Human Security and the UN: A Critical History (United Nations Intellectual History Project Series)

How did the individual human being become the focus of the contemporary discourse on security? What was the role of the United Nations in securing the individual? What are the payoffs and costs of this extension of the concept? Neil MacFarlane and Yuen Foong Khong tackle these questions by analyzing historical and contemporary debates about what is to be secured. From Westphalia through the 19th century, the state’s claim to be the object of security was sustainable because it offered its subjects some measure of protection. The state’s ability to provide security for its citizens came under heavy strain in the 20th century as a result of technological, strategic, and ideological innovations. By the end of World War II, efforts to reclaim the security rights of individuals gathered pace, as seen in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and a host of United Nations covenants and conventions. MacFarlane and Khong highlight the UN’s work in promoting human security ideas since the 1940s, giving special emphasis to its role in extending the notion of security to include development, economic, environmental, and other issues in the 1990s. How did the individual human being become the focus of the contemporary discourse on security? What was the role of the United Nations in "securing" the individual? What are the payoffs and costs of this extension of the concept? Neil MacFarlane and Yuen Foong Khong tackle these questions by analyzing historical and contemporary debates about what is to be secured. From Westphalia through the 19th century, the state's claim to be the object of security was sustainable because it offered its subjects some measure of protection. The state's ability to provide security for its citizens came under heavy strain in the 20th century as a result of technological, strategic, and ideological innovations. By the end of World War II, efforts to reclaim the security rights of individuals gathered pace, as seen in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and a host of United Nations covenants and conventions. MacFarlane and Khong highlight the UN's work in promoting human security ideas since the 1940s, giving special emphasis to its role in extending the notion of security to include development, economic, environmental, and other issues in the 1990s. -- Publisher's Description "How did the individual human being become the focus of the contemporary discourse on security? What was the role of the United Nations in 'securing' the individual? What are the payoffs and costs of this extension of the concept? Neil MacFarlane and Yuen Foong Khong tackle these questions by analyzing historical and contemporary debates about what is to be secured. From Westphalia through the 19th century, the state's claim to be the object of security was sustainable because it offered its subjects some measure of protection. The state's ability to provide security for its citizens came under heavy strain in the 20th century as a result of technological, strategic, and ideological innovations. By the end of World War II, efforts to reclaim the security rights of individuals gathered pace, as seen in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and a host of United Nations covenants and conventions. MacFarlane and Khong highlight the UN's work in promoting human security ideas since the 1940s, giving special emphasis to its role in extending the notion of security to include development, economic, environmental, and other issues in the 1990s."-- Provided by publisher Contents......Page 8 Foreward......Page 10 Acknowledgments......Page 16 Abbreviations......Page 18 Introduction......Page 24 Part I. the Archaeology of Human Security......Page 42 1. The Prehistory of Human Security......Page 46 2. The UN and Human Security during the Cold War......Page 84 3. The Evolving Critique of National Security......Page 130 Part II. The Emergence of Human Security......Page 162 4. The UN and Human Security: The Development Dimension......Page 166 5. The UN and Human Security: The Protection Dimension......Page 187 6. Human Security and the Protection of Vulnerable Groups......Page 225 7. Human Security and the UN: A Critique......Page 248 Conclusion......Page 284 Notes......Page 294 Index......Page 348 About the Authors......Page 366 About the United Nations Intellectual History Project......Page 368 A hard-headed analysis of the role of the UN in translating ideas about human security from theory into practice