and critiques, how it relates to other concepts, and what it implies for polities, politics, and policy. Human security is an important subject for the whole world, in particular Asia, as it deals with interactions among fields of social change, such as development, conflict resolution, human rights, and humanitarian assistance. In a globalizing world, in which threats become trans-national and states lose power, security can no longer be studied in a one-dimensional fashion. Written by authors who are experts in this field and with case studies from different regions (Afghanistan, Central Asia and South Asia) presented throughout, this book - now available in paperback - contributes to this new multidimensional conception of security, analyzes its strengths and weaknesses, and focuses on its implications for analysis and action.