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Security: The Ultimate Balancing Act

Shannon Hargitt
Global Security Studies
Professor Shirk
15 December 2017

Security: The Ultimate Balancing Act

In my original security essay, I argued that security is a human enforced ideology that bases its foreground on the necessity of human rights before national and global security threat. I argued that because of globalization, the world has far less national security to worry about than it does human security and therefore human security should take precedence. With countries only as powerful as their people were protected, I believed that security was centered around human and ontological security instead of the opposite ideology that national and or global security took precedence. Human security is still and incredibly prevalent ideal and we should all strive as a global community to obtain it. But now after studying security throughout the semester I no longer believe that security can be defined as a ‘chicken before the egg’ ideology. I no longer feel that human security must come before national security or vice versa. I believe that security as an ideal contains national, human, ontological, and global securities and that to obtain any of them fully we must obtain all of them fully.
In my original paper, I argued that without basic humanitarian needs met, there could be no national security. Basic human security must be obtained and maintained for there to be any semblance or balance of national and ontological security. But, in correcting my original argument, I would like to add that without national and global security, governments and countries are unable to supply these basic human rights and therefore security is not an achievable goal without all aspects met and exceeded. Security cannot simply start at a personal level because it is reliant on governments to establish laws, provide basic human necessities, and allow room for improvement and advancement. Yet without personal human security there are no people within the government to begin to enact these protections and securities. I still do believe that physical and national forms of government are two separate parts of the ideology of security, but I feel that their individual success or failure is entirely reliant on the other’s success or failure. Security in itself is a balancing act of protection and rights. Without one, the other cannot truly exist and therefore security cannot be limited to one area of success.

In looking at the Ebola case in the Frontline: Outbreak documentary that we watched, we saw the direct affect national security had on personal security. Without a way to protect the nation against a pandemic, the innocent individuals of these nations affected were subject to harsh conditions, understaffed and understocked medical facilities, and eventually death. Since the countries affected were so ill suited to deal with a national security threat like Ebola, the human and individual security of the citizens were directly affected. Another case that further proves this point is that of the people of Tuvalu. The citizens of Tuvalu are being directly affected by the repercussions of global warming. Their island is disappearing, along with their lands, homes, personal belongings, and places of sentimental value. Even their culture is being indirectly attacked because they are being forced to relocate to other countries and to assimilate to their culture and ideology. Because their nation, and other nations involved lack the ability to address and protect against the effects of global warming, the Tuvaluans are directly being affected. The lack of national security is directly impacting their personal, human, and ontological security. If there was a prevalent national and global correspondence against global warming as a security threat then the motion to protect countries and people from its effects would be must more prevalent. Also, if human security was prevalent it would mean the people would not even have to worry about something like global warming affecting their personal security in a situation like this. Overall, I now believe that every form of security is dependent on one another, because if we are lacking one then more likely than not we are not secure in other forms either.

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