Search this site powered by FreeFind

Quick Link

for your convenience!

 

Human Rights, Youth Voices etc.

click here


 

For Information Concerning the Crisis in Darfur

click here


 

Northern Uganda Crisis

click here


 

 Whistleblowers Need Protection

 

Rethinking Security

By David Kilgour, Secretary of State (Latin America and Africa)
Published in Diplomat & International Canada, January-February 1998

A decade ago the word "security" in an international context conjured up images of nuclear missiles, warships, jet fighters and other remnants of the cold war. Today the term "human security" reflects a more complex world view, and so draws Canada into a more complicated relationship with the rest of the world.

Threats to human security now involve a wider range of issues: environmental, criminal, terrorism, poverty, corruption, health, governance and human rights. No longer are these security issues merely government-to-government matters. Increasingly they require involvement of many other actors from civil society.

It was not that these issues didn’t exist during the cold war. Rather they were overshadowed by the prospect of global annihilation in a nuclear conflagration. Today, with the threat of conflict between the superpowers lifted, more light has been shed on these other threats to human security, some of which cannot be solved by agreements between governments alone.

Canada has traditionally played an international peacekeeping role. A more complex understanding of human security has meant we need to develop new concepts of peacekeeping, peacebuilding and security maintenance. It is no longer enough to station our troops between would-be belligerents. We now have to be proactive on such broader security concerns as communicable diseases or narco-trafficking that know no borders, and on land mines, terrorism and small arms proliferation – issues that affect civilians beyond our borders. Increasingly, we must cooperate with both state and non-state actors to build peace by dealing with the root causes of conflict and insecurity and not simply the symptoms.

When the cold war ended, problems of armed conflict did not go away. Genocide in Bosnia and Rwanda showed the extent to which many conflicts have domestic roots and increasingly involve civilians. Some of these internal conflicts spilled across international boundaries and revealed the limited capacity of the superpowers to contain them. While the cold war was ending, many countries of the Americas were achieving new peace processes aimed at resolving age-old conflicts, and witnessing the flourishing of democratically elected governments. Canada has played a role in easing many of these conflicts, whether by sending peacekeepers to Bosnia, heading a multinational force to Central Africa, or by helping to establish more effective policing in Haiti.

We are all aware of Canada’s success in getting 122 countries to sign an agreement banning the use of anti-personnel land mines. Millions of these mines continue to kill and maim civilians even in countries where military conflict has long passed. We need to capitalize on the momentum of the landmines process to make sure the treaty enters into force as quickly as possible, is universalized, and is fully implemented through demining, victim assistance and destruction of stockpiles. The lessons we have learned from the landmines process can be applied to other human security issues, such as the proliferation of small arms, peacebuilding, human rights and international crime.

Building human security, however, goes beyond questions of limiting armaments and armed conflict. There is increasing awareness that there are economic factors in such diverse problems as the proliferation of illegal narcotics and the disparities of wealth and income that contribute to social unrest. As such, economic solutions must also play a role in dealing with these threats to human security. My own recent visit to Colombia impressed on me the interrelated nature of such problems as poverty, the illegal narcotics trade, human rights, and democratic development. These problems cannot be dealt with in isolation.

Internal violence frequently occurs when there are no mechanisms for peaceful resolution of disputes within civil society. Stability depends on the establishment of democracy and good governance. This includes an effective judiciary, and disciplined and professional military and police. In our 1995 foreign policy statement, Canada and the World, we recognized the importance of projecting abroad such Canadian values as democracy, the rule of law, political and civil rights, and participatory democracy. Personally, I’m convinced these values are essential to any concept of human security.

More and more in a shrinking and interconnected global community we face such human security concerns as the spread of new diseases such as AIDS, hepatitis C, and older ones such as malaria or polio. Like ozone depletion and climate change, such problems ignore international boundaries.

Gone are the days when "security" hinged on relations between superpowers. Today, Canada can work with new alliances of states – both large and small – in promoting human security – a concept that involves an ever more complex array of actors.

 
Home Books Photo Gallery About David Survey Results Useful Links Submit Feedback