Published: 2004   |    By: Ramesh Thakur    |    Volume 62, No. 1

Summary

The reformulation of national security into human security is simple, yet it has profound consequences for how we see the world, how we organize our political affairs, how we make choices in public and foreign policy, and how we relate to fellow human beings from many different countries and civilizations. It also raises fundamental questions about the responsibility that we have for the security and welfare of fellow human beings across political borders. In today’s seamless world, political frontiers have become less salient both for international organizations, whose rights and duties can extend beyond borders, and for states, whose responsibilities within borders can be held to international scrutiny.

About the Author

Ramesh Thakur is senior vice rector of the UN University and an assistant secretarygeneral of the United Nations. He was one of the principal authors of The Responsibility to Protect, the report of the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty.