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Ausgabe 1-2005

Themenschwerpunkt: Human Security

INHALT

Editorial | download full article as pdf
Seite III

Themenschwerpunkt: Human Security

Forum

Neuerscheinungen
Seite 45

Annotationen
Seite 46

Besprechungen | download full article as pdf
Seite 47

ENGLISH ABSTRACTS

Human Security: An Idea Whose Time Has Come?
Keith Krause
This article outlines the origins of »human security« as a concept stemming from the policy-making community. By advocating a narrow vision of human security revolving around the notion of »freedom from fear« – a perspective emphasizing that human development cannot be advanced without attention to basic security needs – the article asserts that the use of the concept of human security by states and decision-makers is not merely a trivial matter of labelling. Rather, it leads states and policy-makers to focus on different issues, to ask different questions, and even to promote different policies, developments that have a significant impact in shaping at least some parts of the international security agenda for the 21st century.
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Human Security – Vom politischen Leitbild zum integralen Baustein eines neuen Sicherheitskonzepts?
Tobias Debiel/Sascha Werthes
The concept of human security has emerged in the post-Cold War world of the 1990s. It is a concept which, ever since its first appearance, has provoked a lot of criticism with regard to its analytical ambiguity and its political appropriateness. This article examines the historical and theoretical evolution of different security concepts (traditional, extended, common, comprehensive, societal and human) as well as the way in which they relate to one another. In particular, it shows how the different generations of security concepts broaden the relevant issues at stake and finally the reference object when changing the perspective. The conclusion that is reached in the article is that a narrow understanding of human security offers more and easier analytical value, while a broad conception serves better as a political leitmotif for concerted foreign policy-projects.
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Human Security and Security Sector Reform: Contrasts and Commonalities
David M. Law
Human security and security sector reform are relatively new to the lexicon of foreign and security policy, having both emerged in the post-Cold War world of the 1990s. The two concepts have much in common but they are also very different. This article reviews the thinking that underlines the two concepts and examines the way they relate to one another. In particular, it looks at their commonalities and differences in terms of core function, relationship to the state and state security, objective, scope, actors, and the criteria that are associated with their successful implementation. By means of a few practical examples, the different discourses that typically characterize the two concepts are contrasted and compared.
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Human Security als Teil einer geschlechtersensiblen Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik?
Cornelia Ulbert
Human security is a highly controversial concept. Whilst proponents praise it for its focus on individuals and its practical, i.e. normative relevance, critics complain about the broadness and fuzziness of the concept. In this article, the author makes the case for a narrower concept of human security from a gender perspective. A comparison of the concept of human security with the traditional concept of state security and a broader notion of security that was developed after the end of the Cold War proves the potential of human security to also encompass questions of gender difference and gender equity. However, subsuming development and human rights issues under the heading of human security risks losing the empowerment and rights dimensions of the other perspectives. Therefore, a narrower conception of human security, and one that focuses on the physical and psychological integrity of individuals would seem to be more appropriate.
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The Need for a Contextualized and Trans-disciplinary Approach to Human Security
Laurent Goetschel
Up until now, the most interesting attribute of human security which consists of the combination of a narrow focus concerning security issues, being individuals and groups, with a broad perspective of security threats, has failed to be exploited to its full potential. In this article, the author argues that this is predominantly due to the lack of a suitable approach and methodology which is able to incorporate the variety of existing human security constellations. Within a syndrome- based approach, human security should allow for a specific »clustering« of core problems based on a security perspective. This should provide new insights, in particular on the »variable« or context-specific part of human security and have important implications for comprehensive and coherent policy intervention strategies.
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Ist im Krieg gegen Terrorismus alles erlaubt?
Gerhard Beestermöller
The new law on air traffic security permits shooting down civil airplanes if the current state of affair indicates that the airplane is to be used as an instrument of a terrorist attack, and this attack could not be prevented by other means. One is also determined to kill the people in the airplane in such a case since they cannot be saved and in order to prevent more victims from dying as a result of a terrorist attack. The new law therefore stands in contrast to previous notions of basic rights that would not balance the life of one innocent person against the life of a larger number of equally innocent people. Even the argumentative figure of indirect killing does not help justify shooting down civil airplanes. A broad debate is needed on the limits of the legitimate use of violence for countering terrorism.
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Conspiracy theories on September 11th: A presentation of some open questions
Cornelia Beyer
There are diverging views on September 11, the background of the incidents, the involved people and motivations. Some of the surrounding questions and alternative interpretations may have a certain compelling power and could be explained as fitting into a bigger picture that presents itself, if one looks at the scene through a different glass. From this, some critics within the US deduct by reasoning, that the events might have different backgrounds and conspiracy theories might not be so much theories at all. I will present some speculations and some open questions regarding September 11, which do indicate, that the incidents are to be understood within a more complex picture than the official versions tell. These questions should be answered by the United States administration in order to calm down criticism and regain credibility.
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International cooperation and environmental politics after Rio and Johannesburg: Synchronicity of realities in a post-postmodern world?
Andreas Rechkemmer
After the end of the East-West divide, the Nineties were hoped to become the decade of multilateralism and collective action at international level. The UN Earth Summit of Rio, 1992, was the peak season for postmodern concepts of global governance, transcending the traditional notions of nationally driven politics of independent states. The international system was perceived as heterogeneous network of interdependent actors, implying civil society, states and international organizations alike. This article examines the outcomes of the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, the largest global conference ever to date, and draws conclusions for future perspectives of global governance oriented approaches to international relations.
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