Revisiting my Security Essay

Entering this class with no previous political science experience, I had an extremely open mind about security. In my security essay, I argued that human security should be prioritized above all other types of security; using history to prove my point. I am advocating for this view of security because I see how in history and in modernity, a lack of human security can directly result in the eventual collapse of a system of rule. Two sources covered in this class which illuminate the importance of human security are Pervenia Brown’s Worldpress article “Blood Diamonds” and Christian Bueger’s article “Practice, Pirate and Coast Guards: the grand narrative of Somali piracy”. Both of these works focus on the importance of human security through examining Sierra Leone’s diamond operation and the rationale behind Somali piracy. Aside from the two sources I chose for this discussion, I believe that most if not all of the cases we examined for this class involve aspects of human security at their core.

            In my initial paper, I argued strongly that underneath the various types of security one can always find roots of human security. I utilized three historic examples to defend my position including: Joseph Stalin’s Russia, Mao Zedong’s China, and the Kim dynasty of North Korea. Stalin spent an enormous amount of money and effort building up Russia’s industrial and military sectors, but he ignored his people’s basic needs for food, water, and shelter which culminated with the Soviet famine of 1932-1933 which killed around five million people. I argued that his actions served as one of the many factors that would eventually lead to the fall of the Soviet Union. General Mao Zedong set out to shape China to fit into his vison for a communist state, and he stopped at nothing to oust his political foes and to make himself an extremely powerful leader. In this process, it is estimated that during his reign, his actions resulted in the deaths of about forty million people. In a similar way as Stalin, Mao also neglected to place any importance on providing his people with a reliable source of food, water, or shelter, all basic elements of human security. I know that after this class and all of the recent news developments, we are all very familiar with the lack of human security in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. It is widely known that the Kim regime has a long history of murdering and imprisoning political opponents or anybody who acts or speaks out against their rule; along with failing to provide their citizens with a reliable source of food, water, shelter, and medical care. These actions have set in motion a weakening, and thus the almost inevitable fall of the Kim regime in the near future.

            During the time when the R.U.F. (Revolutionary United Front) ruled over Sierra Leone and were involved in the civil war against the N.P.R.C (National Provisional Ruling Council), the lives of normal citizens were horrific. It is believed by many, although argued by some, that this conflict and the adjoining human rights abuses had their roots in the presence of diamonds, which funneled money into Sierra Leone, but also to the R.U.F. During the war, the R.U.F. turned to violence and oppression as a way to keep their power by chopping “off the hands and feet of adults, teens, children, and even infants” (Brown). By the early 2000s, with the help of the United Nations, things in Sierra Leone began to improve and regain some sense of normalcy. The people started to begin the long process of rebuilding a community that was viciously torn apart by the civil war. This case exemplifies my belief that for a governing power to last, the basic humanitarian needs of normal people need to be met to ensure stability and longevity. If the R.U.F. wanted to have success in war and later governance, I believe that securing the population’s basic human needs must serve as the foundation for retaining power within the state.

            Christian Bueger examines the various ways which Somali pirates justify their actions, which if they are portraying an accurate version of their story, reveals how years of ignored human security within Somalia has led to this piracy problem. In a land with a failed governing system, the pirates and their web-like community of various tribes, fill the leadership vacuum and serve as the quasi leaders of the lands they inhabit and control in Somalia. Bueger cites a variety of reasons why piracy flourishes in particular areas across the globe including: “weak law enforcement structures,” “corruption,” “the presence of a populace which can be recruited for piracy,” and “high levels of poverty and a lack of sources of income”. Many of these reasons have their roots in a lack of human security, which portrays a need for basic human necessities in Somalia. Having a failed government coupled with having high levels of poverty and the lack of normative ways to generate income, provides the perfect conditions for people to become involved in piracy; as it is potentially their only way to escape the utter poverty that has engulfed their land. Had the basic humanitarian needs been met, the likelihood that piracy would have exploded in and around Somalia would have been greatly diminished. This case exemplifies how a failure to address human security, can develop into a global threat to other world powers as is seen in the waters off the coast of Somalia.

            After taking this class, I understand better just how crucial human security is to the global community. I do recognize the presence of and need for national, ontological, and environmental security, but I still believe that human security should be the primary focus of any state or government.