New Sources of Threats
Non-traditional conceptions of security focus on the changing nature of threats to security, including terrorism, human rights, global poverty, and health epidemics. Terrorism is political violence that targets civilians deliberately and indiscriminately, with international terrorism involving citizens or territory of more than one country. Human rights have come to be classified into three types: political rights, economic and social rights, and the rights of colonized people or ethnic and indigenous minorities.
There is no agreement on which set of rights should be considered universal human rights, and the international community should decide on how to intervene when rights are violated. Developments such as Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, Rwanda’s genocide, and Indonesia’s killing of people in East Timor have led to debates on whether the UN should intervene to stop human rights abuses.
Global poverty is another source of insecurity, with the world population expected to grow to nearly 1000 crore by the middle of the 21st century. The gap between Northern and Southern countries contributes to the gap between Northern and Southern countries. Health epidemics such as HIV-AIDS, bird flu, and SARS have rapidly spread across countries through migration, business, tourism, and military operations.
Epidemics among animals have major economic effects, demonstrating the growing interdependence of states making their borders less meaningful than in the past and emphasizing the need for international cooperation. Expanding the concept of security does not mean that everything can become a security issue, as issues must share a minimum common criterion of threatening the very existence of the referent (a state or group of people).
Security in the Contemporary World| Class 12 Political Science Notes
Class 12 Political Science Notes Chapter 5 Security in the Contemporary World discusses a wide range of topics related to security, including traditional and non-traditional threats, the role of international organizations, and the importance of human security. The chapter begins by defining security as “the absence of threats.” It then goes on to discuss the role of international organizations in promoting security. The chapter also discusses the importance of human security.
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