Critically evaluate the concept of human security

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Critically evaluate the concept of human security

1.

Introduction

The concept of human security has emerged in the recent decade to re-balance debates on security away from an exclusive and excessive focus on military security of the state and its institutions, towards the people whom the state serves. (Kofi Annan, 1999) It has great potential in the era of globalization to renew our focus on global threats and challenges to human well being and advancement.

Long-established concepts of national or military security, focusing on the territorial State, are unfit to analyze many factors of risk, threat or sudden change in the daily lives of persons caused by other insecurities such as poverty, environmental hazards, global epidemic diseases, natural disasters, and gender-based violence. All these elements of menace that affect people's rights and dignity, have usually not been considered as risks which can be related to security which the State has an obligation to prevent or improve. Such threats often become invisible in the public debate that generally centers its concerns on national security of the State, or in some cases on public security related only to combating crime or exposed violent conflict.

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