Human Security: The Core of National Security
- National security now extends beyond military defense to include socio-economic stability and environmental sustainability.
- Human security focuses on protecting individuals, addressing poverty, inequality, and social issues to prevent internal threats.
- Prioritizing human security fosters social cohesion and global cooperation, vital for national and international stability.
The world keeps evolving with a constantly changing global and political landscape in pursuit of worldwide peace and security. This led to a new definition of national security transcending the traditional approach, ranging from socio-economic stability to environmental sustainability. Tackling these multidimensional challenges requires various techniques to secure a stable future. National security in the 21st century demands a multifaceted and innovative global strategy that acknowledges the interconnected security concerns and proposes dynamic and tangible solutions to build a peaceful and sustainable world.
National security refers to the overall security of sovereign nations, which includes the protection of citizens, government, and geographical borders. The protection of ideology and institutions of the state is also included in it. This approach is state-centric, keeping the nation as a top priority.
Human security prioritizes the individuals of the state, ensuring their safety and access to economic opportunities. It identifies and addresses the challenges that come in the way of their survival, earning a livelihood, and enhancing the quality of life. Human security at some point contradicts the paradigm of the traditional approach to national security, as the non-traditional understanding is quite differing at times. The conventional security approach reflects the Westphalian model of sovereignty of the nation-states. Internal threats like poverty, economic inequality and instability, food insecurity, and environmental vulnerabilities are often left unaddressed. This negligence can pose serious threats to the overall national security and integrity.
While national and human security seem contradictory to each other, both notions, however, tend to interlink at various points. The protection of the individuals of the state directly impacts national integrity and security. Traditionally, the focus of national security is directed toward external threats and defense, military forces, and securing geographical borders. However, the modern concept of non-traditional security has expanded to human security, which exclusively includes the protection of human lives, the provision of economic and social security, healthcare, and political stability to all citizens of the state. Human security, when left unaddressed, can endanger the country’s law and order situation, territorial security, as well as national integrity.
The protection of the welfare of citizens is the major concern of human security. When this concern remains unresolved, it can be a reason for the destabilization of the state. Human security ensures social cohesion and stability as it fosters stability in society by addressing social issues like unequal access to education and economic and social opportunities. All of these factors help the state machinery to maintain peace and harmony. Social instability often spills over in the form of civil unrest, internal conflicts, and violence, threatening national security. Human security ensures the economic security of the individuals of a state, as an economically secure and prosperous nation can maintain a secure environment within the country.
In today’s globalized world and the modern nature of threats, international cooperation is also necessary in this regard. Human security, for this purpose, provides a clear framework with its main objective of universal well-being, which can help foster a dynamic mechanism of global cooperation. Organizations like the United Nations have been staunch advocates for the prioritization of human security in national security policies. The UN 2030 Agenda focuses on sustainable development, emphasizing principles of human security, which will ultimately shape an effective national security policy for the countries.
In times when the world faces unprecedented situations, it is necessary to rethink the existing definition of security and broaden the perspective about what we mean by security in any crisis. National security does not solely refer to military forces or combating external threats; it is the security from internal threats and conflicts as well. The government must provide education, political, and economic opportunities to the people to strengthen human security. The global community must realize that in the 21st century, human security is national security. This shift demands efficient action by the policymakers to attain national and global peace and security.
The author is pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Political Science from the University of the Punjab, Lahore. With a strong background in social sciences, she analyzes political systems, institutions, and national security, aiming to engage readers with her insights.
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