This book is testimony to the emergent nature of human security as an idea, as a useful construct and as an operational strategy. The aim is to showcase new directions that may enrich the human security agenda. Some human security discourse is still rooted in the traditional language of the aid-agency/UN development/economic growth models, often hostile to the corporate and business sector, and sometimes negligent of sustainability and climate change issues. Another limited and outmoded approach is an exaggerated focus on Western interventions, especially military ones, as a "solution" to problems in poor or conflict-prone areas. "Human Security" was introduced as a construct by the UNDP in 1994. The inherent combination of law-enforcement and people-centred humanitarianism has strived to provide an umbrella to both protect people from threats while empowering them to control their destinies. But with accelerating economic globalization and information flows there is a need to revisit the concept. A new paradigm of Sustainable Human Security is required. This book argues that proponents of a human security approach should welcome efforts to remove the barriers between enterprise, corporations, aid and development agencies, government agencies, citizen groups and the UN; and work towards multi-stakeholder approaches and solutions for vulnerable populations. Such an approach is clearly vital in responding to the imperatives of concerted action on issues such as climate change, HIV, terrorism, organised crime and poverty. The agenda may have changed, but it remains true that almost all human tragedies are avoidable. This book examines a number of global problems through the lens of human security and the needs of the individual: global governance; health; the environment and the exploitation of natural resources; peace and reconciliation; the responsibility to protect; and economic development and prosperity. In the latter case, the role of business in the human security pantheon is promulgated. There are many reasons why businesses may want to engage with the needs of vulnerable populations – not least the fact that companies cannot function without secure trading environments. In addition, there are growing demands for corporate responsibility and citizenship from markets, customers, shareholders, employees and, critically, communities. This book throws new light on the human security agenda. It will be essential reading for anyone involved in the debates on human security as well as for practitioners and scholars in international affairs, global governance, peace studies, climate change and the environment, healthcare, responsibility to protect and corporate responsibility.

This new book presents critical approaches towards Human Security, which has become one of the key areas for policy and academic debate within Security Studies and IR. The Human Security paradigm has had considerable significance for academics, policy-makers and practitioners. Under the rubric of Human Security, security policy practices seem to have transformed their goals and approaches, re-prioritising economic and social welfare issues that were marginal to the state-based geo-political rivalries of the Cold War era. Human Security has reflected and reinforced the reconceptualisation of international security, both broadening and deepening it, and, in so doing, it has helped extend and shape the space within which security concerns inform international policy practices. However, in its wider use, Human Security has become an amorphous and unclear political concept, seen by some as progressive and radical and by others as tainted by association with the imposition of neo-liberal practices and values on non-Western spaces or as legitimizing attacks on Iraq and Afghanistan. This book is concerned with critical perspectives towards Human Security, highlighting some of the tensions which can emerge between critical perspectives which discursively radicalise Human Security within frameworks of emancipatory possibility and those which attempt to deconstruct Human Security within the framework of an externally imposed attempt to regulate and order the globe on behalf of hegemonic power. The chapters gathered in this edited collection represent a range of critical approaches which bring together alternative understandings of human security. This book will be of great interest to students of human security studies and critical security studies, war and conflict studies and international relations.

Human Security Challenges analyses responses to global poverty and exclusion, especially for readers who may live or work in challenging environments. It addresses issues of the environment, complex poverty, disasters and conflict; it also explains how the concept of 'human security' has evolved within the UN and development agencies.

Human Security Studies: Theories, Methods and Themes examines the concept of human security from different theoretical and methodological perspectives and shows how they help shed light on the different themes of global intervention. Liberal perspectives, represented by global legalism and developmentalism, share the optimism that human security can be ensured and enhanced through strengthening global governance. Realists remain skeptical about this liberal vision. While also critical of the liberal promise, critical theorists and feminists offer radical perspectives on human security. All these perspectives help explain the challenges of military intervention for human protection, micro-disarmament, international criminal justice, smart sanctions, human rights and democracy promotion, and human development.

There is a growing interest in human security in Southeast Asia. This book firstly explores the theoretical and conceptual basis of human security, before focusing on the region itself. It shows how human security has been taken up as a central part of security policy in individual states in Southeast Asia, as well as in the regional security policy within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The book discusses domestic challenges for human security including the insurgencies in southern Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia. Transnational security issues such as terrorism, drugs, human trafficking and the situation in Burma are explored by the author, and the ‘ASEAN’ way of contrasting the values and approaches of Southeast Asian countries with those in the West is assessed. By focusing on the ongoing changes and efforts to achieve human security in Southeast Asia, this book contributes to theoretical debates on human security as well as regional studies on Southeast Asia.

This comprehensive Research Handbook considers the place of human security, both in practice and as a concept within international law, examining the preconditions for and consequences of applying human security to international legal thinking and practice. It also proposes a future international law in which human security is central to the law’s purpose. This title contains one or more Open Access chapters.

New Perspectives in International Development focuses on the latest thinking in the field, moving the debate into areas such as the connection between security, conflict, and development, managing energy crises, the impact of environmental and climate change, and the role that technology can play in alleviating these challenges. The book explores the theme of development as a process of change; as historical transformation in relation to contested sites of power; it considers how human agency can affect change and the different scales, from the local to the transnational, at which change can occur. The interaction between these threads highlights the complex processes involved in international development that cannot be understood in isolation. Writers bring their own theoretical and empirical tools from social sciences including geography, politics, economics and environmental science. Chapters move from the theoretical to include case studies, placing theory in the context of the deliberate actions of people to improve their lives. The book concludes by suggesting possible ways forward to link development theories, models and practices. New Perspectives in International Development is the second of two books in The Open University's International Development series.

Experts discuss the risks global environmental change poses for the human security, including disaster and disease, violence, and increasing inequity. In recent years, scholars in international relations and other fields have begun to conceive of security more broadly, moving away from a state-centered concept of national security toward the idea of human security, which emphasizes the individual and human well-being. Viewing global environmental change through the lens of human security connects such problems as melting ice caps and carbon emissions to poverty, vulnerability, equity, and conflict. This book examines the complex social, health, and economic consequences of environmental change across the globe. In chapters that are both academically rigorous and policy relevant, the book discusses the connections of global environmental change to urban poverty, natural disasters (with a case study of Hurricane Katrina), violent conflict (with a study of the decade-long Nepalese civil war), population, gender, and development. The book makes clear the inadequacy of traditional understandings of security and shows how global environmental change is raising new, unavoidable questions of human insecurity, conflict, cooperation, and sustainable development. Contributors W. Neil Adger, Jennifer Bailey, Jon Barnett, Victoria Basolo, Hans Georg Bohle, Mike Brklacich, May Chazan, Chris Cocklin, Geoffrey D. Dabelko, Indra de Soysa, Heather Goldsworthy, Betsy Hartmann, Robin M. Leichenko, Laura Little, Alexander López, Richard A. Matthew, Bryan McDonald, Eric Neumayer, Kwasi Nsiah-Gyabaah, Karen L. O'Brien, Marvin S. Soroos, Bishnu Raj Upreti

Identifying the existing challenges and shortfalls of China's current HIV/AIDS programming, this book provides an understanding of the history of HIV/AIDS in China, comparing government responses to global best practice in prevention and treatment. Considering three key populations in China, namely, female sex workers, people who inject drugs and floating migrants, Living in the Shadows of China's HIV/AIDS Epidemics highlights the effects of high mobility and marginalisation on the spread of HIV in China. It is argued that these groups often suffer from stigmatisation and a lack of human security, resulting in sub-optimal outcomes for HIV/AIDS intervention and prevention efforts and the reinforcement of high-risk behaviours, further contributing to the transmission of the virus to the general population. In adding to the emerging body of literature, this book further elucidates the myriad of challenges posed by HIV/AIDS epidemics, allowing sustained engagement and a fresh insight into how governments might respond to the needs of individuals living with HIV/AIDS, both in China and globally. Including case studies which give voice to research participants in a rich and engaging way, this book will appeal to students and scholars of Chinese Studies, Asian Studies, International Relations and Political Science, as well as those engaged in epidemiological studies in the Health Sciences.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused countries to experience new and unexpected conditions that severely affected the daily lives of people around the world. Concepts such as uncertainty, change, transformation, and chaos have gained new definitions, and the importance of leadership under these changing circumstances cannot be underestimated. This book takes an in-depth look at the crucial role of leadership post-COVID-19. The book offers refreshing interdisciplinary perspectives of leadership in different fields and different countries. The authors observe the differences in leadership styles before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the changed perception of leadership in the new normal. New Perspectives for Leadership after the COVID-19 Pandemic offers an enlightening study of leadership in multiple disciplines, including business, politics, academics and teaching, oil and gas industry, and more. It includes case studies from these different sectors to define the discussed concepts in new scenarios. The chapters discuss how leaders deal with VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity) outcomes, the impact of digital technology on the role of leadership, moral and emotional leadership, evaluation of clinical leadership competency levels in nursing, and more. This volume will be of interest to those in leadership positions as well as those who study leadership and management in times of crises.