Relationship With Traditional Security
See also: Political realismHuman security emerged as a challenge to ideas of traditional security, but human and traditional or national security are not mutually exclusive concepts. Without human security, traditional state security cannot be attained and vice-versa.
Traditional security is about a state's ability to defend itself against external threats. Traditional security (often referred to as national security or state security) describes the philosophy of international security predominance since the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 and the rise of the nation-states. While international relations theory includes many variants of traditional security, from realism to idealism, the fundamental trait that these schools share is their focus on the primacy of the nation-state.
The following table contrasts four differences between the two perspectives:
| Traditional Security | Human Security | |
|---|---|---|
| Referent | Traditional security policies are designed to promote demands ascribed to the state. Other interests are subordinated to those of the state. Traditional security protects a state's boundaries, people, institutions and values. | Human security is people-centered. Its focus shifts to protecting individuals. The important dimensions are to entail the well-being of individuals and respond to ordinary people's needs in dealing with sources of threats. |
| Scope | Traditional security seeks to defend states from external aggression.Walter Lippmann explained that state security is about a state's ability to deter or defeat an attack. It makes uses of deterrence strategies to maintain the integrity of the state and protect the territory from external threats. | In addition to protecting the state from external aggression, human security would expand the scope of protection to include a broader range of threats, including environmental pollution, infectious diseases, and economic deprivation. |
| Actor(s) | The state is the sole actor, to ensure its own survival. Decision making power is centralized in the government, and the execution of strategies rarely involves the public. Traditional security assumes that a sovereign state is operating in an anarchical international environment, in which there is no world governing body to enforce international rules of conduct. | The realization of human security involves not only governments, but a broader participation of different actors, viz. regional and international organizations, non-governmental organizations and local communities. |
| Means | Traditional security relies upon building up national power and military defense. The common forms it takes are armament races, alliances, strategic boundaries etc. | Human security not only protects, but also empowers people and societies as a means of security. People contribute by identifying and implementing solutions to insecurity. |
Read more about this topic: Human Security, Concept
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