Cadmus (Aug 2023)
Human Security: Its Pasts, Its Underway Evolution and a Necessary Future
Abstract
Human Security has had a checkered history since its formal announcement in the 1994 UNDP HDR. This paper argues that current circumstances should be exploited to recontextualize security to better acknowledge planetary realities. Humans’ security is only one of three fields of planetary security and needs to be considered in concert with the other two; states’ security and biodiversity security, if it is to receive sustained and durable attention. A brief overview of the history of the Human Security field briefly notes its two high points; HS1 in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and HS2 following the 2013 UNGA announcement of the Human Security First campaign. Some of the reasons for the failure to gain traction for more than a small community of activists are described for each. The core of the paper explains why the concept of Humanity Security deserves to be the concept underpinning consideration of security of all the planet’s citizens, of their states and communities, and of all life in the air, on land and underwater, especially now. Pragmatic suggestions for achieving the reconceptualization of security in doable and useful ways are offered. The focus is on three considered deserving of priority. One is the universal deployment of strategic foresight for all policy-design activity to enable better preparation for an uncertain future with fewer surprises. A second is the establishment of a new UN USG to provide leadership and impose oversight of action on the 17 SDGs, currently all behind schedule. Third a 21st century version of ‘security sector reform’ is overdue, based on a protocol of enlightened interoperability that enables harmonious relationships among diverse communities of security and non-security actors. The paper concludes with advice from the Russell-Einstein Manifesto: “Remember your humanity and forget the rest.
