Understanding Emerging Security Challenges

Ashok Swain

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2012
• ISBN:
  9781136254505
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: International Relations
• Index: Politics & International Relations

This book offers an overview of emerging security challenges in the global environment in the post-Cold War era.

After the fall of the Berlin Wall and the subsequent shifting of international political environment, a new broader concept of security began to gain acceptance. This concept encompassed socio-economic-environmental challenges, such as resource scarcity and climate change, water-sharing issues, deforestation and forest protection measures, food and health security, and large population migration.

The book examines the causes and consequences of these emerging security threats, and retains a critical focus on evolving approaches to address these issues. The author attempts to develop a framework for sustainable security in a rapidly changing global political landscape, which seeks to bring states and societies together in a way that addresses weaknesses of the evolving international system. Moreover, through a detailed analysis of the emerging security issues and their pathways, the book further argues that the evolving processes not only pose critical challenges but also provide remarkable opportunity for cooperation and collaboration among and within various stakeholders.

This book will be of much interest to students of global security, war and conflict studies, peace studies and IR in general.

1Introduction

Emerging Security Challenges in a Changing World

Security in a Globalized World

The world has gone through a major transformation in the last two decades. The end of the Cold War in Europe has led to a massive increase in the private capital flow and indirectly to an information and telecommunications revolution. In this new interdependent and interconnected world, international trade and investment has overtaken the importance of national economies. Globalization enthusiasts point to a range of benefits including: a new idealism of economic openness, political transparency, global culture, economic prosperity, the advancement of human rights, equality and peace –all of which are promises of a globalized world. This global proximity is thought to foster cooperation and increase security (Kay 2004: 10). It is true globalization has created new opportunities, but it has created many risks and challenges as well.

Globalization has generated new wealth and encouraged technological innovations but, at the same, it has failed to support and promote sustainable development and instead generated greater anguish and deprivation in the developing world (Swain 2007a). So far, it has had a largely negative impact on the poor and under-privileged parts of society. The gap between per capita income in the developed and developing countries has increased. There is no doubt that the benefits of globalization have failed to reach the majority. This has already resulted in growing civil unrest and, in some cases, contributed to armed conflict in the developing world. In recent years, security effects of globalization have been the subject of intense debates, with many attempts to explore how the processes of globalization have fundamentally changed the way we think about security.

As Keohane and Nye (2000) argue, globalization emerged as a buzzword in the 1990s, just as “interdependence” did in the 1970s, but the phenomenon it refers to is not entirely new. Globalization has become a buzzword to refer to some imprecise event or trend in the world, which is understood by hardly anyone (Cha 2000: 391–92). The best way to understand globalization is as a spatial occurrence, in which the separation between domestic and international affairs is collapsing, where local interests cannot be isolated from global concerns (Guehenno 2001). Globalization is a multidimensional occurrence, in which trade is expanding globally, as is the flow of private capital and investment; information technologies, along with a variety of other technologies, are developing rapidly and spreading widely (Davis 2003). Communication among nations and cultures has become easier, faster, and deeper; and, hence, an evolutionary political process has emerged to associate with the spread of democracy and human rights (Isiksal 2003). These developments create real possibilities to achieve economic prosperity, spread political freedom, and promote peace.

Interestingly, most of the literature on globalization initially focused on its economic rather than security implications (Cha 2000: 393). It is easy to measure the result of economic globalization by observing various flows of economic transactions; however, measuring the relationship between globalization and security is a much more challenging task. It is by and large difficult to define globalization, but it is even more difficult to make precise conclusions about how globalization increases or decreases the degree of security (Clark 1999). The study of globalization also tends to overlook a proven fact that the conflicts in the South have been invariably influenced by the global powers and their strategic politics. Globalization has reached such depths that it cuts deep into national affairs, causing structural changes that help to precipitate new or latent conflicts. Such conflicts may be civil wars, revolutions, inter-communal violence, genocides, or general state breakdowns, including possible consequences such as massive humanitarian crises. Defining security in terms of how nation-states defend their territories renders globalization both a benefit and a challenge (Kay 2004: 10).

Globalization has emerged as a double-edged sword, creating numerous benefits in certain spheres but also generating serious challenges to the security of many nations, particularly developing countries. It has been implicated in social fragmentation, creating critical vulnerabilities, as well as sowing the seeds of violence and conflict. Moreover, a variety of threats have become global in scope and more serious in their effects as a result of the spread of knowledge, dispersion of advanced technologies, and the movement of people (Davis 2003: 1). As states no longer dominate either as the exclusive referent objects or the principle embodiment of threats, security threats become inherently more difficult to measure, locate, monitor, and contain (Cha 2000: 393–94). Simultaneously, different aspects of globalization widen the scope of security to a variety of transnational militarized threats, encompassing violent ethnic conflicts, religious terrorism, dangerous weapons proliferation, cyber-attacks, and trafficking and global crime.

New Security Challenges in the New Global Era: Transnational Threats

In the last two decades, violent ethnic conflict has replaced ideological competition as the main source of strife within and between nation-states. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, a number of ethnic struggles turned violent, and this trend has, for the most part, continued since then. These ethnically motivated conflicts are commonly labeled as “new wars,” or “civil wars.” Ethnic conflicts usually take place between two or more ethnic groups, of which one typically possesses the actual state power. The state's legitimate monopoly of violence in society becomes the major point of contention that emerges between antagonistic ethnic groups. However, ethnic wars are not only confined to the territory of a single state, but their impact also affects neighboring states, manifesting themselves in the form of interstate violence and threats. Apart from inflicting great human suffering on those within the immediate vicinity of the conflict, violent ethnic conflicts often disrupt economic activity, stable governance, development, and prosperity within the neighboring region where they occur, undermining security by escalating armed conflict, refugee flows, and increases in organized crime.

Nation-building often is a contentious process, fought out in a political, cultural, social, economic, or military setting. As soon as a society is divided in ethnic or religious terms besides the economic, social, and other lines of conflict, a further dimension is added to the existing potential for conflict (Hippler & Frieden 2005: 3 –14). Confrontation policy may vary from assimilation to cultural domination, forced migration, ethnic cleansing, and, the most violent one, genocide. On the other hand, the accommodation strategy of the state includes following the policy of power-sharing among different ethnic groups, creating autonomous areas and also federal forms of governance.¹ Depending on the state's strategy, the way in which ethnic groups are challenged usually determines their response. Usually violence invites violence, and accommodation can often, but not always, provide greater opportunity for lasting peace and viable order given the right circumstances. Thus, it is not always the case that where there is greater ethnic diversity, there is greater inter-ethnic conflict.

Besides the challenges of managing ethnic conflicts, the international concern about global terrorism has also gone through a major evolution in the last decade. In the second half of the twentieth century, if there was any global security agenda against terrorism, it was extremely ambivalent and very half-hearted. There was a monumental disagreement over the definition of terrorism itself. In most cases, one nation's terrorists were another nation's freedom fighters. Western industrial coun-tries, which were used to making a distinction between international and domestic terrorism changed track in the latter part of the 1990s after experiencing attacks at the hand of terrorists. The 9/11 twin tower terrorist strikes on the United States brought a defining change to the attitude of the international community in dealing with terrorism, at both the domestic and international level. Islam has taken on a stronger political salience in the many parts of the world. Many acts of violence, including bombings and hostage-taking by Islamic radical groups, have been committed in many countries in recent years. There is an increasing realization that many problems such as terrorism are truly global in nature, and can only be addressed effectively through international and regional cooperation.

The potential use of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) by terrorist groups and rogue states clearly poses a serious threat internationally.² The global spread of ideas and technologies is unquestionably making it easier for states, and even disaffected groups, to develop the most dangerous weapons. In term of states, North Korea and Iran's potential for developing weapons of mass destruction and long-range missiles has been a concern for the United States and the international community for more than a decade (Gross 2002). Iraq used chemical weapons during its wars against Iran and Kurdistan in the 1980s, as well as in the Persian Gulf War in 1991. Like states, disaffected groups have taken advantage of WMD as a means of committing terror attacks. In the aftermath of 9/11, the fear of another attack by Islamic terror groups still casts a shadow over international insecurity; most experts on terrorism are particularly concerned about the magnitude of the destruction that would arise from a terrorist attack using WMD.

Information and communication technologies are the central features of globalization and have become increasingly intertwined in our daily activities. Some of these technological infrastructures form a vital function of many critical civilian systems, such as communication, energy, transportation, government security, or banking, etc. However, they are now vulnerable to threats from cyber terrorists. The so-called Love Bug virus in 2000, by almost any measure was the most damaging virus ever, infecting 40 million computers and costing billions of US dollars in damages (Grossman 2000). Furthermore, computer networking technology has also blurred the boundaries between cyber-warfare, cyber-crime, and cyber-terrorism, which are becoming more organized and established as transitional business. Several terrorist operations in Europe in recent years provide evidence that groups of terrorists are already secretly active within countries with large communication networks and computerized infrastructures, plus a large, highly skilled information technology (IT) workforce (Nagre & Warade 2008). This is the reason why the Commission of the European Communities (CEC) claims that “cyber-attacks have risen to an unprecedented level of sophistication,” and it is the high dependence on communication technologies, their cross-border interconnectedness and interdependence, as well as the vulnerabilities and threats they face, that raise the need to address their security and resilience (CEC 2009).

Drug production and trafficking have begun to be considered a serious security problem with social, political, and economic implications at local, national, and transnational levels as well (Swanstrom 2007: 1–6). At the societal and national level, drug revenues can increase corruption and undermine the political stability of the legitimate government, particularly in weak and poor countries in the South. The danger emerges from the negative spiral of economic and political instability generated in states that are vulnerable to drug trafficking. On the other hand, social and political chaos are conditions that allow the narcotics industry to thrive (Swanstrom 2007: 3–4, 11). In Mexico alone, since 2006 more than 34,000 people have died as result of drug-related violence. The various drug-trafficking cartels fight to dominate the illicit drug market in the United States. Drugs are often not responsible for the commencement of a conflict; however, there is a positive correlation between drug trafficking and conflict duration, in which drug trafficking lengthens the life cycle of conflicts (Cornell 2007: 207–08).

Drugs additionally pose a threat to human health security. Production and transit regions have experienced a dramatic increase in HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C infections. A recently recognized trend is the evolving relationship between the narcotics trade and terrorism. While traditionally treated as two separate and distinct threats in security discourse, the association began to build momentum in the 1990s as a more salient field (Björnehed 2004: 305). Particularly since the 9/11 attacks, the international community has increasingly considered the illicit drug trade and terrorism as two interconnected phenomena. The major concern is the possibility that terrorist organizations can make use of the drug trafficking network to generate funds for their arms and equipment (Björnehed 2004: 305). According to the US Department of State, 14 out of 36 foreign terrorist organizations are now involved in trafficking narcotics (Sanderson 2004: 50).

Globalization has also created lucrative opportunities for traffickers of drugs, dirty money, blood diamonds, weapons, and other contraband (Jojarth 2009). These are examples of transnational crime, which have spread exponentially with the development of globalization in recent years. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) currently considers transnational organized crime one of the major threats to security, impeding the social, economic, political, and cultural development of societies worldwide.

Transnational organized crime is a multifaceted issue, in which drugs, arms, and human trafficking are considered the main activities by which global organized groups generate enormous profits. In fact, drug trafficking is believed to rank only behind the global trade in petroleum as a source of wealth, with 200 million users of illicit drugs and a revenue worth roughly US$ 400 billion per year (Caldwell & Williams 2006: 108); meanwhile, with more than 2.4 million people held captive across the world and global annual profits exceeding US$ 2 billion, human trafficking is generally ranked third (UNODC 2010). As the main factor behind most of the trafficking, transnational criminal organizations have generated enormous wealth and become much more powerful, for example the Sicilian Mafia, the Chinese triads, the Colombian cartels, the Japanese yakuza, or the Russian syndicates. Their threats are no longer limited to a few states, but have become transformed in a variety of ways. They violate national sovereignty, undermine democratic institutions, threaten the process of democratization, and more seriously are armed with sophisticated weaponry and other technologies, which can involve nuclear proliferation and terrorism (Williams 1995).

Although the massive spread of technology, finance and information has facilitated global humanitarianism, it has also created an environment that fosters new security concerns. In this new global era, security threats are no longer limited to violent actions by armed groups and states. Instead, new types of unconventional transnational threats like environmental and climate concerns, large scale human migration, food and water scarcity, loss of biodiversity, and an increasing number of pandemics have been posing serious security challenges, shaping a more vulnerable and insecure world. These newly emerging threats are interrelated and a threat to one country or region has often become a threat to all. These new threats have made the world, irrespective of strong or weak, rich or poor, East or West, North or South, mutually vulnerable (UN 2004a).

Threats from Environmental Degradation and Water Scarcity

Increasing population coupled with globalization and industrialization has left an indelible mark on the earth's ecosystems, producing extensive environmental damage. Dangers arising from the world's environmental problems often impact across state borders, with devastating consequences. Global climate change has been a product and, at the same time, a multiplier of the environmental crisis. Many regions in Asia and Africa already suffer from devastating droughts; 1 billion people around the world lack access to safe drinking water; serious temperature fluctuations as well as the melting of ice and rapid evaporation might lead to more frequent and serious floods or storms all over the globe (Balaban 2002: 2).

Moreover, devastating droughts, floods, or storms arising from climate change may also disrupt agricultural production and create a scarcity of natural resources, desperately needed as a source of energy, food, or water. These types of circum-stances are likely to trigger military confrontation, armed conflicts, and clashes. For instance, shared water resources have been fueling tensions between states and groups. An estimated 250 people were killed and many more injured in clashes over water wells and pastoral lands in Somalia and Ethiopia between 2004 and 2006 due to a three-year drought that led to extensive violence over limited water resources (Gleick 2008: 31). Water scarcity and increasing demand in the Middle East has led to regional tension over decades. Hence, it is undeniable that severe environmental problems are likely to escalate the degree of global conflict and cannot be separated from matters of what is now called “global security.”

Threats from environmental degradation include trans-boundary air pollution, water scarcity, decreasing forest cover, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)³ and ozone depletion, biological-diversity reduction, coastal marine pollution, and global fish-catch reduction. It is argued that these environmental problems have intensified to become transnational security concerns, precisely because of increased human mobility and interaction (Cha 2000: 394) in the context of rapidly growing global economy and large-scale urbanization (Dalby 2002). Currently, many salient environmental threats are widespread and poorly managed. According to the International Peace Institute, global environmental issues have an impact across state or regional borders and should be addressed in combination with climate change using comprehensive and collaborative global solutions (International Peace Institute 2009: 15). The complexity of these issues renders them amenable to multilateral efforts as the most viable option to maintain international security.

Lack of Food Security

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), “food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food which meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life” (FAO 2003: 29). However, since 2008 there has been an extraordinary rise in global food prices that has victimized millions of people with hunger and poverty. This situation has provided a glimpse of what future global food crises would resemble and has prompted serious concerns about threats to global food security. For the first time in 2009, the total number of hungry people in the world exceeded 1 billion (see UN Progress Report 2009). Yet, the situation is deteriorating at an ever increasing rate, as a result of complex driving forces, such as: massive urbanization, climate change, long-term trends of increasing food demand coupled with declining agriculture investment, worldwide contraction of market economies, and other industrial factors.

Rising food prices are a threat to global food and nutrition security. They have a significant impact on the health, environmental, and socio-economic development of the entire global community (Comprehensive Framework for Action 2008). Most seriously, the food and nutrition situation of developing countries suffers the most from spikes in global food prices, particularly the poor and most vulnerable groups in developing countries, such as women and children. Moreover, other serious concerns such as currency inflation and civil unrest are also associated with high food prices. As such, it is essential that national governments and international actors take various steps to minimize the effects of higher international prices by implementing effective and coherent measures to help the most vulnerable populations cope with drastic spikes, and farmers meet the rising demand for agricultural products (Von Braun 2008).

Population Migration – An Increasing Threat

In an era of increasing globalization, the massive movement of people across national boundaries has become an important inter-state issue. The total number of international migrants in the world was expected to reach 214 milli...

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Half Title
• Contemporary Security Studies
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Tables
• Acknowledgments
• Preface
• 1 Introduction: Emerging Security Challenges in a Changing World
• 2 Resource Scarcity, Climate Change, and Environmental Security
• 3 Water Wars: Conflicts of the Twenty-first Century?
• 4 Protecting the Forest: Promoting Peace or Conflict?
• 5 Achieving Food Security: A Growing Challenge
• 6 Health and Security: Special Focus on HIV/AIDS
• 7 Migration and Conflict: The Complex Linkage
• 8 Conclusion: Encountering Emerging Security Challenges
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index