The concept of human security has emerged in international relations and policy as an idea which not only seeks to relocate the focus of international society on the individual, but also challenges the current priorities of the international community. In particular it places emphasis on promoting and facilitating a nexus between security, development and human rights. It is potentially a paradigm in the making, gaining considerable momentum within the UN, international relations scholarship and regional bodies. And yet by-and-large it continues to be unexplored by the international legal community, despite the success of a number of international treaties being attributed to the discourse. This book seeks to address this gap, and establish the nature of the relationship between human security discourse and international law, determining whether human security can meaningfully contribute to the international legal framework. To determine this, the book analyses the core principles of human security discourse and examines the degree to which they find parallels in the existing normative structure of international law. The book examines the how the broad-narrow debate that dominates human security discourse has played out in international law-making. It goes on to consider the processes for the creation of so called ‘human security’ treaties in order to determine a blueprint for future development of international human security treaty law. In concluding Shireen Daft sets out a structured principled approach through which international legal scholarship can engage with human security, highlighting the ways in which engagement between the two fields can be sustained.

The concept of 'human security' has influenced discourse and practice and has been the subject of vigorous debate. Despite its relevance to central questions of international law, human security has until recently received little attention from international lawyers. This book has two related goals: to evaluate human security as a concept that could be used in the analysis of international law, and to determine what insights about a human security approach might be gained by considering it from the perspective of international law. The first part of the book examines the evolution and meanings of the concept and its links with existing theories and principles of international law. The second part explores the ways in which human security has been and could be used in relation to the diverse topics of humanitarian intervention, internally displaced persons, small arms control, and global public health. The analysis sheds new light on debates about the concept's potential and limitations.

This book evaluates how far the UN has embraced human security as a policy agenda and explores its relevance for international law. The extent to which the UN has embraced human security as a viable policy agenda has implications and consequences for international law, such as the challenge to basal precepts including the principle of non-intervention. Equally, determining the relevance of human security for international law speaks to the extent to which the UN operates as a norm giver and, ultimately, a law-giver in the international landscape. Thus, the study is situated within a broader assessment of the interaction between the UN and international law. Drawing on International Relations theories, especially critical security studies, and on trends in international law and constitutionalism, amongst others, the book addresses the following questions: the contribution of the UN to the development of the idea of human security; the extent to which, if at all, the UN has translated human security into practice; whether the UN is an appropriate forum for pursuing a human security policy agenda; whether human security is expressed in international law and, if so, what prospects and challenges face human security in such an environment. There is a clear dissonance between the rhetoric and reality of human security as seen by the fact that as the UN endorsed human security at the 2005 World Summit, the African Union was convening the sixth round of peace talks on the crisis in Darfur. The disjuncture between word and deed exposes a fundamental question as to the role of the UN and law in the international landscape. In short, the book resides at the intersection between idealism and realism and ultimately offers a prognosis of the capacity of the UN - normative, including international law, operational and institutional - to pursue a human security policy agenda. This interdisciplinary book will be of much interest to students of human security, international law, critical security, human rights and IR in general.

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.

The quest for human security is a defining issue of our times. The international human rights norms define the content of human security. In the contemporary world, it is of the utmost importance to understand the linkages between human rights and human security. The relationship between freedom and security is also a central issue of our times. This is the first book ever to trace the links between human rights and human security. It provides answers to a key question: How does the protection of human rights in the contemporary world contribute to human security and how can one strengthen protection in the future?

In this book, it is explained that despite a current drop in the number of deaths, terrorism should still be considered a serious and widespread problem. However, the responses to this phenomenon are often more problematic from a long-term perspective. With the human rights framework under serious pressure, this edited volume offers a timely, important and critical in-depth analysis of human dignity and human security challenges in the lead-up, and in the responses, to current forms of terrorism. It aims to map how human dignity and human security can be secured and how law can constitute a source of trust at a time when Europe and the rest of the world continue to be plagued by terrorism. The authors are both established names and upcoming talent in this fastchanging and exciting field of law. They thoroughly analyse a variety of topical subjects, in more conceptual chapters—for example calling for the humanisation of the security discourse—and in highly practical contributions, in which for instance the Kafkaesque situation in which rendition and torture victim Abu Zubaydah still finds himself today is considered. This book, which focuses on, but is not limited to the situation in Western countries, aims to inspire not only academics—through further theorisation on the sometimes elusive but important concepts of human dignity and human security—but also practitioners working in the field of countering terrorism. It will hopefully convince them (even more) that following a human rights approach will be indispensable in securing human dignity and human security for all. Even—or in fact: especially—in times of terrorism. Christophe Paulussen is a Senior Researcher in the Research Department of the T.M.C. Asser Instituut in The Hague, The Netherlands and Martin Scheinin is Professor of International Law and Human Rights in the Department of Law of the European University Institute (EUI) in Florence, Italy.

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.

In 1994, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) coined the term 'human security' in the seminal UNDP Human Development Report. This report approached 'security' for the first time from a holistic perspective: security would no longer be viewed from a purely military perspective, but rather it would encapsulate economic, food, health, environmental, personal, community, and political security. Although the concept of human security accords a higher status to individual interests rather than to governmental interests, human security discourses have continually emphasized the central role of States as providers of human security. This volume challenges this paradigm and highlights the part played by non-State actors in threatening human security, as well as in rescuing or providing relief to those whose human security is endangered. The book does so from a legal perspective, (international) law being one of the instruments used to realize human security, as well as being a material source or guiding principle for the formation of human security-enhancing policies. In particular, the book critically discusses how various non-State actors - such as armed opposition groups, multinational corporations, private military/security companies, non-governmental organizations, and national human rights institutions - participate in the construction of such policies and how they are held legally accountable for their adverse impact on human security. (Series: International Law - Vol. 12)

The concept of human security is a new approach to security that focuses on the individual human being and provides policy alternatives to the traditional state-centred view, which considers the state to be the only and ultimate referent of security. Formally introduced into the United Nations system in 1994 the concept’s intellectual roots draw from international humanitarian law, human rights and human development, and since its introduction human security has been progressively integrated into the international security discourse. Mainstreaming Human Security: Policies, Problems, Potential paints a comprehensive picture of the relevance of the concept of human security in practice in a time of changing security paradigms and a challenging international environment. This volume looks at the practical implications of mainstreaming human security. It focuses on the potential, problems and policies of human security in peace operations and crisis management operations of the United Nations and of the European Union. Topics addressed by the contributors include mainstreaming human rights and human security in peace and crisis management in general and the role of human security in the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy, security sector reform, restorative responses to human rights violations by peacemakers, human security in Serbia and in African peace operations as well as proposals for human security training. The contributions to the book focus equally on mainstreaming human security in the UN and in the EU context. The global issues discussed and conclusions drawn are of relevance for the future of security addressed by peace and crisis management operations all over the world.

Essay from the year 2021 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Topic: Public International Law and Human Rights, grade: 7.0, Tilburg University, course: International law and human security, language: English, abstract: This paper addresses the question of whether International law related to human security is adequate to address modern challenges, I argue in the affirmative, albeit partially. While I believe that International law in this area can certainly be improved upon as law, in general, is a dynamic phenomenon, it would be erroneous to assert that the laws are not adequate to address modern challenges to a considerable extent. In support of my position, I aim to advance the perspective that in matters concerning international human security law, we must draw distinctions between ‘adequate/adequacy’ and ‘application.' Whereas 'adequate' means "sufficient for a specific need or requirement." On the other hand, 'application' means "an act of putting something to use." It is my view that though international law is generally sufficient to address modern challenges, actions taken by international actors to tackle human security issues are usually unpredictable. 'Law,' being an institutional fixture, is enacted to ensure predictability and uniformity, and international law should be no exception. However, international actors are generally inclined to think and act otherwise. It is one thing to develop laws, and it is an entirely different matter to apply them. In further support of my position, I also seek to present the view and necessary evidence that the application of international law related to human security is majorly dependent on State policy and not the adequacy or otherwise of the law. Humanity's duty to protect human security interests in both conflict and non-conflict situations is deemed essential. Accordingly, the need for a comprehensive and inclusive International legal framework on human security is justified. In the wake of the security issues that we have been confronted with in the past and those that continue to threaten our concerted safety, deliberations surrounding the adequacy or otherwise of International law related to human security vis-à-vis modern challenges are inevitable.