Human and National Security: Understanding Transnational Challenges - Tapa dura

“When I commanded U.S. military forces in Latin America and NATO forces in Europe, I observed first-hand how transnational human security challenges have become national security priorities. From poverty and piracy to illicit trafficking, climate change, and cyber attacks, this exceptional text provides a roadmap for integrating human security challenges into national security calculations. The collaborative approach explored here offers the only sensible way forward for states and communities to protect and promote security in our globalized world.”

―Admiral James Stavridis, USN (ret.) and former Dean, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, U.S.

“Given the changes in the international security environment, the co-authors have made a compelling case why focusing exclusively on traditional state-centered national security threats is no longer a viable analytical paradigm. It has to be supplemented by a new organizing concept of human security, predicated on how people are impacted and focusing in particular on such subnational and transnational challenges as health, environment, poverty, and crime, among others. The book makes an important contribution to the national security literature by detailing thoroughly why these challenges, if ignored, will be at one’s own peril. It is a must read for policy-makers, academics, and civil society.”

―Ambassador Paula J. Dobriansky, Harvard University, U.S.

“Human and National Security is an outstanding book offering a comprehensive examination of what elements are necessary for meaningful security in the contemporary world. This book provides a significant and forward-looking appraisal of the security environment, situating human security concerns as vital in the pursuit of national security. Written in an engaging and accessible style, it is an excellent and immensely important read for students, scholars, and practitioners of national security.”

―Anna Hayes, James Cook University, Australia

“Since the publication of the first edition, I have used the textbook numerous times in my courses with great success. Students have appreciated the well-written and straightforward approach, as well as the book’s rich theoretical and substantive material on human security. The second edition continues in this exceptional tradition with its up-to-date examples, and emphasis on understanding and preparing for the transformative forces shaping the world that pose a threat to human security.”

―Mary Pettenger, Western Oregon University, U.S.

Deliberately challenging the traditional, state-centric analysis of security, this book focuses on subnational and transnational forces―religious and ethnic conflict, climate change, pandemic diseases, poverty, terrorism, criminal networks, and cyber attacks―that threaten human beings and their communities across state borders. Examining threats related to human security in the modern era of globalization, Reveron and Mahoney-Norris argue that human security is national security today, even for great powers.

This fully updated second edition of Human and National Security: Understanding Transnational Challenges builds on the foundation of the first (published as Human Security in a Borderless World) while also incorporating new discussions of the rise of identity politics in an increasingly connected world, an expanded account of the actors, institutions, and approaches to security today, and the ways diverse global actors protect and promote human security.

An essential text for security studies and international relations students, Human and National Security not only presents human security challenges and their policy implications, it also highlights how governments, societies, and international forces can, and do, take advantage of possibilities in the contemporary era to develop a more stable and secure world for all.