Abstract
Since 1990 much has happened in international security. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the end of the strategic competition between the communist bloc and the West seemed to offer relatively good prospects for international peace. However, as the 1990’s went by, expectations of a more gentle time ahead progressively faded away. The multiplication of local conflicts and the millions of civilians killed as a result showed that history was still a ‘bloody mess’. During the 2000’s, the terrorist attacks and the Bush administration’s foreign policy brought back on a grand scale a sense of insecurity.
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References
The understanding of security in this chapter departs more from philosophy and political science in general than from the various schools of international relations. For a review of the philosophical roots of the security concept see the chapter by Arends in this volume.
See: the special issues of: Security Dialogue, 35,3 (September 2004) and, for a comprehensive account of what Human Security entails, see Andrew Mack (2006).
The document adopted on 16 September 2005 at the UN World Summit in New York, endorsed the acceptance of collective responsibility to protect civilians against genocide and other crimes against humanity. See the chapter by von Einsiedel, Nitzschke and Chhabra in this volume.
In his theory of justice, John Rawls tries to solve part of this problem by calling upon the notion of ‘veil of ignorance’: “In the original position, the parties are not allowed to know the social positions or the particular comprehensive doctrines of the persons they represent. They also do not know persons’ race and ethnic group, sex, or various native endowments such as strength and intelligence, all within the normal range. We express these limits on information figuratively by saying the parties are behind a veil of ignorance. One reason why the original position must abstract from the contingencies — the particular features and circumstances of persons — within the basic structure is that the conditions for a fair agreement for free and equal persons... must eliminate the bargaining advantages that inevitably arise over time within society as a result of cumulative social and historical tendencies. ‘To persons according to their threat advantage’ (or their de facto political power, or wealth, or native endowments) is not the basis for political justice.” (Rawls 2001: 15–16, 97–100). The notion of ‘veil of ignorance’ is closely linked to Rawls’ second principle of justice: “social and economic inequalities... are to be to the greatest benefit of the least-advantaged members of society (the difference principle)” (Rawls 2001: 42–43).
“Bin Laden rails against Crusaders and UN”, in: BBC News, World Monitoring Media reports, 3 November 2001, <http://news.bbc.co.Uk/2/hi/world/monitoring/ media_reports/1636782.stm>.
In Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s (1953, 1979, 1997) writings, the search for an enhanced presence is conducted in relation with the autobiographical, and objectified, self in The Confessions, the teacher in Emile: or on Educa-tion, nature in Reveries of the Solitary Walker, the lover in julie, or the New Heloise, and fellow citizens in The Social Contract.
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Coicaud, JM. (2008). Quest for International Security: Benefits of Justice versus the Trappings of Paranoia. In: Brauch, H.G., et al. Globalization and Environmental Challenges. Hexagon Series on Human and Environmental Security and Peace, vol 3. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-75977-5_34
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-75977-5_34
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