Despite my best efforts to nominate "Americans Against Torture" for Persons of the Year 2007, Time Magazine went ahead and named lame duck Russian President Vladimir Putin instead. Oh well, I guess I was a year too early: it's December 10, 2008 that will be the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, when the United States deemed the occasion important enough to be represented by former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. Maybe Time will find this year a more auspicious moment to honor those Americans who know that the United States will never reclaim its reputation until it repudiates torture.
Helena Cobban, the former Middle East correspondent of the Christian Science Monitor, whose blog "Just World News" is one of the best sources of informed comment on the region, has proposed that 2008 be declared the Year of "Human Security"
one of the main reasons why military power does not suffice is that it neglects-- and indeed, it also directly undercuts-- the main component of security in the 21st century, that is, the security of actual human persons.
Cobban, who has seen more than her share of conflict over the years, comes from the Quaker tradition of non-violence, though she is proud of being "perhaps the only Quaker who is a member of the London-based International Institute of Strategic Studies." Her understanding of strategy goes far beyond simple application of military power.
It is high time to move beyond the simplistic "national security" approach to international relations, where diplomats negotiate until negotiations lead nowhere, then soldiers shoot until (if you're lucky) the "enemy" "surrenders" (quotes indicate quaintness of this version of warfare). Then you send in the post conflict development people, and you let them deal with the sorry aftermath. The problem is, this model can't really be applied to problems like climate change, or development of renewable energy, or massive refugee/migrant flows. And hasn't been working that well for shooting wars, either.
"Human security" is a term that helps us ease away from the political-military tunnel vision, just as the term "eco-security" suggests that no national security apparatus worth its salt can ignore the century's massive environmental, energy, and demographic challenges and say that it is doing its job. In very simple terms, Cobban shows why "human security" should be compelling
So in 2008, let's all of us come back to this powerful idea of human security. It is the idea that my country will be more secure if the citizens of other countries near and far also feel secure -- secure, that is, in what counts to us all, as humans. And conversely, that if citizens of other countries feel insecure, that will make my country more insecure, too.
Hard to argue with that.
(Photo source: State Department)