Rethinking The Security Development Nexus

As the trend has evolved, the security-development nexus has received significant attention from policymakers as a new means to address security threats.

‘The Security-Development Nexus: Peace, Conflict and Development’ approaches the subject of the security-development nexus from a variety of different perspectives. Chapters within this study address the nexus specifically, as well as investigate its related issues, particularly those linked to studies of conflict and peace. These expositions are supported by a strong geographical focus, with case studies from Africa, Asia and Europe being included. Overall, the text’s collected essays provide a detailed and comprehensive view of conflict, security and development.

‘In this comprehensive and wide-ranging analysis, McConnon demonstrates the extent to which security concerns have come to pervade the development policies of the three major donor countries.’ —Rita Abrahamsen, University of Ottawa, Canada ‘An original and compelling analysis of the security-development nexus of three donor countries here combined with a closer look at how their policies play out in two recipient countries, Kenya and Ethiopia, which are actually more representative than the usual high-profile cases of Afghanistan and Iraq. McConnon’s application of the risk-management lens is theoretically innovative and insightful. A most welcome contribution to the growing literature in this area.’ —Stephen Brown, University of Ottawa, Canada ‘The argument that security has been brought in to mainstream development policy partly, but not solely, because of the War on Terror is here meticulously detailed. The implication of this is that the security-development nexus is not an abstract idea, but a risk management strategy by the West. Using extensive documentary evidence McConnon provides a very clear discussion of policy that has big implications for theoretical approaches to development and security.’ —Paul Jackson, University of Birmingham, UK This book explores the security-development nexus through a study of the merging of security and development in the policies of the US, the UK and Canada. It argues that instead of framing this relationship as a ‘securitisation’ of development, it is best understood as a form of security risk management where development aid is expected to address possible security risks before they emerge. Rather than a single entity, the security-development nexus is instead a complex web of multiple interactions and possibilities. The work at hand is motivated by the increasingly close relationship between security and development actors, which was a consequence of a number of protracted civil conflicts in the 1990s. These cooperations were presented by donors as a common sense solution to conflict resolution and prevention, with the roots of many conflicts being seen to lie in development problems, and security being considered a necessary condition to allow development projects to take place. However, McConnon concludes that the merging of security and development is still largely driven by conventional hard security concerns.

This book critically examines the security-development nexus through an analysis of organised crime responses in post-conflict states. As the trend has evolved, the security-development nexus has received significant attention from policymakers as a new means to address security threats. Integrating the traditionally separate areas of security and development, the nexus has been promoted as a new strategy to achieve a comprehensive, people-centred approach. Despite the enthusiasm behind the security-development nexus, it has received significant criticism. This book investigates four tensions that influence the integration of security and development to understand why it has failed to live up to expectations. The book compares two case studies of internationally driven initiatives to address organised crime as part of post-conflict reconstruction in Sierra Leone and Bosnia. Examination of the tensions reveals that actors addressing organised crime have attempted to move away from a security approach, resulting in incipient integration between security and development, but barriers remain. Rather than discarding the nexus, this book explores its unfulfilled potential. This book will be of much interest to students of war and conflict studies, development studies, criminology, security studies and IR in general.

This book provides seven studies that address major issuessuch as the human rights and human security nexus, gender aspectsof human security, ethical and environmental challenges, humansecurity as a basic element for a policy framework, the humansecurity agenda developed by the Human Security Network, anddebates on human security within the United Nations. Building on its variety of themes, the book takes account ofthe complexity and scope of the concept of human security, andproposes thereby to refresh and enrich discussion Contributors are internationally renowned experts in thedifferent subfields of human security Offers an overview of current trends and insights on what is atstake if the international community is to maintain the momentumcreated a few years ago when the concept of human securityemerged Designed to help both newcomers and experts in the field ofhuman security Readers will find inspiration in the new developments of aconcept that aims to shape practical action to meet the needs ofthe most vulnerable

Security and development matter: they often involve issues of life and death and they determine the allocation of truly staggering amounts of the world’s resources. Particularly since the start of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, there has been momentum in policy circles to merge the issues of security and development to attempt to end conflicts, create durable peace, strengthen failing states, and promote the conditions necessary for people to lead healthier and more prosperous lives. In many ways this blending of security and development agendas seems admirable and designed to produce positive outcomes all around. However, it is often the case that the two concepts in combination do not receive equal weight, with security issues getting priority over development concerns. This is not desirable and actually undermines security in the longer term. Moreover, there are major challenges in practice when security practitioners and development practitioners are asked to agree on priorities and work together. Security and Development in Global Politics illuminates the common points of interest but also the significant differences between security and development agendas and approaches to problem solving. With insightful chapter pairings—each written by a development expert and a security analyst—the book explores seven core international issues: aid, humanitarian assistance, governance, health, poverty, trade and resources, and demography. Using this comparative structure, the book effectively assesses the extent to which there really is a nexus between security and development and, most importantly, whether the link should be encouraged or resisted.

Although policymakers and practitioners alike have enthusiastically embraced the idea that security and development are interdependent, the precise nature and implications of the dynamic interplay between the two phenomena have been far from clear. The authors of Security and Development: Searching for Critical Connections realistically assess the promise and shortcomings of integrated security-development policies as a strategy for conflict prevention. Addressing cross-cutting issues and also presenting detailed country case studies, they move beyond rhetoric and generalization to make an important contribution to the international conflict prevention agenda.

The Bottom Billion is an elegant and impassioned synthesis from one of the world's leading experts on Africa and poverty. It was hailed as "the best non-fiction book so far this year" by Nicholas Kristoff of The New York Times.