Non-traditional security concept, issues, and implications on security governance

Abstract

Since the beginning of the new millennium, the international security environment has changed dramatically. Although the risks of major armed conflict and interstate wars are now on the decline, the world is increasingly confronted with a number of security challenges which are non-military in nature.1 Examples of these non-military security challenges that threaten the well-being and security of states and societies include climate change, food and water scarcity, environmental degradation, pandemics, irregular movements of people, and transnational crimes such as cybersecurity. These threats are proving to be more severe and more likely to inflict more harm to a greater number of people than conventional threats of interstate wars and conflicts. As a consequence, the security concerns of states have changed, compelling them to find new and innovative ways to address these new challenges. These, in turn, have had profound implications on the nature of security cooperation among states, as well as global governance. To security analysts and scholars, these developments have once again brought to the fore the debates about re-thinking and re-conceptualizing security. In this regard, let me start by raising two points about the evolution of Non-traditional Security (NTS) as a concept and as an approach to security. Although reference to the developing world revolves mostly around Asia, where the concept of NTS can first be traced, progress in conceptual research and policy practice related to NTS are now seen in other regions of the world.