INTERNATIONAL SECURITY IN THE CONTEXT OF
CONTEMPORARY GLOBAL ISSUES: AN INTERNATIONAL
RELATIONS REVIEW
Introduction
The contemporary global era in international relations and international politics began
in 1945 but has changed drastically since the end of the Cold War in the 1990s.
Contemporary global issues are issues that developed and expanded after the Cold War ended
in the 1990s. The notion of contemporary global issues is closely related to the nature of
these issues which are no longer dominated by East-West relations, such as, the threat of
nuclear war, ideological competition between Liberal-Democracy and Marxism-Leninism,
crisis diplomacy, and so on. The international community is now faced with global issues
related to the "New World Order". These welfare issues relate to Human Security between
developed and developing countries and environmental issues.
Contemporary global issues are issues that were born as new forms of security threats
that have been transformed since the end of the Cold War into a "New Global Agenda". This
is the background of the writing of this article. The method of discussion in this article is to
use the argumentative method so that in this article will raise various arguments regarding
national security in the context of contemporary global issues. The systematic discussion
consists of the history of the emergence of contemporary global issues in the context of
international relations, the nature and characteristics of contemporary global issues, and
theories of international relations related to the impact of globalization on national security
posture in the context of contemporary global issues.
History of the Emergence of Contemporary Global Issues
Contemporary history is a subset of modern history that describes the period of history
from about 1945 to the present. The term "contemporary history" has been used since at least
the early 20th century 19. Contemporary political history is dominated by the Cold War
(1945-1991) between the United States and the Soviet Union whose effects were felt around
the world. In this geopolitical context, the fall of European colonial empires in Africa and
Asia between 1945 and 1975 was often followed by American-Soviet confrontation in the
form of proxy wars and through intervention in the internal politics of smaller states. The
U.S.-Soviet rivalry eventually ended with the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw
Pact in 1991, following the Revolutions of 1989. and in the last stage and after the Cold War
paved the way for the democratization of large parts of Europe, Africa and Latin America.
In the Middle East, the period after 1945 was dominated by conflicts involving the new
state of Israel and the rise of petroleum politics, as well as the growth of Islamism after the
1980s. The period after 1945 saw the growth of the first supranational governmental
organizations, such as the United Nations and the European Union. Socially, western
countries experienced the rise of counter cultures3 and the sexual revolution4 between the
1960s and 1980s which transformed social relations and was fueled by the 1968 Protests.
Living standards rose sharply around the world especially in developed countries as a result
of, but also the emergence of, new economic powers such as Japan and West Germany. US
culture, especially consumerism, spread widely. By the 1960s, many western countries had
begun the process of deindustrialization. In their place, globalization led to the emergence of
new industrial centers, such as Japan, Taiwan and later China, based on exports consumer
goods for developed countries. The period after 1945 was also a transformative period in the
history of science because, among other things, nuclear technology, molecular biology,
particle physics and so on emerged which became the background for the emergence of
various technologies that appear today including the internet.
The history of the modern international system itself actually began in its history when
the Westphalia system (1648). States are interconnected with each other in an environment
called the international system. All countries are considered to have sovereignty, and some
countries are stronger than others. The system has many forms of informal rules about what
should happen, but these rules are not binding. International relations have existed since the
existence of states. The modern international system that we find ourselves in, however, is
not that old. The peace that ended a 30-year war between Catholic and Protestant states in
Western and Central Europe was the forerunner of the modern international system. It
declared that the sovereign leader of each nation state could do what he wanted within its
borders and established the state as a global actor in global politics. From then onwards, the
international system was in relation to nation states.
In the 17th-18th centuries, nation-states emerged to dominate the system of
international relations. A number of strong states dominated Europe, with some powers
coming and going. Weak states usually joined forces with others to prevent the dominant
power from becoming too strong, which is known as a proactive form of preserving the
balance of power. Economic competition and frequent wars marked this era, with countries
such as Britain and France being the most powerful to date, but some other powerful
countries collapsing over time, namely the Ottoman Empire and Spain.
Fundamental differences began to emerge in the 19th century, bringing about two major
changes in the international system:
Nationalism as a form of strength, which makes the nation state grow stronger.
Italy and Germany united, which changed the military and political balance in Europe.
Problems arose with the unification of Italy and Germany, which contributed to World
War I (1914-1918). The international system changed drastically after the war. Many
powerful countries in Europe were devastated by the war, and the United States (US) itself
began to come out of its isolation and turn into a global power. At the same time, the end of
the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian powers created a series of new states, and the rise of
communism in Russia. These factors led to the Treaty of Versailles, the Nazis and
Communism, and World War II (1939-1945).
New governments have emerged since the end of World War II. After the War, two
powers emerged: The US and the Soviet Union, which was called the bipolar system. Since
the end of the Cold War, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US has become the sole
ruler of the international system, which is called unipolar. However, there are other
viewpoints that see that the economic power of the US is not so strong that it cannot be said
that the control of the economy is entirely in the hands of the US because there are other
strong economic countries such as countries in Asia, thus calling it multi-polar.
Contemporary global issues emerged precisely at the end of the Cold War and/or when
the modern international system was unipolar. This can be regarded as the second period of
the new international order. The events that occurred became the context for contemporary
global issues. The most devastating event was the so-called 9/11 or September attacks. An
attack reportedly carried out by the Al Qaedah terrorist group on the US on September 11,
2001. There were about 2,999 victims, about 6,000 injured and 10 million properties and
infrastructures damaged.7 It is said to be devastating here because the attack was carried out
on the unipolar power holder of the international system at that time, namely the US. There
had been previous events that set the context for contemporary global issues such as the
genocides in Rwanda and Bosnia and the emergence of new states in Eastern Europe.
With the events of 9/11 and the genocide problem being addressed by the international
community, the new world government There is one threat that has a different character. The
nature of the threat this time is no longer from the state as was dominant in the Cold War
period but non-state actors. Non-state actors as the perpetrators of the causes of world
insecurity are becoming increasingly difficult to identify because such actors can also come
from the state concerned and/or from within the state itself. International issues in
international relations are becoming increasingly complex so that they are called
contemporary global issues. In this post-Cold War era, threats can mean disease outbreaks,
human trafficking, narcotics, arms trafficking, poverty, illiteracy, infectious viruses, which
are experienced by several countries not the country itself.
Thus, contemporary global issues are issues that developed and expanded after the end
of the Cold War in the 1990s. These contemporary global issues are related to the problems
faced by the international community in the new world order (new order) which is faced with
welfare issues related to human security. The form of security threats in this era has been
transformed so that the form of the international security agenda has also become new,
namely the New Global Security Agenda.
In 2002, the US Department of State under the US Secretary of Global Affairs, Paula J.
Dobriansky, issued a statement released on its website8 regarding new global security by
previously formulating an understanding of what is meant by global issues: At this point, it is
worth defining what I mean by global issues. Global issues are those issues that are not
limited by borders or boundaries but that reach across international lines to affect us all. My
global portfolio encompasses environment and science, refugees and migration, narcotics
trafficking and law enforcement, human rights, and health matters. Though he was speaking
in the first century B.C., the Roman poet Horace aptly described what could be called the
crux of modern global affairs when he wrote, "Your own safety is at stake when your
neighbor's wall is ablaze." The essence of global issues is a recognition that the people of the
world are inexorably linked and that, in today's world, that which touches some touches all.
Since September 11, never have we been more acutely aware that our own safety and the
protection of our way of life must be guarded by due attention to international problems -
such as injustice and the inadequacy of the rule of law, poverty, disease, and repression.
These are the blazing walls of today's world that threaten to engulf us. That is why these
issues have become central to American foreign policy and our efforts to protect our national
interests.
The US defines global issues as those that are not limited to cross-border issues but also
include international issues that impact the US across issues such as the environment and
science, refugees and migration, drug trafficking and law enforcement, human rights and
health. The US recognizes that since 9/11 issues have not been as acute regarding the safety
and protection of life. The aforementioned issues, including terrorism and disease, have
become one of the factors for the US to call it the new global security agenda.
Types and Characteristics of Contemporary Global Issues
Earlier in 1996, a paper was published by the Institute for Security Studies, which
identified several global sources of insecurity and their implications for national security
policy formulation. There are eight important things after the Cold War as strategic global
issues, namely drugs, migration, the environment, population, global economic challenges,
the crisis of liberal democracy, fusion and division, and light weapon proliferation.9 In the
paper, it is explained that there are global sources of insecurity and their implications for
national security policy formulation. These eight issues then become an important cluster as
an extraordinary threat to national and regional security and ultimately global security.10
This was then coupled with 9/11. Thus, the threat in this new form is not in the form of a
"military attack" carried out by a state against another state but an act of crime committed by
a non-state actor and aimed at the state (state actor), individuals or citizens who threaten the
security of humanity (Human Security).
Drugs
The domestic toll of drug addiction is alarming. These include loss of productivity,
soaring health costs, a sharp rise in drug-related crime, and the accelerated spread of AIDS
through contaminated needles. Drug use is not just a social phenomenon; it has far-reaching
political implications and security implications. For example, in Latin America there are
close links between drug traffickers and leftist revolutionary groups such as the Columbia M-
19 and the Peruvian Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path).11 In Lebanon and elsewhere in the
Middle East, in the Balkans, the Southern Republics of the former Soviet Union, Burma
(Myanmar) and Sri Lanka, drugs have become a major source of funds for movements.
Drug trafficking can also affect relations between countries. For example, a major
reason for the 1989 invasion of Panama by the US was that this government, under the
leadership of General Manuel Noriega, was allegedly serving as a conduit for drug travel to
the US.13 Most recently, Ross Perot's strongest attack on the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA), he argued that its eradication was a restriction on free access of goods
between Mexico and the US in allowing larger free traders of drugs in a sense to distribute
their 'poison' in the United States.
Migration
The largest and most dramatic population movement in recent years has been that of
approximately 30 million refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs).14 Political
unrest, social upheaval, economic dislocation and ecological disasters have contributed to the
movement of people across national borders of one 'southern' regional country to another. As
a result there are 3.2 million Afghans in Pakistan and 2.3 million in Iran; 685,000 in Ethiopia
are reported to have sought refuge in Sudan, while there are also 320,000 Somalis and
384,000 Sudanese in Ethiopia; and a further 600,000 Ethiopians are reported to have fled the
war to Somalia. 17 Civil war and famine have caused a third of Liberia's population (763,000
out of a total population of 2.4 million) to flee to neighboring Guinea, Sierra Leone and the
Coast.
Mass population movements are increasingly attracting the attention of key
policymakers, not only for humanitarian reasons, but also because they create domestic
instability, generate inter-state tensions and threaten international security. South Africa is
estimated to have received eight million illegal immigrants, which was the case at one point.
In 1994, it cost South African taxpayers R1, 985 million to host illegal alien residents.
In addition, there is a reciprocal relationship between illegal immigrants and the spread of
infectious diseases such as AIDS, malaria, cholera and tuberculosis. Police sources have also
noted that fourteen percent of all crimes in South Africa involve illegal immigrants including
arms sales, money laundering and drug trafficking.
Environment
The waning of Cold War military tensions coincided with the development of real
security problems that threaten the security of many countries and require international
solutions, including the hole in the ozone layer, the greenhouse effect, deforestation, scarce
water, energy and other resources. The increase in environmental hazards has underscored
two forms of interaction between states in the world: cooperation and conflict.
In 1940, David Mitrany developed a functional theory of international relations. He
proposed that given the common problems facing humanity everywhere, cooperation between
states should be broadened. This theme was embraced and magnified by globalists in the
1980s and 1990s - even going so far as to propose a federal world government for Planet
Earth. At the heart of the theory is the idea that the gravity of global problems requires global
solutions - resulting in greater levels of cooperation between the world's nations. For
example, one country cannot solve a problem such as the widening hole in the Earth's ozone;
it must be a combined planet-wide effort. On one level global cooperation, sharing common
problems, can be seen as a way of such as the Rio Earth Summit.
The potential for resource-based conflict was evident in the 1990 and 1991 Gulf Wars,
which essentially revolved around the scarce resource of energy. One of the main reasons for
the US to get involved in the Gulf War was its dependence on Gulf oil. American dependence
on Persian Gulf oil rose 500 percent between 1985 and 1989. By 1990 oil accounted for half
of the $100 billion US trade deficit.
Population
The world population is expected to grow from 5.3 billion in 1990 to 6.2 billion in
2000, and 8.5 billion in 2025. The growth rate of nearly one billion per decade has socio-
cultural and political economic consequences for the macro-environment. For example,
resource problems in countries such as Mexico and Egypt are directly linked to population
growth.
In Africa itself there is a noted reciprocal relationship between the conflict in Rwanda
and the fact that it has one of the highest levels of population density in Africa's growth.
Population was also seen to be responsible for two-thirds of the increase in carbon dioxide
entering the atmosphere between 1950 and 1985, thereby contributing to the greenhouse
effect. The population explosion was also listed as one of the contributing factors to the
occurrence of IDPs.16
Global Economic Challenges
The need to restructure the world economy stems from two major points: the north-
south growth divide and economic competition. The existence of a north-south split in
economic growth, and in some cases expansion, is obvious. This is highlighted by the fact
that the world's richest twenty percent control eighty percent of the world's economic
resources. This is demonstrated by the fact that the world's richest twenty percent are now
150 times richer than the poorest. It is further underscored by the fact that 1.3 billion people
in developing countries live in conditions of absolute poverty.
Saddest of all, it can be seen by the fact that 34,000 children die every day in the world
from malnutrition and disease. The need to address the north-south problem stems not only
from humanitarian reasons, but also from the threat of prosperity whose poverty is
increasingly exposed. Economic scarcity in the form of global markets and rising production
costs intensify economic competition. Technological competition and various forms of
commercial warfare have replaced the arms race from after the Cold War. According to
Japanese politician Isihara Shintaro, the twenty-first century will be a century of economic
warfare. If this happens, international security is threatened. Large economic power blocs
have been developed in the Pacific Rim and North America as a counterweight to the
European Union (EU). Similar economic formations have also been developed in Central
Africa and South America. The existence of large economic formations is necessary and does
not necessarily mean economic competition but rather complementarity. However, the
scarcity of such competition can develop and the history can become 'hot'.
The Crisis of Liberal Democracy
The end of Soviet-style communist rule consolidated the position of Western liberal
democracies. Since then, there has been state-sponsored ideological competition. The fall of
the Soviet system vindicated the principle of liberal democracy in the eyes of many: Smith,
Mill and Keynes. Western ideas of triumphalism were encapsulated in Francis Fukuyama's
books The End of History and Last Man. The liberal democratic paradigm seemed absolutely
dominant. Post-1989 developments seemed to show this as economic structural adjustment
programs (ESAPs) were liberalized in many African countries; liberal multiparty winds
democracy that swept across much of Africa, South America, the Middle East and Asia.17
Subsequent developments in the former Eastern bloc, which has seen the rise of the former
Communist Party, seem to disprove this notion.
Even in South Africa, political pluralism has experienced some setbacks. Soon after the
fall of the Berlin Wall, the surge towards multiparty democracy intensified in South Africa.
Kenneth Kaunda's corrupt one-party rule system was replaced by Frederick Chiluba's
Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD). In Malawi, the despotic rule of President-for-
life Hastings Kamuzu Band ended peacefully when Malawians went to the Banda elections
and his Malawi Congress Party (MCP) was voted out of power, replaced by United
Democratic Front (UDF) leader Bakili Muluzi.
In Lesotho, military rule ended and the Basotho National Party lost dominance in
elections that brought Prime Minister Ntsu Mokhehle and his Basotholand Congress Party
(BCP) to power. In South Africa, white minority rule came on April 27, 1994-the country's
first racially inclusive election. Meanwhile, both of the former Portuguese colonies in the
region, Angola and Mozambique, began to make the long and difficult transition to political
pluralism.
Fusion and Cleavage
The two most conflicting elements of the contemporary period are fusion and division-
peace coming together with the violent disintegration of society.
Regarding fusion, a newborn global culture seems to be taking shape. Denim jeans and
CocaCola are forms that are universal. If Toshiba and Toyota are in New York, then
MacDonald and Kentucky Fried Chicken will be found in Tokyo. If lamb is cooked and
stewed in a restaurant in New Delhi, then a fancy restaurant in London serves hot curry from
India. If Michael Jackson and Madonna become very famous in Montevideo, Maputo or
Kuala Lumpur, then West African and Indian music is represented by the likes of Manu
Dibango and Babu Shegal, who will surely be found playing in the discos of Paris or
Manchester. This is a nascent global cultural trend that goes even deeper than this: Human
rights and gender, geographical, political and cultural crossovers. One of the reasons for this
is The development of communication and technological innovation made it cheaper to travel
and made it possible for CNN broadcasts to reach 200 million people in ninety other
countries.
Fusion seems to buck this trend: scarce resources, varying degrees of population growth
in heterogeneous societies and the resultant growth of ethnic nationalism are tearing societies
apart. This has been evident in Rwanda and Burundi between Hutu and Tutsi; between Serbs,
Croats and Muslims in the former Yugoslavia; and between Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims in
India. What is even more interesting today is that these issues are beginning to surface in
western countries with liberal democracies: consider the growth of neo-Nazism in Germany;
the rising fortunes of Jean-Marie le Pen's National Front in France; the invigorating separatist
movements in Quebec; Catalonia; the Basque country; Corsica; Lombardy; Scotland and
Wales; and increasing tensions between the Flems and Walloons in Belgium. Not least, in the
US there were the 1992 riots in Los Angeles and the growth of ethnocentric nationalist
movements.
Light Weapons Production
Light weapons refer to crew-portable and ground weapons. Definitions include small
arms such as pistols, rifles, assault rifles and sub-machine guns; and medium machine guns;
heavy machine guns (HMG) with a caliber not exceeding 14.5 mm; anti-aircraft and anti-tank
missiles; light mortars; mines and grenades.
The danger of small arms proliferation to world peace is underscored by the fact that in
1994, major armed conflicts were being waged in 27 countries around the world and small
arms were the overwhelming cause of death from these weapons. The existence of small arms
is perhaps most fragile in third world countries due to power imbalances such as insurgents,
drug traffickers and other criminals. For example, guerrillas in Kashmir fighting India use
Soviet Kalashnikovs, in Pakistan, small arms exacerbate ethnic conflicts between mohajirs,
Pakistani Punjabis, Pathans from the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan and
Sindhis.
For Third World countries, issues related to the threat of a new form of security
(Human Security) are "real security threats" because they have relevance to the domestic
conditions of Third World countries that are still preoccupied with the threat of human
security by various issues regarding: 1) Political transition situation; 2) Weak government
power due to not maximizing law enforcement efforts; 3) Political uncertainty; 4) Economic
crisis; 5) Conflict issues in border areas; 6) Ethnic conflicts and communal conflicts with
various international dimensions; 7) The issue of national disintegration; 8) Increase in the
number of terrorism perpetrators; 9) The ability to carry out threatening actions against
human security, etc.
The development of technology, especially information technology, is one of the strong
reasons for the expansion of contemporary global issues, resulting in a shift in the nature of
global issues from before the Cold War. Due to the development of threats that have different
types than before the Cold War, contemporary global issues have specificity:
Unconventional;
In the sense that contemporary global issues are non-armaments and/or arms
competition.
Nontraditional;
This means that the issue category is not inter-state.
Non-military;
As mentioned earlier, disease outbreaks, and/or drugs can be a threat.
Multidimensional; and
Issues are complex such as those concerning poverty.
Transnational
The issues raised in contemporary global are cross-border such as migration, refugees,
and others.
Thus, the characteristics of contemporary global issues as non-traditional security
threats are:
Contemporary global issues that are non-traditional security threats are not centered on
one particular country. Thus, the threats that are part of these contemporary global
issues are not only faced by one country, but have threatened a number of countries at
once (have regional and global dimensions). Therefore, contemporary global issues are
often referred to as "transnational security threats".
Contemporary global issues are not focused on a particular geographical location.
Based on their geographical character, these issues are It is often difficult to
"recognize" because it crosses borders between countries and even regional
(transnational) boundaries.
Contemporary global issues cannot be addressed by military force alone. Indeed,
military force can be used in escalations that lead to armed conflict. However, in the
long run, military force can no longer be used effectively to address the threat of these
global issues.
Security issues that have become contemporary global issues have threatened the
existence of a country and individuals who are part of the country.
The most obvious thing is that in the development of contemporary global issues is the
emergence of a new term in responding to the threats faced, namely human security.
Strategic Global Issues and National Security in International Relations Theory
Strategic global issues and national security in international relations theory are divided
into two major parts: 1) state centric point of view; and 2) global cross cutting issues. The
state-centric point of view is divided between realism and institutionalism where realism
focuses on national interests while institutionalism focuses on regimes, namely regime
theory. Meanwhile, there is a cross-border theory pioneered by Wednt in the form of
constructivism theory and Joseph Nye in the form of transnationalism theory. In this cross-
border theory, the issue of globalization is raised as one of the factors.
Joseph Nye in his theory states that what is called global interaction is the movement of
information, money, goods, tangible and intangible objects beyond national borders.18 He
divides into four types of global interaction: 1) communication; 2) transportation; 3) money;
4) tourism.19 The interaction is divided into two types, namely interstate communication
and transnational communication. Interstate communication is a type of communication in
relations International communication is conducted entirely under the control of the
government of the nation state. Meanwhile, transnational communication is a type of
communication in international relations that has begun to involve non-state actors.
This form of interstate communication is the classical type, which is also called having
a classical paradigm. This interaction focuses on the government as the agent with which
people relate politically. This interstate politics is different from-although indirectly related
to-domestic politics. Transnational forms of communication in this type are not taken into
account.
Unlike interstate forms of interaction, transnational interactions may involve
governments, but they may not. Non-state actors play an important role in these interactions.
Talking about transnational interactions, we are talking about finance, travel and
communication, which in some cases can involve state actors, for example, to cross borders.
Thus, Nye and Keohanne refer to transnational interaction as a term to describe the
movement of tangible items and services (intangible items) across national borders when at
least one actor is not a state actor and/or an interstate organization.21 Nye and Keohanne
picked up the definition brought by J. David Singer which states that individuals and/or
organizations can have a role in world politics: 1) they can be involved in a coalition that
controls and influences their country; 2) they play their role directly confronting (vs) with
foreign policies and / or foreign societies that are not through (by pass) the government of
their country.22 Nye and Keohanne argue that transnational interactions fall into and / or
more precisely in the second type of Singer's explanation. Keohanne and Nye then describe
the form of transnational interaction as follows to distinguish it from interstate forms of
internation:
In the post-world war globalization era, which involves contemporary global issues of
international relations, many interactions are of the transnational type. This is inseparable
from the existence of Various technologies have been invented, especially communication
technology. Individuals can interact directly with the international community and/or
organizations of nations such as the United Nations. Some of the effects described by
Keohanne and Nye that occur in this type of interaction are essentially increased sensitivity
between people which means changing the form of their relationship with the government.
With global mass communication, different groups from different societies, such as
radical students, military personnel, or ethnic minorities, can observe each other's behavior
and then take it into action. Thus, student radicals can make political tactics and demands
without any direct contact. Their international "consipracy" is conducted publicly and
disseminated with the help of specialized media. Perpetrators in this global phenomenon may
be punished, but its scale, scope and speed are the product of global television.
In brief, Keohanne and Nye concluded that the effects of transnational interactions are:
1) changes in behavior; 2) international pluralism; 3) increased restrictions on states; 4)
increased ability of states to influence others; and 5) the emergence of independent actors
with private foreign policies that can directly oppose or reject their government's policies.
This is most evident in the fact that an individual in a family, the smallest organization
in the country, does not even have control over what his family members access with the
internet technology. This then becomes the same thing that happens at the state level. Thus,
state control is weakened and challenges to national security are strengthened. Threats are
becoming more complex as information technology can target the individual level and
influence their actions bypassing state governance. Does this mean that the state must be
authoritarian and or is there a new form?
Form a Comprehensive Security Strategy: A United Nations Proposal
To the challenges faced by the international community today, the United Nations (UN)
offers a way out. For two decades now, the international community has been working
towards a broad understanding of what constitutes security. Seeking input from governments,
academics, community groups and intergovernmental organizations, the UN held a meeting
called the 2000 Millennium Summit for a world "free of want" and "free of fear". As a result
of this meeting, an understanding and/or input on human security was formed.
In 2001, the UN created a special unit on humanitarian security called the Commission
of Human Security (CHS). The Commission consists of twelve international figures,
including Sadako Ogata - former UN High Commissioner for Refugees - and Professor
Amartya Sen (Nobel Laureate 1998). Humanitarian security has refocused the attention of
states and the international community on the survival, livelihoods and dignity of people as
the basis for peace, development and human progress.
While humanitarian security remains vital to stability and peace, the complexity and
interconnectedness of old and new threats - from chronic and persistent poverty, to violent
conflict, climate change, human trafficking, health, and financial crises - creates a shared
vulnerability to the growing risk of diffuse and cross cutting threats. As challenges can
evolve rapidly within and across nations and deliver powerful crises, humanitarian security
emphasizes the need for a new framework that combines the agendas of security and peace,
development and human rights in a more effective, efficient, and prevention-oriented process.
Here is the UN statement mentioned in the document: While national security remains pivotal
to peace and stability, the complexity and interrelatedness of old and new threats-from
chronic and persistent poverty, to violent conflicts, climate change, human trafficking, health
pandemics, and economic and financial crises-reveal our shared vulnerabilities to a growing
risk of threats that are widespread and cross-cutting. Because these challenges can spread
rapidly within and across nations and give rise to more intractable crises, human security
emphasizes the need for a new framework that combines the agendas of peace and security,
development and human rights in a more effective, efficient and prevention-oriented manner.
In United States, it can be summarized that humanitarian security is to protect the vital
core of human life by enhancing human freedom and fulfilling human needs. The CHS's
arguments for the importance of humanitarian security, touched on a little earlier, are detailed
below:
As argued by the Commission on Human Security (CHS), the need for a new paradigm
of security is associated with two sets of dynamics:
First, human security is needed in response to the complexity and the interrelatedness
of both old and new security threats-from chronic and persistent poverty to ethnic violence,
human trafficking, climate change, health pandemics, international terrorism, and sudden
economic and financial downturns. Such threats tend to acquire transnational dimensions and
move beyond traditional notions of security that focus on external military aggressions alone.
Second, human security is required as a comprehensive approach that utilizes the wide
range of new opportunities to tackle such threats in an integrated manner. Human security
threats cannot be tackled through conventional mechanisms alone. Instead, they require a new
consensus that recognizes the linkages and the interdependencies between development,
human rights and national security.
In essence, the definition provided by the CHS conceptualizes re-envision security with its
most fundamental issues:
moving away from the traditional, state-centric conception of security focused
primarily on the security of the state from military aggression, one that concentrates on
the security of individuals, their protection and empowerment;
draw attention to the many threats that cut across different aspects of human life and
thus highlight the interface between security, development and human rights; and
promote a new integrated, coordinated and people-centered approach to advancing
peace, security and development within and across countries.
Human security brings together the 'human element' in security, rights and
development. As such, it is an inter-disciplinary concept that displays the following
characteristics: 1) human-centered; 2) multi-sectoral; 3) comprehensive; 4) context-specific;
and 5) prevention-oriented.
As a human-centered concept, human security places the individual at the 'center of
analysis'. As a result, it considers the range of conditions that threaten survival, livelihoods
and dignity, and identifies the lower threshold of intolerable human life, threatened. Human
security is also based on a multi-sectoral understanding of insecurity. Therefore, human
security requires an expanded understanding of threats and includes related causes of
insecurity, e.g. for economic, food, health, environmental, personal, community and political
security.
This interdependence has important implications for policymaking as it suggests that
human insecurity cannot be addressed in isolation through fragmented stand-alone responses.
Instead, human security involves a comprehensive approach that emphasizes the need for a
multi-sectoral response that brings together agendas related to security, development and
human rights.
Moreover, as a context-specific concept, human security recognizes that insecurity
varies across different settings and as such advances solutions that are contextually
responsive to the particular situation they seek to address. Finally, in addressing the risks and
root causes of insecurity, human security is prevention oriented and introduces a dual focus
on protection and empowerment.
Conclusion
Based on the analysis and discussion above, it can be concluded that national security
in the context of contemporary global issues in the perspective of international relations is
complex, because threats at the individual level become real. This is then explained in
transnational theory in international relations. In its development, the UN then offered to re-
conceptualize the notion of national security which ultimately provided input on human
security.
The UN has done many things related to humanitarian security. However, the most
obvious challenge still comes if it is clashed with the most classic international relations
theory, namely realism regarding superpowers. The extent to which superpower involvement
can be genuinely involved in the development of issues without any element of national
interest involvement in it, at least supports this conception.
History of the Emergence of Contemporary Global Issues
Contemporary history is a subset of modern history that describes the period of history
from about 1945 to the present. The term "contemporary history" has been used since at least
the early 20th century 19. Contemporary political history is dominated by the Cold War
(1945-1991) between the United States and the Soviet Union whose effects were felt around
the world. In this geopolitical context, the fall of European colonial empires in Africa and
Asia between 1945 and 1975 was often followed by American-Soviet confrontation in the
form of proxy wars and through intervention in the internal politics of smaller states. The
U.S.-Soviet rivalry eventually ended with the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw
Pact in 1991, following the Revolutions of 1989. and in the last stage and after the Cold War
paved the way for the democratization of large parts of Europe, Africa and Latin America.
In the Middle East, the period after 1945 was dominated by conflicts involving the new
state of Israel and the rise of petroleum politics, as well as the growth of Islamism after the
1980s. The period after 1945 saw the growth of the first supranational governmental
organizations, such as the United Nations and the European Union. Socially, western
countries experienced the rise of counter cultures3 and the sexual revolution4 between the
1960s and 1980s which transformed social relations and was fueled by the 1968 Protests.
Living standards rose sharply around the world especially in developed countries as a result
of, but also the emergence of, new economic powers such as Japan and West Germany. US
culture, especially consumerism, spread widely. By the 1960s, many western countries had
begun the process of deindustrialization. In their place, globalization led to the emergence of
new industrial centers, such as Japan, Taiwan and later China, based on exports consumer
goods for developed countries. The period after 1945 was also a transformative period in the
history of science because, among other things, nuclear technology, molecular biology,
particle physics and so on emerged which became the background for the emergence of
various technologies that appear today including the internet.
The history of the modern international system itself actually began in its history when
the Westphalia system (1648). States are interconnected with each other in an environment
called the international system. All countries are considered to have sovereignty, and some
countries are stronger than others. The system has many forms of informal rules about what
should happen, but these rules are not binding. International relations have existed since the
existence of states. The modern international system that we find ourselves in, however, is
not that old. The peace that ended a 30-year war between Catholic and Protestant states in
Western and Central Europe was the forerunner of the modern international system. It
declared that the sovereign leader of each nation state could do what he wanted within its
borders and established the state as a global actor in global politics. From then onwards, the
international system was in relation to nation states.
In the 17th-18th centuries, nation-states emerged to dominate the system of
international relations. A number of strong states dominated Europe, with some powers
coming and going. Weak states usually joined forces with others to prevent the dominant
power from becoming too strong, which is known as a proactive form of preserving the
balance of power. Economic competition and frequent wars marked this era, with countries
such as Britain and France being the most powerful to date, but some other powerful
countries collapsing over time, namely the Ottoman Empire and Spain.
Fundamental differences began to emerge in the 19th century, bringing about two major
changes in the international system:
Nationalism as a form of strength, which makes the nation state grow stronger.
Italy and Germany united, which changed the military and political balance in Europe.
Problems arose with the unification of Italy and Germany, which contributed to World
War I (1914-1918). The international system changed drastically after the war. Many
powerful countries in Europe were devastated by the war, and the United States (US) itself
began to come out of its isolation and turn into a global power. At the same time, the end of
the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian powers created a series of new states, and the rise of
communism in Russia. These factors led to the Treaty of Versailles, the Nazis and
Communism, and World War II (1939-1945).
New governments have emerged since the end of World War II. After the War, two
powers emerged: The US and the Soviet Union, which was called the bipolar system. Since
the end of the Cold War, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US has become the sole
ruler of the international system, which is called unipolar. However, there are other
viewpoints that see that the economic power of the US is not so strong that it cannot be said
that the control of the economy is entirely in the hands of the US because there are other
strong economic countries such as countries in Asia, thus calling it multi-polar.
Contemporary global issues emerged precisely at the end of the Cold War and/or when
the modern international system was unipolar. This can be regarded as the second period of
the new international order. The events that occurred became the context for contemporary
global issues. The most devastating event was the so-called 9/11 or September attacks. An
attack reportedly carried out by the Al Qaedah terrorist group on the US on September 11,
2001. There were about 2,999 victims, about 6,000 injured and 10 million properties and
infrastructures damaged.7 It is said to be devastating here because the attack was carried out
on the unipolar power holder of the international system at that time, namely the US. There
had been previous events that set the context for contemporary global issues such as the
genocides in Rwanda and Bosnia and the emergence of new states in Eastern Europe.
With the events of 9/11 and the genocide problem being addressed by the international
community, the new world government There is one threat that has a different character. The
nature of the threat this time is no longer from the state as was dominant in the Cold War
period but non-state actors. Non-state actors as the perpetrators of the causes of world
insecurity are becoming increasingly difficult to identify because such actors can also come
from the state concerned and/or from within the state itself. International issues in
international relations are becoming increasingly complex so that they are called
contemporary global issues. In this post-Cold War era, threats can mean disease outbreaks,
human trafficking, narcotics, arms trafficking, poverty, illiteracy, infectious viruses, which
are experienced by several countries not the country itself.
Thus, contemporary global issues are issues that developed and expanded after the end
of the Cold War in the 1990s. These contemporary global issues are related to the problems
faced by the international community in the new world order (new order) which is faced with
welfare issues related to human security. The form of security threats in this era has been
transformed so that the form of the international security agenda has also become new,
namely the New Global Security Agenda.
In 2002, the US Department of State under the US Secretary of Global Affairs, Paula J.
Dobriansky, issued a statement released on its website8 regarding new global security by
previously formulating an understanding of what is meant by global issues: At this point, it is
worth defining what I mean by global issues. Global issues are those issues that are not
limited by borders or boundaries but that reach across international lines to affect us all. My
global portfolio encompasses environment and science, refugees and migration, narcotics
trafficking and law enforcement, human rights, and health matters. Though he was speaking
in the first century B.C., the Roman poet Horace aptly described what could be called the
crux of modern global affairs when he wrote, "Your own safety is at stake when your
neighbor's wall is ablaze." The essence of global issues is a recognition that the people of the
world are inexorably linked and that, in today's world, that which touches some touches all.
Since September 11, never have we been more acutely aware that our own safety and the
protection of our way of life must be guarded by due attention to international problems -
such as injustice and the inadequacy of the rule of law, poverty, disease, and repression.
These are the blazing walls of today's world that threaten to engulf us. That is why these
issues have become central to American foreign policy and our efforts to protect our national
interests.
The US defines global issues as those that are not limited to cross-border issues but also
include international issues that impact the US across issues such as the environment and
science, refugees and migration, drug trafficking and law enforcement, human rights and
health. The US recognizes that since 9/11 issues have not been as acute regarding the safety
and protection of life. The aforementioned issues, including terrorism and disease, have
become one of the factors for the US to call it the new global security agenda.
Types and Characteristics of Contemporary Global Issues
Earlier in 1996, a paper was published by the Institute for Security Studies, which
identified several global sources of insecurity and their implications for national security
policy formulation. There are eight important things after the Cold War as strategic global
issues, namely drugs, migration, the environment, population, global economic challenges,
the crisis of liberal democracy, fusion and division, and light weapon proliferation.9 In the
paper, it is explained that there are global sources of insecurity and their implications for
national security policy formulation. These eight issues then become an important cluster as
an extraordinary threat to national and regional security and ultimately global security.10
This was then coupled with 9/11. Thus, the threat in this new form is not in the form of a
"military attack" carried out by a state against another state but an act of crime committed by
a non-state actor and aimed at the state (state actor), individuals or citizens who threaten the
security of humanity (Human Security).
Drugs
The domestic toll of drug addiction is alarming. These include loss of productivity,
soaring health costs, a sharp rise in drug-related crime, and the accelerated spread of AIDS
through contaminated needles. Drug use is not just a social phenomenon; it has far-reaching
political implications and security implications. For example, in Latin America there are
close links between drug traffickers and leftist revolutionary groups such as the Columbia M-
19 and the Peruvian Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path).11 In Lebanon and elsewhere in the
Middle East, in the Balkans, the Southern Republics of the former Soviet Union, Burma
(Myanmar) and Sri Lanka, drugs have become a major source of funds for movements.
Drug trafficking can also affect relations between countries. For example, a major
reason for the 1989 invasion of Panama by the US was that this government, under the
leadership of General Manuel Noriega, was allegedly serving as a conduit for drug travel to
the US.13 Most recently, Ross Perot's strongest attack on the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA), he argued that its eradication was a restriction on free access of goods
between Mexico and the US in allowing larger free traders of drugs in a sense to distribute
their 'poison' in the United States.
Migration
The largest and most dramatic population movement in recent years has been that of
approximately 30 million refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs).14 Political
unrest, social upheaval, economic dislocation and ecological disasters have contributed to the
movement of people across national borders of one 'southern' regional country to another. As
a result there are 3.2 million Afghans in Pakistan and 2.3 million in Iran; 685,000 in Ethiopia
are reported to have sought refuge in Sudan, while there are also 320,000 Somalis and
384,000 Sudanese in Ethiopia; and a further 600,000 Ethiopians are reported to have fled the
war to Somalia. 17 Civil war and famine have caused a third of Liberia's population (763,000
out of a total population of 2.4 million) to flee to neighboring Guinea, Sierra Leone and the
Coast.
Mass population movements are increasingly attracting the attention of key
policymakers, not only for humanitarian reasons, but also because they create domestic
instability, generate inter-state tensions and threaten international security. South Africa is
estimated to have received eight million illegal immigrants, which was the case at one point.
In 1994, it cost South African taxpayers R1, 985 million to host illegal alien residents.
In addition, there is a reciprocal relationship between illegal immigrants and the spread of
infectious diseases such as AIDS, malaria, cholera and tuberculosis. Police sources have also
noted that fourteen percent of all crimes in South Africa involve illegal immigrants including
arms sales, money laundering and drug trafficking.
Environment
The waning of Cold War military tensions coincided with the development of real
security problems that threaten the security of many countries and require international
solutions, including the hole in the ozone layer, the greenhouse effect, deforestation, scarce
water, energy and other resources. The increase in environmental hazards has underscored
two forms of interaction between states in the world: cooperation and conflict.
In 1940, David Mitrany developed a functional theory of international relations. He
proposed that given the common problems facing humanity everywhere, cooperation between
states should be broadened. This theme was embraced and magnified by globalists in the
1980s and 1990s - even going so far as to propose a federal world government for Planet
Earth. At the heart of the theory is the idea that the gravity of global problems requires global
solutions - resulting in greater levels of cooperation between the world's nations. For
example, one country cannot solve a problem such as the widening hole in the Earth's ozone;
it must be a combined planet-wide effort. On one level global cooperation, sharing common
problems, can be seen as a way of such as the Rio Earth Summit.
The potential for resource-based conflict was evident in the 1990 and 1991 Gulf Wars,
which essentially revolved around the scarce resource of energy. One of the main reasons for
the US to get involved in the Gulf War was its dependence on Gulf oil. American dependence
on Persian Gulf oil rose 500 percent between 1985 and 1989. By 1990 oil accounted for half
of the $100 billion US trade deficit.
Population
The world population is expected to grow from 5.3 billion in 1990 to 6.2 billion in
2000, and 8.5 billion in 2025. The growth rate of nearly one billion per decade has socio-
cultural and political economic consequences for the macro-environment. For example,
resource problems in countries such as Mexico and Egypt are directly linked to population
growth.
In Africa itself there is a noted reciprocal relationship between the conflict in Rwanda
and the fact that it has one of the highest levels of population density in Africa's growth.
Population was also seen to be responsible for two-thirds of the increase in carbon dioxide
entering the atmosphere between 1950 and 1985, thereby contributing to the greenhouse
effect. The population explosion was also listed as one of the contributing factors to the
occurrence of IDPs.16
Global Economic Challenges
The need to restructure the world economy stems from two major points: the north-
south growth divide and economic competition. The existence of a north-south split in
economic growth, and in some cases expansion, is obvious. This is highlighted by the fact
that the world's richest twenty percent control eighty percent of the world's economic
resources. This is demonstrated by the fact that the world's richest twenty percent are now
150 times richer than the poorest. It is further underscored by the fact that 1.3 billion people
in developing countries live in conditions of absolute poverty.
Saddest of all, it can be seen by the fact that 34,000 children die every day in the world
from malnutrition and disease. The need to address the north-south problem stems not only
from humanitarian reasons, but also from the threat of prosperity whose poverty is
increasingly exposed. Economic scarcity in the form of global markets and rising production
costs intensify economic competition. Technological competition and various forms of
commercial warfare have replaced the arms race from after the Cold War. According to
Japanese politician Isihara Shintaro, the twenty-first century will be a century of economic
warfare. If this happens, international security is threatened. Large economic power blocs
have been developed in the Pacific Rim and North America as a counterweight to the
European Union (EU). Similar economic formations have also been developed in Central
Africa and South America. The existence of large economic formations is necessary and does
not necessarily mean economic competition but rather complementarity. However, the
scarcity of such competition can develop and the history can become 'hot'.
The Crisis of Liberal Democracy
The end of Soviet-style communist rule consolidated the position of Western liberal
democracies. Since then, there has been state-sponsored ideological competition. The fall of
the Soviet system vindicated the principle of liberal democracy in the eyes of many: Smith,
Mill and Keynes. Western ideas of triumphalism were encapsulated in Francis Fukuyama's
books The End of History and Last Man. The liberal democratic paradigm seemed absolutely
dominant. Post-1989 developments seemed to show this as economic structural adjustment
programs (ESAPs) were liberalized in many African countries; liberal multiparty winds
democracy that swept across much of Africa, South America, the Middle East and Asia.17
Subsequent developments in the former Eastern bloc, which has seen the rise of the former
Communist Party, seem to disprove this notion.
Even in South Africa, political pluralism has experienced some setbacks. Soon after the
fall of the Berlin Wall, the surge towards multiparty democracy intensified in South Africa.
Kenneth Kaunda's corrupt one-party rule system was replaced by Frederick Chiluba's
Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD). In Malawi, the despotic rule of President-for-
life Hastings Kamuzu Band ended peacefully when Malawians went to the Banda elections
and his Malawi Congress Party (MCP) was voted out of power, replaced by United
Democratic Front (UDF) leader Bakili Muluzi.
In Lesotho, military rule ended and the Basotho National Party lost dominance in
elections that brought Prime Minister Ntsu Mokhehle and his Basotholand Congress Party
(BCP) to power. In South Africa, white minority rule came on April 27, 1994-the country's
first racially inclusive election. Meanwhile, both of the former Portuguese colonies in the
region, Angola and Mozambique, began to make the long and difficult transition to political
pluralism.
Fusion and Cleavage
The two most conflicting elements of the contemporary period are fusion and division-
peace coming together with the violent disintegration of society.
Regarding fusion, a newborn global culture seems to be taking shape. Denim jeans and
CocaCola are forms that are universal. If Toshiba and Toyota are in New York, then
MacDonald and Kentucky Fried Chicken will be found in Tokyo. If lamb is cooked and
stewed in a restaurant in New Delhi, then a fancy restaurant in London serves hot curry from
India. If Michael Jackson and Madonna become very famous in Montevideo, Maputo or
Kuala Lumpur, then West African and Indian music is represented by the likes of Manu
Dibango and Babu Shegal, who will surely be found playing in the discos of Paris or
Manchester. This is a nascent global cultural trend that goes even deeper than this: Human
rights and gender, geographical, political and cultural crossovers. One of the reasons for this
is The development of communication and technological innovation made it cheaper to travel
and made it possible for CNN broadcasts to reach 200 million people in ninety other
countries.
Fusion seems to buck this trend: scarce resources, varying degrees of population growth
in heterogeneous societies and the resultant growth of ethnic nationalism are tearing societies
apart. This has been evident in Rwanda and Burundi between Hutu and Tutsi; between Serbs,
Croats and Muslims in the former Yugoslavia; and between Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims in
India. What is even more interesting today is that these issues are beginning to surface in
western countries with liberal democracies: consider the growth of neo-Nazism in Germany;
the rising fortunes of Jean-Marie le Pen's National Front in France; the invigorating separatist
movements in Quebec; Catalonia; the Basque country; Corsica; Lombardy; Scotland and
Wales; and increasing tensions between the Flems and Walloons in Belgium. Not least, in the
US there were the 1992 riots in Los Angeles and the growth of ethnocentric nationalist
movements.
Light Weapons Production
Light weapons refer to crew-portable and ground weapons. Definitions include small
arms such as pistols, rifles, assault rifles and sub-machine guns; and medium machine guns;
heavy machine guns (HMG) with a caliber not exceeding 14.5 mm; anti-aircraft and anti-tank
missiles; light mortars; mines and grenades.
The danger of small arms proliferation to world peace is underscored by the fact that in
1994, major armed conflicts were being waged in 27 countries around the world and small
arms were the overwhelming cause of death from these weapons. The existence of small arms
is perhaps most fragile in third world countries due to power imbalances such as insurgents,
drug traffickers and other criminals. For example, guerrillas in Kashmir fighting India use
Soviet Kalashnikovs, in Pakistan, small arms exacerbate ethnic conflicts between mohajirs,
Pakistani Punjabis, Pathans from the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan and
Sindhis.
For Third World countries, issues related to the threat of a new form of security
(Human Security) are "real security threats" because they have relevance to the domestic
conditions of Third World countries that are still preoccupied with the threat of human
security by various issues regarding: 1) Political transition situation; 2) Weak government
power due to not maximizing law enforcement efforts; 3) Political uncertainty; 4) Economic
crisis; 5) Conflict issues in border areas; 6) Ethnic conflicts and communal conflicts with
various international dimensions; 7) The issue of national disintegration; 8) Increase in the
number of terrorism perpetrators; 9) The ability to carry out threatening actions against
human security, etc.
The development of technology, especially information technology, is one of the strong
reasons for the expansion of contemporary global issues, resulting in a shift in the nature of
global issues from before the Cold War. Due to the development of threats that have different
types than before the Cold War, contemporary global issues have specificity:
Unconventional;
In the sense that contemporary global issues are non-armaments and/or arms
competition.
Nontraditional;
This means that the issue category is not inter-state.
Non-military;
As mentioned earlier, disease outbreaks, and/or drugs can be a threat.
Multidimensional; and
Issues are complex such as those concerning poverty.
Transnational
The issues raised in contemporary global are cross-border such as migration, refugees,
and others.
Thus, the characteristics of contemporary global issues as non-traditional security
threats are:
Contemporary global issues that are non-traditional security threats are not centered on
one particular country. Thus, the threats that are part of these contemporary global
issues are not only faced by one country, but have threatened a number of countries at
once (have regional and global dimensions). Therefore, contemporary global issues are
often referred to as "transnational security threats".
Contemporary global issues are not focused on a particular geographical location.
Based on their geographical character, these issues are It is often difficult to
"recognize" because it crosses borders between countries and even regional
(transnational) boundaries.
Contemporary global issues cannot be addressed by military force alone. Indeed,
military force can be used in escalations that lead to armed conflict. However, in the
long run, military force can no longer be used effectively to address the threat of these
global issues.
Security issues that have become contemporary global issues have threatened the
existence of a country and individuals who are part of the country.
The most obvious thing is that in the development of contemporary global issues is the
emergence of a new term in responding to the threats faced, namely human security.
Strategic Global Issues and National Security in International Relations Theory
Strategic global issues and national security in international relations theory are divided
into two major parts: 1) state centric point of view; and 2) global cross cutting issues. The
state-centric point of view is divided between realism and institutionalism where realism
focuses on national interests while institutionalism focuses on regimes, namely regime
theory. Meanwhile, there is a cross-border theory pioneered by Wednt in the form of
constructivism theory and Joseph Nye in the form of transnationalism theory. In this cross-
border theory, the issue of globalization is raised as one of the factors.
Joseph Nye in his theory states that what is called global interaction is the movement of
information, money, goods, tangible and intangible objects beyond national borders.18 He
divides into four types of global interaction: 1) communication; 2) transportation; 3) money;
4) tourism.19 The interaction is divided into two types, namely interstate communication
and transnational communication. Interstate communication is a type of communication in
relations International communication is conducted entirely under the control of the
government of the nation state. Meanwhile, transnational communication is a type of
communication in international relations that has begun to involve non-state actors.
This form of interstate communication is the classical type, which is also called having
a classical paradigm. This interaction focuses on the government as the agent with which
people relate politically. This interstate politics is different from-although indirectly related
to-domestic politics. Transnational forms of communication in this type are not taken into
account.
Unlike interstate forms of interaction, transnational interactions may involve
governments, but they may not. Non-state actors play an important role in these interactions.
Talking about transnational interactions, we are talking about finance, travel and
communication, which in some cases can involve state actors, for example, to cross borders.
Thus, Nye and Keohanne refer to transnational interaction as a term to describe the
movement of tangible items and services (intangible items) across national borders when at
least one actor is not a state actor and/or an interstate organization.21 Nye and Keohanne
picked up the definition brought by J. David Singer which states that individuals and/or
organizations can have a role in world politics: 1) they can be involved in a coalition that
controls and influences their country; 2) they play their role directly confronting (vs) with
foreign policies and / or foreign societies that are not through (by pass) the government of
their country.22 Nye and Keohanne argue that transnational interactions fall into and / or
more precisely in the second type of Singer's explanation. Keohanne and Nye then describe
the form of transnational interaction as follows to distinguish it from interstate forms of
internation:
In the post-world war globalization era, which involves contemporary global issues of
international relations, many interactions are of the transnational type. This is inseparable
from the existence of Various technologies have been invented, especially communication
technology. Individuals can interact directly with the international community and/or
organizations of nations such as the United Nations. Some of the effects described by
Keohanne and Nye that occur in this type of interaction are essentially increased sensitivity
between people which means changing the form of their relationship with the government.
With global mass communication, different groups from different societies, such as
radical students, military personnel, or ethnic minorities, can observe each other's behavior
and then take it into action. Thus, student radicals can make political tactics and demands
without any direct contact. Their international "consipracy" is conducted publicly and
disseminated with the help of specialized media. Perpetrators in this global phenomenon may
be punished, but its scale, scope and speed are the product of global television.
In brief, Keohanne and Nye concluded that the effects of transnational interactions are:
1) changes in behavior; 2) international pluralism; 3) increased restrictions on states; 4)
increased ability of states to influence others; and 5) the emergence of independent actors
with private foreign policies that can directly oppose or reject their government's policies.
This is most evident in the fact that an individual in a family, the smallest organization
in the country, does not even have control over what his family members access with the
internet technology. This then becomes the same thing that happens at the state level. Thus,
state control is weakened and challenges to national security are strengthened. Threats are
becoming more complex as information technology can target the individual level and
influence their actions bypassing state governance. Does this mean that the state must be
authoritarian and or is there a new form?
Form a Comprehensive Security Strategy: A United Nations Proposal
To the challenges faced by the international community today, the United Nations (UN)
offers a way out. For two decades now, the international community has been working
towards a broad understanding of what constitutes security. Seeking input from governments,
academics, community groups and intergovernmental organizations, the UN held a meeting
called the 2000 Millennium Summit for a world "free of want" and "free of fear". As a result
of this meeting, an understanding and/or input on human security was formed.
In 2001, the UN created a special unit on humanitarian security called the Commission
of Human Security (CHS). The Commission consists of twelve international figures,
including Sadako Ogata - former UN High Commissioner for Refugees - and Professor
Amartya Sen (Nobel Laureate 1998). Humanitarian security has refocused the attention of
states and the international community on the survival, livelihoods and dignity of people as
the basis for peace, development and human progress.
While humanitarian security remains vital to stability and peace, the complexity and
interconnectedness of old and new threats - from chronic and persistent poverty, to violent
conflict, climate change, human trafficking, health, and financial crises - creates a shared
vulnerability to the growing risk of diffuse and cross cutting threats. As challenges can
evolve rapidly within and across nations and deliver powerful crises, humanitarian security
emphasizes the need for a new framework that combines the agendas of security and peace,
development and human rights in a more effective, efficient, and prevention-oriented process.
Here is the UN statement mentioned in the document: While national security remains pivotal
to peace and stability, the complexity and interrelatedness of old and new threats-from
chronic and persistent poverty, to violent conflicts, climate change, human trafficking, health
pandemics, and economic and financial crises-reveal our shared vulnerabilities to a growing
risk of threats that are widespread and cross-cutting. Because these challenges can spread
rapidly within and across nations and give rise to more intractable crises, human security
emphasizes the need for a new framework that combines the agendas of peace and security,
development and human rights in a more effective, efficient and prevention-oriented manner.
In United States, it can be summarized that humanitarian security is to protect the vital
core of human life by enhancing human freedom and fulfilling human needs. The CHS's
arguments for the importance of humanitarian security, touched on a little earlier, are detailed
below:
As argued by the Commission on Human Security (CHS), the need for a new paradigm
of security is associated with two sets of dynamics:
First, human security is needed in response to the complexity and the interrelatedness
of both old and new security threats-from chronic and persistent poverty to ethnic violence,
human trafficking, climate change, health pandemics, international terrorism, and sudden
economic and financial downturns. Such threats tend to acquire transnational dimensions and
move beyond traditional notions of security that focus on external military aggressions alone.
Second, human security is required as a comprehensive approach that utilizes the wide
range of new opportunities to tackle such threats in an integrated manner. Human security
threats cannot be tackled through conventional mechanisms alone. Instead, they require a new
consensus that recognizes the linkages and the interdependencies between development,
human rights and national security.
In essence, the definition provided by the CHS conceptualizes re-envision security with its
most fundamental issues:
moving away from the traditional, state-centric conception of security focused
primarily on the security of the state from military aggression, one that concentrates on
the security of individuals, their protection and empowerment;
draw attention to the many threats that cut across different aspects of human life and
thus highlight the interface between security, development and human rights; and
promote a new integrated, coordinated and people-centered approach to advancing
peace, security and development within and across countries.
Human security brings together the 'human element' in security, rights and
development. As such, it is an inter-disciplinary concept that displays the following
characteristics: 1) human-centered; 2) multi-sectoral; 3) comprehensive; 4) context-specific;
and 5) prevention-oriented.
As a human-centered concept, human security places the individual at the 'center of
analysis'. As a result, it considers the range of conditions that threaten survival, livelihoods
and dignity, and identifies the lower threshold of intolerable human life, threatened. Human
security is also based on a multi-sectoral understanding of insecurity. Therefore, human
security requires an expanded understanding of threats and includes related causes of
insecurity, e.g. for economic, food, health, environmental, personal, community and political
security.
This interdependence has important implications for policymaking as it suggests that
human insecurity cannot be addressed in isolation through fragmented stand-alone responses.
Instead, human security involves a comprehensive approach that emphasizes the need for a
multi-sectoral response that brings together agendas related to security, development and
human rights.
Moreover, as a context-specific concept, human security recognizes that insecurity
varies across different settings and as such advances solutions that are contextually
responsive to the particular situation they seek to address. Finally, in addressing the risks and
root causes of insecurity, human security is prevention oriented and introduces a dual focus
on protection and empowerment.
Conclusion
Based on the analysis and discussion above, it can be concluded that national security
in the context of contemporary global issues in the perspective of international relations is
complex, because threats at the individual level become real. This is then explained in
transnational theory in international relations. In its development, the UN then offered to re-
conceptualize the notion of national security which ultimately provided input on human
security.
The UN has done many things related to humanitarian security. However, the most
obvious challenge still comes if it is clashed with the most classic international relations
theory, namely realism regarding superpowers. The extent to which superpower involvement
can be genuinely involved in the development of issues without any element of national
interest involvement in it, at least supports this conception.
History of the Emergence of Contemporary Global Issues
Contemporary history is a subset of modern history that describes the period of history
from about 1945 to the present. The term "contemporary history" has been used since at least
the early 20th century 19. Contemporary political history is dominated by the Cold War
(1945-1991) between the United States and the Soviet Union whose effects were felt around
the world. In this geopolitical context, the fall of European colonial empires in Africa and
Asia between 1945 and 1975 was often followed by American-Soviet confrontation in the
form of proxy wars and through intervention in the internal politics of smaller states. The
U.S.-Soviet rivalry eventually ended with the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw
Pact in 1991, following the Revolutions of 1989. and in the last stage and after the Cold War
paved the way for the democratization of large parts of Europe, Africa and Latin America.
In the Middle East, the period after 1945 was dominated by conflicts involving the new
state of Israel and the rise of petroleum politics, as well as the growth of Islamism after the
1980s. The period after 1945 saw the growth of the first supranational governmental
organizations, such as the United Nations and the European Union. Socially, western
countries experienced the rise of counter cultures3 and the sexual revolution4 between the
1960s and 1980s which transformed social relations and was fueled by the 1968 Protests.
Living standards rose sharply around the world especially in developed countries as a result
of, but also the emergence of, new economic powers such as Japan and West Germany. US
culture, especially consumerism, spread widely. By the 1960s, many western countries had
begun the process of deindustrialization. In their place, globalization led to the emergence of
new industrial centers, such as Japan, Taiwan and later China, based on exports consumer
goods for developed countries. The period after 1945 was also a transformative period in the
history of science because, among other things, nuclear technology, molecular biology,
particle physics and so on emerged which became the background for the emergence of
various technologies that appear today including the internet.
The history of the modern international system itself actually began in its history when
the Westphalia system (1648). States are interconnected with each other in an environment
called the international system. All countries are considered to have sovereignty, and some
countries are stronger than others. The system has many forms of informal rules about what
should happen, but these rules are not binding. International relations have existed since the
existence of states. The modern international system that we find ourselves in, however, is
not that old. The peace that ended a 30-year war between Catholic and Protestant states in
Western and Central Europe was the forerunner of the modern international system. It
declared that the sovereign leader of each nation state could do what he wanted within its
borders and established the state as a global actor in global politics. From then onwards, the
international system was in relation to nation states.
In the 17th-18th centuries, nation-states emerged to dominate the system of
international relations. A number of strong states dominated Europe, with some powers
coming and going. Weak states usually joined forces with others to prevent the dominant
power from becoming too strong, which is known as a proactive form of preserving the
balance of power. Economic competition and frequent wars marked this era, with countries
such as Britain and France being the most powerful to date, but some other powerful
countries collapsing over time, namely the Ottoman Empire and Spain.
Fundamental differences began to emerge in the 19th century, bringing about two major
changes in the international system:
Nationalism as a form of strength, which makes the nation state grow stronger.
Italy and Germany united, which changed the military and political balance in Europe.
Problems arose with the unification of Italy and Germany, which contributed to World
War I (1914-1918). The international system changed drastically after the war. Many
powerful countries in Europe were devastated by the war, and the United States (US) itself
began to come out of its isolation and turn into a global power. At the same time, the end of
the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian powers created a series of new states, and the rise of
communism in Russia. These factors led to the Treaty of Versailles, the Nazis and
Communism, and World War II (1939-1945).
New governments have emerged since the end of World War II. After the War, two
powers emerged: The US and the Soviet Union, which was called the bipolar system. Since
the end of the Cold War, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US has become the sole
ruler of the international system, which is called unipolar. However, there are other
viewpoints that see that the economic power of the US is not so strong that it cannot be said
that the control of the economy is entirely in the hands of the US because there are other
strong economic countries such as countries in Asia, thus calling it multi-polar.
Contemporary global issues emerged precisely at the end of the Cold War and/or when
the modern international system was unipolar. This can be regarded as the second period of
the new international order. The events that occurred became the context for contemporary
global issues. The most devastating event was the so-called 9/11 or September attacks. An
attack reportedly carried out by the Al Qaedah terrorist group on the US on September 11,
2001. There were about 2,999 victims, about 6,000 injured and 10 million properties and
infrastructures damaged.7 It is said to be devastating here because the attack was carried out
on the unipolar power holder of the international system at that time, namely the US. There
had been previous events that set the context for contemporary global issues such as the
genocides in Rwanda and Bosnia and the emergence of new states in Eastern Europe.
With the events of 9/11 and the genocide problem being addressed by the international
community, the new world government There is one threat that has a different character. The
nature of the threat this time is no longer from the state as was dominant in the Cold War
period but non-state actors. Non-state actors as the perpetrators of the causes of world
insecurity are becoming increasingly difficult to identify because such actors can also come
from the state concerned and/or from within the state itself. International issues in
international relations are becoming increasingly complex so that they are called
contemporary global issues. In this post-Cold War era, threats can mean disease outbreaks,
human trafficking, narcotics, arms trafficking, poverty, illiteracy, infectious viruses, which
are experienced by several countries not the country itself.
Thus, contemporary global issues are issues that developed and expanded after the end
of the Cold War in the 1990s. These contemporary global issues are related to the problems
faced by the international community in the new world order (new order) which is faced with
welfare issues related to human security. The form of security threats in this era has been
transformed so that the form of the international security agenda has also become new,
namely the New Global Security Agenda.
In 2002, the US Department of State under the US Secretary of Global Affairs, Paula J.
Dobriansky, issued a statement released on its website8 regarding new global security by
previously formulating an understanding of what is meant by global issues: At this point, it is
worth defining what I mean by global issues. Global issues are those issues that are not
limited by borders or boundaries but that reach across international lines to affect us all. My
global portfolio encompasses environment and science, refugees and migration, narcotics
trafficking and law enforcement, human rights, and health matters. Though he was speaking
in the first century B.C., the Roman poet Horace aptly described what could be called the
crux of modern global affairs when he wrote, "Your own safety is at stake when your
neighbor's wall is ablaze." The essence of global issues is a recognition that the people of the
world are inexorably linked and that, in today's world, that which touches some touches all.
Since September 11, never have we been more acutely aware that our own safety and the
protection of our way of life must be guarded by due attention to international problems -
such as injustice and the inadequacy of the rule of law, poverty, disease, and repression.
These are the blazing walls of today's world that threaten to engulf us. That is why these
issues have become central to American foreign policy and our efforts to protect our national
interests.
The US defines global issues as those that are not limited to cross-border issues but also
include international issues that impact the US across issues such as the environment and
science, refugees and migration, drug trafficking and law enforcement, human rights and
health. The US recognizes that since 9/11 issues have not been as acute regarding the safety
and protection of life. The aforementioned issues, including terrorism and disease, have
become one of the factors for the US to call it the new global security agenda.
Types and Characteristics of Contemporary Global Issues
Earlier in 1996, a paper was published by the Institute for Security Studies, which
identified several global sources of insecurity and their implications for national security
policy formulation. There are eight important things after the Cold War as strategic global
issues, namely drugs, migration, the environment, population, global economic challenges,
the crisis of liberal democracy, fusion and division, and light weapon proliferation.9 In the
paper, it is explained that there are global sources of insecurity and their implications for
national security policy formulation. These eight issues then become an important cluster as
an extraordinary threat to national and regional security and ultimately global security.10
This was then coupled with 9/11. Thus, the threat in this new form is not in the form of a
"military attack" carried out by a state against another state but an act of crime committed by
a non-state actor and aimed at the state (state actor), individuals or citizens who threaten the
security of humanity (Human Security).
Drugs
The domestic toll of drug addiction is alarming. These include loss of productivity,
soaring health costs, a sharp rise in drug-related crime, and the accelerated spread of AIDS
through contaminated needles. Drug use is not just a social phenomenon; it has far-reaching
political implications and security implications. For example, in Latin America there are
close links between drug traffickers and leftist revolutionary groups such as the Columbia M-
19 and the Peruvian Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path).11 In Lebanon and elsewhere in the
Middle East, in the Balkans, the Southern Republics of the former Soviet Union, Burma
(Myanmar) and Sri Lanka, drugs have become a major source of funds for movements.
Drug trafficking can also affect relations between countries. For example, a major
reason for the 1989 invasion of Panama by the US was that this government, under the
leadership of General Manuel Noriega, was allegedly serving as a conduit for drug travel to
the US.13 Most recently, Ross Perot's strongest attack on the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA), he argued that its eradication was a restriction on free access of goods
between Mexico and the US in allowing larger free traders of drugs in a sense to distribute
their 'poison' in the United States.
Migration
The largest and most dramatic population movement in recent years has been that of
approximately 30 million refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs).14 Political
unrest, social upheaval, economic dislocation and ecological disasters have contributed to the
movement of people across national borders of one 'southern' regional country to another. As
a result there are 3.2 million Afghans in Pakistan and 2.3 million in Iran; 685,000 in Ethiopia
are reported to have sought refuge in Sudan, while there are also 320,000 Somalis and
384,000 Sudanese in Ethiopia; and a further 600,000 Ethiopians are reported to have fled the
war to Somalia. 17 Civil war and famine have caused a third of Liberia's population (763,000
out of a total population of 2.4 million) to flee to neighboring Guinea, Sierra Leone and the
Coast.
Mass population movements are increasingly attracting the attention of key
policymakers, not only for humanitarian reasons, but also because they create domestic
instability, generate inter-state tensions and threaten international security. South Africa is
estimated to have received eight million illegal immigrants, which was the case at one point.
In 1994, it cost South African taxpayers R1, 985 million to host illegal alien residents.
In addition, there is a reciprocal relationship between illegal immigrants and the spread of
infectious diseases such as AIDS, malaria, cholera and tuberculosis. Police sources have also
noted that fourteen percent of all crimes in South Africa involve illegal immigrants including
arms sales, money laundering and drug trafficking.
Environment
The waning of Cold War military tensions coincided with the development of real
security problems that threaten the security of many countries and require international
solutions, including the hole in the ozone layer, the greenhouse effect, deforestation, scarce
water, energy and other resources. The increase in environmental hazards has underscored
two forms of interaction between states in the world: cooperation and conflict.
In 1940, David Mitrany developed a functional theory of international relations. He
proposed that given the common problems facing humanity everywhere, cooperation between
states should be broadened. This theme was embraced and magnified by globalists in the
1980s and 1990s - even going so far as to propose a federal world government for Planet
Earth. At the heart of the theory is the idea that the gravity of global problems requires global
solutions - resulting in greater levels of cooperation between the world's nations. For
example, one country cannot solve a problem such as the widening hole in the Earth's ozone;
it must be a combined planet-wide effort. On one level global cooperation, sharing common
problems, can be seen as a way of such as the Rio Earth Summit.
The potential for resource-based conflict was evident in the 1990 and 1991 Gulf Wars,
which essentially revolved around the scarce resource of energy. One of the main reasons for
the US to get involved in the Gulf War was its dependence on Gulf oil. American dependence
on Persian Gulf oil rose 500 percent between 1985 and 1989. By 1990 oil accounted for half
of the $100 billion US trade deficit.
Population
The world population is expected to grow from 5.3 billion in 1990 to 6.2 billion in
2000, and 8.5 billion in 2025. The growth rate of nearly one billion per decade has socio-
cultural and political economic consequences for the macro-environment. For example,
resource problems in countries such as Mexico and Egypt are directly linked to population
growth.
In Africa itself there is a noted reciprocal relationship between the conflict in Rwanda
and the fact that it has one of the highest levels of population density in Africa's growth.
Population was also seen to be responsible for two-thirds of the increase in carbon dioxide
entering the atmosphere between 1950 and 1985, thereby contributing to the greenhouse
effect. The population explosion was also listed as one of the contributing factors to the
occurrence of IDPs.16
Global Economic Challenges
The need to restructure the world economy stems from two major points: the north-
south growth divide and economic competition. The existence of a north-south split in
economic growth, and in some cases expansion, is obvious. This is highlighted by the fact
that the world's richest twenty percent control eighty percent of the world's economic
resources. This is demonstrated by the fact that the world's richest twenty percent are now
150 times richer than the poorest. It is further underscored by the fact that 1.3 billion people
in developing countries live in conditions of absolute poverty.
Saddest of all, it can be seen by the fact that 34,000 children die every day in the world
from malnutrition and disease. The need to address the north-south problem stems not only
from humanitarian reasons, but also from the threat of prosperity whose poverty is
increasingly exposed. Economic scarcity in the form of global markets and rising production
costs intensify economic competition. Technological competition and various forms of
commercial warfare have replaced the arms race from after the Cold War. According to
Japanese politician Isihara Shintaro, the twenty-first century will be a century of economic
warfare. If this happens, international security is threatened. Large economic power blocs
have been developed in the Pacific Rim and North America as a counterweight to the
European Union (EU). Similar economic formations have also been developed in Central
Africa and South America. The existence of large economic formations is necessary and does
not necessarily mean economic competition but rather complementarity. However, the
scarcity of such competition can develop and the history can become 'hot'.
The Crisis of Liberal Democracy
The end of Soviet-style communist rule consolidated the position of Western liberal
democracies. Since then, there has been state-sponsored ideological competition. The fall of
the Soviet system vindicated the principle of liberal democracy in the eyes of many: Smith,
Mill and Keynes. Western ideas of triumphalism were encapsulated in Francis Fukuyama's
books The End of History and Last Man. The liberal democratic paradigm seemed absolutely
dominant. Post-1989 developments seemed to show this as economic structural adjustment
programs (ESAPs) were liberalized in many African countries; liberal multiparty winds
democracy that swept across much of Africa, South America, the Middle East and Asia.17
Subsequent developments in the former Eastern bloc, which has seen the rise of the former
Communist Party, seem to disprove this notion.
Even in South Africa, political pluralism has experienced some setbacks. Soon after the
fall of the Berlin Wall, the surge towards multiparty democracy intensified in South Africa.
Kenneth Kaunda's corrupt one-party rule system was replaced by Frederick Chiluba's
Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD). In Malawi, the despotic rule of President-for-
life Hastings Kamuzu Band ended peacefully when Malawians went to the Banda elections
and his Malawi Congress Party (MCP) was voted out of power, replaced by United
Democratic Front (UDF) leader Bakili Muluzi.
In Lesotho, military rule ended and the Basotho National Party lost dominance in
elections that brought Prime Minister Ntsu Mokhehle and his Basotholand Congress Party
(BCP) to power. In South Africa, white minority rule came on April 27, 1994-the country's
first racially inclusive election. Meanwhile, both of the former Portuguese colonies in the
region, Angola and Mozambique, began to make the long and difficult transition to political
pluralism.
Fusion and Cleavage
The two most conflicting elements of the contemporary period are fusion and division-
peace coming together with the violent disintegration of society.
Regarding fusion, a newborn global culture seems to be taking shape. Denim jeans and
CocaCola are forms that are universal. If Toshiba and Toyota are in New York, then
MacDonald and Kentucky Fried Chicken will be found in Tokyo. If lamb is cooked and
stewed in a restaurant in New Delhi, then a fancy restaurant in London serves hot curry from
India. If Michael Jackson and Madonna become very famous in Montevideo, Maputo or
Kuala Lumpur, then West African and Indian music is represented by the likes of Manu
Dibango and Babu Shegal, who will surely be found playing in the discos of Paris or
Manchester. This is a nascent global cultural trend that goes even deeper than this: Human
rights and gender, geographical, political and cultural crossovers. One of the reasons for this
is The development of communication and technological innovation made it cheaper to travel
and made it possible for CNN broadcasts to reach 200 million people in ninety other
countries.
Fusion seems to buck this trend: scarce resources, varying degrees of population growth
in heterogeneous societies and the resultant growth of ethnic nationalism are tearing societies
apart. This has been evident in Rwanda and Burundi between Hutu and Tutsi; between Serbs,
Croats and Muslims in the former Yugoslavia; and between Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims in
India. What is even more interesting today is that these issues are beginning to surface in
western countries with liberal democracies: consider the growth of neo-Nazism in Germany;
the rising fortunes of Jean-Marie le Pen's National Front in France; the invigorating separatist
movements in Quebec; Catalonia; the Basque country; Corsica; Lombardy; Scotland and
Wales; and increasing tensions between the Flems and Walloons in Belgium. Not least, in the
US there were the 1992 riots in Los Angeles and the growth of ethnocentric nationalist
movements.
Light Weapons Production
Light weapons refer to crew-portable and ground weapons. Definitions include small
arms such as pistols, rifles, assault rifles and sub-machine guns; and medium machine guns;
heavy machine guns (HMG) with a caliber not exceeding 14.5 mm; anti-aircraft and anti-tank
missiles; light mortars; mines and grenades.
The danger of small arms proliferation to world peace is underscored by the fact that in
1994, major armed conflicts were being waged in 27 countries around the world and small
arms were the overwhelming cause of death from these weapons. The existence of small arms
is perhaps most fragile in third world countries due to power imbalances such as insurgents,
drug traffickers and other criminals. For example, guerrillas in Kashmir fighting India use
Soviet Kalashnikovs, in Pakistan, small arms exacerbate ethnic conflicts between mohajirs,
Pakistani Punjabis, Pathans from the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan and
Sindhis.
For Third World countries, issues related to the threat of a new form of security
(Human Security) are "real security threats" because they have relevance to the domestic
conditions of Third World countries that are still preoccupied with the threat of human
security by various issues regarding: 1) Political transition situation; 2) Weak government
power due to not maximizing law enforcement efforts; 3) Political uncertainty; 4) Economic
crisis; 5) Conflict issues in border areas; 6) Ethnic conflicts and communal conflicts with
various international dimensions; 7) The issue of national disintegration; 8) Increase in the
number of terrorism perpetrators; 9) The ability to carry out threatening actions against
human security, etc.
The development of technology, especially information technology, is one of the strong
reasons for the expansion of contemporary global issues, resulting in a shift in the nature of
global issues from before the Cold War. Due to the development of threats that have different
types than before the Cold War, contemporary global issues have specificity:
Unconventional;
In the sense that contemporary global issues are non-armaments and/or arms
competition.
Nontraditional;
This means that the issue category is not inter-state.
Non-military;
As mentioned earlier, disease outbreaks, and/or drugs can be a threat.
Multidimensional; and
Issues are complex such as those concerning poverty.
Transnational
The issues raised in contemporary global are cross-border such as migration, refugees,
and others.
Thus, the characteristics of contemporary global issues as non-traditional security
threats are:
Contemporary global issues that are non-traditional security threats are not centered on
one particular country. Thus, the threats that are part of these contemporary global
issues are not only faced by one country, but have threatened a number of countries at
once (have regional and global dimensions). Therefore, contemporary global issues are
often referred to as "transnational security threats".
Contemporary global issues are not focused on a particular geographical location.
Based on their geographical character, these issues are It is often difficult to
"recognize" because it crosses borders between countries and even regional
(transnational) boundaries.
Contemporary global issues cannot be addressed by military force alone. Indeed,
military force can be used in escalations that lead to armed conflict. However, in the
long run, military force can no longer be used effectively to address the threat of these
global issues.
Security issues that have become contemporary global issues have threatened the
existence of a country and individuals who are part of the country.
The most obvious thing is that in the development of contemporary global issues is the
emergence of a new term in responding to the threats faced, namely human security.
Strategic Global Issues and National Security in International Relations Theory
Strategic global issues and national security in international relations theory are divided
into two major parts: 1) state centric point of view; and 2) global cross cutting issues. The
state-centric point of view is divided between realism and institutionalism where realism
focuses on national interests while institutionalism focuses on regimes, namely regime
theory. Meanwhile, there is a cross-border theory pioneered by Wednt in the form of
constructivism theory and Joseph Nye in the form of transnationalism theory. In this cross-
border theory, the issue of globalization is raised as one of the factors.
Joseph Nye in his theory states that what is called global interaction is the movement of
information, money, goods, tangible and intangible objects beyond national borders.18 He
divides into four types of global interaction: 1) communication; 2) transportation; 3) money;
4) tourism.19 The interaction is divided into two types, namely interstate communication
and transnational communication. Interstate communication is a type of communication in
relations International communication is conducted entirely under the control of the
government of the nation state. Meanwhile, transnational communication is a type of
communication in international relations that has begun to involve non-state actors.
This form of interstate communication is the classical type, which is also called having
a classical paradigm. This interaction focuses on the government as the agent with which
people relate politically. This interstate politics is different from-although indirectly related
to-domestic politics. Transnational forms of communication in this type are not taken into
account.
Unlike interstate forms of interaction, transnational interactions may involve
governments, but they may not. Non-state actors play an important role in these interactions.
Talking about transnational interactions, we are talking about finance, travel and
communication, which in some cases can involve state actors, for example, to cross borders.
Thus, Nye and Keohanne refer to transnational interaction as a term to describe the
movement of tangible items and services (intangible items) across national borders when at
least one actor is not a state actor and/or an interstate organization.21 Nye and Keohanne
picked up the definition brought by J. David Singer which states that individuals and/or
organizations can have a role in world politics: 1) they can be involved in a coalition that
controls and influences their country; 2) they play their role directly confronting (vs) with
foreign policies and / or foreign societies that are not through (by pass) the government of
their country.22 Nye and Keohanne argue that transnational interactions fall into and / or
more precisely in the second type of Singer's explanation. Keohanne and Nye then describe
the form of transnational interaction as follows to distinguish it from interstate forms of
internation:
In the post-world war globalization era, which involves contemporary global issues of
international relations, many interactions are of the transnational type. This is inseparable
from the existence of Various technologies have been invented, especially communication
technology. Individuals can interact directly with the international community and/or
organizations of nations such as the United Nations. Some of the effects described by
Keohanne and Nye that occur in this type of interaction are essentially increased sensitivity
between people which means changing the form of their relationship with the government.
With global mass communication, different groups from different societies, such as
radical students, military personnel, or ethnic minorities, can observe each other's behavior
and then take it into action. Thus, student radicals can make political tactics and demands
without any direct contact. Their international "consipracy" is conducted publicly and
disseminated with the help of specialized media. Perpetrators in this global phenomenon may
be punished, but its scale, scope and speed are the product of global television.
In brief, Keohanne and Nye concluded that the effects of transnational interactions are:
1) changes in behavior; 2) international pluralism; 3) increased restrictions on states; 4)
increased ability of states to influence others; and 5) the emergence of independent actors
with private foreign policies that can directly oppose or reject their government's policies.
This is most evident in the fact that an individual in a family, the smallest organization
in the country, does not even have control over what his family members access with the
internet technology. This then becomes the same thing that happens at the state level. Thus,
state control is weakened and challenges to national security are strengthened. Threats are
becoming more complex as information technology can target the individual level and
influence their actions bypassing state governance. Does this mean that the state must be
authoritarian and or is there a new form?
Form a Comprehensive Security Strategy: A United Nations Proposal
To the challenges faced by the international community today, the United Nations (UN)
offers a way out. For two decades now, the international community has been working
towards a broad understanding of what constitutes security. Seeking input from governments,
academics, community groups and intergovernmental organizations, the UN held a meeting
called the 2000 Millennium Summit for a world "free of want" and "free of fear". As a result
of this meeting, an understanding and/or input on human security was formed.
In 2001, the UN created a special unit on humanitarian security called the Commission
of Human Security (CHS). The Commission consists of twelve international figures,
including Sadako Ogata - former UN High Commissioner for Refugees - and Professor
Amartya Sen (Nobel Laureate 1998). Humanitarian security has refocused the attention of
states and the international community on the survival, livelihoods and dignity of people as
the basis for peace, development and human progress.
While humanitarian security remains vital to stability and peace, the complexity and
interconnectedness of old and new threats - from chronic and persistent poverty, to violent
conflict, climate change, human trafficking, health, and financial crises - creates a shared
vulnerability to the growing risk of diffuse and cross cutting threats. As challenges can
evolve rapidly within and across nations and deliver powerful crises, humanitarian security
emphasizes the need for a new framework that combines the agendas of security and peace,
development and human rights in a more effective, efficient, and prevention-oriented process.
Here is the UN statement mentioned in the document: While national security remains pivotal
to peace and stability, the complexity and interrelatedness of old and new threats-from
chronic and persistent poverty, to violent conflicts, climate change, human trafficking, health
pandemics, and economic and financial crises-reveal our shared vulnerabilities to a growing
risk of threats that are widespread and cross-cutting. Because these challenges can spread
rapidly within and across nations and give rise to more intractable crises, human security
emphasizes the need for a new framework that combines the agendas of peace and security,
development and human rights in a more effective, efficient and prevention-oriented manner.
In United States, it can be summarized that humanitarian security is to protect the vital
core of human life by enhancing human freedom and fulfilling human needs. The CHS's
arguments for the importance of humanitarian security, touched on a little earlier, are detailed
below:
As argued by the Commission on Human Security (CHS), the need for a new paradigm
of security is associated with two sets of dynamics:
First, human security is needed in response to the complexity and the interrelatedness
of both old and new security threats-from chronic and persistent poverty to ethnic violence,
human trafficking, climate change, health pandemics, international terrorism, and sudden
economic and financial downturns. Such threats tend to acquire transnational dimensions and
move beyond traditional notions of security that focus on external military aggressions alone.
Second, human security is required as a comprehensive approach that utilizes the wide
range of new opportunities to tackle such threats in an integrated manner. Human security
threats cannot be tackled through conventional mechanisms alone. Instead, they require a new
consensus that recognizes the linkages and the interdependencies between development,
human rights and national security.
In essence, the definition provided by the CHS conceptualizes re-envision security with its
most fundamental issues:
moving away from the traditional, state-centric conception of security focused
primarily on the security of the state from military aggression, one that concentrates on
the security of individuals, their protection and empowerment;
draw attention to the many threats that cut across different aspects of human life and
thus highlight the interface between security, development and human rights; and
promote a new integrated, coordinated and people-centered approach to advancing
peace, security and development within and across countries.
Human security brings together the 'human element' in security, rights and
development. As such, it is an inter-disciplinary concept that displays the following
characteristics: 1) human-centered; 2) multi-sectoral; 3) comprehensive; 4) context-specific;
and 5) prevention-oriented.
As a human-centered concept, human security places the individual at the 'center of
analysis'. As a result, it considers the range of conditions that threaten survival, livelihoods
and dignity, and identifies the lower threshold of intolerable human life, threatened. Human
security is also based on a multi-sectoral understanding of insecurity. Therefore, human
security requires an expanded understanding of threats and includes related causes of
insecurity, e.g. for economic, food, health, environmental, personal, community and political
security.
This interdependence has important implications for policymaking as it suggests that
human insecurity cannot be addressed in isolation through fragmented stand-alone responses.
Instead, human security involves a comprehensive approach that emphasizes the need for a
multi-sectoral response that brings together agendas related to security, development and
human rights.
Moreover, as a context-specific concept, human security recognizes that insecurity
varies across different settings and as such advances solutions that are contextually
responsive to the particular situation they seek to address. Finally, in addressing the risks and
root causes of insecurity, human security is prevention oriented and introduces a dual focus
on protection and empowerment.
Conclusion
Based on the analysis and discussion above, it can be concluded that national security
in the context of contemporary global issues in the perspective of international relations is
complex, because threats at the individual level become real. This is then explained in
transnational theory in international relations. In its development, the UN then offered to re-
conceptualize the notion of national security which ultimately provided input on human
security.
The UN has done many things related to humanitarian security. However, the most
obvious challenge still comes if it is clashed with the most classic international relations
theory, namely realism regarding superpowers. The extent to which superpower involvement
can be genuinely involved in the development of issues without any element of national
interest involvement in it, at least supports this conception.
History of the Emergence of Contemporary Global Issues
Contemporary history is a subset of modern history that describes the period of history
from about 1945 to the present. The term "contemporary history" has been used since at least
the early 20th century 19. Contemporary political history is dominated by the Cold War
(1945-1991) between the United States and the Soviet Union whose effects were felt around
the world. In this geopolitical context, the fall of European colonial empires in Africa and
Asia between 1945 and 1975 was often followed by American-Soviet confrontation in the
form of proxy wars and through intervention in the internal politics of smaller states. The
U.S.-Soviet rivalry eventually ended with the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw
Pact in 1991, following the Revolutions of 1989. and in the last stage and after the Cold War
paved the way for the democratization of large parts of Europe, Africa and Latin America.
In the Middle East, the period after 1945 was dominated by conflicts involving the new
state of Israel and the rise of petroleum politics, as well as the growth of Islamism after the
1980s. The period after 1945 saw the growth of the first supranational governmental
organizations, such as the United Nations and the European Union. Socially, western
countries experienced the rise of counter cultures3 and the sexual revolution4 between the
1960s and 1980s which transformed social relations and was fueled by the 1968 Protests.
Living standards rose sharply around the world especially in developed countries as a result
of, but also the emergence of, new economic powers such as Japan and West Germany. US
culture, especially consumerism, spread widely. By the 1960s, many western countries had
begun the process of deindustrialization. In their place, globalization led to the emergence of
new industrial centers, such as Japan, Taiwan and later China, based on exports consumer
goods for developed countries. The period after 1945 was also a transformative period in the
history of science because, among other things, nuclear technology, molecular biology,
particle physics and so on emerged which became the background for the emergence of
various technologies that appear today including the internet.
The history of the modern international system itself actually began in its history when
the Westphalia system (1648). States are interconnected with each other in an environment
called the international system. All countries are considered to have sovereignty, and some
countries are stronger than others. The system has many forms of informal rules about what
should happen, but these rules are not binding. International relations have existed since the
existence of states. The modern international system that we find ourselves in, however, is
not that old. The peace that ended a 30-year war between Catholic and Protestant states in
Western and Central Europe was the forerunner of the modern international system. It
declared that the sovereign leader of each nation state could do what he wanted within its
borders and established the state as a global actor in global politics. From then onwards, the
international system was in relation to nation states.
In the 17th-18th centuries, nation-states emerged to dominate the system of
international relations. A number of strong states dominated Europe, with some powers
coming and going. Weak states usually joined forces with others to prevent the dominant
power from becoming too strong, which is known as a proactive form of preserving the
balance of power. Economic competition and frequent wars marked this era, with countries
such as Britain and France being the most powerful to date, but some other powerful
countries collapsing over time, namely the Ottoman Empire and Spain.
Fundamental differences began to emerge in the 19th century, bringing about two major
changes in the international system:
Nationalism as a form of strength, which makes the nation state grow stronger.
Italy and Germany united, which changed the military and political balance in Europe.
Problems arose with the unification of Italy and Germany, which contributed to World
War I (1914-1918). The international system changed drastically after the war. Many
powerful countries in Europe were devastated by the war, and the United States (US) itself
began to come out of its isolation and turn into a global power. At the same time, the end of
the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian powers created a series of new states, and the rise of
communism in Russia. These factors led to the Treaty of Versailles, the Nazis and
Communism, and World War II (1939-1945).
New governments have emerged since the end of World War II. After the War, two
powers emerged: The US and the Soviet Union, which was called the bipolar system. Since
the end of the Cold War, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US has become the sole
ruler of the international system, which is called unipolar. However, there are other
viewpoints that see that the economic power of the US is not so strong that it cannot be said
that the control of the economy is entirely in the hands of the US because there are other
strong economic countries such as countries in Asia, thus calling it multi-polar.
Contemporary global issues emerged precisely at the end of the Cold War and/or when
the modern international system was unipolar. This can be regarded as the second period of
the new international order. The events that occurred became the context for contemporary
global issues. The most devastating event was the so-called 9/11 or September attacks. An
attack reportedly carried out by the Al Qaedah terrorist group on the US on September 11,
2001. There were about 2,999 victims, about 6,000 injured and 10 million properties and
infrastructures damaged.7 It is said to be devastating here because the attack was carried out
on the unipolar power holder of the international system at that time, namely the US. There
had been previous events that set the context for contemporary global issues such as the
genocides in Rwanda and Bosnia and the emergence of new states in Eastern Europe.
With the events of 9/11 and the genocide problem being addressed by the international
community, the new world government There is one threat that has a different character. The
nature of the threat this time is no longer from the state as was dominant in the Cold War
period but non-state actors. Non-state actors as the perpetrators of the causes of world
insecurity are becoming increasingly difficult to identify because such actors can also come
from the state concerned and/or from within the state itself. International issues in
international relations are becoming increasingly complex so that they are called
contemporary global issues. In this post-Cold War era, threats can mean disease outbreaks,
human trafficking, narcotics, arms trafficking, poverty, illiteracy, infectious viruses, which
are experienced by several countries not the country itself.
Thus, contemporary global issues are issues that developed and expanded after the end
of the Cold War in the 1990s. These contemporary global issues are related to the problems
faced by the international community in the new world order (new order) which is faced with
welfare issues related to human security. The form of security threats in this era has been
transformed so that the form of the international security agenda has also become new,
namely the New Global Security Agenda.
In 2002, the US Department of State under the US Secretary of Global Affairs, Paula J.
Dobriansky, issued a statement released on its website8 regarding new global security by
previously formulating an understanding of what is meant by global issues: At this point, it is
worth defining what I mean by global issues. Global issues are those issues that are not
limited by borders or boundaries but that reach across international lines to affect us all. My
global portfolio encompasses environment and science, refugees and migration, narcotics
trafficking and law enforcement, human rights, and health matters. Though he was speaking
in the first century B.C., the Roman poet Horace aptly described what could be called the
crux of modern global affairs when he wrote, "Your own safety is at stake when your
neighbor's wall is ablaze." The essence of global issues is a recognition that the people of the
world are inexorably linked and that, in today's world, that which touches some touches all.
Since September 11, never have we been more acutely aware that our own safety and the
protection of our way of life must be guarded by due attention to international problems -
such as injustice and the inadequacy of the rule of law, poverty, disease, and repression.
These are the blazing walls of today's world that threaten to engulf us. That is why these
issues have become central to American foreign policy and our efforts to protect our national
interests.
The US defines global issues as those that are not limited to cross-border issues but also
include international issues that impact the US across issues such as the environment and
science, refugees and migration, drug trafficking and law enforcement, human rights and
health. The US recognizes that since 9/11 issues have not been as acute regarding the safety
and protection of life. The aforementioned issues, including terrorism and disease, have
become one of the factors for the US to call it the new global security agenda.
Types and Characteristics of Contemporary Global Issues
Earlier in 1996, a paper was published by the Institute for Security Studies, which
identified several global sources of insecurity and their implications for national security
policy formulation. There are eight important things after the Cold War as strategic global
issues, namely drugs, migration, the environment, population, global economic challenges,
the crisis of liberal democracy, fusion and division, and light weapon proliferation.9 In the
paper, it is explained that there are global sources of insecurity and their implications for
national security policy formulation. These eight issues then become an important cluster as
an extraordinary threat to national and regional security and ultimately global security.10
This was then coupled with 9/11. Thus, the threat in this new form is not in the form of a
"military attack" carried out by a state against another state but an act of crime committed by
a non-state actor and aimed at the state (state actor), individuals or citizens who threaten the
security of humanity (Human Security).
Drugs
The domestic toll of drug addiction is alarming. These include loss of productivity,
soaring health costs, a sharp rise in drug-related crime, and the accelerated spread of AIDS
through contaminated needles. Drug use is not just a social phenomenon; it has far-reaching
political implications and security implications. For example, in Latin America there are
close links between drug traffickers and leftist revolutionary groups such as the Columbia M-
19 and the Peruvian Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path).11 In Lebanon and elsewhere in the
Middle East, in the Balkans, the Southern Republics of the former Soviet Union, Burma
(Myanmar) and Sri Lanka, drugs have become a major source of funds for movements.
Drug trafficking can also affect relations between countries. For example, a major
reason for the 1989 invasion of Panama by the US was that this government, under the
leadership of General Manuel Noriega, was allegedly serving as a conduit for drug travel to
the US.13 Most recently, Ross Perot's strongest attack on the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA), he argued that its eradication was a restriction on free access of goods
between Mexico and the US in allowing larger free traders of drugs in a sense to distribute
their 'poison' in the United States.
Migration
The largest and most dramatic population movement in recent years has been that of
approximately 30 million refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs).14 Political
unrest, social upheaval, economic dislocation and ecological disasters have contributed to the
movement of people across national borders of one 'southern' regional country to another. As
a result there are 3.2 million Afghans in Pakistan and 2.3 million in Iran; 685,000 in Ethiopia
are reported to have sought refuge in Sudan, while there are also 320,000 Somalis and
384,000 Sudanese in Ethiopia; and a further 600,000 Ethiopians are reported to have fled the
war to Somalia. 17 Civil war and famine have caused a third of Liberia's population (763,000
out of a total population of 2.4 million) to flee to neighboring Guinea, Sierra Leone and the
Coast.
Mass population movements are increasingly attracting the attention of key
policymakers, not only for humanitarian reasons, but also because they create domestic
instability, generate inter-state tensions and threaten international security. South Africa is
estimated to have received eight million illegal immigrants, which was the case at one point.
In 1994, it cost South African taxpayers R1, 985 million to host illegal alien residents.
In addition, there is a reciprocal relationship between illegal immigrants and the spread of
infectious diseases such as AIDS, malaria, cholera and tuberculosis. Police sources have also
noted that fourteen percent of all crimes in South Africa involve illegal immigrants including
arms sales, money laundering and drug trafficking.
Environment
The waning of Cold War military tensions coincided with the development of real
security problems that threaten the security of many countries and require international
solutions, including the hole in the ozone layer, the greenhouse effect, deforestation, scarce
water, energy and other resources. The increase in environmental hazards has underscored
two forms of interaction between states in the world: cooperation and conflict.
In 1940, David Mitrany developed a functional theory of international relations. He
proposed that given the common problems facing humanity everywhere, cooperation between
states should be broadened. This theme was embraced and magnified by globalists in the
1980s and 1990s - even going so far as to propose a federal world government for Planet
Earth. At the heart of the theory is the idea that the gravity of global problems requires global
solutions - resulting in greater levels of cooperation between the world's nations. For
example, one country cannot solve a problem such as the widening hole in the Earth's ozone;
it must be a combined planet-wide effort. On one level global cooperation, sharing common
problems, can be seen as a way of such as the Rio Earth Summit.
The potential for resource-based conflict was evident in the 1990 and 1991 Gulf Wars,
which essentially revolved around the scarce resource of energy. One of the main reasons for
the US to get involved in the Gulf War was its dependence on Gulf oil. American dependence
on Persian Gulf oil rose 500 percent between 1985 and 1989. By 1990 oil accounted for half
of the $100 billion US trade deficit.
Population
The world population is expected to grow from 5.3 billion in 1990 to 6.2 billion in
2000, and 8.5 billion in 2025. The growth rate of nearly one billion per decade has socio-
cultural and political economic consequences for the macro-environment. For example,
resource problems in countries such as Mexico and Egypt are directly linked to population
growth.
In Africa itself there is a noted reciprocal relationship between the conflict in Rwanda
and the fact that it has one of the highest levels of population density in Africa's growth.
Population was also seen to be responsible for two-thirds of the increase in carbon dioxide
entering the atmosphere between 1950 and 1985, thereby contributing to the greenhouse
effect. The population explosion was also listed as one of the contributing factors to the
occurrence of IDPs.16
Global Economic Challenges
The need to restructure the world economy stems from two major points: the north-
south growth divide and economic competition. The existence of a north-south split in
economic growth, and in some cases expansion, is obvious. This is highlighted by the fact
that the world's richest twenty percent control eighty percent of the world's economic
resources. This is demonstrated by the fact that the world's richest twenty percent are now
150 times richer than the poorest. It is further underscored by the fact that 1.3 billion people
in developing countries live in conditions of absolute poverty.
Saddest of all, it can be seen by the fact that 34,000 children die every day in the world
from malnutrition and disease. The need to address the north-south problem stems not only
from humanitarian reasons, but also from the threat of prosperity whose poverty is
increasingly exposed. Economic scarcity in the form of global markets and rising production
costs intensify economic competition. Technological competition and various forms of
commercial warfare have replaced the arms race from after the Cold War. According to
Japanese politician Isihara Shintaro, the twenty-first century will be a century of economic
warfare. If this happens, international security is threatened. Large economic power blocs
have been developed in the Pacific Rim and North America as a counterweight to the
European Union (EU). Similar economic formations have also been developed in Central
Africa and South America. The existence of large economic formations is necessary and does
not necessarily mean economic competition but rather complementarity. However, the
scarcity of such competition can develop and the history can become 'hot'.
The Crisis of Liberal Democracy
The end of Soviet-style communist rule consolidated the position of Western liberal
democracies. Since then, there has been state-sponsored ideological competition. The fall of
the Soviet system vindicated the principle of liberal democracy in the eyes of many: Smith,
Mill and Keynes. Western ideas of triumphalism were encapsulated in Francis Fukuyama's
books The End of History and Last Man. The liberal democratic paradigm seemed absolutely
dominant. Post-1989 developments seemed to show this as economic structural adjustment
programs (ESAPs) were liberalized in many African countries; liberal multiparty winds
democracy that swept across much of Africa, South America, the Middle East and Asia.17
Subsequent developments in the former Eastern bloc, which has seen the rise of the former
Communist Party, seem to disprove this notion.
Even in South Africa, political pluralism has experienced some setbacks. Soon after the
fall of the Berlin Wall, the surge towards multiparty democracy intensified in South Africa.
Kenneth Kaunda's corrupt one-party rule system was replaced by Frederick Chiluba's
Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD). In Malawi, the despotic rule of President-for-
life Hastings Kamuzu Band ended peacefully when Malawians went to the Banda elections
and his Malawi Congress Party (MCP) was voted out of power, replaced by United
Democratic Front (UDF) leader Bakili Muluzi.
In Lesotho, military rule ended and the Basotho National Party lost dominance in
elections that brought Prime Minister Ntsu Mokhehle and his Basotholand Congress Party
(BCP) to power. In South Africa, white minority rule came on April 27, 1994-the country's
first racially inclusive election. Meanwhile, both of the former Portuguese colonies in the
region, Angola and Mozambique, began to make the long and difficult transition to political
pluralism.
Fusion and Cleavage
The two most conflicting elements of the contemporary period are fusion and division-
peace coming together with the violent disintegration of society.
Regarding fusion, a newborn global culture seems to be taking shape. Denim jeans and
CocaCola are forms that are universal. If Toshiba and Toyota are in New York, then
MacDonald and Kentucky Fried Chicken will be found in Tokyo. If lamb is cooked and
stewed in a restaurant in New Delhi, then a fancy restaurant in London serves hot curry from
India. If Michael Jackson and Madonna become very famous in Montevideo, Maputo or
Kuala Lumpur, then West African and Indian music is represented by the likes of Manu
Dibango and Babu Shegal, who will surely be found playing in the discos of Paris or
Manchester. This is a nascent global cultural trend that goes even deeper than this: Human
rights and gender, geographical, political and cultural crossovers. One of the reasons for this
is The development of communication and technological innovation made it cheaper to travel
and made it possible for CNN broadcasts to reach 200 million people in ninety other
countries.
Fusion seems to buck this trend: scarce resources, varying degrees of population growth
in heterogeneous societies and the resultant growth of ethnic nationalism are tearing societies
apart. This has been evident in Rwanda and Burundi between Hutu and Tutsi; between Serbs,
Croats and Muslims in the former Yugoslavia; and between Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims in
India. What is even more interesting today is that these issues are beginning to surface in
western countries with liberal democracies: consider the growth of neo-Nazism in Germany;
the rising fortunes of Jean-Marie le Pen's National Front in France; the invigorating separatist
movements in Quebec; Catalonia; the Basque country; Corsica; Lombardy; Scotland and
Wales; and increasing tensions between the Flems and Walloons in Belgium. Not least, in the
US there were the 1992 riots in Los Angeles and the growth of ethnocentric nationalist
movements.
Light Weapons Production
Light weapons refer to crew-portable and ground weapons. Definitions include small
arms such as pistols, rifles, assault rifles and sub-machine guns; and medium machine guns;
heavy machine guns (HMG) with a caliber not exceeding 14.5 mm; anti-aircraft and anti-tank
missiles; light mortars; mines and grenades.
The danger of small arms proliferation to world peace is underscored by the fact that in
1994, major armed conflicts were being waged in 27 countries around the world and small
arms were the overwhelming cause of death from these weapons. The existence of small arms
is perhaps most fragile in third world countries due to power imbalances such as insurgents,
drug traffickers and other criminals. For example, guerrillas in Kashmir fighting India use
Soviet Kalashnikovs, in Pakistan, small arms exacerbate ethnic conflicts between mohajirs,
Pakistani Punjabis, Pathans from the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan and
Sindhis.
For Third World countries, issues related to the threat of a new form of security
(Human Security) are "real security threats" because they have relevance to the domestic
conditions of Third World countries that are still preoccupied with the threat of human
security by various issues regarding: 1) Political transition situation; 2) Weak government
power due to not maximizing law enforcement efforts; 3) Political uncertainty; 4) Economic
crisis; 5) Conflict issues in border areas; 6) Ethnic conflicts and communal conflicts with
various international dimensions; 7) The issue of national disintegration; 8) Increase in the
number of terrorism perpetrators; 9) The ability to carry out threatening actions against
human security, etc.
The development of technology, especially information technology, is one of the strong
reasons for the expansion of contemporary global issues, resulting in a shift in the nature of
global issues from before the Cold War. Due to the development of threats that have different
types than before the Cold War, contemporary global issues have specificity:
Unconventional;
In the sense that contemporary global issues are non-armaments and/or arms
competition.
Nontraditional;
This means that the issue category is not inter-state.
Non-military;
As mentioned earlier, disease outbreaks, and/or drugs can be a threat.
Multidimensional; and
Issues are complex such as those concerning poverty.
Transnational
The issues raised in contemporary global are cross-border such as migration, refugees,
and others.
Thus, the characteristics of contemporary global issues as non-traditional security
threats are:
Contemporary global issues that are non-traditional security threats are not centered on
one particular country. Thus, the threats that are part of these contemporary global
issues are not only faced by one country, but have threatened a number of countries at
once (have regional and global dimensions). Therefore, contemporary global issues are
often referred to as "transnational security threats".
Contemporary global issues are not focused on a particular geographical location.
Based on their geographical character, these issues are It is often difficult to
"recognize" because it crosses borders between countries and even regional
(transnational) boundaries.
Contemporary global issues cannot be addressed by military force alone. Indeed,
military force can be used in escalations that lead to armed conflict. However, in the
long run, military force can no longer be used effectively to address the threat of these
global issues.
Security issues that have become contemporary global issues have threatened the
existence of a country and individuals who are part of the country.
The most obvious thing is that in the development of contemporary global issues is the
emergence of a new term in responding to the threats faced, namely human security.
Strategic Global Issues and National Security in International Relations Theory
Strategic global issues and national security in international relations theory are divided
into two major parts: 1) state centric point of view; and 2) global cross cutting issues. The
state-centric point of view is divided between realism and institutionalism where realism
focuses on national interests while institutionalism focuses on regimes, namely regime
theory. Meanwhile, there is a cross-border theory pioneered by Wednt in the form of
constructivism theory and Joseph Nye in the form of transnationalism theory. In this cross-
border theory, the issue of globalization is raised as one of the factors.
Joseph Nye in his theory states that what is called global interaction is the movement of
information, money, goods, tangible and intangible objects beyond national borders.18 He
divides into four types of global interaction: 1) communication; 2) transportation; 3) money;
4) tourism.19 The interaction is divided into two types, namely interstate communication
and transnational communication. Interstate communication is a type of communication in
relations International communication is conducted entirely under the control of the
government of the nation state. Meanwhile, transnational communication is a type of
communication in international relations that has begun to involve non-state actors.
This form of interstate communication is the classical type, which is also called having
a classical paradigm. This interaction focuses on the government as the agent with which
people relate politically. This interstate politics is different from-although indirectly related
to-domestic politics. Transnational forms of communication in this type are not taken into
account.
Unlike interstate forms of interaction, transnational interactions may involve
governments, but they may not. Non-state actors play an important role in these interactions.
Talking about transnational interactions, we are talking about finance, travel and
communication, which in some cases can involve state actors, for example, to cross borders.
Thus, Nye and Keohanne refer to transnational interaction as a term to describe the
movement of tangible items and services (intangible items) across national borders when at
least one actor is not a state actor and/or an interstate organization.21 Nye and Keohanne
picked up the definition brought by J. David Singer which states that individuals and/or
organizations can have a role in world politics: 1) they can be involved in a coalition that
controls and influences their country; 2) they play their role directly confronting (vs) with
foreign policies and / or foreign societies that are not through (by pass) the government of
their country.22 Nye and Keohanne argue that transnational interactions fall into and / or
more precisely in the second type of Singer's explanation. Keohanne and Nye then describe
the form of transnational interaction as follows to distinguish it from interstate forms of
internation:
In the post-world war globalization era, which involves contemporary global issues of
international relations, many interactions are of the transnational type. This is inseparable
from the existence of Various technologies have been invented, especially communication
technology. Individuals can interact directly with the international community and/or
organizations of nations such as the United Nations. Some of the effects described by
Keohanne and Nye that occur in this type of interaction are essentially increased sensitivity
between people which means changing the form of their relationship with the government.
With global mass communication, different groups from different societies, such as
radical students, military personnel, or ethnic minorities, can observe each other's behavior
and then take it into action. Thus, student radicals can make political tactics and demands
without any direct contact. Their international "consipracy" is conducted publicly and
disseminated with the help of specialized media. Perpetrators in this global phenomenon may
be punished, but its scale, scope and speed are the product of global television.
In brief, Keohanne and Nye concluded that the effects of transnational interactions are:
1) changes in behavior; 2) international pluralism; 3) increased restrictions on states; 4)
increased ability of states to influence others; and 5) the emergence of independent actors
with private foreign policies that can directly oppose or reject their government's policies.
This is most evident in the fact that an individual in a family, the smallest organization
in the country, does not even have control over what his family members access with the
internet technology. This then becomes the same thing that happens at the state level. Thus,
state control is weakened and challenges to national security are strengthened. Threats are
becoming more complex as information technology can target the individual level and
influence their actions bypassing state governance. Does this mean that the state must be
authoritarian and or is there a new form?
Form a Comprehensive Security Strategy: A United Nations Proposal
To the challenges faced by the international community today, the United Nations (UN)
offers a way out. For two decades now, the international community has been working
towards a broad understanding of what constitutes security. Seeking input from governments,
academics, community groups and intergovernmental organizations, the UN held a meeting
called the 2000 Millennium Summit for a world "free of want" and "free of fear". As a result
of this meeting, an understanding and/or input on human security was formed.
In 2001, the UN created a special unit on humanitarian security called the Commission
of Human Security (CHS). The Commission consists of twelve international figures,
including Sadako Ogata - former UN High Commissioner for Refugees - and Professor
Amartya Sen (Nobel Laureate 1998). Humanitarian security has refocused the attention of
states and the international community on the survival, livelihoods and dignity of people as
the basis for peace, development and human progress.
While humanitarian security remains vital to stability and peace, the complexity and
interconnectedness of old and new threats - from chronic and persistent poverty, to violent
conflict, climate change, human trafficking, health, and financial crises - creates a shared
vulnerability to the growing risk of diffuse and cross cutting threats. As challenges can
evolve rapidly within and across nations and deliver powerful crises, humanitarian security
emphasizes the need for a new framework that combines the agendas of security and peace,
development and human rights in a more effective, efficient, and prevention-oriented process.
Here is the UN statement mentioned in the document: While national security remains pivotal
to peace and stability, the complexity and interrelatedness of old and new threats-from
chronic and persistent poverty, to violent conflicts, climate change, human trafficking, health
pandemics, and economic and financial crises-reveal our shared vulnerabilities to a growing
risk of threats that are widespread and cross-cutting. Because these challenges can spread
rapidly within and across nations and give rise to more intractable crises, human security
emphasizes the need for a new framework that combines the agendas of peace and security,
development and human rights in a more effective, efficient and prevention-oriented manner.
In United States, it can be summarized that humanitarian security is to protect the vital
core of human life by enhancing human freedom and fulfilling human needs. The CHS's
arguments for the importance of humanitarian security, touched on a little earlier, are detailed
below:
As argued by the Commission on Human Security (CHS), the need for a new paradigm
of security is associated with two sets of dynamics:
First, human security is needed in response to the complexity and the interrelatedness
of both old and new security threats-from chronic and persistent poverty to ethnic violence,
human trafficking, climate change, health pandemics, international terrorism, and sudden
economic and financial downturns. Such threats tend to acquire transnational dimensions and
move beyond traditional notions of security that focus on external military aggressions alone.
Second, human security is required as a comprehensive approach that utilizes the wide
range of new opportunities to tackle such threats in an integrated manner. Human security
threats cannot be tackled through conventional mechanisms alone. Instead, they require a new
consensus that recognizes the linkages and the interdependencies between development,
human rights and national security.
In essence, the definition provided by the CHS conceptualizes re-envision security with its
most fundamental issues:
moving away from the traditional, state-centric conception of security focused
primarily on the security of the state from military aggression, one that concentrates on
the security of individuals, their protection and empowerment;
draw attention to the many threats that cut across different aspects of human life and
thus highlight the interface between security, development and human rights; and
promote a new integrated, coordinated and people-centered approach to advancing
peace, security and development within and across countries.
Human security brings together the 'human element' in security, rights and
development. As such, it is an inter-disciplinary concept that displays the following
characteristics: 1) human-centered; 2) multi-sectoral; 3) comprehensive; 4) context-specific;
and 5) prevention-oriented.
As a human-centered concept, human security places the individual at the 'center of
analysis'. As a result, it considers the range of conditions that threaten survival, livelihoods
and dignity, and identifies the lower threshold of intolerable human life, threatened. Human
security is also based on a multi-sectoral understanding of insecurity. Therefore, human
security requires an expanded understanding of threats and includes related causes of
insecurity, e.g. for economic, food, health, environmental, personal, community and political
security.
This interdependence has important implications for policymaking as it suggests that
human insecurity cannot be addressed in isolation through fragmented stand-alone responses.
Instead, human security involves a comprehensive approach that emphasizes the need for a
multi-sectoral response that brings together agendas related to security, development and
human rights.
Moreover, as a context-specific concept, human security recognizes that insecurity
varies across different settings and as such advances solutions that are contextually
responsive to the particular situation they seek to address. Finally, in addressing the risks and
root causes of insecurity, human security is prevention oriented and introduces a dual focus
on protection and empowerment.
Conclusion
Based on the analysis and discussion above, it can be concluded that national security
in the context of contemporary global issues in the perspective of international relations is
complex, because threats at the individual level become real. This is then explained in
transnational theory in international relations. In its development, the UN then offered to re-
conceptualize the notion of national security which ultimately provided input on human
security.
The UN has done many things related to humanitarian security. However, the most
obvious challenge still comes if it is clashed with the most classic international relations
theory, namely realism regarding superpowers. The extent to which superpower involvement
can be genuinely involved in the development of issues without any element of national
interest involvement in it, at least supports this conception.
History of the Emergence of Contemporary Global Issues
Contemporary history is a subset of modern history that describes the period of history
from about 1945 to the present. The term "contemporary history" has been used since at least
the early 20th century 19. Contemporary political history is dominated by the Cold War
(1945-1991) between the United States and the Soviet Union whose effects were felt around
the world. In this geopolitical context, the fall of European colonial empires in Africa and
Asia between 1945 and 1975 was often followed by American-Soviet confrontation in the
form of proxy wars and through intervention in the internal politics of smaller states. The
U.S.-Soviet rivalry eventually ended with the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw
Pact in 1991, following the Revolutions of 1989. and in the last stage and after the Cold War
paved the way for the democratization of large parts of Europe, Africa and Latin America.
In the Middle East, the period after 1945 was dominated by conflicts involving the new
state of Israel and the rise of petroleum politics, as well as the growth of Islamism after the
1980s. The period after 1945 saw the growth of the first supranational governmental
organizations, such as the United Nations and the European Union. Socially, western
countries experienced the rise of counter cultures3 and the sexual revolution4 between the
1960s and 1980s which transformed social relations and was fueled by the 1968 Protests.
Living standards rose sharply around the world especially in developed countries as a result
of, but also the emergence of, new economic powers such as Japan and West Germany. US
culture, especially consumerism, spread widely. By the 1960s, many western countries had
begun the process of deindustrialization. In their place, globalization led to the emergence of
new industrial centers, such as Japan, Taiwan and later China, based on exports consumer
goods for developed countries. The period after 1945 was also a transformative period in the
history of science because, among other things, nuclear technology, molecular biology,
particle physics and so on emerged which became the background for the emergence of
various technologies that appear today including the internet.
The history of the modern international system itself actually began in its history when
the Westphalia system (1648). States are interconnected with each other in an environment
called the international system. All countries are considered to have sovereignty, and some
countries are stronger than others. The system has many forms of informal rules about what
should happen, but these rules are not binding. International relations have existed since the
existence of states. The modern international system that we find ourselves in, however, is
not that old. The peace that ended a 30-year war between Catholic and Protestant states in
Western and Central Europe was the forerunner of the modern international system. It
declared that the sovereign leader of each nation state could do what he wanted within its
borders and established the state as a global actor in global politics. From then onwards, the
international system was in relation to nation states.
In the 17th-18th centuries, nation-states emerged to dominate the system of
international relations. A number of strong states dominated Europe, with some powers
coming and going. Weak states usually joined forces with others to prevent the dominant
power from becoming too strong, which is known as a proactive form of preserving the
balance of power. Economic competition and frequent wars marked this era, with countries
such as Britain and France being the most powerful to date, but some other powerful
countries collapsing over time, namely the Ottoman Empire and Spain.
Fundamental differences began to emerge in the 19th century, bringing about two major
changes in the international system:
Nationalism as a form of strength, which makes the nation state grow stronger.
Italy and Germany united, which changed the military and political balance in Europe.
Problems arose with the unification of Italy and Germany, which contributed to World
War I (1914-1918). The international system changed drastically after the war. Many
powerful countries in Europe were devastated by the war, and the United States (US) itself
began to come out of its isolation and turn into a global power. At the same time, the end of
the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian powers created a series of new states, and the rise of
communism in Russia. These factors led to the Treaty of Versailles, the Nazis and
Communism, and World War II (1939-1945).
New governments have emerged since the end of World War II. After the War, two
powers emerged: The US and the Soviet Union, which was called the bipolar system. Since
the end of the Cold War, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US has become the sole
ruler of the international system, which is called unipolar. However, there are other
viewpoints that see that the economic power of the US is not so strong that it cannot be said
that the control of the economy is entirely in the hands of the US because there are other
strong economic countries such as countries in Asia, thus calling it multi-polar.
Contemporary global issues emerged precisely at the end of the Cold War and/or when
the modern international system was unipolar. This can be regarded as the second period of
the new international order. The events that occurred became the context for contemporary
global issues. The most devastating event was the so-called 9/11 or September attacks. An
attack reportedly carried out by the Al Qaedah terrorist group on the US on September 11,
2001. There were about 2,999 victims, about 6,000 injured and 10 million properties and
infrastructures damaged.7 It is said to be devastating here because the attack was carried out
on the unipolar power holder of the international system at that time, namely the US. There
had been previous events that set the context for contemporary global issues such as the
genocides in Rwanda and Bosnia and the emergence of new states in Eastern Europe.
With the events of 9/11 and the genocide problem being addressed by the international
community, the new world government There is one threat that has a different character. The
nature of the threat this time is no longer from the state as was dominant in the Cold War
period but non-state actors. Non-state actors as the perpetrators of the causes of world
insecurity are becoming increasingly difficult to identify because such actors can also come
from the state concerned and/or from within the state itself. International issues in
international relations are becoming increasingly complex so that they are called
contemporary global issues. In this post-Cold War era, threats can mean disease outbreaks,
human trafficking, narcotics, arms trafficking, poverty, illiteracy, infectious viruses, which
are experienced by several countries not the country itself.
Thus, contemporary global issues are issues that developed and expanded after the end
of the Cold War in the 1990s. These contemporary global issues are related to the problems
faced by the international community in the new world order (new order) which is faced with
welfare issues related to human security. The form of security threats in this era has been
transformed so that the form of the international security agenda has also become new,
namely the New Global Security Agenda.
In 2002, the US Department of State under the US Secretary of Global Affairs, Paula J.
Dobriansky, issued a statement released on its website8 regarding new global security by
previously formulating an understanding of what is meant by global issues: At this point, it is
worth defining what I mean by global issues. Global issues are those issues that are not
limited by borders or boundaries but that reach across international lines to affect us all. My
global portfolio encompasses environment and science, refugees and migration, narcotics
trafficking and law enforcement, human rights, and health matters. Though he was speaking
in the first century B.C., the Roman poet Horace aptly described what could be called the
crux of modern global affairs when he wrote, "Your own safety is at stake when your
neighbor's wall is ablaze." The essence of global issues is a recognition that the people of the
world are inexorably linked and that, in today's world, that which touches some touches all.
Since September 11, never have we been more acutely aware that our own safety and the
protection of our way of life must be guarded by due attention to international problems -
such as injustice and the inadequacy of the rule of law, poverty, disease, and repression.
These are the blazing walls of today's world that threaten to engulf us. That is why these
issues have become central to American foreign policy and our efforts to protect our national
interests.
The US defines global issues as those that are not limited to cross-border issues but also
include international issues that impact the US across issues such as the environment and
science, refugees and migration, drug trafficking and law enforcement, human rights and
health. The US recognizes that since 9/11 issues have not been as acute regarding the safety
and protection of life. The aforementioned issues, including terrorism and disease, have
become one of the factors for the US to call it the new global security agenda.
Types and Characteristics of Contemporary Global Issues
Earlier in 1996, a paper was published by the Institute for Security Studies, which
identified several global sources of insecurity and their implications for national security
policy formulation. There are eight important things after the Cold War as strategic global
issues, namely drugs, migration, the environment, population, global economic challenges,
the crisis of liberal democracy, fusion and division, and light weapon proliferation.9 In the
paper, it is explained that there are global sources of insecurity and their implications for
national security policy formulation. These eight issues then become an important cluster as
an extraordinary threat to national and regional security and ultimately global security.10
This was then coupled with 9/11. Thus, the threat in this new form is not in the form of a
"military attack" carried out by a state against another state but an act of crime committed by
a non-state actor and aimed at the state (state actor), individuals or citizens who threaten the
security of humanity (Human Security).
Drugs
The domestic toll of drug addiction is alarming. These include loss of productivity,
soaring health costs, a sharp rise in drug-related crime, and the accelerated spread of AIDS
through contaminated needles. Drug use is not just a social phenomenon; it has far-reaching
political implications and security implications. For example, in Latin America there are
close links between drug traffickers and leftist revolutionary groups such as the Columbia M-
19 and the Peruvian Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path).11 In Lebanon and elsewhere in the
Middle East, in the Balkans, the Southern Republics of the former Soviet Union, Burma
(Myanmar) and Sri Lanka, drugs have become a major source of funds for movements.
Drug trafficking can also affect relations between countries. For example, a major
reason for the 1989 invasion of Panama by the US was that this government, under the
leadership of General Manuel Noriega, was allegedly serving as a conduit for drug travel to
the US.13 Most recently, Ross Perot's strongest attack on the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA), he argued that its eradication was a restriction on free access of goods
between Mexico and the US in allowing larger free traders of drugs in a sense to distribute
their 'poison' in the United States.
Migration
The largest and most dramatic population movement in recent years has been that of
approximately 30 million refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs).14 Political
unrest, social upheaval, economic dislocation and ecological disasters have contributed to the
movement of people across national borders of one 'southern' regional country to another. As
a result there are 3.2 million Afghans in Pakistan and 2.3 million in Iran; 685,000 in Ethiopia
are reported to have sought refuge in Sudan, while there are also 320,000 Somalis and
384,000 Sudanese in Ethiopia; and a further 600,000 Ethiopians are reported to have fled the
war to Somalia. 17 Civil war and famine have caused a third of Liberia's population (763,000
out of a total population of 2.4 million) to flee to neighboring Guinea, Sierra Leone and the
Coast.
Mass population movements are increasingly attracting the attention of key
policymakers, not only for humanitarian reasons, but also because they create domestic
instability, generate inter-state tensions and threaten international security. South Africa is
estimated to have received eight million illegal immigrants, which was the case at one point.
In 1994, it cost South African taxpayers R1, 985 million to host illegal alien residents.
In addition, there is a reciprocal relationship between illegal immigrants and the spread of
infectious diseases such as AIDS, malaria, cholera and tuberculosis. Police sources have also
noted that fourteen percent of all crimes in South Africa involve illegal immigrants including
arms sales, money laundering and drug trafficking.
Environment
The waning of Cold War military tensions coincided with the development of real
security problems that threaten the security of many countries and require international
solutions, including the hole in the ozone layer, the greenhouse effect, deforestation, scarce
water, energy and other resources. The increase in environmental hazards has underscored
two forms of interaction between states in the world: cooperation and conflict.
In 1940, David Mitrany developed a functional theory of international relations. He
proposed that given the common problems facing humanity everywhere, cooperation between
states should be broadened. This theme was embraced and magnified by globalists in the
1980s and 1990s - even going so far as to propose a federal world government for Planet
Earth. At the heart of the theory is the idea that the gravity of global problems requires global
solutions - resulting in greater levels of cooperation between the world's nations. For
example, one country cannot solve a problem such as the widening hole in the Earth's ozone;
it must be a combined planet-wide effort. On one level global cooperation, sharing common
problems, can be seen as a way of such as the Rio Earth Summit.
The potential for resource-based conflict was evident in the 1990 and 1991 Gulf Wars,
which essentially revolved around the scarce resource of energy. One of the main reasons for
the US to get involved in the Gulf War was its dependence on Gulf oil. American dependence
on Persian Gulf oil rose 500 percent between 1985 and 1989. By 1990 oil accounted for half
of the $100 billion US trade deficit.
Population
The world population is expected to grow from 5.3 billion in 1990 to 6.2 billion in
2000, and 8.5 billion in 2025. The growth rate of nearly one billion per decade has socio-
cultural and political economic consequences for the macro-environment. For example,
resource problems in countries such as Mexico and Egypt are directly linked to population
growth.
In Africa itself there is a noted reciprocal relationship between the conflict in Rwanda
and the fact that it has one of the highest levels of population density in Africa's growth.
Population was also seen to be responsible for two-thirds of the increase in carbon dioxide
entering the atmosphere between 1950 and 1985, thereby contributing to the greenhouse
effect. The population explosion was also listed as one of the contributing factors to the
occurrence of IDPs.16
Global Economic Challenges
The need to restructure the world economy stems from two major points: the north-
south growth divide and economic competition. The existence of a north-south split in
economic growth, and in some cases expansion, is obvious. This is highlighted by the fact
that the world's richest twenty percent control eighty percent of the world's economic
resources. This is demonstrated by the fact that the world's richest twenty percent are now
150 times richer than the poorest. It is further underscored by the fact that 1.3 billion people
in developing countries live in conditions of absolute poverty.
Saddest of all, it can be seen by the fact that 34,000 children die every day in the world
from malnutrition and disease. The need to address the north-south problem stems not only
from humanitarian reasons, but also from the threat of prosperity whose poverty is
increasingly exposed. Economic scarcity in the form of global markets and rising production
costs intensify economic competition. Technological competition and various forms of
commercial warfare have replaced the arms race from after the Cold War. According to
Japanese politician Isihara Shintaro, the twenty-first century will be a century of economic
warfare. If this happens, international security is threatened. Large economic power blocs
have been developed in the Pacific Rim and North America as a counterweight to the
European Union (EU). Similar economic formations have also been developed in Central
Africa and South America. The existence of large economic formations is necessary and does
not necessarily mean economic competition but rather complementarity. However, the
scarcity of such competition can develop and the history can become 'hot'.
The Crisis of Liberal Democracy
The end of Soviet-style communist rule consolidated the position of Western liberal
democracies. Since then, there has been state-sponsored ideological competition. The fall of
the Soviet system vindicated the principle of liberal democracy in the eyes of many: Smith,
Mill and Keynes. Western ideas of triumphalism were encapsulated in Francis Fukuyama's
books The End of History and Last Man. The liberal democratic paradigm seemed absolutely
dominant. Post-1989 developments seemed to show this as economic structural adjustment
programs (ESAPs) were liberalized in many African countries; liberal multiparty winds
democracy that swept across much of Africa, South America, the Middle East and Asia.17
Subsequent developments in the former Eastern bloc, which has seen the rise of the former
Communist Party, seem to disprove this notion.
Even in South Africa, political pluralism has experienced some setbacks. Soon after the
fall of the Berlin Wall, the surge towards multiparty democracy intensified in South Africa.
Kenneth Kaunda's corrupt one-party rule system was replaced by Frederick Chiluba's
Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD). In Malawi, the despotic rule of President-for-
life Hastings Kamuzu Band ended peacefully when Malawians went to the Banda elections
and his Malawi Congress Party (MCP) was voted out of power, replaced by United
Democratic Front (UDF) leader Bakili Muluzi.
In Lesotho, military rule ended and the Basotho National Party lost dominance in
elections that brought Prime Minister Ntsu Mokhehle and his Basotholand Congress Party
(BCP) to power. In South Africa, white minority rule came on April 27, 1994-the country's
first racially inclusive election. Meanwhile, both of the former Portuguese colonies in the
region, Angola and Mozambique, began to make the long and difficult transition to political
pluralism.
Fusion and Cleavage
The two most conflicting elements of the contemporary period are fusion and division-
peace coming together with the violent disintegration of society.
Regarding fusion, a newborn global culture seems to be taking shape. Denim jeans and
CocaCola are forms that are universal. If Toshiba and Toyota are in New York, then
MacDonald and Kentucky Fried Chicken will be found in Tokyo. If lamb is cooked and
stewed in a restaurant in New Delhi, then a fancy restaurant in London serves hot curry from
India. If Michael Jackson and Madonna become very famous in Montevideo, Maputo or
Kuala Lumpur, then West African and Indian music is represented by the likes of Manu
Dibango and Babu Shegal, who will surely be found playing in the discos of Paris or
Manchester. This is a nascent global cultural trend that goes even deeper than this: Human
rights and gender, geographical, political and cultural crossovers. One of the reasons for this
is The development of communication and technological innovation made it cheaper to travel
and made it possible for CNN broadcasts to reach 200 million people in ninety other
countries.
Fusion seems to buck this trend: scarce resources, varying degrees of population growth
in heterogeneous societies and the resultant growth of ethnic nationalism are tearing societies
apart. This has been evident in Rwanda and Burundi between Hutu and Tutsi; between Serbs,
Croats and Muslims in the former Yugoslavia; and between Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims in
India. What is even more interesting today is that these issues are beginning to surface in
western countries with liberal democracies: consider the growth of neo-Nazism in Germany;
the rising fortunes of Jean-Marie le Pen's National Front in France; the invigorating separatist
movements in Quebec; Catalonia; the Basque country; Corsica; Lombardy; Scotland and
Wales; and increasing tensions between the Flems and Walloons in Belgium. Not least, in the
US there were the 1992 riots in Los Angeles and the growth of ethnocentric nationalist
movements.
Light Weapons Production
Light weapons refer to crew-portable and ground weapons. Definitions include small
arms such as pistols, rifles, assault rifles and sub-machine guns; and medium machine guns;
heavy machine guns (HMG) with a caliber not exceeding 14.5 mm; anti-aircraft and anti-tank
missiles; light mortars; mines and grenades.
The danger of small arms proliferation to world peace is underscored by the fact that in
1994, major armed conflicts were being waged in 27 countries around the world and small
arms were the overwhelming cause of death from these weapons. The existence of small arms
is perhaps most fragile in third world countries due to power imbalances such as insurgents,
drug traffickers and other criminals. For example, guerrillas in Kashmir fighting India use
Soviet Kalashnikovs, in Pakistan, small arms exacerbate ethnic conflicts between mohajirs,
Pakistani Punjabis, Pathans from the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan and
Sindhis.
For Third World countries, issues related to the threat of a new form of security
(Human Security) are "real security threats" because they have relevance to the domestic
conditions of Third World countries that are still preoccupied with the threat of human
security by various issues regarding: 1) Political transition situation; 2) Weak government
power due to not maximizing law enforcement efforts; 3) Political uncertainty; 4) Economic
crisis; 5) Conflict issues in border areas; 6) Ethnic conflicts and communal conflicts with
various international dimensions; 7) The issue of national disintegration; 8) Increase in the
number of terrorism perpetrators; 9) The ability to carry out threatening actions against
human security, etc.
The development of technology, especially information technology, is one of the strong
reasons for the expansion of contemporary global issues, resulting in a shift in the nature of
global issues from before the Cold War. Due to the development of threats that have different
types than before the Cold War, contemporary global issues have specificity:
Unconventional;
In the sense that contemporary global issues are non-armaments and/or arms
competition.
Nontraditional;
This means that the issue category is not inter-state.
Non-military;
As mentioned earlier, disease outbreaks, and/or drugs can be a threat.
Multidimensional; and
Issues are complex such as those concerning poverty.
Transnational
The issues raised in contemporary global are cross-border such as migration, refugees,
and others.
Thus, the characteristics of contemporary global issues as non-traditional security
threats are:
Contemporary global issues that are non-traditional security threats are not centered on
one particular country. Thus, the threats that are part of these contemporary global
issues are not only faced by one country, but have threatened a number of countries at
once (have regional and global dimensions). Therefore, contemporary global issues are
often referred to as "transnational security threats".
Contemporary global issues are not focused on a particular geographical location.
Based on their geographical character, these issues are It is often difficult to
"recognize" because it crosses borders between countries and even regional
(transnational) boundaries.
Contemporary global issues cannot be addressed by military force alone. Indeed,
military force can be used in escalations that lead to armed conflict. However, in the
long run, military force can no longer be used effectively to address the threat of these
global issues.
Security issues that have become contemporary global issues have threatened the
existence of a country and individuals who are part of the country.
The most obvious thing is that in the development of contemporary global issues is the
emergence of a new term in responding to the threats faced, namely human security.
Strategic Global Issues and National Security in International Relations Theory
Strategic global issues and national security in international relations theory are divided
into two major parts: 1) state centric point of view; and 2) global cross cutting issues. The
state-centric point of view is divided between realism and institutionalism where realism
focuses on national interests while institutionalism focuses on regimes, namely regime
theory. Meanwhile, there is a cross-border theory pioneered by Wednt in the form of
constructivism theory and Joseph Nye in the form of transnationalism theory. In this cross-
border theory, the issue of globalization is raised as one of the factors.
Joseph Nye in his theory states that what is called global interaction is the movement of
information, money, goods, tangible and intangible objects beyond national borders.18 He
divides into four types of global interaction: 1) communication; 2) transportation; 3) money;
4) tourism.19 The interaction is divided into two types, namely interstate communication
and transnational communication. Interstate communication is a type of communication in
relations International communication is conducted entirely under the control of the
government of the nation state. Meanwhile, transnational communication is a type of
communication in international relations that has begun to involve non-state actors.
This form of interstate communication is the classical type, which is also called having
a classical paradigm. This interaction focuses on the government as the agent with which
people relate politically. This interstate politics is different from-although indirectly related
to-domestic politics. Transnational forms of communication in this type are not taken into
account.
Unlike interstate forms of interaction, transnational interactions may involve
governments, but they may not. Non-state actors play an important role in these interactions.
Talking about transnational interactions, we are talking about finance, travel and
communication, which in some cases can involve state actors, for example, to cross borders.
Thus, Nye and Keohanne refer to transnational interaction as a term to describe the
movement of tangible items and services (intangible items) across national borders when at
least one actor is not a state actor and/or an interstate organization.21 Nye and Keohanne
picked up the definition brought by J. David Singer which states that individuals and/or
organizations can have a role in world politics: 1) they can be involved in a coalition that
controls and influences their country; 2) they play their role directly confronting (vs) with
foreign policies and / or foreign societies that are not through (by pass) the government of
their country.22 Nye and Keohanne argue that transnational interactions fall into and / or
more precisely in the second type of Singer's explanation. Keohanne and Nye then describe
the form of transnational interaction as follows to distinguish it from interstate forms of
internation:
In the post-world war globalization era, which involves contemporary global issues of
international relations, many interactions are of the transnational type. This is inseparable
from the existence of Various technologies have been invented, especially communication
technology. Individuals can interact directly with the international community and/or
organizations of nations such as the United Nations. Some of the effects described by
Keohanne and Nye that occur in this type of interaction are essentially increased sensitivity
between people which means changing the form of their relationship with the government.
With global mass communication, different groups from different societies, such as
radical students, military personnel, or ethnic minorities, can observe each other's behavior
and then take it into action. Thus, student radicals can make political tactics and demands
without any direct contact. Their international "consipracy" is conducted publicly and
disseminated with the help of specialized media. Perpetrators in this global phenomenon may
be punished, but its scale, scope and speed are the product of global television.
In brief, Keohanne and Nye concluded that the effects of transnational interactions are:
1) changes in behavior; 2) international pluralism; 3) increased restrictions on states; 4)
increased ability of states to influence others; and 5) the emergence of independent actors
with private foreign policies that can directly oppose or reject their government's policies.
This is most evident in the fact that an individual in a family, the smallest organization
in the country, does not even have control over what his family members access with the
internet technology. This then becomes the same thing that happens at the state level. Thus,
state control is weakened and challenges to national security are strengthened. Threats are
becoming more complex as information technology can target the individual level and
influence their actions bypassing state governance. Does this mean that the state must be
authoritarian and or is there a new form?
Form a Comprehensive Security Strategy: A United Nations Proposal
To the challenges faced by the international community today, the United Nations (UN)
offers a way out. For two decades now, the international community has been working
towards a broad understanding of what constitutes security. Seeking input from governments,
academics, community groups and intergovernmental organizations, the UN held a meeting
called the 2000 Millennium Summit for a world "free of want" and "free of fear". As a result
of this meeting, an understanding and/or input on human security was formed.
In 2001, the UN created a special unit on humanitarian security called the Commission
of Human Security (CHS). The Commission consists of twelve international figures,
including Sadako Ogata - former UN High Commissioner for Refugees - and Professor
Amartya Sen (Nobel Laureate 1998). Humanitarian security has refocused the attention of
states and the international community on the survival, livelihoods and dignity of people as
the basis for peace, development and human progress.
While humanitarian security remains vital to stability and peace, the complexity and
interconnectedness of old and new threats - from chronic and persistent poverty, to violent
conflict, climate change, human trafficking, health, and financial crises - creates a shared
vulnerability to the growing risk of diffuse and cross cutting threats. As challenges can
evolve rapidly within and across nations and deliver powerful crises, humanitarian security
emphasizes the need for a new framework that combines the agendas of security and peace,
development and human rights in a more effective, efficient, and prevention-oriented process.
Here is the UN statement mentioned in the document: While national security remains pivotal
to peace and stability, the complexity and interrelatedness of old and new threats-from
chronic and persistent poverty, to violent conflicts, climate change, human trafficking, health
pandemics, and economic and financial crises-reveal our shared vulnerabilities to a growing
risk of threats that are widespread and cross-cutting. Because these challenges can spread
rapidly within and across nations and give rise to more intractable crises, human security
emphasizes the need for a new framework that combines the agendas of peace and security,
development and human rights in a more effective, efficient and prevention-oriented manner.
In United States, it can be summarized that humanitarian security is to protect the vital
core of human life by enhancing human freedom and fulfilling human needs. The CHS's
arguments for the importance of humanitarian security, touched on a little earlier, are detailed
below:
As argued by the Commission on Human Security (CHS), the need for a new paradigm
of security is associated with two sets of dynamics:
First, human security is needed in response to the complexity and the interrelatedness
of both old and new security threats-from chronic and persistent poverty to ethnic violence,
human trafficking, climate change, health pandemics, international terrorism, and sudden
economic and financial downturns. Such threats tend to acquire transnational dimensions and
move beyond traditional notions of security that focus on external military aggressions alone.
Second, human security is required as a comprehensive approach that utilizes the wide
range of new opportunities to tackle such threats in an integrated manner. Human security
threats cannot be tackled through conventional mechanisms alone. Instead, they require a new
consensus that recognizes the linkages and the interdependencies between development,
human rights and national security.
In essence, the definition provided by the CHS conceptualizes re-envision security with its
most fundamental issues:
moving away from the traditional, state-centric conception of security focused
primarily on the security of the state from military aggression, one that concentrates on
the security of individuals, their protection and empowerment;
draw attention to the many threats that cut across different aspects of human life and
thus highlight the interface between security, development and human rights; and
promote a new integrated, coordinated and people-centered approach to advancing
peace, security and development within and across countries.
Human security brings together the 'human element' in security, rights and
development. As such, it is an inter-disciplinary concept that displays the following
characteristics: 1) human-centered; 2) multi-sectoral; 3) comprehensive; 4) context-specific;
and 5) prevention-oriented.
As a human-centered concept, human security places the individual at the 'center of
analysis'. As a result, it considers the range of conditions that threaten survival, livelihoods
and dignity, and identifies the lower threshold of intolerable human life, threatened. Human
security is also based on a multi-sectoral understanding of insecurity. Therefore, human
security requires an expanded understanding of threats and includes related causes of
insecurity, e.g. for economic, food, health, environmental, personal, community and political
security.
This interdependence has important implications for policymaking as it suggests that
human insecurity cannot be addressed in isolation through fragmented stand-alone responses.
Instead, human security involves a comprehensive approach that emphasizes the need for a
multi-sectoral response that brings together agendas related to security, development and
human rights.
Moreover, as a context-specific concept, human security recognizes that insecurity
varies across different settings and as such advances solutions that are contextually
responsive to the particular situation they seek to address. Finally, in addressing the risks and
root causes of insecurity, human security is prevention oriented and introduces a dual focus
on protection and empowerment.
Conclusion
Based on the analysis and discussion above, it can be concluded that national security
in the context of contemporary global issues in the perspective of international relations is
complex, because threats at the individual level become real. This is then explained in
transnational theory in international relations. In its development, the UN then offered to re-
conceptualize the notion of national security which ultimately provided input on human
security.
The UN has done many things related to humanitarian security. However, the most
obvious challenge still comes if it is clashed with the most classic international relations
theory, namely realism regarding superpowers. The extent to which superpower involvement
can be genuinely involved in the development of issues without any element of national
interest involvement in it, at least supports this conception.
History of the Emergence of Contemporary Global Issues
Contemporary history is a subset of modern history that describes the period of history
from about 1945 to the present. The term "contemporary history" has been used since at least
the early 20th century 19. Contemporary political history is dominated by the Cold War
(1945-1991) between the United States and the Soviet Union whose effects were felt around
the world. In this geopolitical context, the fall of European colonial empires in Africa and
Asia between 1945 and 1975 was often followed by American-Soviet confrontation in the
form of proxy wars and through intervention in the internal politics of smaller states. The
U.S.-Soviet rivalry eventually ended with the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw
Pact in 1991, following the Revolutions of 1989. and in the last stage and after the Cold War
paved the way for the democratization of large parts of Europe, Africa and Latin America.
In the Middle East, the period after 1945 was dominated by conflicts involving the new
state of Israel and the rise of petroleum politics, as well as the growth of Islamism after the
1980s. The period after 1945 saw the growth of the first supranational governmental
organizations, such as the United Nations and the European Union. Socially, western
countries experienced the rise of counter cultures3 and the sexual revolution4 between the
1960s and 1980s which transformed social relations and was fueled by the 1968 Protests.
Living standards rose sharply around the world especially in developed countries as a result
of, but also the emergence of, new economic powers such as Japan and West Germany. US
culture, especially consumerism, spread widely. By the 1960s, many western countries had
begun the process of deindustrialization. In their place, globalization led to the emergence of
new industrial centers, such as Japan, Taiwan and later China, based on exports consumer
goods for developed countries. The period after 1945 was also a transformative period in the
history of science because, among other things, nuclear technology, molecular biology,
particle physics and so on emerged which became the background for the emergence of
various technologies that appear today including the internet.
The history of the modern international system itself actually began in its history when
the Westphalia system (1648). States are interconnected with each other in an environment
called the international system. All countries are considered to have sovereignty, and some
countries are stronger than others. The system has many forms of informal rules about what
should happen, but these rules are not binding. International relations have existed since the
existence of states. The modern international system that we find ourselves in, however, is
not that old. The peace that ended a 30-year war between Catholic and Protestant states in
Western and Central Europe was the forerunner of the modern international system. It
declared that the sovereign leader of each nation state could do what he wanted within its
borders and established the state as a global actor in global politics. From then onwards, the
international system was in relation to nation states.
In the 17th-18th centuries, nation-states emerged to dominate the system of
international relations. A number of strong states dominated Europe, with some powers
coming and going. Weak states usually joined forces with others to prevent the dominant
power from becoming too strong, which is known as a proactive form of preserving the
balance of power. Economic competition and frequent wars marked this era, with countries
such as Britain and France being the most powerful to date, but some other powerful
countries collapsing over time, namely the Ottoman Empire and Spain.
Fundamental differences began to emerge in the 19th century, bringing about two major
changes in the international system:
Nationalism as a form of strength, which makes the nation state grow stronger.
Italy and Germany united, which changed the military and political balance in Europe.
Problems arose with the unification of Italy and Germany, which contributed to World
War I (1914-1918). The international system changed drastically after the war. Many
powerful countries in Europe were devastated by the war, and the United States (US) itself
began to come out of its isolation and turn into a global power. At the same time, the end of
the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian powers created a series of new states, and the rise of
communism in Russia. These factors led to the Treaty of Versailles, the Nazis and
Communism, and World War II (1939-1945).
New governments have emerged since the end of World War II. After the War, two
powers emerged: The US and the Soviet Union, which was called the bipolar system. Since
the end of the Cold War, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US has become the sole
ruler of the international system, which is called unipolar. However, there are other
viewpoints that see that the economic power of the US is not so strong that it cannot be said
that the control of the economy is entirely in the hands of the US because there are other
strong economic countries such as countries in Asia, thus calling it multi-polar.
Contemporary global issues emerged precisely at the end of the Cold War and/or when
the modern international system was unipolar. This can be regarded as the second period of
the new international order. The events that occurred became the context for contemporary
global issues. The most devastating event was the so-called 9/11 or September attacks. An
attack reportedly carried out by the Al Qaedah terrorist group on the US on September 11,
2001. There were about 2,999 victims, about 6,000 injured and 10 million properties and
infrastructures damaged.7 It is said to be devastating here because the attack was carried out
on the unipolar power holder of the international system at that time, namely the US. There
had been previous events that set the context for contemporary global issues such as the
genocides in Rwanda and Bosnia and the emergence of new states in Eastern Europe.
With the events of 9/11 and the genocide problem being addressed by the international
community, the new world government There is one threat that has a different character. The
nature of the threat this time is no longer from the state as was dominant in the Cold War
period but non-state actors. Non-state actors as the perpetrators of the causes of world
insecurity are becoming increasingly difficult to identify because such actors can also come
from the state concerned and/or from within the state itself. International issues in
international relations are becoming increasingly complex so that they are called
contemporary global issues. In this post-Cold War era, threats can mean disease outbreaks,
human trafficking, narcotics, arms trafficking, poverty, illiteracy, infectious viruses, which
are experienced by several countries not the country itself.
Thus, contemporary global issues are issues that developed and expanded after the end
of the Cold War in the 1990s. These contemporary global issues are related to the problems
faced by the international community in the new world order (new order) which is faced with
welfare issues related to human security. The form of security threats in this era has been
transformed so that the form of the international security agenda has also become new,
namely the New Global Security Agenda.
In 2002, the US Department of State under the US Secretary of Global Affairs, Paula J.
Dobriansky, issued a statement released on its website8 regarding new global security by
previously formulating an understanding of what is meant by global issues: At this point, it is
worth defining what I mean by global issues. Global issues are those issues that are not
limited by borders or boundaries but that reach across international lines to affect us all. My
global portfolio encompasses environment and science, refugees and migration, narcotics
trafficking and law enforcement, human rights, and health matters. Though he was speaking
in the first century B.C., the Roman poet Horace aptly described what could be called the
crux of modern global affairs when he wrote, "Your own safety is at stake when your
neighbor's wall is ablaze." The essence of global issues is a recognition that the people of the
world are inexorably linked and that, in today's world, that which touches some touches all.
Since September 11, never have we been more acutely aware that our own safety and the
protection of our way of life must be guarded by due attention to international problems -
such as injustice and the inadequacy of the rule of law, poverty, disease, and repression.
These are the blazing walls of today's world that threaten to engulf us. That is why these
issues have become central to American foreign policy and our efforts to protect our national
interests.
The US defines global issues as those that are not limited to cross-border issues but also
include international issues that impact the US across issues such as the environment and
science, refugees and migration, drug trafficking and law enforcement, human rights and
health. The US recognizes that since 9/11 issues have not been as acute regarding the safety
and protection of life. The aforementioned issues, including terrorism and disease, have
become one of the factors for the US to call it the new global security agenda.
Types and Characteristics of Contemporary Global Issues
Earlier in 1996, a paper was published by the Institute for Security Studies, which
identified several global sources of insecurity and their implications for national security
policy formulation. There are eight important things after the Cold War as strategic global
issues, namely drugs, migration, the environment, population, global economic challenges,
the crisis of liberal democracy, fusion and division, and light weapon proliferation.9 In the
paper, it is explained that there are global sources of insecurity and their implications for
national security policy formulation. These eight issues then become an important cluster as
an extraordinary threat to national and regional security and ultimately global security.10
This was then coupled with 9/11. Thus, the threat in this new form is not in the form of a
"military attack" carried out by a state against another state but an act of crime committed by
a non-state actor and aimed at the state (state actor), individuals or citizens who threaten the
security of humanity (Human Security).
Drugs
The domestic toll of drug addiction is alarming. These include loss of productivity,
soaring health costs, a sharp rise in drug-related crime, and the accelerated spread of AIDS
through contaminated needles. Drug use is not just a social phenomenon; it has far-reaching
political implications and security implications. For example, in Latin America there are
close links between drug traffickers and leftist revolutionary groups such as the Columbia M-
19 and the Peruvian Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path).11 In Lebanon and elsewhere in the
Middle East, in the Balkans, the Southern Republics of the former Soviet Union, Burma
(Myanmar) and Sri Lanka, drugs have become a major source of funds for movements.
Drug trafficking can also affect relations between countries. For example, a major
reason for the 1989 invasion of Panama by the US was that this government, under the
leadership of General Manuel Noriega, was allegedly serving as a conduit for drug travel to
the US.13 Most recently, Ross Perot's strongest attack on the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA), he argued that its eradication was a restriction on free access of goods
between Mexico and the US in allowing larger free traders of drugs in a sense to distribute
their 'poison' in the United States.
Migration
The largest and most dramatic population movement in recent years has been that of
approximately 30 million refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs).14 Political
unrest, social upheaval, economic dislocation and ecological disasters have contributed to the
movement of people across national borders of one 'southern' regional country to another. As
a result there are 3.2 million Afghans in Pakistan and 2.3 million in Iran; 685,000 in Ethiopia
are reported to have sought refuge in Sudan, while there are also 320,000 Somalis and
384,000 Sudanese in Ethiopia; and a further 600,000 Ethiopians are reported to have fled the
war to Somalia. 17 Civil war and famine have caused a third of Liberia's population (763,000
out of a total population of 2.4 million) to flee to neighboring Guinea, Sierra Leone and the
Coast.
Mass population movements are increasingly attracting the attention of key
policymakers, not only for humanitarian reasons, but also because they create domestic
instability, generate inter-state tensions and threaten international security. South Africa is
estimated to have received eight million illegal immigrants, which was the case at one point.
In 1994, it cost South African taxpayers R1, 985 million to host illegal alien residents.
In addition, there is a reciprocal relationship between illegal immigrants and the spread of
infectious diseases such as AIDS, malaria, cholera and tuberculosis. Police sources have also
noted that fourteen percent of all crimes in South Africa involve illegal immigrants including
arms sales, money laundering and drug trafficking.
Environment
The waning of Cold War military tensions coincided with the development of real
security problems that threaten the security of many countries and require international
solutions, including the hole in the ozone layer, the greenhouse effect, deforestation, scarce
water, energy and other resources. The increase in environmental hazards has underscored
two forms of interaction between states in the world: cooperation and conflict.
In 1940, David Mitrany developed a functional theory of international relations. He
proposed that given the common problems facing humanity everywhere, cooperation between
states should be broadened. This theme was embraced and magnified by globalists in the
1980s and 1990s - even going so far as to propose a federal world government for Planet
Earth. At the heart of the theory is the idea that the gravity of global problems requires global
solutions - resulting in greater levels of cooperation between the world's nations. For
example, one country cannot solve a problem such as the widening hole in the Earth's ozone;
it must be a combined planet-wide effort. On one level global cooperation, sharing common
problems, can be seen as a way of such as the Rio Earth Summit.
The potential for resource-based conflict was evident in the 1990 and 1991 Gulf Wars,
which essentially revolved around the scarce resource of energy. One of the main reasons for
the US to get involved in the Gulf War was its dependence on Gulf oil. American dependence
on Persian Gulf oil rose 500 percent between 1985 and 1989. By 1990 oil accounted for half
of the $100 billion US trade deficit.
Population
The world population is expected to grow from 5.3 billion in 1990 to 6.2 billion in
2000, and 8.5 billion in 2025. The growth rate of nearly one billion per decade has socio-
cultural and political economic consequences for the macro-environment. For example,
resource problems in countries such as Mexico and Egypt are directly linked to population
growth.
In Africa itself there is a noted reciprocal relationship between the conflict in Rwanda
and the fact that it has one of the highest levels of population density in Africa's growth.
Population was also seen to be responsible for two-thirds of the increase in carbon dioxide
entering the atmosphere between 1950 and 1985, thereby contributing to the greenhouse
effect. The population explosion was also listed as one of the contributing factors to the
occurrence of IDPs.16
Global Economic Challenges
The need to restructure the world economy stems from two major points: the north-
south growth divide and economic competition. The existence of a north-south split in
economic growth, and in some cases expansion, is obvious. This is highlighted by the fact
that the world's richest twenty percent control eighty percent of the world's economic
resources. This is demonstrated by the fact that the world's richest twenty percent are now
150 times richer than the poorest. It is further underscored by the fact that 1.3 billion people
in developing countries live in conditions of absolute poverty.
Saddest of all, it can be seen by the fact that 34,000 children die every day in the world
from malnutrition and disease. The need to address the north-south problem stems not only
from humanitarian reasons, but also from the threat of prosperity whose poverty is
increasingly exposed. Economic scarcity in the form of global markets and rising production
costs intensify economic competition. Technological competition and various forms of
commercial warfare have replaced the arms race from after the Cold War. According to
Japanese politician Isihara Shintaro, the twenty-first century will be a century of economic
warfare. If this happens, international security is threatened. Large economic power blocs
have been developed in the Pacific Rim and North America as a counterweight to the
European Union (EU). Similar economic formations have also been developed in Central
Africa and South America. The existence of large economic formations is necessary and does
not necessarily mean economic competition but rather complementarity. However, the
scarcity of such competition can develop and the history can become 'hot'.
The Crisis of Liberal Democracy
The end of Soviet-style communist rule consolidated the position of Western liberal
democracies. Since then, there has been state-sponsored ideological competition. The fall of
the Soviet system vindicated the principle of liberal democracy in the eyes of many: Smith,
Mill and Keynes. Western ideas of triumphalism were encapsulated in Francis Fukuyama's
books The End of History and Last Man. The liberal democratic paradigm seemed absolutely
dominant. Post-1989 developments seemed to show this as economic structural adjustment
programs (ESAPs) were liberalized in many African countries; liberal multiparty winds
democracy that swept across much of Africa, South America, the Middle East and Asia.17
Subsequent developments in the former Eastern bloc, which has seen the rise of the former
Communist Party, seem to disprove this notion.
Even in South Africa, political pluralism has experienced some setbacks. Soon after the
fall of the Berlin Wall, the surge towards multiparty democracy intensified in South Africa.
Kenneth Kaunda's corrupt one-party rule system was replaced by Frederick Chiluba's
Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD). In Malawi, the despotic rule of President-for-
life Hastings Kamuzu Band ended peacefully when Malawians went to the Banda elections
and his Malawi Congress Party (MCP) was voted out of power, replaced by United
Democratic Front (UDF) leader Bakili Muluzi.
In Lesotho, military rule ended and the Basotho National Party lost dominance in
elections that brought Prime Minister Ntsu Mokhehle and his Basotholand Congress Party
(BCP) to power. In South Africa, white minority rule came on April 27, 1994-the country's
first racially inclusive election. Meanwhile, both of the former Portuguese colonies in the
region, Angola and Mozambique, began to make the long and difficult transition to political
pluralism.
Fusion and Cleavage
The two most conflicting elements of the contemporary period are fusion and division-
peace coming together with the violent disintegration of society.
Regarding fusion, a newborn global culture seems to be taking shape. Denim jeans and
CocaCola are forms that are universal. If Toshiba and Toyota are in New York, then
MacDonald and Kentucky Fried Chicken will be found in Tokyo. If lamb is cooked and
stewed in a restaurant in New Delhi, then a fancy restaurant in London serves hot curry from
India. If Michael Jackson and Madonna become very famous in Montevideo, Maputo or
Kuala Lumpur, then West African and Indian music is represented by the likes of Manu
Dibango and Babu Shegal, who will surely be found playing in the discos of Paris or
Manchester. This is a nascent global cultural trend that goes even deeper than this: Human
rights and gender, geographical, political and cultural crossovers. One of the reasons for this
is The development of communication and technological innovation made it cheaper to travel
and made it possible for CNN broadcasts to reach 200 million people in ninety other
countries.
Fusion seems to buck this trend: scarce resources, varying degrees of population growth
in heterogeneous societies and the resultant growth of ethnic nationalism are tearing societies
apart. This has been evident in Rwanda and Burundi between Hutu and Tutsi; between Serbs,
Croats and Muslims in the former Yugoslavia; and between Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims in
India. What is even more interesting today is that these issues are beginning to surface in
western countries with liberal democracies: consider the growth of neo-Nazism in Germany;
the rising fortunes of Jean-Marie le Pen's National Front in France; the invigorating separatist
movements in Quebec; Catalonia; the Basque country; Corsica; Lombardy; Scotland and
Wales; and increasing tensions between the Flems and Walloons in Belgium. Not least, in the
US there were the 1992 riots in Los Angeles and the growth of ethnocentric nationalist
movements.
Light Weapons Production
Light weapons refer to crew-portable and ground weapons. Definitions include small
arms such as pistols, rifles, assault rifles and sub-machine guns; and medium machine guns;
heavy machine guns (HMG) with a caliber not exceeding 14.5 mm; anti-aircraft and anti-tank
missiles; light mortars; mines and grenades.
The danger of small arms proliferation to world peace is underscored by the fact that in
1994, major armed conflicts were being waged in 27 countries around the world and small
arms were the overwhelming cause of death from these weapons. The existence of small arms
is perhaps most fragile in third world countries due to power imbalances such as insurgents,
drug traffickers and other criminals. For example, guerrillas in Kashmir fighting India use
Soviet Kalashnikovs, in Pakistan, small arms exacerbate ethnic conflicts between mohajirs,
Pakistani Punjabis, Pathans from the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan and
Sindhis.
For Third World countries, issues related to the threat of a new form of security
(Human Security) are "real security threats" because they have relevance to the domestic
conditions of Third World countries that are still preoccupied with the threat of human
security by various issues regarding: 1) Political transition situation; 2) Weak government
power due to not maximizing law enforcement efforts; 3) Political uncertainty; 4) Economic
crisis; 5) Conflict issues in border areas; 6) Ethnic conflicts and communal conflicts with
various international dimensions; 7) The issue of national disintegration; 8) Increase in the
number of terrorism perpetrators; 9) The ability to carry out threatening actions against
human security, etc.
The development of technology, especially information technology, is one of the strong
reasons for the expansion of contemporary global issues, resulting in a shift in the nature of
global issues from before the Cold War. Due to the development of threats that have different
types than before the Cold War, contemporary global issues have specificity:
Unconventional;
In the sense that contemporary global issues are non-armaments and/or arms
competition.
Nontraditional;
This means that the issue category is not inter-state.
Non-military;
As mentioned earlier, disease outbreaks, and/or drugs can be a threat.
Multidimensional; and
Issues are complex such as those concerning poverty.
Transnational
The issues raised in contemporary global are cross-border such as migration, refugees,
and others.
Thus, the characteristics of contemporary global issues as non-traditional security
threats are:
Contemporary global issues that are non-traditional security threats are not centered on
one particular country. Thus, the threats that are part of these contemporary global
issues are not only faced by one country, but have threatened a number of countries at
once (have regional and global dimensions). Therefore, contemporary global issues are
often referred to as "transnational security threats".
Contemporary global issues are not focused on a particular geographical location.
Based on their geographical character, these issues are It is often difficult to
"recognize" because it crosses borders between countries and even regional
(transnational) boundaries.
Contemporary global issues cannot be addressed by military force alone. Indeed,
military force can be used in escalations that lead to armed conflict. However, in the
long run, military force can no longer be used effectively to address the threat of these
global issues.
Security issues that have become contemporary global issues have threatened the
existence of a country and individuals who are part of the country.
The most obvious thing is that in the development of contemporary global issues is the
emergence of a new term in responding to the threats faced, namely human security.
Strategic Global Issues and National Security in International Relations Theory
Strategic global issues and national security in international relations theory are divided
into two major parts: 1) state centric point of view; and 2) global cross cutting issues. The
state-centric point of view is divided between realism and institutionalism where realism
focuses on national interests while institutionalism focuses on regimes, namely regime
theory. Meanwhile, there is a cross-border theory pioneered by Wednt in the form of
constructivism theory and Joseph Nye in the form of transnationalism theory. In this cross-
border theory, the issue of globalization is raised as one of the factors.
Joseph Nye in his theory states that what is called global interaction is the movement of
information, money, goods, tangible and intangible objects beyond national borders.18 He
divides into four types of global interaction: 1) communication; 2) transportation; 3) money;
4) tourism.19 The interaction is divided into two types, namely interstate communication
and transnational communication. Interstate communication is a type of communication in
relations International communication is conducted entirely under the control of the
government of the nation state. Meanwhile, transnational communication is a type of
communication in international relations that has begun to involve non-state actors.
This form of interstate communication is the classical type, which is also called having
a classical paradigm. This interaction focuses on the government as the agent with which
people relate politically. This interstate politics is different from-although indirectly related
to-domestic politics. Transnational forms of communication in this type are not taken into
account.
Unlike interstate forms of interaction, transnational interactions may involve
governments, but they may not. Non-state actors play an important role in these interactions.
Talking about transnational interactions, we are talking about finance, travel and
communication, which in some cases can involve state actors, for example, to cross borders.
Thus, Nye and Keohanne refer to transnational interaction as a term to describe the
movement of tangible items and services (intangible items) across national borders when at
least one actor is not a state actor and/or an interstate organization.21 Nye and Keohanne
picked up the definition brought by J. David Singer which states that individuals and/or
organizations can have a role in world politics: 1) they can be involved in a coalition that
controls and influences their country; 2) they play their role directly confronting (vs) with
foreign policies and / or foreign societies that are not through (by pass) the government of
their country.22 Nye and Keohanne argue that transnational interactions fall into and / or
more precisely in the second type of Singer's explanation. Keohanne and Nye then describe
the form of transnational interaction as follows to distinguish it from interstate forms of
internation:
In the post-world war globalization era, which involves contemporary global issues of
international relations, many interactions are of the transnational type. This is inseparable
from the existence of Various technologies have been invented, especially communication
technology. Individuals can interact directly with the international community and/or
organizations of nations such as the United Nations. Some of the effects described by
Keohanne and Nye that occur in this type of interaction are essentially increased sensitivity
between people which means changing the form of their relationship with the government.
With global mass communication, different groups from different societies, such as
radical students, military personnel, or ethnic minorities, can observe each other's behavior
and then take it into action. Thus, student radicals can make political tactics and demands
without any direct contact. Their international "consipracy" is conducted publicly and
disseminated with the help of specialized media. Perpetrators in this global phenomenon may
be punished, but its scale, scope and speed are the product of global television.
In brief, Keohanne and Nye concluded that the effects of transnational interactions are:
1) changes in behavior; 2) international pluralism; 3) increased restrictions on states; 4)
increased ability of states to influence others; and 5) the emergence of independent actors
with private foreign policies that can directly oppose or reject their government's policies.
This is most evident in the fact that an individual in a family, the smallest organization
in the country, does not even have control over what his family members access with the
internet technology. This then becomes the same thing that happens at the state level. Thus,
state control is weakened and challenges to national security are strengthened. Threats are
becoming more complex as information technology can target the individual level and
influence their actions bypassing state governance. Does this mean that the state must be
authoritarian and or is there a new form?
Form a Comprehensive Security Strategy: A United Nations Proposal
To the challenges faced by the international community today, the United Nations (UN)
offers a way out. For two decades now, the international community has been working
towards a broad understanding of what constitutes security. Seeking input from governments,
academics, community groups and intergovernmental organizations, the UN held a meeting
called the 2000 Millennium Summit for a world "free of want" and "free of fear". As a result
of this meeting, an understanding and/or input on human security was formed.
In 2001, the UN created a special unit on humanitarian security called the Commission
of Human Security (CHS). The Commission consists of twelve international figures,
including Sadako Ogata - former UN High Commissioner for Refugees - and Professor
Amartya Sen (Nobel Laureate 1998). Humanitarian security has refocused the attention of
states and the international community on the survival, livelihoods and dignity of people as
the basis for peace, development and human progress.
While humanitarian security remains vital to stability and peace, the complexity and
interconnectedness of old and new threats - from chronic and persistent poverty, to violent
conflict, climate change, human trafficking, health, and financial crises - creates a shared
vulnerability to the growing risk of diffuse and cross cutting threats. As challenges can
evolve rapidly within and across nations and deliver powerful crises, humanitarian security
emphasizes the need for a new framework that combines the agendas of security and peace,
development and human rights in a more effective, efficient, and prevention-oriented process.
Here is the UN statement mentioned in the document: While national security remains pivotal
to peace and stability, the complexity and interrelatedness of old and new threats-from
chronic and persistent poverty, to violent conflicts, climate change, human trafficking, health
pandemics, and economic and financial crises-reveal our shared vulnerabilities to a growing
risk of threats that are widespread and cross-cutting. Because these challenges can spread
rapidly within and across nations and give rise to more intractable crises, human security
emphasizes the need for a new framework that combines the agendas of peace and security,
development and human rights in a more effective, efficient and prevention-oriented manner.
In United States, it can be summarized that humanitarian security is to protect the vital
core of human life by enhancing human freedom and fulfilling human needs. The CHS's
arguments for the importance of humanitarian security, touched on a little earlier, are detailed
below:
As argued by the Commission on Human Security (CHS), the need for a new paradigm
of security is associated with two sets of dynamics:
First, human security is needed in response to the complexity and the interrelatedness
of both old and new security threats-from chronic and persistent poverty to ethnic violence,
human trafficking, climate change, health pandemics, international terrorism, and sudden
economic and financial downturns. Such threats tend to acquire transnational dimensions and
move beyond traditional notions of security that focus on external military aggressions alone.
Second, human security is required as a comprehensive approach that utilizes the wide
range of new opportunities to tackle such threats in an integrated manner. Human security
threats cannot be tackled through conventional mechanisms alone. Instead, they require a new
consensus that recognizes the linkages and the interdependencies between development,
human rights and national security.
In essence, the definition provided by the CHS conceptualizes re-envision security with its
most fundamental issues:
moving away from the traditional, state-centric conception of security focused
primarily on the security of the state from military aggression, one that concentrates on
the security of individuals, their protection and empowerment;
draw attention to the many threats that cut across different aspects of human life and
thus highlight the interface between security, development and human rights; and
promote a new integrated, coordinated and people-centered approach to advancing
peace, security and development within and across countries.
Human security brings together the 'human element' in security, rights and
development. As such, it is an inter-disciplinary concept that displays the following
characteristics: 1) human-centered; 2) multi-sectoral; 3) comprehensive; 4) context-specific;
and 5) prevention-oriented.
As a human-centered concept, human security places the individual at the 'center of
analysis'. As a result, it considers the range of conditions that threaten survival, livelihoods
and dignity, and identifies the lower threshold of intolerable human life, threatened. Human
security is also based on a multi-sectoral understanding of insecurity. Therefore, human
security requires an expanded understanding of threats and includes related causes of
insecurity, e.g. for economic, food, health, environmental, personal, community and political
security.
This interdependence has important implications for policymaking as it suggests that
human insecurity cannot be addressed in isolation through fragmented stand-alone responses.
Instead, human security involves a comprehensive approach that emphasizes the need for a
multi-sectoral response that brings together agendas related to security, development and
human rights.
Moreover, as a context-specific concept, human security recognizes that insecurity
varies across different settings and as such advances solutions that are contextually
responsive to the particular situation they seek to address. Finally, in addressing the risks and
root causes of insecurity, human security is prevention oriented and introduces a dual focus
on protection and empowerment.
Conclusion
Based on the analysis and discussion above, it can be concluded that national security
in the context of contemporary global issues in the perspective of international relations is
complex, because threats at the individual level become real. This is then explained in
transnational theory in international relations. In its development, the UN then offered to re-
conceptualize the notion of national security which ultimately provided input on human
security.
The UN has done many things related to humanitarian security. However, the most
obvious challenge still comes if it is clashed with the most classic international relations
theory, namely realism regarding superpowers. The extent to which superpower involvement
can be genuinely involved in the development of issues without any element of national
interest involvement in it, at least supports this conception.
History of the Emergence of Contemporary Global Issues
Contemporary history is a subset of modern history that describes the period of history
from about 1945 to the present. The term "contemporary history" has been used since at least
the early 20th century 19. Contemporary political history is dominated by the Cold War
(1945-1991) between the United States and the Soviet Union whose effects were felt around
the world. In this geopolitical context, the fall of European colonial empires in Africa and
Asia between 1945 and 1975 was often followed by American-Soviet confrontation in the
form of proxy wars and through intervention in the internal politics of smaller states. The
U.S.-Soviet rivalry eventually ended with the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw
Pact in 1991, following the Revolutions of 1989. and in the last stage and after the Cold War
paved the way for the democratization of large parts of Europe, Africa and Latin America.
In the Middle East, the period after 1945 was dominated by conflicts involving the new
state of Israel and the rise of petroleum politics, as well as the growth of Islamism after the
1980s. The period after 1945 saw the growth of the first supranational governmental
organizations, such as the United Nations and the European Union. Socially, western
countries experienced the rise of counter cultures3 and the sexual revolution4 between the
1960s and 1980s which transformed social relations and was fueled by the 1968 Protests.
Living standards rose sharply around the world especially in developed countries as a result
of, but also the emergence of, new economic powers such as Japan and West Germany. US
culture, especially consumerism, spread widely. By the 1960s, many western countries had
begun the process of deindustrialization. In their place, globalization led to the emergence of
new industrial centers, such as Japan, Taiwan and later China, based on exports consumer
goods for developed countries. The period after 1945 was also a transformative period in the
history of science because, among other things, nuclear technology, molecular biology,
particle physics and so on emerged which became the background for the emergence of
various technologies that appear today including the internet.
The history of the modern international system itself actually began in its history when
the Westphalia system (1648). States are interconnected with each other in an environment
called the international system. All countries are considered to have sovereignty, and some
countries are stronger than others. The system has many forms of informal rules about what
should happen, but these rules are not binding. International relations have existed since the
existence of states. The modern international system that we find ourselves in, however, is
not that old. The peace that ended a 30-year war between Catholic and Protestant states in
Western and Central Europe was the forerunner of the modern international system. It
declared that the sovereign leader of each nation state could do what he wanted within its
borders and established the state as a global actor in global politics. From then onwards, the
international system was in relation to nation states.
In the 17th-18th centuries, nation-states emerged to dominate the system of
international relations. A number of strong states dominated Europe, with some powers
coming and going. Weak states usually joined forces with others to prevent the dominant
power from becoming too strong, which is known as a proactive form of preserving the
balance of power. Economic competition and frequent wars marked this era, with countries
such as Britain and France being the most powerful to date, but some other powerful
countries collapsing over time, namely the Ottoman Empire and Spain.
Fundamental differences began to emerge in the 19th century, bringing about two major
changes in the international system:
Nationalism as a form of strength, which makes the nation state grow stronger.
Italy and Germany united, which changed the military and political balance in Europe.
Problems arose with the unification of Italy and Germany, which contributed to World
War I (1914-1918). The international system changed drastically after the war. Many
powerful countries in Europe were devastated by the war, and the United States (US) itself
began to come out of its isolation and turn into a global power. At the same time, the end of
the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian powers created a series of new states, and the rise of
communism in Russia. These factors led to the Treaty of Versailles, the Nazis and
Communism, and World War II (1939-1945).
New governments have emerged since the end of World War II. After the War, two
powers emerged: The US and the Soviet Union, which was called the bipolar system. Since
the end of the Cold War, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US has become the sole
ruler of the international system, which is called unipolar. However, there are other
viewpoints that see that the economic power of the US is not so strong that it cannot be said
that the control of the economy is entirely in the hands of the US because there are other
strong economic countries such as countries in Asia, thus calling it multi-polar.
Contemporary global issues emerged precisely at the end of the Cold War and/or when
the modern international system was unipolar. This can be regarded as the second period of
the new international order. The events that occurred became the context for contemporary
global issues. The most devastating event was the so-called 9/11 or September attacks. An
attack reportedly carried out by the Al Qaedah terrorist group on the US on September 11,
2001. There were about 2,999 victims, about 6,000 injured and 10 million properties and
infrastructures damaged.7 It is said to be devastating here because the attack was carried out
on the unipolar power holder of the international system at that time, namely the US. There
had been previous events that set the context for contemporary global issues such as the
genocides in Rwanda and Bosnia and the emergence of new states in Eastern Europe.
With the events of 9/11 and the genocide problem being addressed by the international
community, the new world government There is one threat that has a different character. The
nature of the threat this time is no longer from the state as was dominant in the Cold War
period but non-state actors. Non-state actors as the perpetrators of the causes of world
insecurity are becoming increasingly difficult to identify because such actors can also come
from the state concerned and/or from within the state itself. International issues in
international relations are becoming increasingly complex so that they are called
contemporary global issues. In this post-Cold War era, threats can mean disease outbreaks,
human trafficking, narcotics, arms trafficking, poverty, illiteracy, infectious viruses, which
are experienced by several countries not the country itself.
Thus, contemporary global issues are issues that developed and expanded after the end
of the Cold War in the 1990s. These contemporary global issues are related to the problems
faced by the international community in the new world order (new order) which is faced with
welfare issues related to human security. The form of security threats in this era has been
transformed so that the form of the international security agenda has also become new,
namely the New Global Security Agenda.
In 2002, the US Department of State under the US Secretary of Global Affairs, Paula J.
Dobriansky, issued a statement released on its website8 regarding new global security by
previously formulating an understanding of what is meant by global issues: At this point, it is
worth defining what I mean by global issues. Global issues are those issues that are not
limited by borders or boundaries but that reach across international lines to affect us all. My
global portfolio encompasses environment and science, refugees and migration, narcotics
trafficking and law enforcement, human rights, and health matters. Though he was speaking
in the first century B.C., the Roman poet Horace aptly described what could be called the
crux of modern global affairs when he wrote, "Your own safety is at stake when your
neighbor's wall is ablaze." The essence of global issues is a recognition that the people of the
world are inexorably linked and that, in today's world, that which touches some touches all.
Since September 11, never have we been more acutely aware that our own safety and the
protection of our way of life must be guarded by due attention to international problems -
such as injustice and the inadequacy of the rule of law, poverty, disease, and repression.
These are the blazing walls of today's world that threaten to engulf us. That is why these
issues have become central to American foreign policy and our efforts to protect our national
interests.
The US defines global issues as those that are not limited to cross-border issues but also
include international issues that impact the US across issues such as the environment and
science, refugees and migration, drug trafficking and law enforcement, human rights and
health. The US recognizes that since 9/11 issues have not been as acute regarding the safety
and protection of life. The aforementioned issues, including terrorism and disease, have
become one of the factors for the US to call it the new global security agenda.
Types and Characteristics of Contemporary Global Issues
Earlier in 1996, a paper was published by the Institute for Security Studies, which
identified several global sources of insecurity and their implications for national security
policy formulation. There are eight important things after the Cold War as strategic global
issues, namely drugs, migration, the environment, population, global economic challenges,
the crisis of liberal democracy, fusion and division, and light weapon proliferation.9 In the
paper, it is explained that there are global sources of insecurity and their implications for
national security policy formulation. These eight issues then become an important cluster as
an extraordinary threat to national and regional security and ultimately global security.10
This was then coupled with 9/11. Thus, the threat in this new form is not in the form of a
"military attack" carried out by a state against another state but an act of crime committed by
a non-state actor and aimed at the state (state actor), individuals or citizens who threaten the
security of humanity (Human Security).
Drugs
The domestic toll of drug addiction is alarming. These include loss of productivity,
soaring health costs, a sharp rise in drug-related crime, and the accelerated spread of AIDS
through contaminated needles. Drug use is not just a social phenomenon; it has far-reaching
political implications and security implications. For example, in Latin America there are
close links between drug traffickers and leftist revolutionary groups such as the Columbia M-
19 and the Peruvian Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path).11 In Lebanon and elsewhere in the
Middle East, in the Balkans, the Southern Republics of the former Soviet Union, Burma
(Myanmar) and Sri Lanka, drugs have become a major source of funds for movements.
Drug trafficking can also affect relations between countries. For example, a major
reason for the 1989 invasion of Panama by the US was that this government, under the
leadership of General Manuel Noriega, was allegedly serving as a conduit for drug travel to
the US.13 Most recently, Ross Perot's strongest attack on the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA), he argued that its eradication was a restriction on free access of goods
between Mexico and the US in allowing larger free traders of drugs in a sense to distribute
their 'poison' in the United States.
Migration
The largest and most dramatic population movement in recent years has been that of
approximately 30 million refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs).14 Political
unrest, social upheaval, economic dislocation and ecological disasters have contributed to the
movement of people across national borders of one 'southern' regional country to another. As
a result there are 3.2 million Afghans in Pakistan and 2.3 million in Iran; 685,000 in Ethiopia
are reported to have sought refuge in Sudan, while there are also 320,000 Somalis and
384,000 Sudanese in Ethiopia; and a further 600,000 Ethiopians are reported to have fled the
war to Somalia. 17 Civil war and famine have caused a third of Liberia's population (763,000
out of a total population of 2.4 million) to flee to neighboring Guinea, Sierra Leone and the
Coast.
Mass population movements are increasingly attracting the attention of key
policymakers, not only for humanitarian reasons, but also because they create domestic
instability, generate inter-state tensions and threaten international security. South Africa is
estimated to have received eight million illegal immigrants, which was the case at one point.
In 1994, it cost South African taxpayers R1, 985 million to host illegal alien residents.
In addition, there is a reciprocal relationship between illegal immigrants and the spread of
infectious diseases such as AIDS, malaria, cholera and tuberculosis. Police sources have also
noted that fourteen percent of all crimes in South Africa involve illegal immigrants including
arms sales, money laundering and drug trafficking.
Environment
The waning of Cold War military tensions coincided with the development of real
security problems that threaten the security of many countries and require international
solutions, including the hole in the ozone layer, the greenhouse effect, deforestation, scarce
water, energy and other resources. The increase in environmental hazards has underscored
two forms of interaction between states in the world: cooperation and conflict.
In 1940, David Mitrany developed a functional theory of international relations. He
proposed that given the common problems facing humanity everywhere, cooperation between
states should be broadened. This theme was embraced and magnified by globalists in the
1980s and 1990s - even going so far as to propose a federal world government for Planet
Earth. At the heart of the theory is the idea that the gravity of global problems requires global
solutions - resulting in greater levels of cooperation between the world's nations. For
example, one country cannot solve a problem such as the widening hole in the Earth's ozone;
it must be a combined planet-wide effort. On one level global cooperation, sharing common
problems, can be seen as a way of such as the Rio Earth Summit.
The potential for resource-based conflict was evident in the 1990 and 1991 Gulf Wars,
which essentially revolved around the scarce resource of energy. One of the main reasons for
the US to get involved in the Gulf War was its dependence on Gulf oil. American dependence
on Persian Gulf oil rose 500 percent between 1985 and 1989. By 1990 oil accounted for half
of the $100 billion US trade deficit.
Population
The world population is expected to grow from 5.3 billion in 1990 to 6.2 billion in
2000, and 8.5 billion in 2025. The growth rate of nearly one billion per decade has socio-
cultural and political economic consequences for the macro-environment. For example,
resource problems in countries such as Mexico and Egypt are directly linked to population
growth.
In Africa itself there is a noted reciprocal relationship between the conflict in Rwanda
and the fact that it has one of the highest levels of population density in Africa's growth.
Population was also seen to be responsible for two-thirds of the increase in carbon dioxide
entering the atmosphere between 1950 and 1985, thereby contributing to the greenhouse
effect. The population explosion was also listed as one of the contributing factors to the
occurrence of IDPs.16
Global Economic Challenges
The need to restructure the world economy stems from two major points: the north-
south growth divide and economic competition. The existence of a north-south split in
economic growth, and in some cases expansion, is obvious. This is highlighted by the fact
that the world's richest twenty percent control eighty percent of the world's economic
resources. This is demonstrated by the fact that the world's richest twenty percent are now
150 times richer than the poorest. It is further underscored by the fact that 1.3 billion people
in developing countries live in conditions of absolute poverty.
Saddest of all, it can be seen by the fact that 34,000 children die every day in the world
from malnutrition and disease. The need to address the north-south problem stems not only
from humanitarian reasons, but also from the threat of prosperity whose poverty is
increasingly exposed. Economic scarcity in the form of global markets and rising production
costs intensify economic competition. Technological competition and various forms of
commercial warfare have replaced the arms race from after the Cold War. According to
Japanese politician Isihara Shintaro, the twenty-first century will be a century of economic
warfare. If this happens, international security is threatened. Large economic power blocs
have been developed in the Pacific Rim and North America as a counterweight to the
European Union (EU). Similar economic formations have also been developed in Central
Africa and South America. The existence of large economic formations is necessary and does
not necessarily mean economic competition but rather complementarity. However, the
scarcity of such competition can develop and the history can become 'hot'.
The Crisis of Liberal Democracy
The end of Soviet-style communist rule consolidated the position of Western liberal
democracies. Since then, there has been state-sponsored ideological competition. The fall of
the Soviet system vindicated the principle of liberal democracy in the eyes of many: Smith,
Mill and Keynes. Western ideas of triumphalism were encapsulated in Francis Fukuyama's
books The End of History and Last Man. The liberal democratic paradigm seemed absolutely
dominant. Post-1989 developments seemed to show this as economic structural adjustment
programs (ESAPs) were liberalized in many African countries; liberal multiparty winds
democracy that swept across much of Africa, South America, the Middle East and Asia.17
Subsequent developments in the former Eastern bloc, which has seen the rise of the former
Communist Party, seem to disprove this notion.
Even in South Africa, political pluralism has experienced some setbacks. Soon after the
fall of the Berlin Wall, the surge towards multiparty democracy intensified in South Africa.
Kenneth Kaunda's corrupt one-party rule system was replaced by Frederick Chiluba's
Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD). In Malawi, the despotic rule of President-for-
life Hastings Kamuzu Band ended peacefully when Malawians went to the Banda elections
and his Malawi Congress Party (MCP) was voted out of power, replaced by United
Democratic Front (UDF) leader Bakili Muluzi.
In Lesotho, military rule ended and the Basotho National Party lost dominance in
elections that brought Prime Minister Ntsu Mokhehle and his Basotholand Congress Party
(BCP) to power. In South Africa, white minority rule came on April 27, 1994-the country's
first racially inclusive election. Meanwhile, both of the former Portuguese colonies in the
region, Angola and Mozambique, began to make the long and difficult transition to political
pluralism.
Fusion and Cleavage
The two most conflicting elements of the contemporary period are fusion and division-
peace coming together with the violent disintegration of society.
Regarding fusion, a newborn global culture seems to be taking shape. Denim jeans and
CocaCola are forms that are universal. If Toshiba and Toyota are in New York, then
MacDonald and Kentucky Fried Chicken will be found in Tokyo. If lamb is cooked and
stewed in a restaurant in New Delhi, then a fancy restaurant in London serves hot curry from
India. If Michael Jackson and Madonna become very famous in Montevideo, Maputo or
Kuala Lumpur, then West African and Indian music is represented by the likes of Manu
Dibango and Babu Shegal, who will surely be found playing in the discos of Paris or
Manchester. This is a nascent global cultural trend that goes even deeper than this: Human
rights and gender, geographical, political and cultural crossovers. One of the reasons for this
is The development of communication and technological innovation made it cheaper to travel
and made it possible for CNN broadcasts to reach 200 million people in ninety other
countries.
Fusion seems to buck this trend: scarce resources, varying degrees of population growth
in heterogeneous societies and the resultant growth of ethnic nationalism are tearing societies
apart. This has been evident in Rwanda and Burundi between Hutu and Tutsi; between Serbs,
Croats and Muslims in the former Yugoslavia; and between Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims in
India. What is even more interesting today is that these issues are beginning to surface in
western countries with liberal democracies: consider the growth of neo-Nazism in Germany;
the rising fortunes of Jean-Marie le Pen's National Front in France; the invigorating separatist
movements in Quebec; Catalonia; the Basque country; Corsica; Lombardy; Scotland and
Wales; and increasing tensions between the Flems and Walloons in Belgium. Not least, in the
US there were the 1992 riots in Los Angeles and the growth of ethnocentric nationalist
movements.
Light Weapons Production
Light weapons refer to crew-portable and ground weapons. Definitions include small
arms such as pistols, rifles, assault rifles and sub-machine guns; and medium machine guns;
heavy machine guns (HMG) with a caliber not exceeding 14.5 mm; anti-aircraft and anti-tank
missiles; light mortars; mines and grenades.
The danger of small arms proliferation to world peace is underscored by the fact that in
1994, major armed conflicts were being waged in 27 countries around the world and small
arms were the overwhelming cause of death from these weapons. The existence of small arms
is perhaps most fragile in third world countries due to power imbalances such as insurgents,
drug traffickers and other criminals. For example, guerrillas in Kashmir fighting India use
Soviet Kalashnikovs, in Pakistan, small arms exacerbate ethnic conflicts between mohajirs,
Pakistani Punjabis, Pathans from the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan and
Sindhis.
For Third World countries, issues related to the threat of a new form of security
(Human Security) are "real security threats" because they have relevance to the domestic
conditions of Third World countries that are still preoccupied with the threat of human
security by various issues regarding: 1) Political transition situation; 2) Weak government
power due to not maximizing law enforcement efforts; 3) Political uncertainty; 4) Economic
crisis; 5) Conflict issues in border areas; 6) Ethnic conflicts and communal conflicts with
various international dimensions; 7) The issue of national disintegration; 8) Increase in the
number of terrorism perpetrators; 9) The ability to carry out threatening actions against
human security, etc.
The development of technology, especially information technology, is one of the strong
reasons for the expansion of contemporary global issues, resulting in a shift in the nature of
global issues from before the Cold War. Due to the development of threats that have different
types than before the Cold War, contemporary global issues have specificity:
Unconventional;
In the sense that contemporary global issues are non-armaments and/or arms
competition.
Nontraditional;
This means that the issue category is not inter-state.
Non-military;
As mentioned earlier, disease outbreaks, and/or drugs can be a threat.
Multidimensional; and
Issues are complex such as those concerning poverty.
Transnational
The issues raised in contemporary global are cross-border such as migration, refugees,
and others.
Thus, the characteristics of contemporary global issues as non-traditional security
threats are:
Contemporary global issues that are non-traditional security threats are not centered on
one particular country. Thus, the threats that are part of these contemporary global
issues are not only faced by one country, but have threatened a number of countries at
once (have regional and global dimensions). Therefore, contemporary global issues are
often referred to as "transnational security threats".
Contemporary global issues are not focused on a particular geographical location.
Based on their geographical character, these issues are It is often difficult to
"recognize" because it crosses borders between countries and even regional
(transnational) boundaries.
Contemporary global issues cannot be addressed by military force alone. Indeed,
military force can be used in escalations that lead to armed conflict. However, in the
long run, military force can no longer be used effectively to address the threat of these
global issues.
Security issues that have become contemporary global issues have threatened the
existence of a country and individuals who are part of the country.
The most obvious thing is that in the development of contemporary global issues is the
emergence of a new term in responding to the threats faced, namely human security.
Strategic Global Issues and National Security in International Relations Theory
Strategic global issues and national security in international relations theory are divided
into two major parts: 1) state centric point of view; and 2) global cross cutting issues. The
state-centric point of view is divided between realism and institutionalism where realism
focuses on national interests while institutionalism focuses on regimes, namely regime
theory. Meanwhile, there is a cross-border theory pioneered by Wednt in the form of
constructivism theory and Joseph Nye in the form of transnationalism theory. In this cross-
border theory, the issue of globalization is raised as one of the factors.
Joseph Nye in his theory states that what is called global interaction is the movement of
information, money, goods, tangible and intangible objects beyond national borders.18 He
divides into four types of global interaction: 1) communication; 2) transportation; 3) money;
4) tourism.19 The interaction is divided into two types, namely interstate communication
and transnational communication. Interstate communication is a type of communication in
relations International communication is conducted entirely under the control of the
government of the nation state. Meanwhile, transnational communication is a type of
communication in international relations that has begun to involve non-state actors.
This form of interstate communication is the classical type, which is also called having
a classical paradigm. This interaction focuses on the government as the agent with which
people relate politically. This interstate politics is different from-although indirectly related
to-domestic politics. Transnational forms of communication in this type are not taken into
account.
Unlike interstate forms of interaction, transnational interactions may involve
governments, but they may not. Non-state actors play an important role in these interactions.
Talking about transnational interactions, we are talking about finance, travel and
communication, which in some cases can involve state actors, for example, to cross borders.
Thus, Nye and Keohanne refer to transnational interaction as a term to describe the
movement of tangible items and services (intangible items) across national borders when at
least one actor is not a state actor and/or an interstate organization.21 Nye and Keohanne
picked up the definition brought by J. David Singer which states that individuals and/or
organizations can have a role in world politics: 1) they can be involved in a coalition that
controls and influences their country; 2) they play their role directly confronting (vs) with
foreign policies and / or foreign societies that are not through (by pass) the government of
their country.22 Nye and Keohanne argue that transnational interactions fall into and / or
more precisely in the second type of Singer's explanation. Keohanne and Nye then describe
the form of transnational interaction as follows to distinguish it from interstate forms of
internation:
In the post-world war globalization era, which involves contemporary global issues of
international relations, many interactions are of the transnational type. This is inseparable
from the existence of Various technologies have been invented, especially communication
technology. Individuals can interact directly with the international community and/or
organizations of nations such as the United Nations. Some of the effects described by
Keohanne and Nye that occur in this type of interaction are essentially increased sensitivity
between people which means changing the form of their relationship with the government.
With global mass communication, different groups from different societies, such as
radical students, military personnel, or ethnic minorities, can observe each other's behavior
and then take it into action. Thus, student radicals can make political tactics and demands
without any direct contact. Their international "consipracy" is conducted publicly and
disseminated with the help of specialized media. Perpetrators in this global phenomenon may
be punished, but its scale, scope and speed are the product of global television.
In brief, Keohanne and Nye concluded that the effects of transnational interactions are:
1) changes in behavior; 2) international pluralism; 3) increased restrictions on states; 4)
increased ability of states to influence others; and 5) the emergence of independent actors
with private foreign policies that can directly oppose or reject their government's policies.
This is most evident in the fact that an individual in a family, the smallest organization
in the country, does not even have control over what his family members access with the
internet technology. This then becomes the same thing that happens at the state level. Thus,
state control is weakened and challenges to national security are strengthened. Threats are
becoming more complex as information technology can target the individual level and
influence their actions bypassing state governance. Does this mean that the state must be
authoritarian and or is there a new form?
Form a Comprehensive Security Strategy: A United Nations Proposal
To the challenges faced by the international community today, the United Nations (UN)
offers a way out. For two decades now, the international community has been working
towards a broad understanding of what constitutes security. Seeking input from governments,
academics, community groups and intergovernmental organizations, the UN held a meeting
called the 2000 Millennium Summit for a world "free of want" and "free of fear". As a result
of this meeting, an understanding and/or input on human security was formed.
In 2001, the UN created a special unit on humanitarian security called the Commission
of Human Security (CHS). The Commission consists of twelve international figures,
including Sadako Ogata - former UN High Commissioner for Refugees - and Professor
Amartya Sen (Nobel Laureate 1998). Humanitarian security has refocused the attention of
states and the international community on the survival, livelihoods and dignity of people as
the basis for peace, development and human progress.
While humanitarian security remains vital to stability and peace, the complexity and
interconnectedness of old and new threats - from chronic and persistent poverty, to violent
conflict, climate change, human trafficking, health, and financial crises - creates a shared
vulnerability to the growing risk of diffuse and cross cutting threats. As challenges can
evolve rapidly within and across nations and deliver powerful crises, humanitarian security
emphasizes the need for a new framework that combines the agendas of security and peace,
development and human rights in a more effective, efficient, and prevention-oriented process.
Here is the UN statement mentioned in the document: While national security remains pivotal
to peace and stability, the complexity and interrelatedness of old and new threats-from
chronic and persistent poverty, to violent conflicts, climate change, human trafficking, health
pandemics, and economic and financial crises-reveal our shared vulnerabilities to a growing
risk of threats that are widespread and cross-cutting. Because these challenges can spread
rapidly within and across nations and give rise to more intractable crises, human security
emphasizes the need for a new framework that combines the agendas of peace and security,
development and human rights in a more effective, efficient and prevention-oriented manner.
In United States, it can be summarized that humanitarian security is to protect the vital
core of human life by enhancing human freedom and fulfilling human needs. The CHS's
arguments for the importance of humanitarian security, touched on a little earlier, are detailed
below:
As argued by the Commission on Human Security (CHS), the need for a new paradigm
of security is associated with two sets of dynamics:
First, human security is needed in response to the complexity and the interrelatedness
of both old and new security threats-from chronic and persistent poverty to ethnic violence,
human trafficking, climate change, health pandemics, international terrorism, and sudden
economic and financial downturns. Such threats tend to acquire transnational dimensions and
move beyond traditional notions of security that focus on external military aggressions alone.
Second, human security is required as a comprehensive approach that utilizes the wide
range of new opportunities to tackle such threats in an integrated manner. Human security
threats cannot be tackled through conventional mechanisms alone. Instead, they require a new
consensus that recognizes the linkages and the interdependencies between development,
human rights and national security.
In essence, the definition provided by the CHS conceptualizes re-envision security with its
most fundamental issues:
moving away from the traditional, state-centric conception of security focused
primarily on the security of the state from military aggression, one that concentrates on
the security of individuals, their protection and empowerment;
draw attention to the many threats that cut across different aspects of human life and
thus highlight the interface between security, development and human rights; and
promote a new integrated, coordinated and people-centered approach to advancing
peace, security and development within and across countries.
Human security brings together the 'human element' in security, rights and
development. As such, it is an inter-disciplinary concept that displays the following
characteristics: 1) human-centered; 2) multi-sectoral; 3) comprehensive; 4) context-specific;
and 5) prevention-oriented.
As a human-centered concept, human security places the individual at the 'center of
analysis'. As a result, it considers the range of conditions that threaten survival, livelihoods
and dignity, and identifies the lower threshold of intolerable human life, threatened. Human
security is also based on a multi-sectoral understanding of insecurity. Therefore, human
security requires an expanded understanding of threats and includes related causes of
insecurity, e.g. for economic, food, health, environmental, personal, community and political
security.
This interdependence has important implications for policymaking as it suggests that
human insecurity cannot be addressed in isolation through fragmented stand-alone responses.
Instead, human security involves a comprehensive approach that emphasizes the need for a
multi-sectoral response that brings together agendas related to security, development and
human rights.
Moreover, as a context-specific concept, human security recognizes that insecurity
varies across different settings and as such advances solutions that are contextually
responsive to the particular situation they seek to address. Finally, in addressing the risks and
root causes of insecurity, human security is prevention oriented and introduces a dual focus
on protection and empowerment.
Conclusion
Based on the analysis and discussion above, it can be concluded that national security
in the context of contemporary global issues in the perspective of international relations is
complex, because threats at the individual level become real. This is then explained in
transnational theory in international relations. In its development, the UN then offered to re-
conceptualize the notion of national security which ultimately provided input on human
security.
The UN has done many things related to humanitarian security. However, the most
obvious challenge still comes if it is clashed with the most classic international relations
theory, namely realism regarding superpowers. The extent to which superpower involvement
can be genuinely involved in the development of issues without any element of national
interest involvement in it, at least supports this conception.
History of the Emergence of Contemporary Global Issues
Contemporary history is a subset of modern history that describes the period of history
from about 1945 to the present. The term "contemporary history" has been used since at least
the early 20th century 19. Contemporary political history is dominated by the Cold War
(1945-1991) between the United States and the Soviet Union whose effects were felt around
the world. In this geopolitical context, the fall of European colonial empires in Africa and
Asia between 1945 and 1975 was often followed by American-Soviet confrontation in the
form of proxy wars and through intervention in the internal politics of smaller states. The
U.S.-Soviet rivalry eventually ended with the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw
Pact in 1991, following the Revolutions of 1989. and in the last stage and after the Cold War
paved the way for the democratization of large parts of Europe, Africa and Latin America.
In the Middle East, the period after 1945 was dominated by conflicts involving the new
state of Israel and the rise of petroleum politics, as well as the growth of Islamism after the
1980s. The period after 1945 saw the growth of the first supranational governmental
organizations, such as the United Nations and the European Union. Socially, western
countries experienced the rise of counter cultures3 and the sexual revolution4 between the
1960s and 1980s which transformed social relations and was fueled by the 1968 Protests.
Living standards rose sharply around the world especially in developed countries as a result
of, but also the emergence of, new economic powers such as Japan and West Germany. US
culture, especially consumerism, spread widely. By the 1960s, many western countries had
begun the process of deindustrialization. In their place, globalization led to the emergence of
new industrial centers, such as Japan, Taiwan and later China, based on exports consumer
goods for developed countries. The period after 1945 was also a transformative period in the
history of science because, among other things, nuclear technology, molecular biology,
particle physics and so on emerged which became the background for the emergence of
various technologies that appear today including the internet.
The history of the modern international system itself actually began in its history when
the Westphalia system (1648). States are interconnected with each other in an environment
called the international system. All countries are considered to have sovereignty, and some
countries are stronger than others. The system has many forms of informal rules about what
should happen, but these rules are not binding. International relations have existed since the
existence of states. The modern international system that we find ourselves in, however, is
not that old. The peace that ended a 30-year war between Catholic and Protestant states in
Western and Central Europe was the forerunner of the modern international system. It
declared that the sovereign leader of each nation state could do what he wanted within its
borders and established the state as a global actor in global politics. From then onwards, the
international system was in relation to nation states.
In the 17th-18th centuries, nation-states emerged to dominate the system of
international relations. A number of strong states dominated Europe, with some powers
coming and going. Weak states usually joined forces with others to prevent the dominant
power from becoming too strong, which is known as a proactive form of preserving the
balance of power. Economic competition and frequent wars marked this era, with countries
such as Britain and France being the most powerful to date, but some other powerful
countries collapsing over time, namely the Ottoman Empire and Spain.
Fundamental differences began to emerge in the 19th century, bringing about two major
changes in the international system:
Nationalism as a form of strength, which makes the nation state grow stronger.
Italy and Germany united, which changed the military and political balance in Europe.
Problems arose with the unification of Italy and Germany, which contributed to World
War I (1914-1918). The international system changed drastically after the war. Many
powerful countries in Europe were devastated by the war, and the United States (US) itself
began to come out of its isolation and turn into a global power. At the same time, the end of
the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian powers created a series of new states, and the rise of
communism in Russia. These factors led to the Treaty of Versailles, the Nazis and
Communism, and World War II (1939-1945).
New governments have emerged since the end of World War II. After the War, two
powers emerged: The US and the Soviet Union, which was called the bipolar system. Since
the end of the Cold War, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US has become the sole
ruler of the international system, which is called unipolar. However, there are other
viewpoints that see that the economic power of the US is not so strong that it cannot be said
that the control of the economy is entirely in the hands of the US because there are other
strong economic countries such as countries in Asia, thus calling it multi-polar.
Contemporary global issues emerged precisely at the end of the Cold War and/or when
the modern international system was unipolar. This can be regarded as the second period of
the new international order. The events that occurred became the context for contemporary
global issues. The most devastating event was the so-called 9/11 or September attacks. An
attack reportedly carried out by the Al Qaedah terrorist group on the US on September 11,
2001. There were about 2,999 victims, about 6,000 injured and 10 million properties and
infrastructures damaged.7 It is said to be devastating here because the attack was carried out
on the unipolar power holder of the international system at that time, namely the US. There
had been previous events that set the context for contemporary global issues such as the
genocides in Rwanda and Bosnia and the emergence of new states in Eastern Europe.
With the events of 9/11 and the genocide problem being addressed by the international
community, the new world government There is one threat that has a different character. The
nature of the threat this time is no longer from the state as was dominant in the Cold War
period but non-state actors. Non-state actors as the perpetrators of the causes of world
insecurity are becoming increasingly difficult to identify because such actors can also come
from the state concerned and/or from within the state itself. International issues in
international relations are becoming increasingly complex so that they are called
contemporary global issues. In this post-Cold War era, threats can mean disease outbreaks,
human trafficking, narcotics, arms trafficking, poverty, illiteracy, infectious viruses, which
are experienced by several countries not the country itself.
Thus, contemporary global issues are issues that developed and expanded after the end
of the Cold War in the 1990s. These contemporary global issues are related to the problems
faced by the international community in the new world order (new order) which is faced with
welfare issues related to human security. The form of security threats in this era has been
transformed so that the form of the international security agenda has also become new,
namely the New Global Security Agenda.
In 2002, the US Department of State under the US Secretary of Global Affairs, Paula J.
Dobriansky, issued a statement released on its website8 regarding new global security by
previously formulating an understanding of what is meant by global issues: At this point, it is
worth defining what I mean by global issues. Global issues are those issues that are not
limited by borders or boundaries but that reach across international lines to affect us all. My
global portfolio encompasses environment and science, refugees and migration, narcotics
trafficking and law enforcement, human rights, and health matters. Though he was speaking
in the first century B.C., the Roman poet Horace aptly described what could be called the
crux of modern global affairs when he wrote, "Your own safety is at stake when your
neighbor's wall is ablaze." The essence of global issues is a recognition that the people of the
world are inexorably linked and that, in today's world, that which touches some touches all.
Since September 11, never have we been more acutely aware that our own safety and the
protection of our way of life must be guarded by due attention to international problems -
such as injustice and the inadequacy of the rule of law, poverty, disease, and repression.
These are the blazing walls of today's world that threaten to engulf us. That is why these
issues have become central to American foreign policy and our efforts to protect our national
interests.
The US defines global issues as those that are not limited to cross-border issues but also
include international issues that impact the US across issues such as the environment and
science, refugees and migration, drug trafficking and law enforcement, human rights and
health. The US recognizes that since 9/11 issues have not been as acute regarding the safety
and protection of life. The aforementioned issues, including terrorism and disease, have
become one of the factors for the US to call it the new global security agenda.
Types and Characteristics of Contemporary Global Issues
Earlier in 1996, a paper was published by the Institute for Security Studies, which
identified several global sources of insecurity and their implications for national security
policy formulation. There are eight important things after the Cold War as strategic global
issues, namely drugs, migration, the environment, population, global economic challenges,
the crisis of liberal democracy, fusion and division, and light weapon proliferation.9 In the
paper, it is explained that there are global sources of insecurity and their implications for
national security policy formulation. These eight issues then become an important cluster as
an extraordinary threat to national and regional security and ultimately global security.10
This was then coupled with 9/11. Thus, the threat in this new form is not in the form of a
"military attack" carried out by a state against another state but an act of crime committed by
a non-state actor and aimed at the state (state actor), individuals or citizens who threaten the
security of humanity (Human Security).
Drugs
The domestic toll of drug addiction is alarming. These include loss of productivity,
soaring health costs, a sharp rise in drug-related crime, and the accelerated spread of AIDS
through contaminated needles. Drug use is not just a social phenomenon; it has far-reaching
political implications and security implications. For example, in Latin America there are
close links between drug traffickers and leftist revolutionary groups such as the Columbia M-
19 and the Peruvian Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path).11 In Lebanon and elsewhere in the
Middle East, in the Balkans, the Southern Republics of the former Soviet Union, Burma
(Myanmar) and Sri Lanka, drugs have become a major source of funds for movements.
Drug trafficking can also affect relations between countries. For example, a major
reason for the 1989 invasion of Panama by the US was that this government, under the
leadership of General Manuel Noriega, was allegedly serving as a conduit for drug travel to
the US.13 Most recently, Ross Perot's strongest attack on the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA), he argued that its eradication was a restriction on free access of goods
between Mexico and the US in allowing larger free traders of drugs in a sense to distribute
their 'poison' in the United States.
Migration
The largest and most dramatic population movement in recent years has been that of
approximately 30 million refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs).14 Political
unrest, social upheaval, economic dislocation and ecological disasters have contributed to the
movement of people across national borders of one 'southern' regional country to another. As
a result there are 3.2 million Afghans in Pakistan and 2.3 million in Iran; 685,000 in Ethiopia
are reported to have sought refuge in Sudan, while there are also 320,000 Somalis and
384,000 Sudanese in Ethiopia; and a further 600,000 Ethiopians are reported to have fled the
war to Somalia. 17 Civil war and famine have caused a third of Liberia's population (763,000
out of a total population of 2.4 million) to flee to neighboring Guinea, Sierra Leone and the
Coast.
Mass population movements are increasingly attracting the attention of key
policymakers, not only for humanitarian reasons, but also because they create domestic
instability, generate inter-state tensions and threaten international security. South Africa is
estimated to have received eight million illegal immigrants, which was the case at one point.
In 1994, it cost South African taxpayers R1, 985 million to host illegal alien residents.
In addition, there is a reciprocal relationship between illegal immigrants and the spread of
infectious diseases such as AIDS, malaria, cholera and tuberculosis. Police sources have also
noted that fourteen percent of all crimes in South Africa involve illegal immigrants including
arms sales, money laundering and drug trafficking.
Environment
The waning of Cold War military tensions coincided with the development of real
security problems that threaten the security of many countries and require international
solutions, including the hole in the ozone layer, the greenhouse effect, deforestation, scarce
water, energy and other resources. The increase in environmental hazards has underscored
two forms of interaction between states in the world: cooperation and conflict.
In 1940, David Mitrany developed a functional theory of international relations. He
proposed that given the common problems facing humanity everywhere, cooperation between
states should be broadened. This theme was embraced and magnified by globalists in the
1980s and 1990s - even going so far as to propose a federal world government for Planet
Earth. At the heart of the theory is the idea that the gravity of global problems requires global
solutions - resulting in greater levels of cooperation between the world's nations. For
example, one country cannot solve a problem such as the widening hole in the Earth's ozone;
it must be a combined planet-wide effort. On one level global cooperation, sharing common
problems, can be seen as a way of such as the Rio Earth Summit.
The potential for resource-based conflict was evident in the 1990 and 1991 Gulf Wars,
which essentially revolved around the scarce resource of energy. One of the main reasons for
the US to get involved in the Gulf War was its dependence on Gulf oil. American dependence
on Persian Gulf oil rose 500 percent between 1985 and 1989. By 1990 oil accounted for half
of the $100 billion US trade deficit.
Population
The world population is expected to grow from 5.3 billion in 1990 to 6.2 billion in
2000, and 8.5 billion in 2025. The growth rate of nearly one billion per decade has socio-
cultural and political economic consequences for the macro-environment. For example,
resource problems in countries such as Mexico and Egypt are directly linked to population
growth.
In Africa itself there is a noted reciprocal relationship between the conflict in Rwanda
and the fact that it has one of the highest levels of population density in Africa's growth.
Population was also seen to be responsible for two-thirds of the increase in carbon dioxide
entering the atmosphere between 1950 and 1985, thereby contributing to the greenhouse
effect. The population explosion was also listed as one of the contributing factors to the
occurrence of IDPs.16
Global Economic Challenges
The need to restructure the world economy stems from two major points: the north-
south growth divide and economic competition. The existence of a north-south split in
economic growth, and in some cases expansion, is obvious. This is highlighted by the fact
that the world's richest twenty percent control eighty percent of the world's economic
resources. This is demonstrated by the fact that the world's richest twenty percent are now
150 times richer than the poorest. It is further underscored by the fact that 1.3 billion people
in developing countries live in conditions of absolute poverty.
Saddest of all, it can be seen by the fact that 34,000 children die every day in the world
from malnutrition and disease. The need to address the north-south problem stems not only
from humanitarian reasons, but also from the threat of prosperity whose poverty is
increasingly exposed. Economic scarcity in the form of global markets and rising production
costs intensify economic competition. Technological competition and various forms of
commercial warfare have replaced the arms race from after the Cold War. According to
Japanese politician Isihara Shintaro, the twenty-first century will be a century of economic
warfare. If this happens, international security is threatened. Large economic power blocs
have been developed in the Pacific Rim and North America as a counterweight to the
European Union (EU). Similar economic formations have also been developed in Central
Africa and South America. The existence of large economic formations is necessary and does
not necessarily mean economic competition but rather complementarity. However, the
scarcity of such competition can develop and the history can become 'hot'.
The Crisis of Liberal Democracy
The end of Soviet-style communist rule consolidated the position of Western liberal
democracies. Since then, there has been state-sponsored ideological competition. The fall of
the Soviet system vindicated the principle of liberal democracy in the eyes of many: Smith,
Mill and Keynes. Western ideas of triumphalism were encapsulated in Francis Fukuyama's
books The End of History and Last Man. The liberal democratic paradigm seemed absolutely
dominant. Post-1989 developments seemed to show this as economic structural adjustment
programs (ESAPs) were liberalized in many African countries; liberal multiparty winds
democracy that swept across much of Africa, South America, the Middle East and Asia.17
Subsequent developments in the former Eastern bloc, which has seen the rise of the former
Communist Party, seem to disprove this notion.
Even in South Africa, political pluralism has experienced some setbacks. Soon after the
fall of the Berlin Wall, the surge towards multiparty democracy intensified in South Africa.
Kenneth Kaunda's corrupt one-party rule system was replaced by Frederick Chiluba's
Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD). In Malawi, the despotic rule of President-for-
life Hastings Kamuzu Band ended peacefully when Malawians went to the Banda elections
and his Malawi Congress Party (MCP) was voted out of power, replaced by United
Democratic Front (UDF) leader Bakili Muluzi.
In Lesotho, military rule ended and the Basotho National Party lost dominance in
elections that brought Prime Minister Ntsu Mokhehle and his Basotholand Congress Party
(BCP) to power. In South Africa, white minority rule came on April 27, 1994-the country's
first racially inclusive election. Meanwhile, both of the former Portuguese colonies in the
region, Angola and Mozambique, began to make the long and difficult transition to political
pluralism.
Fusion and Cleavage
The two most conflicting elements of the contemporary period are fusion and division-
peace coming together with the violent disintegration of society.
Regarding fusion, a newborn global culture seems to be taking shape. Denim jeans and
CocaCola are forms that are universal. If Toshiba and Toyota are in New York, then
MacDonald and Kentucky Fried Chicken will be found in Tokyo. If lamb is cooked and
stewed in a restaurant in New Delhi, then a fancy restaurant in London serves hot curry from
India. If Michael Jackson and Madonna become very famous in Montevideo, Maputo or
Kuala Lumpur, then West African and Indian music is represented by the likes of Manu
Dibango and Babu Shegal, who will surely be found playing in the discos of Paris or
Manchester. This is a nascent global cultural trend that goes even deeper than this: Human
rights and gender, geographical, political and cultural crossovers. One of the reasons for this
is The development of communication and technological innovation made it cheaper to travel
and made it possible for CNN broadcasts to reach 200 million people in ninety other
countries.
Fusion seems to buck this trend: scarce resources, varying degrees of population growth
in heterogeneous societies and the resultant growth of ethnic nationalism are tearing societies
apart. This has been evident in Rwanda and Burundi between Hutu and Tutsi; between Serbs,
Croats and Muslims in the former Yugoslavia; and between Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims in
India. What is even more interesting today is that these issues are beginning to surface in
western countries with liberal democracies: consider the growth of neo-Nazism in Germany;
the rising fortunes of Jean-Marie le Pen's National Front in France; the invigorating separatist
movements in Quebec; Catalonia; the Basque country; Corsica; Lombardy; Scotland and
Wales; and increasing tensions between the Flems and Walloons in Belgium. Not least, in the
US there were the 1992 riots in Los Angeles and the growth of ethnocentric nationalist
movements.
Light Weapons Production
Light weapons refer to crew-portable and ground weapons. Definitions include small
arms such as pistols, rifles, assault rifles and sub-machine guns; and medium machine guns;
heavy machine guns (HMG) with a caliber not exceeding 14.5 mm; anti-aircraft and anti-tank
missiles; light mortars; mines and grenades.
The danger of small arms proliferation to world peace is underscored by the fact that in
1994, major armed conflicts were being waged in 27 countries around the world and small
arms were the overwhelming cause of death from these weapons. The existence of small arms
is perhaps most fragile in third world countries due to power imbalances such as insurgents,
drug traffickers and other criminals. For example, guerrillas in Kashmir fighting India use
Soviet Kalashnikovs, in Pakistan, small arms exacerbate ethnic conflicts between mohajirs,
Pakistani Punjabis, Pathans from the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan and
Sindhis.
For Third World countries, issues related to the threat of a new form of security
(Human Security) are "real security threats" because they have relevance to the domestic
conditions of Third World countries that are still preoccupied with the threat of human
security by various issues regarding: 1) Political transition situation; 2) Weak government
power due to not maximizing law enforcement efforts; 3) Political uncertainty; 4) Economic
crisis; 5) Conflict issues in border areas; 6) Ethnic conflicts and communal conflicts with
various international dimensions; 7) The issue of national disintegration; 8) Increase in the
number of terrorism perpetrators; 9) The ability to carry out threatening actions against
human security, etc.
The development of technology, especially information technology, is one of the strong
reasons for the expansion of contemporary global issues, resulting in a shift in the nature of
global issues from before the Cold War. Due to the development of threats that have different
types than before the Cold War, contemporary global issues have specificity:
Unconventional;
In the sense that contemporary global issues are non-armaments and/or arms
competition.
Nontraditional;
This means that the issue category is not inter-state.
Non-military;
As mentioned earlier, disease outbreaks, and/or drugs can be a threat.
Multidimensional; and
Issues are complex such as those concerning poverty.
Transnational
The issues raised in contemporary global are cross-border such as migration, refugees,
and others.
Thus, the characteristics of contemporary global issues as non-traditional security
threats are:
Contemporary global issues that are non-traditional security threats are not centered on
one particular country. Thus, the threats that are part of these contemporary global
issues are not only faced by one country, but have threatened a number of countries at
once (have regional and global dimensions). Therefore, contemporary global issues are
often referred to as "transnational security threats".
Contemporary global issues are not focused on a particular geographical location.
Based on their geographical character, these issues are It is often difficult to
"recognize" because it crosses borders between countries and even regional
(transnational) boundaries.
Contemporary global issues cannot be addressed by military force alone. Indeed,
military force can be used in escalations that lead to armed conflict. However, in the
long run, military force can no longer be used effectively to address the threat of these
global issues.
Security issues that have become contemporary global issues have threatened the
existence of a country and individuals who are part of the country.
The most obvious thing is that in the development of contemporary global issues is the
emergence of a new term in responding to the threats faced, namely human security.
Strategic Global Issues and National Security in International Relations Theory
Strategic global issues and national security in international relations theory are divided
into two major parts: 1) state centric point of view; and 2) global cross cutting issues. The
state-centric point of view is divided between realism and institutionalism where realism
focuses on national interests while institutionalism focuses on regimes, namely regime
theory. Meanwhile, there is a cross-border theory pioneered by Wednt in the form of
constructivism theory and Joseph Nye in the form of transnationalism theory. In this cross-
border theory, the issue of globalization is raised as one of the factors.
Joseph Nye in his theory states that what is called global interaction is the movement of
information, money, goods, tangible and intangible objects beyond national borders.18 He
divides into four types of global interaction: 1) communication; 2) transportation; 3) money;
4) tourism.19 The interaction is divided into two types, namely interstate communication
and transnational communication. Interstate communication is a type of communication in
relations International communication is conducted entirely under the control of the
government of the nation state. Meanwhile, transnational communication is a type of
communication in international relations that has begun to involve non-state actors.
This form of interstate communication is the classical type, which is also called having
a classical paradigm. This interaction focuses on the government as the agent with which
people relate politically. This interstate politics is different from-although indirectly related
to-domestic politics. Transnational forms of communication in this type are not taken into
account.
Unlike interstate forms of interaction, transnational interactions may involve
governments, but they may not. Non-state actors play an important role in these interactions.
Talking about transnational interactions, we are talking about finance, travel and
communication, which in some cases can involve state actors, for example, to cross borders.
Thus, Nye and Keohanne refer to transnational interaction as a term to describe the
movement of tangible items and services (intangible items) across national borders when at
least one actor is not a state actor and/or an interstate organization.21 Nye and Keohanne
picked up the definition brought by J. David Singer which states that individuals and/or
organizations can have a role in world politics: 1) they can be involved in a coalition that
controls and influences their country; 2) they play their role directly confronting (vs) with
foreign policies and / or foreign societies that are not through (by pass) the government of
their country.22 Nye and Keohanne argue that transnational interactions fall into and / or
more precisely in the second type of Singer's explanation. Keohanne and Nye then describe
the form of transnational interaction as follows to distinguish it from interstate forms of
internation:
In the post-world war globalization era, which involves contemporary global issues of
international relations, many interactions are of the transnational type. This is inseparable
from the existence of Various technologies have been invented, especially communication
technology. Individuals can interact directly with the international community and/or
organizations of nations such as the United Nations. Some of the effects described by
Keohanne and Nye that occur in this type of interaction are essentially increased sensitivity
between people which means changing the form of their relationship with the government.
With global mass communication, different groups from different societies, such as
radical students, military personnel, or ethnic minorities, can observe each other's behavior
and then take it into action. Thus, student radicals can make political tactics and demands
without any direct contact. Their international "consipracy" is conducted publicly and
disseminated with the help of specialized media. Perpetrators in this global phenomenon may
be punished, but its scale, scope and speed are the product of global television.
In brief, Keohanne and Nye concluded that the effects of transnational interactions are:
1) changes in behavior; 2) international pluralism; 3) increased restrictions on states; 4)
increased ability of states to influence others; and 5) the emergence of independent actors
with private foreign policies that can directly oppose or reject their government's policies.
This is most evident in the fact that an individual in a family, the smallest organization
in the country, does not even have control over what his family members access with the
internet technology. This then becomes the same thing that happens at the state level. Thus,
state control is weakened and challenges to national security are strengthened. Threats are
becoming more complex as information technology can target the individual level and
influence their actions bypassing state governance. Does this mean that the state must be
authoritarian and or is there a new form?
Form a Comprehensive Security Strategy: A United Nations Proposal
To the challenges faced by the international community today, the United Nations (UN)
offers a way out. For two decades now, the international community has been working
towards a broad understanding of what constitutes security. Seeking input from governments,
academics, community groups and intergovernmental organizations, the UN held a meeting
called the 2000 Millennium Summit for a world "free of want" and "free of fear". As a result
of this meeting, an understanding and/or input on human security was formed.
In 2001, the UN created a special unit on humanitarian security called the Commission
of Human Security (CHS). The Commission consists of twelve international figures,
including Sadako Ogata - former UN High Commissioner for Refugees - and Professor
Amartya Sen (Nobel Laureate 1998). Humanitarian security has refocused the attention of
states and the international community on the survival, livelihoods and dignity of people as
the basis for peace, development and human progress.
While humanitarian security remains vital to stability and peace, the complexity and
interconnectedness of old and new threats - from chronic and persistent poverty, to violent
conflict, climate change, human trafficking, health, and financial crises - creates a shared
vulnerability to the growing risk of diffuse and cross cutting threats. As challenges can
evolve rapidly within and across nations and deliver powerful crises, humanitarian security
emphasizes the need for a new framework that combines the agendas of security and peace,
development and human rights in a more effective, efficient, and prevention-oriented process.
Here is the UN statement mentioned in the document: While national security remains pivotal
to peace and stability, the complexity and interrelatedness of old and new threats-from
chronic and persistent poverty, to violent conflicts, climate change, human trafficking, health
pandemics, and economic and financial crises-reveal our shared vulnerabilities to a growing
risk of threats that are widespread and cross-cutting. Because these challenges can spread
rapidly within and across nations and give rise to more intractable crises, human security
emphasizes the need for a new framework that combines the agendas of peace and security,
development and human rights in a more effective, efficient and prevention-oriented manner.
In United States, it can be summarized that humanitarian security is to protect the vital
core of human life by enhancing human freedom and fulfilling human needs. The CHS's
arguments for the importance of humanitarian security, touched on a little earlier, are detailed
below:
As argued by the Commission on Human Security (CHS), the need for a new paradigm
of security is associated with two sets of dynamics:
First, human security is needed in response to the complexity and the interrelatedness
of both old and new security threats-from chronic and persistent poverty to ethnic violence,
human trafficking, climate change, health pandemics, international terrorism, and sudden
economic and financial downturns. Such threats tend to acquire transnational dimensions and
move beyond traditional notions of security that focus on external military aggressions alone.
Second, human security is required as a comprehensive approach that utilizes the wide
range of new opportunities to tackle such threats in an integrated manner. Human security
threats cannot be tackled through conventional mechanisms alone. Instead, they require a new
consensus that recognizes the linkages and the interdependencies between development,
human rights and national security.
In essence, the definition provided by the CHS conceptualizes re-envision security with its
most fundamental issues:
moving away from the traditional, state-centric conception of security focused
primarily on the security of the state from military aggression, one that concentrates on
the security of individuals, their protection and empowerment;
draw attention to the many threats that cut across different aspects of human life and
thus highlight the interface between security, development and human rights; and
promote a new integrated, coordinated and people-centered approach to advancing
peace, security and development within and across countries.
Human security brings together the 'human element' in security, rights and
development. As such, it is an inter-disciplinary concept that displays the following
characteristics: 1) human-centered; 2) multi-sectoral; 3) comprehensive; 4) context-specific;
and 5) prevention-oriented.
As a human-centered concept, human security places the individual at the 'center of
analysis'. As a result, it considers the range of conditions that threaten survival, livelihoods
and dignity, and identifies the lower threshold of intolerable human life, threatened. Human
security is also based on a multi-sectoral understanding of insecurity. Therefore, human
security requires an expanded understanding of threats and includes related causes of
insecurity, e.g. for economic, food, health, environmental, personal, community and political
security.
This interdependence has important implications for policymaking as it suggests that
human insecurity cannot be addressed in isolation through fragmented stand-alone responses.
Instead, human security involves a comprehensive approach that emphasizes the need for a
multi-sectoral response that brings together agendas related to security, development and
human rights.
Moreover, as a context-specific concept, human security recognizes that insecurity
varies across different settings and as such advances solutions that are contextually
responsive to the particular situation they seek to address. Finally, in addressing the risks and
root causes of insecurity, human security is prevention oriented and introduces a dual focus
on protection and empowerment.
Conclusion
Based on the analysis and discussion above, it can be concluded that national security
in the context of contemporary global issues in the perspective of international relations is
complex, because threats at the individual level become real. This is then explained in
transnational theory in international relations. In its development, the UN then offered to re-
conceptualize the notion of national security which ultimately provided input on human
security.
The UN has done many things related to humanitarian security. However, the most
obvious challenge still comes if it is clashed with the most classic international relations
theory, namely realism regarding superpowers. The extent to which superpower involvement
can be genuinely involved in the development of issues without any element of national
interest involvement in it, at least supports this conception.
History of the Emergence of Contemporary Global Issues
Contemporary history is a subset of modern history that describes the period of history
from about 1945 to the present. The term "contemporary history" has been used since at least
the early 20th century 19. Contemporary political history is dominated by the Cold War
(1945-1991) between the United States and the Soviet Union whose effects were felt around
the world. In this geopolitical context, the fall of European colonial empires in Africa and
Asia between 1945 and 1975 was often followed by American-Soviet confrontation in the
form of proxy wars and through intervention in the internal politics of smaller states. The
U.S.-Soviet rivalry eventually ended with the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw
Pact in 1991, following the Revolutions of 1989. and in the last stage and after the Cold War
paved the way for the democratization of large parts of Europe, Africa and Latin America.
In the Middle East, the period after 1945 was dominated by conflicts involving the new
state of Israel and the rise of petroleum politics, as well as the growth of Islamism after the
1980s. The period after 1945 saw the growth of the first supranational governmental
organizations, such as the United Nations and the European Union. Socially, western
countries experienced the rise of counter cultures3 and the sexual revolution4 between the
1960s and 1980s which transformed social relations and was fueled by the 1968 Protests.
Living standards rose sharply around the world especially in developed countries as a result
of, but also the emergence of, new economic powers such as Japan and West Germany. US
culture, especially consumerism, spread widely. By the 1960s, many western countries had
begun the process of deindustrialization. In their place, globalization led to the emergence of
new industrial centers, such as Japan, Taiwan and later China, based on exports consumer
goods for developed countries. The period after 1945 was also a transformative period in the
history of science because, among other things, nuclear technology, molecular biology,
particle physics and so on emerged which became the background for the emergence of
various technologies that appear today including the internet.
The history of the modern international system itself actually began in its history when
the Westphalia system (1648). States are interconnected with each other in an environment
called the international system. All countries are considered to have sovereignty, and some
countries are stronger than others. The system has many forms of informal rules about what
should happen, but these rules are not binding. International relations have existed since the
existence of states. The modern international system that we find ourselves in, however, is
not that old. The peace that ended a 30-year war between Catholic and Protestant states in
Western and Central Europe was the forerunner of the modern international system. It
declared that the sovereign leader of each nation state could do what he wanted within its
borders and established the state as a global actor in global politics. From then onwards, the
international system was in relation to nation states.
In the 17th-18th centuries, nation-states emerged to dominate the system of
international relations. A number of strong states dominated Europe, with some powers
coming and going. Weak states usually joined forces with others to prevent the dominant
power from becoming too strong, which is known as a proactive form of preserving the
balance of power. Economic competition and frequent wars marked this era, with countries
such as Britain and France being the most powerful to date, but some other powerful
countries collapsing over time, namely the Ottoman Empire and Spain.
Fundamental differences began to emerge in the 19th century, bringing about two major
changes in the international system:
Nationalism as a form of strength, which makes the nation state grow stronger.
Italy and Germany united, which changed the military and political balance in Europe.
Problems arose with the unification of Italy and Germany, which contributed to World
War I (1914-1918). The international system changed drastically after the war. Many
powerful countries in Europe were devastated by the war, and the United States (US) itself
began to come out of its isolation and turn into a global power. At the same time, the end of
the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian powers created a series of new states, and the rise of
communism in Russia. These factors led to the Treaty of Versailles, the Nazis and
Communism, and World War II (1939-1945).
New governments have emerged since the end of World War II. After the War, two
powers emerged: The US and the Soviet Union, which was called the bipolar system. Since
the end of the Cold War, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US has become the sole
ruler of the international system, which is called unipolar. However, there are other
viewpoints that see that the economic power of the US is not so strong that it cannot be said
that the control of the economy is entirely in the hands of the US because there are other
strong economic countries such as countries in Asia, thus calling it multi-polar.
Contemporary global issues emerged precisely at the end of the Cold War and/or when
the modern international system was unipolar. This can be regarded as the second period of
the new international order. The events that occurred became the context for contemporary
global issues. The most devastating event was the so-called 9/11 or September attacks. An
attack reportedly carried out by the Al Qaedah terrorist group on the US on September 11,
2001. There were about 2,999 victims, about 6,000 injured and 10 million properties and
infrastructures damaged.7 It is said to be devastating here because the attack was carried out
on the unipolar power holder of the international system at that time, namely the US. There
had been previous events that set the context for contemporary global issues such as the
genocides in Rwanda and Bosnia and the emergence of new states in Eastern Europe.
With the events of 9/11 and the genocide problem being addressed by the international
community, the new world government There is one threat that has a different character. The
nature of the threat this time is no longer from the state as was dominant in the Cold War
period but non-state actors. Non-state actors as the perpetrators of the causes of world
insecurity are becoming increasingly difficult to identify because such actors can also come
from the state concerned and/or from within the state itself. International issues in
international relations are becoming increasingly complex so that they are called
contemporary global issues. In this post-Cold War era, threats can mean disease outbreaks,
human trafficking, narcotics, arms trafficking, poverty, illiteracy, infectious viruses, which
are experienced by several countries not the country itself.
Thus, contemporary global issues are issues that developed and expanded after the end
of the Cold War in the 1990s. These contemporary global issues are related to the problems
faced by the international community in the new world order (new order) which is faced with
welfare issues related to human security. The form of security threats in this era has been
transformed so that the form of the international security agenda has also become new,
namely the New Global Security Agenda.
In 2002, the US Department of State under the US Secretary of Global Affairs, Paula J.
Dobriansky, issued a statement released on its website8 regarding new global security by
previously formulating an understanding of what is meant by global issues: At this point, it is
worth defining what I mean by global issues. Global issues are those issues that are not
limited by borders or boundaries but that reach across international lines to affect us all. My
global portfolio encompasses environment and science, refugees and migration, narcotics
trafficking and law enforcement, human rights, and health matters. Though he was speaking
in the first century B.C., the Roman poet Horace aptly described what could be called the
crux of modern global affairs when he wrote, "Your own safety is at stake when your
neighbor's wall is ablaze." The essence of global issues is a recognition that the people of the
world are inexorably linked and that, in today's world, that which touches some touches all.
Since September 11, never have we been more acutely aware that our own safety and the
protection of our way of life must be guarded by due attention to international problems -
such as injustice and the inadequacy of the rule of law, poverty, disease, and repression.
These are the blazing walls of today's world that threaten to engulf us. That is why these
issues have become central to American foreign policy and our efforts to protect our national
interests.
The US defines global issues as those that are not limited to cross-border issues but also
include international issues that impact the US across issues such as the environment and
science, refugees and migration, drug trafficking and law enforcement, human rights and
health. The US recognizes that since 9/11 issues have not been as acute regarding the safety
and protection of life. The aforementioned issues, including terrorism and disease, have
become one of the factors for the US to call it the new global security agenda.
Types and Characteristics of Contemporary Global Issues
Earlier in 1996, a paper was published by the Institute for Security Studies, which
identified several global sources of insecurity and their implications for national security
policy formulation. There are eight important things after the Cold War as strategic global
issues, namely drugs, migration, the environment, population, global economic challenges,
the crisis of liberal democracy, fusion and division, and light weapon proliferation.9 In the
paper, it is explained that there are global sources of insecurity and their implications for
national security policy formulation. These eight issues then become an important cluster as
an extraordinary threat to national and regional security and ultimately global security.10
This was then coupled with 9/11. Thus, the threat in this new form is not in the form of a
"military attack" carried out by a state against another state but an act of crime committed by
a non-state actor and aimed at the state (state actor), individuals or citizens who threaten the
security of humanity (Human Security).
Drugs
The domestic toll of drug addiction is alarming. These include loss of productivity,
soaring health costs, a sharp rise in drug-related crime, and the accelerated spread of AIDS
through contaminated needles. Drug use is not just a social phenomenon; it has far-reaching
political implications and security implications. For example, in Latin America there are
close links between drug traffickers and leftist revolutionary groups such as the Columbia M-
19 and the Peruvian Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path).11 In Lebanon and elsewhere in the
Middle East, in the Balkans, the Southern Republics of the former Soviet Union, Burma
(Myanmar) and Sri Lanka, drugs have become a major source of funds for movements.
Drug trafficking can also affect relations between countries. For example, a major
reason for the 1989 invasion of Panama by the US was that this government, under the
leadership of General Manuel Noriega, was allegedly serving as a conduit for drug travel to
the US.13 Most recently, Ross Perot's strongest attack on the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA), he argued that its eradication was a restriction on free access of goods
between Mexico and the US in allowing larger free traders of drugs in a sense to distribute
their 'poison' in the United States.
Migration
The largest and most dramatic population movement in recent years has been that of
approximately 30 million refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs).14 Political
unrest, social upheaval, economic dislocation and ecological disasters have contributed to the
movement of people across national borders of one 'southern' regional country to another. As
a result there are 3.2 million Afghans in Pakistan and 2.3 million in Iran; 685,000 in Ethiopia
are reported to have sought refuge in Sudan, while there are also 320,000 Somalis and
384,000 Sudanese in Ethiopia; and a further 600,000 Ethiopians are reported to have fled the
war to Somalia. 17 Civil war and famine have caused a third of Liberia's population (763,000
out of a total population of 2.4 million) to flee to neighboring Guinea, Sierra Leone and the
Coast.
Mass population movements are increasingly attracting the attention of key
policymakers, not only for humanitarian reasons, but also because they create domestic
instability, generate inter-state tensions and threaten international security. South Africa is
estimated to have received eight million illegal immigrants, which was the case at one point.
In 1994, it cost South African taxpayers R1, 985 million to host illegal alien residents.
In addition, there is a reciprocal relationship between illegal immigrants and the spread of
infectious diseases such as AIDS, malaria, cholera and tuberculosis. Police sources have also
noted that fourteen percent of all crimes in South Africa involve illegal immigrants including
arms sales, money laundering and drug trafficking.
Environment
The waning of Cold War military tensions coincided with the development of real
security problems that threaten the security of many countries and require international
solutions, including the hole in the ozone layer, the greenhouse effect, deforestation, scarce
water, energy and other resources. The increase in environmental hazards has underscored
two forms of interaction between states in the world: cooperation and conflict.
In 1940, David Mitrany developed a functional theory of international relations. He
proposed that given the common problems facing humanity everywhere, cooperation between
states should be broadened. This theme was embraced and magnified by globalists in the
1980s and 1990s - even going so far as to propose a federal world government for Planet
Earth. At the heart of the theory is the idea that the gravity of global problems requires global
solutions - resulting in greater levels of cooperation between the world's nations. For
example, one country cannot solve a problem such as the widening hole in the Earth's ozone;
it must be a combined planet-wide effort. On one level global cooperation, sharing common
problems, can be seen as a way of such as the Rio Earth Summit.
The potential for resource-based conflict was evident in the 1990 and 1991 Gulf Wars,
which essentially revolved around the scarce resource of energy. One of the main reasons for
the US to get involved in the Gulf War was its dependence on Gulf oil. American dependence
on Persian Gulf oil rose 500 percent between 1985 and 1989. By 1990 oil accounted for half
of the $100 billion US trade deficit.
Population
The world population is expected to grow from 5.3 billion in 1990 to 6.2 billion in
2000, and 8.5 billion in 2025. The growth rate of nearly one billion per decade has socio-
cultural and political economic consequences for the macro-environment. For example,
resource problems in countries such as Mexico and Egypt are directly linked to population
growth.
In Africa itself there is a noted reciprocal relationship between the conflict in Rwanda
and the fact that it has one of the highest levels of population density in Africa's growth.
Population was also seen to be responsible for two-thirds of the increase in carbon dioxide
entering the atmosphere between 1950 and 1985, thereby contributing to the greenhouse
effect. The population explosion was also listed as one of the contributing factors to the
occurrence of IDPs.16
Global Economic Challenges
The need to restructure the world economy stems from two major points: the north-
south growth divide and economic competition. The existence of a north-south split in
economic growth, and in some cases expansion, is obvious. This is highlighted by the fact
that the world's richest twenty percent control eighty percent of the world's economic
resources. This is demonstrated by the fact that the world's richest twenty percent are now
150 times richer than the poorest. It is further underscored by the fact that 1.3 billion people
in developing countries live in conditions of absolute poverty.
Saddest of all, it can be seen by the fact that 34,000 children die every day in the world
from malnutrition and disease. The need to address the north-south problem stems not only
from humanitarian reasons, but also from the threat of prosperity whose poverty is
increasingly exposed. Economic scarcity in the form of global markets and rising production
costs intensify economic competition. Technological competition and various forms of
commercial warfare have replaced the arms race from after the Cold War. According to
Japanese politician Isihara Shintaro, the twenty-first century will be a century of economic
warfare. If this happens, international security is threatened. Large economic power blocs
have been developed in the Pacific Rim and North America as a counterweight to the
European Union (EU). Similar economic formations have also been developed in Central
Africa and South America. The existence of large economic formations is necessary and does
not necessarily mean economic competition but rather complementarity. However, the
scarcity of such competition can develop and the history can become 'hot'.
The Crisis of Liberal Democracy
The end of Soviet-style communist rule consolidated the position of Western liberal
democracies. Since then, there has been state-sponsored ideological competition. The fall of
the Soviet system vindicated the principle of liberal democracy in the eyes of many: Smith,
Mill and Keynes. Western ideas of triumphalism were encapsulated in Francis Fukuyama's
books The End of History and Last Man. The liberal democratic paradigm seemed absolutely
dominant. Post-1989 developments seemed to show this as economic structural adjustment
programs (ESAPs) were liberalized in many African countries; liberal multiparty winds
democracy that swept across much of Africa, South America, the Middle East and Asia.17
Subsequent developments in the former Eastern bloc, which has seen the rise of the former
Communist Party, seem to disprove this notion.
Even in South Africa, political pluralism has experienced some setbacks. Soon after the
fall of the Berlin Wall, the surge towards multiparty democracy intensified in South Africa.
Kenneth Kaunda's corrupt one-party rule system was replaced by Frederick Chiluba's
Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD). In Malawi, the despotic rule of President-for-
life Hastings Kamuzu Band ended peacefully when Malawians went to the Banda elections
and his Malawi Congress Party (MCP) was voted out of power, replaced by United
Democratic Front (UDF) leader Bakili Muluzi.
In Lesotho, military rule ended and the Basotho National Party lost dominance in
elections that brought Prime Minister Ntsu Mokhehle and his Basotholand Congress Party
(BCP) to power. In South Africa, white minority rule came on April 27, 1994-the country's
first racially inclusive election. Meanwhile, both of the former Portuguese colonies in the
region, Angola and Mozambique, began to make the long and difficult transition to political
pluralism.
Fusion and Cleavage
The two most conflicting elements of the contemporary period are fusion and division-
peace coming together with the violent disintegration of society.
Regarding fusion, a newborn global culture seems to be taking shape. Denim jeans and
CocaCola are forms that are universal. If Toshiba and Toyota are in New York, then
MacDonald and Kentucky Fried Chicken will be found in Tokyo. If lamb is cooked and
stewed in a restaurant in New Delhi, then a fancy restaurant in London serves hot curry from
India. If Michael Jackson and Madonna become very famous in Montevideo, Maputo or
Kuala Lumpur, then West African and Indian music is represented by the likes of Manu
Dibango and Babu Shegal, who will surely be found playing in the discos of Paris or
Manchester. This is a nascent global cultural trend that goes even deeper than this: Human
rights and gender, geographical, political and cultural crossovers. One of the reasons for this
is The development of communication and technological innovation made it cheaper to travel
and made it possible for CNN broadcasts to reach 200 million people in ninety other
countries.
Fusion seems to buck this trend: scarce resources, varying degrees of population growth
in heterogeneous societies and the resultant growth of ethnic nationalism are tearing societies
apart. This has been evident in Rwanda and Burundi between Hutu and Tutsi; between Serbs,
Croats and Muslims in the former Yugoslavia; and between Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims in
India. What is even more interesting today is that these issues are beginning to surface in
western countries with liberal democracies: consider the growth of neo-Nazism in Germany;
the rising fortunes of Jean-Marie le Pen's National Front in France; the invigorating separatist
movements in Quebec; Catalonia; the Basque country; Corsica; Lombardy; Scotland and
Wales; and increasing tensions between the Flems and Walloons in Belgium. Not least, in the
US there were the 1992 riots in Los Angeles and the growth of ethnocentric nationalist
movements.
Light Weapons Production
Light weapons refer to crew-portable and ground weapons. Definitions include small
arms such as pistols, rifles, assault rifles and sub-machine guns; and medium machine guns;
heavy machine guns (HMG) with a caliber not exceeding 14.5 mm; anti-aircraft and anti-tank
missiles; light mortars; mines and grenades.
The danger of small arms proliferation to world peace is underscored by the fact that in
1994, major armed conflicts were being waged in 27 countries around the world and small
arms were the overwhelming cause of death from these weapons. The existence of small arms
is perhaps most fragile in third world countries due to power imbalances such as insurgents,
drug traffickers and other criminals. For example, guerrillas in Kashmir fighting India use
Soviet Kalashnikovs, in Pakistan, small arms exacerbate ethnic conflicts between mohajirs,
Pakistani Punjabis, Pathans from the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan and
Sindhis.
For Third World countries, issues related to the threat of a new form of security
(Human Security) are "real security threats" because they have relevance to the domestic
conditions of Third World countries that are still preoccupied with the threat of human
security by various issues regarding: 1) Political transition situation; 2) Weak government
power due to not maximizing law enforcement efforts; 3) Political uncertainty; 4) Economic
crisis; 5) Conflict issues in border areas; 6) Ethnic conflicts and communal conflicts with
various international dimensions; 7) The issue of national disintegration; 8) Increase in the
number of terrorism perpetrators; 9) The ability to carry out threatening actions against
human security, etc.
The development of technology, especially information technology, is one of the strong
reasons for the expansion of contemporary global issues, resulting in a shift in the nature of
global issues from before the Cold War. Due to the development of threats that have different
types than before the Cold War, contemporary global issues have specificity:
Unconventional;
In the sense that contemporary global issues are non-armaments and/or arms
competition.
Nontraditional;
This means that the issue category is not inter-state.
Non-military;
As mentioned earlier, disease outbreaks, and/or drugs can be a threat.
Multidimensional; and
Issues are complex such as those concerning poverty.
Transnational
The issues raised in contemporary global are cross-border such as migration, refugees,
and others.
Thus, the characteristics of contemporary global issues as non-traditional security
threats are:
Contemporary global issues that are non-traditional security threats are not centered on
one particular country. Thus, the threats that are part of these contemporary global
issues are not only faced by one country, but have threatened a number of countries at
once (have regional and global dimensions). Therefore, contemporary global issues are
often referred to as "transnational security threats".
Contemporary global issues are not focused on a particular geographical location.
Based on their geographical character, these issues are It is often difficult to
"recognize" because it crosses borders between countries and even regional
(transnational) boundaries.
Contemporary global issues cannot be addressed by military force alone. Indeed,
military force can be used in escalations that lead to armed conflict. However, in the
long run, military force can no longer be used effectively to address the threat of these
global issues.
Security issues that have become contemporary global issues have threatened the
existence of a country and individuals who are part of the country.
The most obvious thing is that in the development of contemporary global issues is the
emergence of a new term in responding to the threats faced, namely human security.
Strategic Global Issues and National Security in International Relations Theory
Strategic global issues and national security in international relations theory are divided
into two major parts: 1) state centric point of view; and 2) global cross cutting issues. The
state-centric point of view is divided between realism and institutionalism where realism
focuses on national interests while institutionalism focuses on regimes, namely regime
theory. Meanwhile, there is a cross-border theory pioneered by Wednt in the form of
constructivism theory and Joseph Nye in the form of transnationalism theory. In this cross-
border theory, the issue of globalization is raised as one of the factors.
Joseph Nye in his theory states that what is called global interaction is the movement of
information, money, goods, tangible and intangible objects beyond national borders.18 He
divides into four types of global interaction: 1) communication; 2) transportation; 3) money;
4) tourism.19 The interaction is divided into two types, namely interstate communication
and transnational communication. Interstate communication is a type of communication in
relations International communication is conducted entirely under the control of the
government of the nation state. Meanwhile, transnational communication is a type of
communication in international relations that has begun to involve non-state actors.
This form of interstate communication is the classical type, which is also called having
a classical paradigm. This interaction focuses on the government as the agent with which
people relate politically. This interstate politics is different from-although indirectly related
to-domestic politics. Transnational forms of communication in this type are not taken into
account.
Unlike interstate forms of interaction, transnational interactions may involve
governments, but they may not. Non-state actors play an important role in these interactions.
Talking about transnational interactions, we are talking about finance, travel and
communication, which in some cases can involve state actors, for example, to cross borders.
Thus, Nye and Keohanne refer to transnational interaction as a term to describe the
movement of tangible items and services (intangible items) across national borders when at
least one actor is not a state actor and/or an interstate organization.21 Nye and Keohanne
picked up the definition brought by J. David Singer which states that individuals and/or
organizations can have a role in world politics: 1) they can be involved in a coalition that
controls and influences their country; 2) they play their role directly confronting (vs) with
foreign policies and / or foreign societies that are not through (by pass) the government of
their country.22 Nye and Keohanne argue that transnational interactions fall into and / or
more precisely in the second type of Singer's explanation. Keohanne and Nye then describe
the form of transnational interaction as follows to distinguish it from interstate forms of
internation:
In the post-world war globalization era, which involves contemporary global issues of
international relations, many interactions are of the transnational type. This is inseparable
from the existence of Various technologies have been invented, especially communication
technology. Individuals can interact directly with the international community and/or
organizations of nations such as the United Nations. Some of the effects described by
Keohanne and Nye that occur in this type of interaction are essentially increased sensitivity
between people which means changing the form of their relationship with the government.
With global mass communication, different groups from different societies, such as
radical students, military personnel, or ethnic minorities, can observe each other's behavior
and then take it into action. Thus, student radicals can make political tactics and demands
without any direct contact. Their international "consipracy" is conducted publicly and
disseminated with the help of specialized media. Perpetrators in this global phenomenon may
be punished, but its scale, scope and speed are the product of global television.
In brief, Keohanne and Nye concluded that the effects of transnational interactions are:
1) changes in behavior; 2) international pluralism; 3) increased restrictions on states; 4)
increased ability of states to influence others; and 5) the emergence of independent actors
with private foreign policies that can directly oppose or reject their government's policies.
This is most evident in the fact that an individual in a family, the smallest organization
in the country, does not even have control over what his family members access with the
internet technology. This then becomes the same thing that happens at the state level. Thus,
state control is weakened and challenges to national security are strengthened. Threats are
becoming more complex as information technology can target the individual level and
influence their actions bypassing state governance. Does this mean that the state must be
authoritarian and or is there a new form?
Form a Comprehensive Security Strategy: A United Nations Proposal
To the challenges faced by the international community today, the United Nations (UN)
offers a way out. For two decades now, the international community has been working
towards a broad understanding of what constitutes security. Seeking input from governments,
academics, community groups and intergovernmental organizations, the UN held a meeting
called the 2000 Millennium Summit for a world "free of want" and "free of fear". As a result
of this meeting, an understanding and/or input on human security was formed.
In 2001, the UN created a special unit on humanitarian security called the Commission
of Human Security (CHS). The Commission consists of twelve international figures,
including Sadako Ogata - former UN High Commissioner for Refugees - and Professor
Amartya Sen (Nobel Laureate 1998). Humanitarian security has refocused the attention of
states and the international community on the survival, livelihoods and dignity of people as
the basis for peace, development and human progress.
While humanitarian security remains vital to stability and peace, the complexity and
interconnectedness of old and new threats - from chronic and persistent poverty, to violent
conflict, climate change, human trafficking, health, and financial crises - creates a shared
vulnerability to the growing risk of diffuse and cross cutting threats. As challenges can
evolve rapidly within and across nations and deliver powerful crises, humanitarian security
emphasizes the need for a new framework that combines the agendas of security and peace,
development and human rights in a more effective, efficient, and prevention-oriented process.
Here is the UN statement mentioned in the document: While national security remains pivotal
to peace and stability, the complexity and interrelatedness of old and new threats-from
chronic and persistent poverty, to violent conflicts, climate change, human trafficking, health
pandemics, and economic and financial crises-reveal our shared vulnerabilities to a growing
risk of threats that are widespread and cross-cutting. Because these challenges can spread
rapidly within and across nations and give rise to more intractable crises, human security
emphasizes the need for a new framework that combines the agendas of peace and security,
development and human rights in a more effective, efficient and prevention-oriented manner.
In United States, it can be summarized that humanitarian security is to protect the vital
core of human life by enhancing human freedom and fulfilling human needs. The CHS's
arguments for the importance of humanitarian security, touched on a little earlier, are detailed
below:
As argued by the Commission on Human Security (CHS), the need for a new paradigm
of security is associated with two sets of dynamics:
First, human security is needed in response to the complexity and the interrelatedness
of both old and new security threats-from chronic and persistent poverty to ethnic violence,
human trafficking, climate change, health pandemics, international terrorism, and sudden
economic and financial downturns. Such threats tend to acquire transnational dimensions and
move beyond traditional notions of security that focus on external military aggressions alone.
Second, human security is required as a comprehensive approach that utilizes the wide
range of new opportunities to tackle such threats in an integrated manner. Human security
threats cannot be tackled through conventional mechanisms alone. Instead, they require a new
consensus that recognizes the linkages and the interdependencies between development,
human rights and national security.
In essence, the definition provided by the CHS conceptualizes re-envision security with its
most fundamental issues:
moving away from the traditional, state-centric conception of security focused
primarily on the security of the state from military aggression, one that concentrates on
the security of individuals, their protection and empowerment;
draw attention to the many threats that cut across different aspects of human life and
thus highlight the interface between security, development and human rights; and
promote a new integrated, coordinated and people-centered approach to advancing
peace, security and development within and across countries.
Human security brings together the 'human element' in security, rights and
development. As such, it is an inter-disciplinary concept that displays the following
characteristics: 1) human-centered; 2) multi-sectoral; 3) comprehensive; 4) context-specific;
and 5) prevention-oriented.
As a human-centered concept, human security places the individual at the 'center of
analysis'. As a result, it considers the range of conditions that threaten survival, livelihoods
and dignity, and identifies the lower threshold of intolerable human life, threatened. Human
security is also based on a multi-sectoral understanding of insecurity. Therefore, human
security requires an expanded understanding of threats and includes related causes of
insecurity, e.g. for economic, food, health, environmental, personal, community and political
security.
This interdependence has important implications for policymaking as it suggests that
human insecurity cannot be addressed in isolation through fragmented stand-alone responses.
Instead, human security involves a comprehensive approach that emphasizes the need for a
multi-sectoral response that brings together agendas related to security, development and
human rights.
Moreover, as a context-specific concept, human security recognizes that insecurity
varies across different settings and as such advances solutions that are contextually
responsive to the particular situation they seek to address. Finally, in addressing the risks and
root causes of insecurity, human security is prevention oriented and introduces a dual focus
on protection and empowerment.
Conclusion
Based on the analysis and discussion above, it can be concluded that national security
in the context of contemporary global issues in the perspective of international relations is
complex, because threats at the individual level become real. This is then explained in
transnational theory in international relations. In its development, the UN then offered to re-
conceptualize the notion of national security which ultimately provided input on human
security.
The UN has done many things related to humanitarian security. However, the most
obvious challenge still comes if it is clashed with the most classic international relations
theory, namely realism regarding superpowers. The extent to which superpower involvement
can be genuinely involved in the development of issues without any element of national
interest involvement in it, at least supports this conception.
History of the Emergence of Contemporary Global Issues
Contemporary history is a subset of modern history that describes the period of history
from about 1945 to the present. The term "contemporary history" has been used since at least
the early 20th century 19. Contemporary political history is dominated by the Cold War
(1945-1991) between the United States and the Soviet Union whose effects were felt around
the world. In this geopolitical context, the fall of European colonial empires in Africa and
Asia between 1945 and 1975 was often followed by American-Soviet confrontation in the
form of proxy wars and through intervention in the internal politics of smaller states. The
U.S.-Soviet rivalry eventually ended with the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw
Pact in 1991, following the Revolutions of 1989. and in the last stage and after the Cold War
paved the way for the democratization of large parts of Europe, Africa and Latin America.
In the Middle East, the period after 1945 was dominated by conflicts involving the new
state of Israel and the rise of petroleum politics, as well as the growth of Islamism after the
1980s. The period after 1945 saw the growth of the first supranational governmental
organizations, such as the United Nations and the European Union. Socially, western
countries experienced the rise of counter cultures3 and the sexual revolution4 between the
1960s and 1980s which transformed social relations and was fueled by the 1968 Protests.
Living standards rose sharply around the world especially in developed countries as a result
of, but also the emergence of, new economic powers such as Japan and West Germany. US
culture, especially consumerism, spread widely. By the 1960s, many western countries had
begun the process of deindustrialization. In their place, globalization led to the emergence of
new industrial centers, such as Japan, Taiwan and later China, based on exports consumer
goods for developed countries. The period after 1945 was also a transformative period in the
history of science because, among other things, nuclear technology, molecular biology,
particle physics and so on emerged which became the background for the emergence of
various technologies that appear today including the internet.
The history of the modern international system itself actually began in its history when
the Westphalia system (1648). States are interconnected with each other in an environment
called the international system. All countries are considered to have sovereignty, and some
countries are stronger than others. The system has many forms of informal rules about what
should happen, but these rules are not binding. International relations have existed since the
existence of states. The modern international system that we find ourselves in, however, is
not that old. The peace that ended a 30-year war between Catholic and Protestant states in
Western and Central Europe was the forerunner of the modern international system. It
declared that the sovereign leader of each nation state could do what he wanted within its
borders and established the state as a global actor in global politics. From then onwards, the
international system was in relation to nation states.
In the 17th-18th centuries, nation-states emerged to dominate the system of
international relations. A number of strong states dominated Europe, with some powers
coming and going. Weak states usually joined forces with others to prevent the dominant
power from becoming too strong, which is known as a proactive form of preserving the
balance of power. Economic competition and frequent wars marked this era, with countries
such as Britain and France being the most powerful to date, but some other powerful
countries collapsing over time, namely the Ottoman Empire and Spain.
Fundamental differences began to emerge in the 19th century, bringing about two major
changes in the international system:
Nationalism as a form of strength, which makes the nation state grow stronger.
Italy and Germany united, which changed the military and political balance in Europe.
Problems arose with the unification of Italy and Germany, which contributed to World
War I (1914-1918). The international system changed drastically after the war. Many
powerful countries in Europe were devastated by the war, and the United States (US) itself
began to come out of its isolation and turn into a global power. At the same time, the end of
the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian powers created a series of new states, and the rise of
communism in Russia. These factors led to the Treaty of Versailles, the Nazis and
Communism, and World War II (1939-1945).
New governments have emerged since the end of World War II. After the War, two
powers emerged: The US and the Soviet Union, which was called the bipolar system. Since
the end of the Cold War, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US has become the sole
ruler of the international system, which is called unipolar. However, there are other
viewpoints that see that the economic power of the US is not so strong that it cannot be said
that the control of the economy is entirely in the hands of the US because there are other
strong economic countries such as countries in Asia, thus calling it multi-polar.
Contemporary global issues emerged precisely at the end of the Cold War and/or when
the modern international system was unipolar. This can be regarded as the second period of
the new international order. The events that occurred became the context for contemporary
global issues. The most devastating event was the so-called 9/11 or September attacks. An
attack reportedly carried out by the Al Qaedah terrorist group on the US on September 11,
2001. There were about 2,999 victims, about 6,000 injured and 10 million properties and
infrastructures damaged.7 It is said to be devastating here because the attack was carried out
on the unipolar power holder of the international system at that time, namely the US. There
had been previous events that set the context for contemporary global issues such as the
genocides in Rwanda and Bosnia and the emergence of new states in Eastern Europe.
With the events of 9/11 and the genocide problem being addressed by the international
community, the new world government There is one threat that has a different character. The
nature of the threat this time is no longer from the state as was dominant in the Cold War
period but non-state actors. Non-state actors as the perpetrators of the causes of world
insecurity are becoming increasingly difficult to identify because such actors can also come
from the state concerned and/or from within the state itself. International issues in
international relations are becoming increasingly complex so that they are called
contemporary global issues. In this post-Cold War era, threats can mean disease outbreaks,
human trafficking, narcotics, arms trafficking, poverty, illiteracy, infectious viruses, which
are experienced by several countries not the country itself.
Thus, contemporary global issues are issues that developed and expanded after the end
of the Cold War in the 1990s. These contemporary global issues are related to the problems
faced by the international community in the new world order (new order) which is faced with
welfare issues related to human security. The form of security threats in this era has been
transformed so that the form of the international security agenda has also become new,
namely the New Global Security Agenda.
In 2002, the US Department of State under the US Secretary of Global Affairs, Paula J.
Dobriansky, issued a statement released on its website8 regarding new global security by
previously formulating an understanding of what is meant by global issues: At this point, it is
worth defining what I mean by global issues. Global issues are those issues that are not
limited by borders or boundaries but that reach across international lines to affect us all. My
global portfolio encompasses environment and science, refugees and migration, narcotics
trafficking and law enforcement, human rights, and health matters. Though he was speaking
in the first century B.C., the Roman poet Horace aptly described what could be called the
crux of modern global affairs when he wrote, "Your own safety is at stake when your
neighbor's wall is ablaze." The essence of global issues is a recognition that the people of the
world are inexorably linked and that, in today's world, that which touches some touches all.
Since September 11, never have we been more acutely aware that our own safety and the
protection of our way of life must be guarded by due attention to international problems -
such as injustice and the inadequacy of the rule of law, poverty, disease, and repression.
These are the blazing walls of today's world that threaten to engulf us. That is why these
issues have become central to American foreign policy and our efforts to protect our national
interests.
The US defines global issues as those that are not limited to cross-border issues but also
include international issues that impact the US across issues such as the environment and
science, refugees and migration, drug trafficking and law enforcement, human rights and
health. The US recognizes that since 9/11 issues have not been as acute regarding the safety
and protection of life. The aforementioned issues, including terrorism and disease, have
become one of the factors for the US to call it the new global security agenda.
Types and Characteristics of Contemporary Global Issues
Earlier in 1996, a paper was published by the Institute for Security Studies, which
identified several global sources of insecurity and their implications for national security
policy formulation. There are eight important things after the Cold War as strategic global
issues, namely drugs, migration, the environment, population, global economic challenges,
the crisis of liberal democracy, fusion and division, and light weapon proliferation.9 In the
paper, it is explained that there are global sources of insecurity and their implications for
national security policy formulation. These eight issues then become an important cluster as
an extraordinary threat to national and regional security and ultimately global security.10
This was then coupled with 9/11. Thus, the threat in this new form is not in the form of a
"military attack" carried out by a state against another state but an act of crime committed by
a non-state actor and aimed at the state (state actor), individuals or citizens who threaten the
security of humanity (Human Security).
Drugs
The domestic toll of drug addiction is alarming. These include loss of productivity,
soaring health costs, a sharp rise in drug-related crime, and the accelerated spread of AIDS
through contaminated needles. Drug use is not just a social phenomenon; it has far-reaching
political implications and security implications. For example, in Latin America there are
close links between drug traffickers and leftist revolutionary groups such as the Columbia M-
19 and the Peruvian Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path).11 In Lebanon and elsewhere in the
Middle East, in the Balkans, the Southern Republics of the former Soviet Union, Burma
(Myanmar) and Sri Lanka, drugs have become a major source of funds for movements.
Drug trafficking can also affect relations between countries. For example, a major
reason for the 1989 invasion of Panama by the US was that this government, under the
leadership of General Manuel Noriega, was allegedly serving as a conduit for drug travel to
the US.13 Most recently, Ross Perot's strongest attack on the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA), he argued that its eradication was a restriction on free access of goods
between Mexico and the US in allowing larger free traders of drugs in a sense to distribute
their 'poison' in the United States.
Migration
The largest and most dramatic population movement in recent years has been that of
approximately 30 million refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs).14 Political
unrest, social upheaval, economic dislocation and ecological disasters have contributed to the
movement of people across national borders of one 'southern' regional country to another. As
a result there are 3.2 million Afghans in Pakistan and 2.3 million in Iran; 685,000 in Ethiopia
are reported to have sought refuge in Sudan, while there are also 320,000 Somalis and
384,000 Sudanese in Ethiopia; and a further 600,000 Ethiopians are reported to have fled the
war to Somalia. 17 Civil war and famine have caused a third of Liberia's population (763,000
out of a total population of 2.4 million) to flee to neighboring Guinea, Sierra Leone and the
Coast.
Mass population movements are increasingly attracting the attention of key
policymakers, not only for humanitarian reasons, but also because they create domestic
instability, generate inter-state tensions and threaten international security. South Africa is
estimated to have received eight million illegal immigrants, which was the case at one point.
In 1994, it cost South African taxpayers R1, 985 million to host illegal alien residents.
In addition, there is a reciprocal relationship between illegal immigrants and the spread of
infectious diseases such as AIDS, malaria, cholera and tuberculosis. Police sources have also
noted that fourteen percent of all crimes in South Africa involve illegal immigrants including
arms sales, money laundering and drug trafficking.
Environment
The waning of Cold War military tensions coincided with the development of real
security problems that threaten the security of many countries and require international
solutions, including the hole in the ozone layer, the greenhouse effect, deforestation, scarce
water, energy and other resources. The increase in environmental hazards has underscored
two forms of interaction between states in the world: cooperation and conflict.
In 1940, David Mitrany developed a functional theory of international relations. He
proposed that given the common problems facing humanity everywhere, cooperation between
states should be broadened. This theme was embraced and magnified by globalists in the
1980s and 1990s - even going so far as to propose a federal world government for Planet
Earth. At the heart of the theory is the idea that the gravity of global problems requires global
solutions - resulting in greater levels of cooperation between the world's nations. For
example, one country cannot solve a problem such as the widening hole in the Earth's ozone;
it must be a combined planet-wide effort. On one level global cooperation, sharing common
problems, can be seen as a way of such as the Rio Earth Summit.
The potential for resource-based conflict was evident in the 1990 and 1991 Gulf Wars,
which essentially revolved around the scarce resource of energy. One of the main reasons for
the US to get involved in the Gulf War was its dependence on Gulf oil. American dependence
on Persian Gulf oil rose 500 percent between 1985 and 1989. By 1990 oil accounted for half
of the $100 billion US trade deficit.
Population
The world population is expected to grow from 5.3 billion in 1990 to 6.2 billion in
2000, and 8.5 billion in 2025. The growth rate of nearly one billion per decade has socio-
cultural and political economic consequences for the macro-environment. For example,
resource problems in countries such as Mexico and Egypt are directly linked to population
growth.
In Africa itself there is a noted reciprocal relationship between the conflict in Rwanda
and the fact that it has one of the highest levels of population density in Africa's growth.
Population was also seen to be responsible for two-thirds of the increase in carbon dioxide
entering the atmosphere between 1950 and 1985, thereby contributing to the greenhouse
effect. The population explosion was also listed as one of the contributing factors to the
occurrence of IDPs.16
Global Economic Challenges
The need to restructure the world economy stems from two major points: the north-
south growth divide and economic competition. The existence of a north-south split in
economic growth, and in some cases expansion, is obvious. This is highlighted by the fact
that the world's richest twenty percent control eighty percent of the world's economic
resources. This is demonstrated by the fact that the world's richest twenty percent are now
150 times richer than the poorest. It is further underscored by the fact that 1.3 billion people
in developing countries live in conditions of absolute poverty.
Saddest of all, it can be seen by the fact that 34,000 children die every day in the world
from malnutrition and disease. The need to address the north-south problem stems not only
from humanitarian reasons, but also from the threat of prosperity whose poverty is
increasingly exposed. Economic scarcity in the form of global markets and rising production
costs intensify economic competition. Technological competition and various forms of
commercial warfare have replaced the arms race from after the Cold War. According to
Japanese politician Isihara Shintaro, the twenty-first century will be a century of economic
warfare. If this happens, international security is threatened. Large economic power blocs
have been developed in the Pacific Rim and North America as a counterweight to the
European Union (EU). Similar economic formations have also been developed in Central
Africa and South America. The existence of large economic formations is necessary and does
not necessarily mean economic competition but rather complementarity. However, the
scarcity of such competition can develop and the history can become 'hot'.
The Crisis of Liberal Democracy
The end of Soviet-style communist rule consolidated the position of Western liberal
democracies. Since then, there has been state-sponsored ideological competition. The fall of
the Soviet system vindicated the principle of liberal democracy in the eyes of many: Smith,
Mill and Keynes. Western ideas of triumphalism were encapsulated in Francis Fukuyama's
books The End of History and Last Man. The liberal democratic paradigm seemed absolutely
dominant. Post-1989 developments seemed to show this as economic structural adjustment
programs (ESAPs) were liberalized in many African countries; liberal multiparty winds
democracy that swept across much of Africa, South America, the Middle East and Asia.17
Subsequent developments in the former Eastern bloc, which has seen the rise of the former
Communist Party, seem to disprove this notion.
Even in South Africa, political pluralism has experienced some setbacks. Soon after the
fall of the Berlin Wall, the surge towards multiparty democracy intensified in South Africa.
Kenneth Kaunda's corrupt one-party rule system was replaced by Frederick Chiluba's
Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD). In Malawi, the despotic rule of President-for-
life Hastings Kamuzu Band ended peacefully when Malawians went to the Banda elections
and his Malawi Congress Party (MCP) was voted out of power, replaced by United
Democratic Front (UDF) leader Bakili Muluzi.
In Lesotho, military rule ended and the Basotho National Party lost dominance in
elections that brought Prime Minister Ntsu Mokhehle and his Basotholand Congress Party
(BCP) to power. In South Africa, white minority rule came on April 27, 1994-the country's
first racially inclusive election. Meanwhile, both of the former Portuguese colonies in the
region, Angola and Mozambique, began to make the long and difficult transition to political
pluralism.
Fusion and Cleavage
The two most conflicting elements of the contemporary period are fusion and division-
peace coming together with the violent disintegration of society.
Regarding fusion, a newborn global culture seems to be taking shape. Denim jeans and
CocaCola are forms that are universal. If Toshiba and Toyota are in New York, then
MacDonald and Kentucky Fried Chicken will be found in Tokyo. If lamb is cooked and
stewed in a restaurant in New Delhi, then a fancy restaurant in London serves hot curry from
India. If Michael Jackson and Madonna become very famous in Montevideo, Maputo or
Kuala Lumpur, then West African and Indian music is represented by the likes of Manu
Dibango and Babu Shegal, who will surely be found playing in the discos of Paris or
Manchester. This is a nascent global cultural trend that goes even deeper than this: Human
rights and gender, geographical, political and cultural crossovers. One of the reasons for this
is The development of communication and technological innovation made it cheaper to travel
and made it possible for CNN broadcasts to reach 200 million people in ninety other
countries.
Fusion seems to buck this trend: scarce resources, varying degrees of population growth
in heterogeneous societies and the resultant growth of ethnic nationalism are tearing societies
apart. This has been evident in Rwanda and Burundi between Hutu and Tutsi; between Serbs,
Croats and Muslims in the former Yugoslavia; and between Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims in
India. What is even more interesting today is that these issues are beginning to surface in
western countries with liberal democracies: consider the growth of neo-Nazism in Germany;
the rising fortunes of Jean-Marie le Pen's National Front in France; the invigorating separatist
movements in Quebec; Catalonia; the Basque country; Corsica; Lombardy; Scotland and
Wales; and increasing tensions between the Flems and Walloons in Belgium. Not least, in the
US there were the 1992 riots in Los Angeles and the growth of ethnocentric nationalist
movements.
Light Weapons Production
Light weapons refer to crew-portable and ground weapons. Definitions include small
arms such as pistols, rifles, assault rifles and sub-machine guns; and medium machine guns;
heavy machine guns (HMG) with a caliber not exceeding 14.5 mm; anti-aircraft and anti-tank
missiles; light mortars; mines and grenades.
The danger of small arms proliferation to world peace is underscored by the fact that in
1994, major armed conflicts were being waged in 27 countries around the world and small
arms were the overwhelming cause of death from these weapons. The existence of small arms
is perhaps most fragile in third world countries due to power imbalances such as insurgents,
drug traffickers and other criminals. For example, guerrillas in Kashmir fighting India use
Soviet Kalashnikovs, in Pakistan, small arms exacerbate ethnic conflicts between mohajirs,
Pakistani Punjabis, Pathans from the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan and
Sindhis.
For Third World countries, issues related to the threat of a new form of security
(Human Security) are "real security threats" because they have relevance to the domestic
conditions of Third World countries that are still preoccupied with the threat of human
security by various issues regarding: 1) Political transition situation; 2) Weak government
power due to not maximizing law enforcement efforts; 3) Political uncertainty; 4) Economic
crisis; 5) Conflict issues in border areas; 6) Ethnic conflicts and communal conflicts with
various international dimensions; 7) The issue of national disintegration; 8) Increase in the
number of terrorism perpetrators; 9) The ability to carry out threatening actions against
human security, etc.
The development of technology, especially information technology, is one of the strong
reasons for the expansion of contemporary global issues, resulting in a shift in the nature of
global issues from before the Cold War. Due to the development of threats that have different
types than before the Cold War, contemporary global issues have specificity:
Unconventional;
In the sense that contemporary global issues are non-armaments and/or arms
competition.
Nontraditional;
This means that the issue category is not inter-state.
Non-military;
As mentioned earlier, disease outbreaks, and/or drugs can be a threat.
Multidimensional; and
Issues are complex such as those concerning poverty.
Transnational
The issues raised in contemporary global are cross-border such as migration, refugees,
and others.
Thus, the characteristics of contemporary global issues as non-traditional security
threats are:
Contemporary global issues that are non-traditional security threats are not centered on
one particular country. Thus, the threats that are part of these contemporary global
issues are not only faced by one country, but have threatened a number of countries at
once (have regional and global dimensions). Therefore, contemporary global issues are
often referred to as "transnational security threats".
Contemporary global issues are not focused on a particular geographical location.
Based on their geographical character, these issues are It is often difficult to
"recognize" because it crosses borders between countries and even regional
(transnational) boundaries.
Contemporary global issues cannot be addressed by military force alone. Indeed,
military force can be used in escalations that lead to armed conflict. However, in the
long run, military force can no longer be used effectively to address the threat of these
global issues.
Security issues that have become contemporary global issues have threatened the
existence of a country and individuals who are part of the country.
The most obvious thing is that in the development of contemporary global issues is the
emergence of a new term in responding to the threats faced, namely human security.
Strategic Global Issues and National Security in International Relations Theory
Strategic global issues and national security in international relations theory are divided
into two major parts: 1) state centric point of view; and 2) global cross cutting issues. The
state-centric point of view is divided between realism and institutionalism where realism
focuses on national interests while institutionalism focuses on regimes, namely regime
theory. Meanwhile, there is a cross-border theory pioneered by Wednt in the form of
constructivism theory and Joseph Nye in the form of transnationalism theory. In this cross-
border theory, the issue of globalization is raised as one of the factors.
Joseph Nye in his theory states that what is called global interaction is the movement of
information, money, goods, tangible and intangible objects beyond national borders.18 He
divides into four types of global interaction: 1) communication; 2) transportation; 3) money;
4) tourism.19 The interaction is divided into two types, namely interstate communication
and transnational communication. Interstate communication is a type of communication in
relations International communication is conducted entirely under the control of the
government of the nation state. Meanwhile, transnational communication is a type of
communication in international relations that has begun to involve non-state actors.
This form of interstate communication is the classical type, which is also called having
a classical paradigm. This interaction focuses on the government as the agent with which
people relate politically. This interstate politics is different from-although indirectly related
to-domestic politics. Transnational forms of communication in this type are not taken into
account.
Unlike interstate forms of interaction, transnational interactions may involve
governments, but they may not. Non-state actors play an important role in these interactions.
Talking about transnational interactions, we are talking about finance, travel and
communication, which in some cases can involve state actors, for example, to cross borders.
Thus, Nye and Keohanne refer to transnational interaction as a term to describe the
movement of tangible items and services (intangible items) across national borders when at
least one actor is not a state actor and/or an interstate organization.21 Nye and Keohanne
picked up the definition brought by J. David Singer which states that individuals and/or
organizations can have a role in world politics: 1) they can be involved in a coalition that
controls and influences their country; 2) they play their role directly confronting (vs) with
foreign policies and / or foreign societies that are not through (by pass) the government of
their country.22 Nye and Keohanne argue that transnational interactions fall into and / or
more precisely in the second type of Singer's explanation. Keohanne and Nye then describe
the form of transnational interaction as follows to distinguish it from interstate forms of
internation:
In the post-world war globalization era, which involves contemporary global issues of
international relations, many interactions are of the transnational type. This is inseparable
from the existence of Various technologies have been invented, especially communication
technology. Individuals can interact directly with the international community and/or
organizations of nations such as the United Nations. Some of the effects described by
Keohanne and Nye that occur in this type of interaction are essentially increased sensitivity
between people which means changing the form of their relationship with the government.
With global mass communication, different groups from different societies, such as
radical students, military personnel, or ethnic minorities, can observe each other's behavior
and then take it into action. Thus, student radicals can make political tactics and demands
without any direct contact. Their international "consipracy" is conducted publicly and
disseminated with the help of specialized media. Perpetrators in this global phenomenon may
be punished, but its scale, scope and speed are the product of global television.
In brief, Keohanne and Nye concluded that the effects of transnational interactions are:
1) changes in behavior; 2) international pluralism; 3) increased restrictions on states; 4)
increased ability of states to influence others; and 5) the emergence of independent actors
with private foreign policies that can directly oppose or reject their government's policies.
This is most evident in the fact that an individual in a family, the smallest organization
in the country, does not even have control over what his family members access with the
internet technology. This then becomes the same thing that happens at the state level. Thus,
state control is weakened and challenges to national security are strengthened. Threats are
becoming more complex as information technology can target the individual level and
influence their actions bypassing state governance. Does this mean that the state must be
authoritarian and or is there a new form?
Form a Comprehensive Security Strategy: A United Nations Proposal
To the challenges faced by the international community today, the United Nations (UN)
offers a way out. For two decades now, the international community has been working
towards a broad understanding of what constitutes security. Seeking input from governments,
academics, community groups and intergovernmental organizations, the UN held a meeting
called the 2000 Millennium Summit for a world "free of want" and "free of fear". As a result
of this meeting, an understanding and/or input on human security was formed.
In 2001, the UN created a special unit on humanitarian security called the Commission
of Human Security (CHS). The Commission consists of twelve international figures,
including Sadako Ogata - former UN High Commissioner for Refugees - and Professor
Amartya Sen (Nobel Laureate 1998). Humanitarian security has refocused the attention of
states and the international community on the survival, livelihoods and dignity of people as
the basis for peace, development and human progress.
While humanitarian security remains vital to stability and peace, the complexity and
interconnectedness of old and new threats - from chronic and persistent poverty, to violent
conflict, climate change, human trafficking, health, and financial crises - creates a shared
vulnerability to the growing risk of diffuse and cross cutting threats. As challenges can
evolve rapidly within and across nations and deliver powerful crises, humanitarian security
emphasizes the need for a new framework that combines the agendas of security and peace,
development and human rights in a more effective, efficient, and prevention-oriented process.
Here is the UN statement mentioned in the document: While national security remains pivotal
to peace and stability, the complexity and interrelatedness of old and new threats-from
chronic and persistent poverty, to violent conflicts, climate change, human trafficking, health
pandemics, and economic and financial crises-reveal our shared vulnerabilities to a growing
risk of threats that are widespread and cross-cutting. Because these challenges can spread
rapidly within and across nations and give rise to more intractable crises, human security
emphasizes the need for a new framework that combines the agendas of peace and security,
development and human rights in a more effective, efficient and prevention-oriented manner.
In United States, it can be summarized that humanitarian security is to protect the vital
core of human life by enhancing human freedom and fulfilling human needs. The CHS's
arguments for the importance of humanitarian security, touched on a little earlier, are detailed
below:
As argued by the Commission on Human Security (CHS), the need for a new paradigm
of security is associated with two sets of dynamics:
First, human security is needed in response to the complexity and the interrelatedness
of both old and new security threats-from chronic and persistent poverty to ethnic violence,
human trafficking, climate change, health pandemics, international terrorism, and sudden
economic and financial downturns. Such threats tend to acquire transnational dimensions and
move beyond traditional notions of security that focus on external military aggressions alone.
Second, human security is required as a comprehensive approach that utilizes the wide
range of new opportunities to tackle such threats in an integrated manner. Human security
threats cannot be tackled through conventional mechanisms alone. Instead, they require a new
consensus that recognizes the linkages and the interdependencies between development,
human rights and national security.
In essence, the definition provided by the CHS conceptualizes re-envision security with its
most fundamental issues:
moving away from the traditional, state-centric conception of security focused
primarily on the security of the state from military aggression, one that concentrates on
the security of individuals, their protection and empowerment;
draw attention to the many threats that cut across different aspects of human life and
thus highlight the interface between security, development and human rights; and
promote a new integrated, coordinated and people-centered approach to advancing
peace, security and development within and across countries.
Human security brings together the 'human element' in security, rights and
development. As such, it is an inter-disciplinary concept that displays the following
characteristics: 1) human-centered; 2) multi-sectoral; 3) comprehensive; 4) context-specific;
and 5) prevention-oriented.
As a human-centered concept, human security places the individual at the 'center of
analysis'. As a result, it considers the range of conditions that threaten survival, livelihoods
and dignity, and identifies the lower threshold of intolerable human life, threatened. Human
security is also based on a multi-sectoral understanding of insecurity. Therefore, human
security requires an expanded understanding of threats and includes related causes of
insecurity, e.g. for economic, food, health, environmental, personal, community and political
security.
This interdependence has important implications for policymaking as it suggests that
human insecurity cannot be addressed in isolation through fragmented stand-alone responses.
Instead, human security involves a comprehensive approach that emphasizes the need for a
multi-sectoral response that brings together agendas related to security, development and
human rights.
Moreover, as a context-specific concept, human security recognizes that insecurity
varies across different settings and as such advances solutions that are contextually
responsive to the particular situation they seek to address. Finally, in addressing the risks and
root causes of insecurity, human security is prevention oriented and introduces a dual focus
on protection and empowerment.
Conclusion
Based on the analysis and discussion above, it can be concluded that national security
in the context of contemporary global issues in the perspective of international relations is
complex, because threats at the individual level become real. This is then explained in
transnational theory in international relations. In its development, the UN then offered to re-
conceptualize the notion of national security which ultimately provided input on human
security.
The UN has done many things related to humanitarian security. However, the most
obvious challenge still comes if it is clashed with the most classic international relations
theory, namely realism regarding superpowers. The extent to which superpower involvement
can be genuinely involved in the development of issues without any element of national
interest involvement in it, at least supports this conception.
History of the Emergence of Contemporary Global Issues
Contemporary history is a subset of modern history that describes the period of history
from about 1945 to the present. The term "contemporary history" has been used since at least
the early 20th century 19. Contemporary political history is dominated by the Cold War
(1945-1991) between the United States and the Soviet Union whose effects were felt around
the world. In this geopolitical context, the fall of European colonial empires in Africa and
Asia between 1945 and 1975 was often followed by American-Soviet confrontation in the
form of proxy wars and through intervention in the internal politics of smaller states. The
U.S.-Soviet rivalry eventually ended with the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw
Pact in 1991, following the Revolutions of 1989. and in the last stage and after the Cold War
paved the way for the democratization of large parts of Europe, Africa and Latin America.
In the Middle East, the period after 1945 was dominated by conflicts involving the new
state of Israel and the rise of petroleum politics, as well as the growth of Islamism after the
1980s. The period after 1945 saw the growth of the first supranational governmental
organizations, such as the United Nations and the European Union. Socially, western
countries experienced the rise of counter cultures3 and the sexual revolution4 between the
1960s and 1980s which transformed social relations and was fueled by the 1968 Protests.
Living standards rose sharply around the world especially in developed countries as a result
of, but also the emergence of, new economic powers such as Japan and West Germany. US
culture, especially consumerism, spread widely. By the 1960s, many western countries had
begun the process of deindustrialization. In their place, globalization led to the emergence of
new industrial centers, such as Japan, Taiwan and later China, based on exports consumer
goods for developed countries. The period after 1945 was also a transformative period in the
history of science because, among other things, nuclear technology, molecular biology,
particle physics and so on emerged which became the background for the emergence of
various technologies that appear today including the internet.
The history of the modern international system itself actually began in its history when
the Westphalia system (1648). States are interconnected with each other in an environment
called the international system. All countries are considered to have sovereignty, and some
countries are stronger than others. The system has many forms of informal rules about what
should happen, but these rules are not binding. International relations have existed since the
existence of states. The modern international system that we find ourselves in, however, is
not that old. The peace that ended a 30-year war between Catholic and Protestant states in
Western and Central Europe was the forerunner of the modern international system. It
declared that the sovereign leader of each nation state could do what he wanted within its
borders and established the state as a global actor in global politics. From then onwards, the
international system was in relation to nation states.
In the 17th-18th centuries, nation-states emerged to dominate the system of
international relations. A number of strong states dominated Europe, with some powers
coming and going. Weak states usually joined forces with others to prevent the dominant
power from becoming too strong, which is known as a proactive form of preserving the
balance of power. Economic competition and frequent wars marked this era, with countries
such as Britain and France being the most powerful to date, but some other powerful
countries collapsing over time, namely the Ottoman Empire and Spain.
Fundamental differences began to emerge in the 19th century, bringing about two major
changes in the international system:
Nationalism as a form of strength, which makes the nation state grow stronger.
Italy and Germany united, which changed the military and political balance in Europe.
Problems arose with the unification of Italy and Germany, which contributed to World
War I (1914-1918). The international system changed drastically after the war. Many
powerful countries in Europe were devastated by the war, and the United States (US) itself
began to come out of its isolation and turn into a global power. At the same time, the end of
the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian powers created a series of new states, and the rise of
communism in Russia. These factors led to the Treaty of Versailles, the Nazis and
Communism, and World War II (1939-1945).
New governments have emerged since the end of World War II. After the War, two
powers emerged: The US and the Soviet Union, which was called the bipolar system. Since
the end of the Cold War, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US has become the sole
ruler of the international system, which is called unipolar. However, there are other
viewpoints that see that the economic power of the US is not so strong that it cannot be said
that the control of the economy is entirely in the hands of the US because there are other
strong economic countries such as countries in Asia, thus calling it multi-polar.
Contemporary global issues emerged precisely at the end of the Cold War and/or when
the modern international system was unipolar. This can be regarded as the second period of
the new international order. The events that occurred became the context for contemporary
global issues. The most devastating event was the so-called 9/11 or September attacks. An
attack reportedly carried out by the Al Qaedah terrorist group on the US on September 11,
2001. There were about 2,999 victims, about 6,000 injured and 10 million properties and
infrastructures damaged.7 It is said to be devastating here because the attack was carried out
on the unipolar power holder of the international system at that time, namely the US. There
had been previous events that set the context for contemporary global issues such as the
genocides in Rwanda and Bosnia and the emergence of new states in Eastern Europe.
With the events of 9/11 and the genocide problem being addressed by the international
community, the new world government There is one threat that has a different character. The
nature of the threat this time is no longer from the state as was dominant in the Cold War
period but non-state actors. Non-state actors as the perpetrators of the causes of world
insecurity are becoming increasingly difficult to identify because such actors can also come
from the state concerned and/or from within the state itself. International issues in
international relations are becoming increasingly complex so that they are called
contemporary global issues. In this post-Cold War era, threats can mean disease outbreaks,
human trafficking, narcotics, arms trafficking, poverty, illiteracy, infectious viruses, which
are experienced by several countries not the country itself.
Thus, contemporary global issues are issues that developed and expanded after the end
of the Cold War in the 1990s. These contemporary global issues are related to the problems
faced by the international community in the new world order (new order) which is faced with
welfare issues related to human security. The form of security threats in this era has been
transformed so that the form of the international security agenda has also become new,
namely the New Global Security Agenda.
In 2002, the US Department of State under the US Secretary of Global Affairs, Paula J.
Dobriansky, issued a statement released on its website8 regarding new global security by
previously formulating an understanding of what is meant by global issues: At this point, it is
worth defining what I mean by global issues. Global issues are those issues that are not
limited by borders or boundaries but that reach across international lines to affect us all. My
global portfolio encompasses environment and science, refugees and migration, narcotics
trafficking and law enforcement, human rights, and health matters. Though he was speaking
in the first century B.C., the Roman poet Horace aptly described what could be called the
crux of modern global affairs when he wrote, "Your own safety is at stake when your
neighbor's wall is ablaze." The essence of global issues is a recognition that the people of the
world are inexorably linked and that, in today's world, that which touches some touches all.
Since September 11, never have we been more acutely aware that our own safety and the
protection of our way of life must be guarded by due attention to international problems -
such as injustice and the inadequacy of the rule of law, poverty, disease, and repression.
These are the blazing walls of today's world that threaten to engulf us. That is why these
issues have become central to American foreign policy and our efforts to protect our national
interests.
The US defines global issues as those that are not limited to cross-border issues but also
include international issues that impact the US across issues such as the environment and
science, refugees and migration, drug trafficking and law enforcement, human rights and
health. The US recognizes that since 9/11 issues have not been as acute regarding the safety
and protection of life. The aforementioned issues, including terrorism and disease, have
become one of the factors for the US to call it the new global security agenda.
Types and Characteristics of Contemporary Global Issues
Earlier in 1996, a paper was published by the Institute for Security Studies, which
identified several global sources of insecurity and their implications for national security
policy formulation. There are eight important things after the Cold War as strategic global
issues, namely drugs, migration, the environment, population, global economic challenges,
the crisis of liberal democracy, fusion and division, and light weapon proliferation.9 In the
paper, it is explained that there are global sources of insecurity and their implications for
national security policy formulation. These eight issues then become an important cluster as
an extraordinary threat to national and regional security and ultimately global security.10
This was then coupled with 9/11. Thus, the threat in this new form is not in the form of a
"military attack" carried out by a state against another state but an act of crime committed by
a non-state actor and aimed at the state (state actor), individuals or citizens who threaten the
security of humanity (Human Security).
Drugs
The domestic toll of drug addiction is alarming. These include loss of productivity,
soaring health costs, a sharp rise in drug-related crime, and the accelerated spread of AIDS
through contaminated needles. Drug use is not just a social phenomenon; it has far-reaching
political implications and security implications. For example, in Latin America there are
close links between drug traffickers and leftist revolutionary groups such as the Columbia M-
19 and the Peruvian Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path).11 In Lebanon and elsewhere in the
Middle East, in the Balkans, the Southern Republics of the former Soviet Union, Burma
(Myanmar) and Sri Lanka, drugs have become a major source of funds for movements.
Drug trafficking can also affect relations between countries. For example, a major
reason for the 1989 invasion of Panama by the US was that this government, under the
leadership of General Manuel Noriega, was allegedly serving as a conduit for drug travel to
the US.13 Most recently, Ross Perot's strongest attack on the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA), he argued that its eradication was a restriction on free access of goods
between Mexico and the US in allowing larger free traders of drugs in a sense to distribute
their 'poison' in the United States.
Migration
The largest and most dramatic population movement in recent years has been that of
approximately 30 million refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs).14 Political
unrest, social upheaval, economic dislocation and ecological disasters have contributed to the
movement of people across national borders of one 'southern' regional country to another. As
a result there are 3.2 million Afghans in Pakistan and 2.3 million in Iran; 685,000 in Ethiopia
are reported to have sought refuge in Sudan, while there are also 320,000 Somalis and
384,000 Sudanese in Ethiopia; and a further 600,000 Ethiopians are reported to have fled the
war to Somalia. 17 Civil war and famine have caused a third of Liberia's population (763,000
out of a total population of 2.4 million) to flee to neighboring Guinea, Sierra Leone and the
Coast.
Mass population movements are increasingly attracting the attention of key
policymakers, not only for humanitarian reasons, but also because they create domestic
instability, generate inter-state tensions and threaten international security. South Africa is
estimated to have received eight million illegal immigrants, which was the case at one point.
In 1994, it cost South African taxpayers R1, 985 million to host illegal alien residents.
In addition, there is a reciprocal relationship between illegal immigrants and the spread of
infectious diseases such as AIDS, malaria, cholera and tuberculosis. Police sources have also
noted that fourteen percent of all crimes in South Africa involve illegal immigrants including
arms sales, money laundering and drug trafficking.
Environment
The waning of Cold War military tensions coincided with the development of real
security problems that threaten the security of many countries and require international
solutions, including the hole in the ozone layer, the greenhouse effect, deforestation, scarce
water, energy and other resources. The increase in environmental hazards has underscored
two forms of interaction between states in the world: cooperation and conflict.
In 1940, David Mitrany developed a functional theory of international relations. He
proposed that given the common problems facing humanity everywhere, cooperation between
states should be broadened. This theme was embraced and magnified by globalists in the
1980s and 1990s - even going so far as to propose a federal world government for Planet
Earth. At the heart of the theory is the idea that the gravity of global problems requires global
solutions - resulting in greater levels of cooperation between the world's nations. For
example, one country cannot solve a problem such as the widening hole in the Earth's ozone;
it must be a combined planet-wide effort. On one level global cooperation, sharing common
problems, can be seen as a way of such as the Rio Earth Summit.
The potential for resource-based conflict was evident in the 1990 and 1991 Gulf Wars,
which essentially revolved around the scarce resource of energy. One of the main reasons for
the US to get involved in the Gulf War was its dependence on Gulf oil. American dependence
on Persian Gulf oil rose 500 percent between 1985 and 1989. By 1990 oil accounted for half
of the $100 billion US trade deficit.
Population
The world population is expected to grow from 5.3 billion in 1990 to 6.2 billion in
2000, and 8.5 billion in 2025. The growth rate of nearly one billion per decade has socio-
cultural and political economic consequences for the macro-environment. For example,
resource problems in countries such as Mexico and Egypt are directly linked to population
growth.
In Africa itself there is a noted reciprocal relationship between the conflict in Rwanda
and the fact that it has one of the highest levels of population density in Africa's growth.
Population was also seen to be responsible for two-thirds of the increase in carbon dioxide
entering the atmosphere between 1950 and 1985, thereby contributing to the greenhouse
effect. The population explosion was also listed as one of the contributing factors to the
occurrence of IDPs.16
Global Economic Challenges
The need to restructure the world economy stems from two major points: the north-
south growth divide and economic competition. The existence of a north-south split in
economic growth, and in some cases expansion, is obvious. This is highlighted by the fact
that the world's richest twenty percent control eighty percent of the world's economic
resources. This is demonstrated by the fact that the world's richest twenty percent are now
150 times richer than the poorest. It is further underscored by the fact that 1.3 billion people
in developing countries live in conditions of absolute poverty.
Saddest of all, it can be seen by the fact that 34,000 children die every day in the world
from malnutrition and disease. The need to address the north-south problem stems not only
from humanitarian reasons, but also from the threat of prosperity whose poverty is
increasingly exposed. Economic scarcity in the form of global markets and rising production
costs intensify economic competition. Technological competition and various forms of
commercial warfare have replaced the arms race from after the Cold War. According to
Japanese politician Isihara Shintaro, the twenty-first century will be a century of economic
warfare. If this happens, international security is threatened. Large economic power blocs
have been developed in the Pacific Rim and North America as a counterweight to the
European Union (EU). Similar economic formations have also been developed in Central
Africa and South America. The existence of large economic formations is necessary and does
not necessarily mean economic competition but rather complementarity. However, the
scarcity of such competition can develop and the history can become 'hot'.
The Crisis of Liberal Democracy
The end of Soviet-style communist rule consolidated the position of Western liberal
democracies. Since then, there has been state-sponsored ideological competition. The fall of
the Soviet system vindicated the principle of liberal democracy in the eyes of many: Smith,
Mill and Keynes. Western ideas of triumphalism were encapsulated in Francis Fukuyama's
books The End of History and Last Man. The liberal democratic paradigm seemed absolutely
dominant. Post-1989 developments seemed to show this as economic structural adjustment
programs (ESAPs) were liberalized in many African countries; liberal multiparty winds
democracy that swept across much of Africa, South America, the Middle East and Asia.17
Subsequent developments in the former Eastern bloc, which has seen the rise of the former
Communist Party, seem to disprove this notion.
Even in South Africa, political pluralism has experienced some setbacks. Soon after the
fall of the Berlin Wall, the surge towards multiparty democracy intensified in South Africa.
Kenneth Kaunda's corrupt one-party rule system was replaced by Frederick Chiluba's
Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD). In Malawi, the despotic rule of President-for-
life Hastings Kamuzu Band ended peacefully when Malawians went to the Banda elections
and his Malawi Congress Party (MCP) was voted out of power, replaced by United
Democratic Front (UDF) leader Bakili Muluzi.
In Lesotho, military rule ended and the Basotho National Party lost dominance in
elections that brought Prime Minister Ntsu Mokhehle and his Basotholand Congress Party
(BCP) to power. In South Africa, white minority rule came on April 27, 1994-the country's
first racially inclusive election. Meanwhile, both of the former Portuguese colonies in the
region, Angola and Mozambique, began to make the long and difficult transition to political
pluralism.
Fusion and Cleavage
The two most conflicting elements of the contemporary period are fusion and division-
peace coming together with the violent disintegration of society.
Regarding fusion, a newborn global culture seems to be taking shape. Denim jeans and
CocaCola are forms that are universal. If Toshiba and Toyota are in New York, then
MacDonald and Kentucky Fried Chicken will be found in Tokyo. If lamb is cooked and
stewed in a restaurant in New Delhi, then a fancy restaurant in London serves hot curry from
India. If Michael Jackson and Madonna become very famous in Montevideo, Maputo or
Kuala Lumpur, then West African and Indian music is represented by the likes of Manu
Dibango and Babu Shegal, who will surely be found playing in the discos of Paris or
Manchester. This is a nascent global cultural trend that goes even deeper than this: Human
rights and gender, geographical, political and cultural crossovers. One of the reasons for this
is The development of communication and technological innovation made it cheaper to travel
and made it possible for CNN broadcasts to reach 200 million people in ninety other
countries.
Fusion seems to buck this trend: scarce resources, varying degrees of population growth
in heterogeneous societies and the resultant growth of ethnic nationalism are tearing societies
apart. This has been evident in Rwanda and Burundi between Hutu and Tutsi; between Serbs,
Croats and Muslims in the former Yugoslavia; and between Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims in
India. What is even more interesting today is that these issues are beginning to surface in
western countries with liberal democracies: consider the growth of neo-Nazism in Germany;
the rising fortunes of Jean-Marie le Pen's National Front in France; the invigorating separatist
movements in Quebec; Catalonia; the Basque country; Corsica; Lombardy; Scotland and
Wales; and increasing tensions between the Flems and Walloons in Belgium. Not least, in the
US there were the 1992 riots in Los Angeles and the growth of ethnocentric nationalist
movements.
Light Weapons Production
Light weapons refer to crew-portable and ground weapons. Definitions include small
arms such as pistols, rifles, assault rifles and sub-machine guns; and medium machine guns;
heavy machine guns (HMG) with a caliber not exceeding 14.5 mm; anti-aircraft and anti-tank
missiles; light mortars; mines and grenades.
The danger of small arms proliferation to world peace is underscored by the fact that in
1994, major armed conflicts were being waged in 27 countries around the world and small
arms were the overwhelming cause of death from these weapons. The existence of small arms
is perhaps most fragile in third world countries due to power imbalances such as insurgents,
drug traffickers and other criminals. For example, guerrillas in Kashmir fighting India use
Soviet Kalashnikovs, in Pakistan, small arms exacerbate ethnic conflicts between mohajirs,
Pakistani Punjabis, Pathans from the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan and
Sindhis.
For Third World countries, issues related to the threat of a new form of security
(Human Security) are "real security threats" because they have relevance to the domestic
conditions of Third World countries that are still preoccupied with the threat of human
security by various issues regarding: 1) Political transition situation; 2) Weak government
power due to not maximizing law enforcement efforts; 3) Political uncertainty; 4) Economic
crisis; 5) Conflict issues in border areas; 6) Ethnic conflicts and communal conflicts with
various international dimensions; 7) The issue of national disintegration; 8) Increase in the
number of terrorism perpetrators; 9) The ability to carry out threatening actions against
human security, etc.
The development of technology, especially information technology, is one of the strong
reasons for the expansion of contemporary global issues, resulting in a shift in the nature of
global issues from before the Cold War. Due to the development of threats that have different
types than before the Cold War, contemporary global issues have specificity:
Unconventional;
In the sense that contemporary global issues are non-armaments and/or arms
competition.
Nontraditional;
This means that the issue category is not inter-state.
Non-military;
As mentioned earlier, disease outbreaks, and/or drugs can be a threat.
Multidimensional; and
Issues are complex such as those concerning poverty.
Transnational
The issues raised in contemporary global are cross-border such as migration, refugees,
and others.
Thus, the characteristics of contemporary global issues as non-traditional security
threats are:
Contemporary global issues that are non-traditional security threats are not centered on
one particular country. Thus, the threats that are part of these contemporary global
issues are not only faced by one country, but have threatened a number of countries at
once (have regional and global dimensions). Therefore, contemporary global issues are
often referred to as "transnational security threats".
Contemporary global issues are not focused on a particular geographical location.
Based on their geographical character, these issues are It is often difficult to
"recognize" because it crosses borders between countries and even regional
(transnational) boundaries.
Contemporary global issues cannot be addressed by military force alone. Indeed,
military force can be used in escalations that lead to armed conflict. However, in the
long run, military force can no longer be used effectively to address the threat of these
global issues.
Security issues that have become contemporary global issues have threatened the
existence of a country and individuals who are part of the country.
The most obvious thing is that in the development of contemporary global issues is the
emergence of a new term in responding to the threats faced, namely human security.
Strategic Global Issues and National Security in International Relations Theory
Strategic global issues and national security in international relations theory are divided
into two major parts: 1) state centric point of view; and 2) global cross cutting issues. The
state-centric point of view is divided between realism and institutionalism where realism
focuses on national interests while institutionalism focuses on regimes, namely regime
theory. Meanwhile, there is a cross-border theory pioneered by Wednt in the form of
constructivism theory and Joseph Nye in the form of transnationalism theory. In this cross-
border theory, the issue of globalization is raised as one of the factors.
Joseph Nye in his theory states that what is called global interaction is the movement of
information, money, goods, tangible and intangible objects beyond national borders.18 He
divides into four types of global interaction: 1) communication; 2) transportation; 3) money;
4) tourism.19 The interaction is divided into two types, namely interstate communication
and transnational communication. Interstate communication is a type of communication in
relations International communication is conducted entirely under the control of the
government of the nation state. Meanwhile, transnational communication is a type of
communication in international relations that has begun to involve non-state actors.
This form of interstate communication is the classical type, which is also called having
a classical paradigm. This interaction focuses on the government as the agent with which
people relate politically. This interstate politics is different from-although indirectly related
to-domestic politics. Transnational forms of communication in this type are not taken into
account.
Unlike interstate forms of interaction, transnational interactions may involve
governments, but they may not. Non-state actors play an important role in these interactions.
Talking about transnational interactions, we are talking about finance, travel and
communication, which in some cases can involve state actors, for example, to cross borders.
Thus, Nye and Keohanne refer to transnational interaction as a term to describe the
movement of tangible items and services (intangible items) across national borders when at
least one actor is not a state actor and/or an interstate organization.21 Nye and Keohanne
picked up the definition brought by J. David Singer which states that individuals and/or
organizations can have a role in world politics: 1) they can be involved in a coalition that
controls and influences their country; 2) they play their role directly confronting (vs) with
foreign policies and / or foreign societies that are not through (by pass) the government of
their country.22 Nye and Keohanne argue that transnational interactions fall into and / or
more precisely in the second type of Singer's explanation. Keohanne and Nye then describe
the form of transnational interaction as follows to distinguish it from interstate forms of
internation:
In the post-world war globalization era, which involves contemporary global issues of
international relations, many interactions are of the transnational type. This is inseparable
from the existence of Various technologies have been invented, especially communication
technology. Individuals can interact directly with the international community and/or
organizations of nations such as the United Nations. Some of the effects described by
Keohanne and Nye that occur in this type of interaction are essentially increased sensitivity
between people which means changing the form of their relationship with the government.
With global mass communication, different groups from different societies, such as
radical students, military personnel, or ethnic minorities, can observe each other's behavior
and then take it into action. Thus, student radicals can make political tactics and demands
without any direct contact. Their international "consipracy" is conducted publicly and
disseminated with the help of specialized media. Perpetrators in this global phenomenon may
be punished, but its scale, scope and speed are the product of global television.
In brief, Keohanne and Nye concluded that the effects of transnational interactions are:
1) changes in behavior; 2) international pluralism; 3) increased restrictions on states; 4)
increased ability of states to influence others; and 5) the emergence of independent actors
with private foreign policies that can directly oppose or reject their government's policies.
This is most evident in the fact that an individual in a family, the smallest organization
in the country, does not even have control over what his family members access with the
internet technology. This then becomes the same thing that happens at the state level. Thus,
state control is weakened and challenges to national security are strengthened. Threats are
becoming more complex as information technology can target the individual level and
influence their actions bypassing state governance. Does this mean that the state must be
authoritarian and or is there a new form?
Form a Comprehensive Security Strategy: A United Nations Proposal
To the challenges faced by the international community today, the United Nations (UN)
offers a way out. For two decades now, the international community has been working
towards a broad understanding of what constitutes security. Seeking input from governments,
academics, community groups and intergovernmental organizations, the UN held a meeting
called the 2000 Millennium Summit for a world "free of want" and "free of fear". As a result
of this meeting, an understanding and/or input on human security was formed.
In 2001, the UN created a special unit on humanitarian security called the Commission
of Human Security (CHS). The Commission consists of twelve international figures,
including Sadako Ogata - former UN High Commissioner for Refugees - and Professor
Amartya Sen (Nobel Laureate 1998). Humanitarian security has refocused the attention of
states and the international community on the survival, livelihoods and dignity of people as
the basis for peace, development and human progress.
While humanitarian security remains vital to stability and peace, the complexity and
interconnectedness of old and new threats - from chronic and persistent poverty, to violent
conflict, climate change, human trafficking, health, and financial crises - creates a shared
vulnerability to the growing risk of diffuse and cross cutting threats. As challenges can
evolve rapidly within and across nations and deliver powerful crises, humanitarian security
emphasizes the need for a new framework that combines the agendas of security and peace,
development and human rights in a more effective, efficient, and prevention-oriented process.
Here is the UN statement mentioned in the document: While national security remains pivotal
to peace and stability, the complexity and interrelatedness of old and new threats-from
chronic and persistent poverty, to violent conflicts, climate change, human trafficking, health
pandemics, and economic and financial crises-reveal our shared vulnerabilities to a growing
risk of threats that are widespread and cross-cutting. Because these challenges can spread
rapidly within and across nations and give rise to more intractable crises, human security
emphasizes the need for a new framework that combines the agendas of peace and security,
development and human rights in a more effective, efficient and prevention-oriented manner.
In United States, it can be summarized that humanitarian security is to protect the vital
core of human life by enhancing human freedom and fulfilling human needs. The CHS's
arguments for the importance of humanitarian security, touched on a little earlier, are detailed
below:
As argued by the Commission on Human Security (CHS), the need for a new paradigm
of security is associated with two sets of dynamics:
First, human security is needed in response to the complexity and the interrelatedness
of both old and new security threats-from chronic and persistent poverty to ethnic violence,
human trafficking, climate change, health pandemics, international terrorism, and sudden
economic and financial downturns. Such threats tend to acquire transnational dimensions and
move beyond traditional notions of security that focus on external military aggressions alone.
Second, human security is required as a comprehensive approach that utilizes the wide
range of new opportunities to tackle such threats in an integrated manner. Human security
threats cannot be tackled through conventional mechanisms alone. Instead, they require a new
consensus that recognizes the linkages and the interdependencies between development,
human rights and national security.
In essence, the definition provided by the CHS conceptualizes re-envision security with its
most fundamental issues:
moving away from the traditional, state-centric conception of security focused
primarily on the security of the state from military aggression, one that concentrates on
the security of individuals, their protection and empowerment;
draw attention to the many threats that cut across different aspects of human life and
thus highlight the interface between security, development and human rights; and
promote a new integrated, coordinated and people-centered approach to advancing
peace, security and development within and across countries.
Human security brings together the 'human element' in security, rights and
development. As such, it is an inter-disciplinary concept that displays the following
characteristics: 1) human-centered; 2) multi-sectoral; 3) comprehensive; 4) context-specific;
and 5) prevention-oriented.
As a human-centered concept, human security places the individual at the 'center of
analysis'. As a result, it considers the range of conditions that threaten survival, livelihoods
and dignity, and identifies the lower threshold of intolerable human life, threatened. Human
security is also based on a multi-sectoral understanding of insecurity. Therefore, human
security requires an expanded understanding of threats and includes related causes of
insecurity, e.g. for economic, food, health, environmental, personal, community and political
security.
This interdependence has important implications for policymaking as it suggests that
human insecurity cannot be addressed in isolation through fragmented stand-alone responses.
Instead, human security involves a comprehensive approach that emphasizes the need for a
multi-sectoral response that brings together agendas related to security, development and
human rights.
Moreover, as a context-specific concept, human security recognizes that insecurity
varies across different settings and as such advances solutions that are contextually
responsive to the particular situation they seek to address. Finally, in addressing the risks and
root causes of insecurity, human security is prevention oriented and introduces a dual focus
on protection and empowerment.
Conclusion
Based on the analysis and discussion above, it can be concluded that national security
in the context of contemporary global issues in the perspective of international relations is
complex, because threats at the individual level become real. This is then explained in
transnational theory in international relations. In its development, the UN then offered to re-
conceptualize the notion of national security which ultimately provided input on human
security.
The UN has done many things related to humanitarian security. However, the most
obvious challenge still comes if it is clashed with the most classic international relations
theory, namely realism regarding superpowers. The extent to which superpower involvement
can be genuinely involved in the development of issues without any element of national
interest involvement in it, at least supports this conception.
History of the Emergence of Contemporary Global Issues
Contemporary history is a subset of modern history that describes the period of history
from about 1945 to the present. The term "contemporary history" has been used since at least
the early 20th century 19. Contemporary political history is dominated by the Cold War
(1945-1991) between the United States and the Soviet Union whose effects were felt around
the world. In this geopolitical context, the fall of European colonial empires in Africa and
Asia between 1945 and 1975 was often followed by American-Soviet confrontation in the
form of proxy wars and through intervention in the internal politics of smaller states. The
U.S.-Soviet rivalry eventually ended with the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw
Pact in 1991, following the Revolutions of 1989. and in the last stage and after the Cold War
paved the way for the democratization of large parts of Europe, Africa and Latin America.
In the Middle East, the period after 1945 was dominated by conflicts involving the new
state of Israel and the rise of petroleum politics, as well as the growth of Islamism after the
1980s. The period after 1945 saw the growth of the first supranational governmental
organizations, such as the United Nations and the European Union. Socially, western
countries experienced the rise of counter cultures3 and the sexual revolution4 between the
1960s and 1980s which transformed social relations and was fueled by the 1968 Protests.
Living standards rose sharply around the world especially in developed countries as a result
of, but also the emergence of, new economic powers such as Japan and West Germany. US
culture, especially consumerism, spread widely. By the 1960s, many western countries had
begun the process of deindustrialization. In their place, globalization led to the emergence of
new industrial centers, such as Japan, Taiwan and later China, based on exports consumer
goods for developed countries. The period after 1945 was also a transformative period in the
history of science because, among other things, nuclear technology, molecular biology,
particle physics and so on emerged which became the background for the emergence of
various technologies that appear today including the internet.
The history of the modern international system itself actually began in its history when
the Westphalia system (1648). States are interconnected with each other in an environment
called the international system. All countries are considered to have sovereignty, and some
countries are stronger than others. The system has many forms of informal rules about what
should happen, but these rules are not binding. International relations have existed since the
existence of states. The modern international system that we find ourselves in, however, is
not that old. The peace that ended a 30-year war between Catholic and Protestant states in
Western and Central Europe was the forerunner of the modern international system. It
declared that the sovereign leader of each nation state could do what he wanted within its
borders and established the state as a global actor in global politics. From then onwards, the
international system was in relation to nation states.
In the 17th-18th centuries, nation-states emerged to dominate the system of
international relations. A number of strong states dominated Europe, with some powers
coming and going. Weak states usually joined forces with others to prevent the dominant
power from becoming too strong, which is known as a proactive form of preserving the
balance of power. Economic competition and frequent wars marked this era, with countries
such as Britain and France being the most powerful to date, but some other powerful
countries collapsing over time, namely the Ottoman Empire and Spain.
Fundamental differences began to emerge in the 19th century, bringing about two major
changes in the international system:
Nationalism as a form of strength, which makes the nation state grow stronger.
Italy and Germany united, which changed the military and political balance in Europe.
Problems arose with the unification of Italy and Germany, which contributed to World
War I (1914-1918). The international system changed drastically after the war. Many
powerful countries in Europe were devastated by the war, and the United States (US) itself
began to come out of its isolation and turn into a global power. At the same time, the end of
the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian powers created a series of new states, and the rise of
communism in Russia. These factors led to the Treaty of Versailles, the Nazis and
Communism, and World War II (1939-1945).
New governments have emerged since the end of World War II. After the War, two
powers emerged: The US and the Soviet Union, which was called the bipolar system. Since
the end of the Cold War, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US has become the sole
ruler of the international system, which is called unipolar. However, there are other
viewpoints that see that the economic power of the US is not so strong that it cannot be said
that the control of the economy is entirely in the hands of the US because there are other
strong economic countries such as countries in Asia, thus calling it multi-polar.
Contemporary global issues emerged precisely at the end of the Cold War and/or when
the modern international system was unipolar. This can be regarded as the second period of
the new international order. The events that occurred became the context for contemporary
global issues. The most devastating event was the so-called 9/11 or September attacks. An
attack reportedly carried out by the Al Qaedah terrorist group on the US on September 11,
2001. There were about 2,999 victims, about 6,000 injured and 10 million properties and
infrastructures damaged.7 It is said to be devastating here because the attack was carried out
on the unipolar power holder of the international system at that time, namely the US. There
had been previous events that set the context for contemporary global issues such as the
genocides in Rwanda and Bosnia and the emergence of new states in Eastern Europe.
With the events of 9/11 and the genocide problem being addressed by the international
community, the new world government There is one threat that has a different character. The
nature of the threat this time is no longer from the state as was dominant in the Cold War
period but non-state actors. Non-state actors as the perpetrators of the causes of world
insecurity are becoming increasingly difficult to identify because such actors can also come
from the state concerned and/or from within the state itself. International issues in
international relations are becoming increasingly complex so that they are called
contemporary global issues. In this post-Cold War era, threats can mean disease outbreaks,
human trafficking, narcotics, arms trafficking, poverty, illiteracy, infectious viruses, which
are experienced by several countries not the country itself.
Thus, contemporary global issues are issues that developed and expanded after the end
of the Cold War in the 1990s. These contemporary global issues are related to the problems
faced by the international community in the new world order (new order) which is faced with
welfare issues related to human security. The form of security threats in this era has been
transformed so that the form of the international security agenda has also become new,
namely the New Global Security Agenda.
In 2002, the US Department of State under the US Secretary of Global Affairs, Paula J.
Dobriansky, issued a statement released on its website8 regarding new global security by
previously formulating an understanding of what is meant by global issues: At this point, it is
worth defining what I mean by global issues. Global issues are those issues that are not
limited by borders or boundaries but that reach across international lines to affect us all. My
global portfolio encompasses environment and science, refugees and migration, narcotics
trafficking and law enforcement, human rights, and health matters. Though he was speaking
in the first century B.C., the Roman poet Horace aptly described what could be called the
crux of modern global affairs when he wrote, "Your own safety is at stake when your
neighbor's wall is ablaze." The essence of global issues is a recognition that the people of the
world are inexorably linked and that, in today's world, that which touches some touches all.
Since September 11, never have we been more acutely aware that our own safety and the
protection of our way of life must be guarded by due attention to international problems -
such as injustice and the inadequacy of the rule of law, poverty, disease, and repression.
These are the blazing walls of today's world that threaten to engulf us. That is why these
issues have become central to American foreign policy and our efforts to protect our national
interests.
The US defines global issues as those that are not limited to cross-border issues but also
include international issues that impact the US across issues such as the environment and
science, refugees and migration, drug trafficking and law enforcement, human rights and
health. The US recognizes that since 9/11 issues have not been as acute regarding the safety
and protection of life. The aforementioned issues, including terrorism and disease, have
become one of the factors for the US to call it the new global security agenda.
Types and Characteristics of Contemporary Global Issues
Earlier in 1996, a paper was published by the Institute for Security Studies, which
identified several global sources of insecurity and their implications for national security
policy formulation. There are eight important things after the Cold War as strategic global
issues, namely drugs, migration, the environment, population, global economic challenges,
the crisis of liberal democracy, fusion and division, and light weapon proliferation.9 In the
paper, it is explained that there are global sources of insecurity and their implications for
national security policy formulation. These eight issues then become an important cluster as
an extraordinary threat to national and regional security and ultimately global security.10
This was then coupled with 9/11. Thus, the threat in this new form is not in the form of a
"military attack" carried out by a state against another state but an act of crime committed by
a non-state actor and aimed at the state (state actor), individuals or citizens who threaten the
security of humanity (Human Security).
Drugs
The domestic toll of drug addiction is alarming. These include loss of productivity,
soaring health costs, a sharp rise in drug-related crime, and the accelerated spread of AIDS
through contaminated needles. Drug use is not just a social phenomenon; it has far-reaching
political implications and security implications. For example, in Latin America there are
close links between drug traffickers and leftist revolutionary groups such as the Columbia M-
19 and the Peruvian Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path).11 In Lebanon and elsewhere in the
Middle East, in the Balkans, the Southern Republics of the former Soviet Union, Burma
(Myanmar) and Sri Lanka, drugs have become a major source of funds for movements.
Drug trafficking can also affect relations between countries. For example, a major
reason for the 1989 invasion of Panama by the US was that this government, under the
leadership of General Manuel Noriega, was allegedly serving as a conduit for drug travel to
the US.13 Most recently, Ross Perot's strongest attack on the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA), he argued that its eradication was a restriction on free access of goods
between Mexico and the US in allowing larger free traders of drugs in a sense to distribute
their 'poison' in the United States.
Migration
The largest and most dramatic population movement in recent years has been that of
approximately 30 million refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs).14 Political
unrest, social upheaval, economic dislocation and ecological disasters have contributed to the
movement of people across national borders of one 'southern' regional country to another. As
a result there are 3.2 million Afghans in Pakistan and 2.3 million in Iran; 685,000 in Ethiopia
are reported to have sought refuge in Sudan, while there are also 320,000 Somalis and
384,000 Sudanese in Ethiopia; and a further 600,000 Ethiopians are reported to have fled the
war to Somalia. 17 Civil war and famine have caused a third of Liberia's population (763,000
out of a total population of 2.4 million) to flee to neighboring Guinea, Sierra Leone and the
Coast.
Mass population movements are increasingly attracting the attention of key
policymakers, not only for humanitarian reasons, but also because they create domestic
instability, generate inter-state tensions and threaten international security. South Africa is
estimated to have received eight million illegal immigrants, which was the case at one point.
In 1994, it cost South African taxpayers R1, 985 million to host illegal alien residents.
In addition, there is a reciprocal relationship between illegal immigrants and the spread of
infectious diseases such as AIDS, malaria, cholera and tuberculosis. Police sources have also
noted that fourteen percent of all crimes in South Africa involve illegal immigrants including
arms sales, money laundering and drug trafficking.
Environment
The waning of Cold War military tensions coincided with the development of real
security problems that threaten the security of many countries and require international
solutions, including the hole in the ozone layer, the greenhouse effect, deforestation, scarce
water, energy and other resources. The increase in environmental hazards has underscored
two forms of interaction between states in the world: cooperation and conflict.
In 1940, David Mitrany developed a functional theory of international relations. He
proposed that given the common problems facing humanity everywhere, cooperation between
states should be broadened. This theme was embraced and magnified by globalists in the
1980s and 1990s - even going so far as to propose a federal world government for Planet
Earth. At the heart of the theory is the idea that the gravity of global problems requires global
solutions - resulting in greater levels of cooperation between the world's nations. For
example, one country cannot solve a problem such as the widening hole in the Earth's ozone;
it must be a combined planet-wide effort. On one level global cooperation, sharing common
problems, can be seen as a way of such as the Rio Earth Summit.
The potential for resource-based conflict was evident in the 1990 and 1991 Gulf Wars,
which essentially revolved around the scarce resource of energy. One of the main reasons for
the US to get involved in the Gulf War was its dependence on Gulf oil. American dependence
on Persian Gulf oil rose 500 percent between 1985 and 1989. By 1990 oil accounted for half
of the $100 billion US trade deficit.
Population
The world population is expected to grow from 5.3 billion in 1990 to 6.2 billion in
2000, and 8.5 billion in 2025. The growth rate of nearly one billion per decade has socio-
cultural and political economic consequences for the macro-environment. For example,
resource problems in countries such as Mexico and Egypt are directly linked to population
growth.
In Africa itself there is a noted reciprocal relationship between the conflict in Rwanda
and the fact that it has one of the highest levels of population density in Africa's growth.
Population was also seen to be responsible for two-thirds of the increase in carbon dioxide
entering the atmosphere between 1950 and 1985, thereby contributing to the greenhouse
effect. The population explosion was also listed as one of the contributing factors to the
occurrence of IDPs.16
Global Economic Challenges
The need to restructure the world economy stems from two major points: the north-
south growth divide and economic competition. The existence of a north-south split in
economic growth, and in some cases expansion, is obvious. This is highlighted by the fact
that the world's richest twenty percent control eighty percent of the world's economic
resources. This is demonstrated by the fact that the world's richest twenty percent are now
150 times richer than the poorest. It is further underscored by the fact that 1.3 billion people
in developing countries live in conditions of absolute poverty.
Saddest of all, it can be seen by the fact that 34,000 children die every day in the world
from malnutrition and disease. The need to address the north-south problem stems not only
from humanitarian reasons, but also from the threat of prosperity whose poverty is
increasingly exposed. Economic scarcity in the form of global markets and rising production
costs intensify economic competition. Technological competition and various forms of
commercial warfare have replaced the arms race from after the Cold War. According to
Japanese politician Isihara Shintaro, the twenty-first century will be a century of economic
warfare. If this happens, international security is threatened. Large economic power blocs
have been developed in the Pacific Rim and North America as a counterweight to the
European Union (EU). Similar economic formations have also been developed in Central
Africa and South America. The existence of large economic formations is necessary and does
not necessarily mean economic competition but rather complementarity. However, the
scarcity of such competition can develop and the history can become 'hot'.
The Crisis of Liberal Democracy
The end of Soviet-style communist rule consolidated the position of Western liberal
democracies. Since then, there has been state-sponsored ideological competition. The fall of
the Soviet system vindicated the principle of liberal democracy in the eyes of many: Smith,
Mill and Keynes. Western ideas of triumphalism were encapsulated in Francis Fukuyama's
books The End of History and Last Man. The liberal democratic paradigm seemed absolutely
dominant. Post-1989 developments seemed to show this as economic structural adjustment
programs (ESAPs) were liberalized in many African countries; liberal multiparty winds
democracy that swept across much of Africa, South America, the Middle East and Asia.17
Subsequent developments in the former Eastern bloc, which has seen the rise of the former
Communist Party, seem to disprove this notion.
Even in South Africa, political pluralism has experienced some setbacks. Soon after the
fall of the Berlin Wall, the surge towards multiparty democracy intensified in South Africa.
Kenneth Kaunda's corrupt one-party rule system was replaced by Frederick Chiluba's
Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD). In Malawi, the despotic rule of President-for-
life Hastings Kamuzu Band ended peacefully when Malawians went to the Banda elections
and his Malawi Congress Party (MCP) was voted out of power, replaced by United
Democratic Front (UDF) leader Bakili Muluzi.
In Lesotho, military rule ended and the Basotho National Party lost dominance in
elections that brought Prime Minister Ntsu Mokhehle and his Basotholand Congress Party
(BCP) to power. In South Africa, white minority rule came on April 27, 1994-the country's
first racially inclusive election. Meanwhile, both of the former Portuguese colonies in the
region, Angola and Mozambique, began to make the long and difficult transition to political
pluralism.
Fusion and Cleavage
The two most conflicting elements of the contemporary period are fusion and division-
peace coming together with the violent disintegration of society.
Regarding fusion, a newborn global culture seems to be taking shape. Denim jeans and
CocaCola are forms that are universal. If Toshiba and Toyota are in New York, then
MacDonald and Kentucky Fried Chicken will be found in Tokyo. If lamb is cooked and
stewed in a restaurant in New Delhi, then a fancy restaurant in London serves hot curry from
India. If Michael Jackson and Madonna become very famous in Montevideo, Maputo or
Kuala Lumpur, then West African and Indian music is represented by the likes of Manu
Dibango and Babu Shegal, who will surely be found playing in the discos of Paris or
Manchester. This is a nascent global cultural trend that goes even deeper than this: Human
rights and gender, geographical, political and cultural crossovers. One of the reasons for this
is The development of communication and technological innovation made it cheaper to travel
and made it possible for CNN broadcasts to reach 200 million people in ninety other
countries.
Fusion seems to buck this trend: scarce resources, varying degrees of population growth
in heterogeneous societies and the resultant growth of ethnic nationalism are tearing societies
apart. This has been evident in Rwanda and Burundi between Hutu and Tutsi; between Serbs,
Croats and Muslims in the former Yugoslavia; and between Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims in
India. What is even more interesting today is that these issues are beginning to surface in
western countries with liberal democracies: consider the growth of neo-Nazism in Germany;
the rising fortunes of Jean-Marie le Pen's National Front in France; the invigorating separatist
movements in Quebec; Catalonia; the Basque country; Corsica; Lombardy; Scotland and
Wales; and increasing tensions between the Flems and Walloons in Belgium. Not least, in the
US there were the 1992 riots in Los Angeles and the growth of ethnocentric nationalist
movements.
Light Weapons Production
Light weapons refer to crew-portable and ground weapons. Definitions include small
arms such as pistols, rifles, assault rifles and sub-machine guns; and medium machine guns;
heavy machine guns (HMG) with a caliber not exceeding 14.5 mm; anti-aircraft and anti-tank
missiles; light mortars; mines and grenades.
The danger of small arms proliferation to world peace is underscored by the fact that in
1994, major armed conflicts were being waged in 27 countries around the world and small
arms were the overwhelming cause of death from these weapons. The existence of small arms
is perhaps most fragile in third world countries due to power imbalances such as insurgents,
drug traffickers and other criminals. For example, guerrillas in Kashmir fighting India use
Soviet Kalashnikovs, in Pakistan, small arms exacerbate ethnic conflicts between mohajirs,
Pakistani Punjabis, Pathans from the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan and
Sindhis.
For Third World countries, issues related to the threat of a new form of security
(Human Security) are "real security threats" because they have relevance to the domestic
conditions of Third World countries that are still preoccupied with the threat of human
security by various issues regarding: 1) Political transition situation; 2) Weak government
power due to not maximizing law enforcement efforts; 3) Political uncertainty; 4) Economic
crisis; 5) Conflict issues in border areas; 6) Ethnic conflicts and communal conflicts with
various international dimensions; 7) The issue of national disintegration; 8) Increase in the
number of terrorism perpetrators; 9) The ability to carry out threatening actions against
human security, etc.
The development of technology, especially information technology, is one of the strong
reasons for the expansion of contemporary global issues, resulting in a shift in the nature of
global issues from before the Cold War. Due to the development of threats that have different
types than before the Cold War, contemporary global issues have specificity:
Unconventional;
In the sense that contemporary global issues are non-armaments and/or arms
competition.
Nontraditional;
This means that the issue category is not inter-state.
Non-military;
As mentioned earlier, disease outbreaks, and/or drugs can be a threat.
Multidimensional; and
Issues are complex such as those concerning poverty.
Transnational
The issues raised in contemporary global are cross-border such as migration, refugees,
and others.
Thus, the characteristics of contemporary global issues as non-traditional security
threats are:
Contemporary global issues that are non-traditional security threats are not centered on
one particular country. Thus, the threats that are part of these contemporary global
issues are not only faced by one country, but have threatened a number of countries at
once (have regional and global dimensions). Therefore, contemporary global issues are
often referred to as "transnational security threats".
Contemporary global issues are not focused on a particular geographical location.
Based on their geographical character, these issues are It is often difficult to
"recognize" because it crosses borders between countries and even regional
(transnational) boundaries.
Contemporary global issues cannot be addressed by military force alone. Indeed,
military force can be used in escalations that lead to armed conflict. However, in the
long run, military force can no longer be used effectively to address the threat of these
global issues.
Security issues that have become contemporary global issues have threatened the
existence of a country and individuals who are part of the country.
The most obvious thing is that in the development of contemporary global issues is the
emergence of a new term in responding to the threats faced, namely human security.
Strategic Global Issues and National Security in International Relations Theory
Strategic global issues and national security in international relations theory are divided
into two major parts: 1) state centric point of view; and 2) global cross cutting issues. The
state-centric point of view is divided between realism and institutionalism where realism
focuses on national interests while institutionalism focuses on regimes, namely regime
theory. Meanwhile, there is a cross-border theory pioneered by Wednt in the form of
constructivism theory and Joseph Nye in the form of transnationalism theory. In this cross-
border theory, the issue of globalization is raised as one of the factors.
Joseph Nye in his theory states that what is called global interaction is the movement of
information, money, goods, tangible and intangible objects beyond national borders.18 He
divides into four types of global interaction: 1) communication; 2) transportation; 3) money;
4) tourism.19 The interaction is divided into two types, namely interstate communication
and transnational communication. Interstate communication is a type of communication in
relations International communication is conducted entirely under the control of the
government of the nation state. Meanwhile, transnational communication is a type of
communication in international relations that has begun to involve non-state actors.
This form of interstate communication is the classical type, which is also called having
a classical paradigm. This interaction focuses on the government as the agent with which
people relate politically. This interstate politics is different from-although indirectly related
to-domestic politics. Transnational forms of communication in this type are not taken into
account.
Unlike interstate forms of interaction, transnational interactions may involve
governments, but they may not. Non-state actors play an important role in these interactions.
Talking about transnational interactions, we are talking about finance, travel and
communication, which in some cases can involve state actors, for example, to cross borders.
Thus, Nye and Keohanne refer to transnational interaction as a term to describe the
movement of tangible items and services (intangible items) across national borders when at
least one actor is not a state actor and/or an interstate organization.21 Nye and Keohanne
picked up the definition brought by J. David Singer which states that individuals and/or
organizations can have a role in world politics: 1) they can be involved in a coalition that
controls and influences their country; 2) they play their role directly confronting (vs) with
foreign policies and / or foreign societies that are not through (by pass) the government of
their country.22 Nye and Keohanne argue that transnational interactions fall into and / or
more precisely in the second type of Singer's explanation. Keohanne and Nye then describe
the form of transnational interaction as follows to distinguish it from interstate forms of
internation:
In the post-world war globalization era, which involves contemporary global issues of
international relations, many interactions are of the transnational type. This is inseparable
from the existence of Various technologies have been invented, especially communication
technology. Individuals can interact directly with the international community and/or
organizations of nations such as the United Nations. Some of the effects described by
Keohanne and Nye that occur in this type of interaction are essentially increased sensitivity
between people which means changing the form of their relationship with the government.
With global mass communication, different groups from different societies, such as
radical students, military personnel, or ethnic minorities, can observe each other's behavior
and then take it into action. Thus, student radicals can make political tactics and demands
without any direct contact. Their international "consipracy" is conducted publicly and
disseminated with the help of specialized media. Perpetrators in this global phenomenon may
be punished, but its scale, scope and speed are the product of global television.
In brief, Keohanne and Nye concluded that the effects of transnational interactions are:
1) changes in behavior; 2) international pluralism; 3) increased restrictions on states; 4)
increased ability of states to influence others; and 5) the emergence of independent actors
with private foreign policies that can directly oppose or reject their government's policies.
This is most evident in the fact that an individual in a family, the smallest organization
in the country, does not even have control over what his family members access with the
internet technology. This then becomes the same thing that happens at the state level. Thus,
state control is weakened and challenges to national security are strengthened. Threats are
becoming more complex as information technology can target the individual level and
influence their actions bypassing state governance. Does this mean that the state must be
authoritarian and or is there a new form?
Form a Comprehensive Security Strategy: A United Nations Proposal
To the challenges faced by the international community today, the United Nations (UN)
offers a way out. For two decades now, the international community has been working
towards a broad understanding of what constitutes security. Seeking input from governments,
academics, community groups and intergovernmental organizations, the UN held a meeting
called the 2000 Millennium Summit for a world "free of want" and "free of fear". As a result
of this meeting, an understanding and/or input on human security was formed.
In 2001, the UN created a special unit on humanitarian security called the Commission
of Human Security (CHS). The Commission consists of twelve international figures,
including Sadako Ogata - former UN High Commissioner for Refugees - and Professor
Amartya Sen (Nobel Laureate 1998). Humanitarian security has refocused the attention of
states and the international community on the survival, livelihoods and dignity of people as
the basis for peace, development and human progress.
While humanitarian security remains vital to stability and peace, the complexity and
interconnectedness of old and new threats - from chronic and persistent poverty, to violent
conflict, climate change, human trafficking, health, and financial crises - creates a shared
vulnerability to the growing risk of diffuse and cross cutting threats. As challenges can
evolve rapidly within and across nations and deliver powerful crises, humanitarian security
emphasizes the need for a new framework that combines the agendas of security and peace,
development and human rights in a more effective, efficient, and prevention-oriented process.
Here is the UN statement mentioned in the document: While national security remains pivotal
to peace and stability, the complexity and interrelatedness of old and new threats-from
chronic and persistent poverty, to violent conflicts, climate change, human trafficking, health
pandemics, and economic and financial crises-reveal our shared vulnerabilities to a growing
risk of threats that are widespread and cross-cutting. Because these challenges can spread
rapidly within and across nations and give rise to more intractable crises, human security
emphasizes the need for a new framework that combines the agendas of peace and security,
development and human rights in a more effective, efficient and prevention-oriented manner.
In United States, it can be summarized that humanitarian security is to protect the vital
core of human life by enhancing human freedom and fulfilling human needs. The CHS's
arguments for the importance of humanitarian security, touched on a little earlier, are detailed
below:
As argued by the Commission on Human Security (CHS), the need for a new paradigm
of security is associated with two sets of dynamics:
First, human security is needed in response to the complexity and the interrelatedness
of both old and new security threats-from chronic and persistent poverty to ethnic violence,
human trafficking, climate change, health pandemics, international terrorism, and sudden
economic and financial downturns. Such threats tend to acquire transnational dimensions and
move beyond traditional notions of security that focus on external military aggressions alone.
Second, human security is required as a comprehensive approach that utilizes the wide
range of new opportunities to tackle such threats in an integrated manner. Human security
threats cannot be tackled through conventional mechanisms alone. Instead, they require a new
consensus that recognizes the linkages and the interdependencies between development,
human rights and national security.
In essence, the definition provided by the CHS conceptualizes re-envision security with its
most fundamental issues:
moving away from the traditional, state-centric conception of security focused
primarily on the security of the state from military aggression, one that concentrates on
the security of individuals, their protection and empowerment;
draw attention to the many threats that cut across different aspects of human life and
thus highlight the interface between security, development and human rights; and
promote a new integrated, coordinated and people-centered approach to advancing
peace, security and development within and across countries.
Human security brings together the 'human element' in security, rights and
development. As such, it is an inter-disciplinary concept that displays the following
characteristics: 1) human-centered; 2) multi-sectoral; 3) comprehensive; 4) context-specific;
and 5) prevention-oriented.
As a human-centered concept, human security places the individual at the 'center of
analysis'. As a result, it considers the range of conditions that threaten survival, livelihoods
and dignity, and identifies the lower threshold of intolerable human life, threatened. Human
security is also based on a multi-sectoral understanding of insecurity. Therefore, human
security requires an expanded understanding of threats and includes related causes of
insecurity, e.g. for economic, food, health, environmental, personal, community and political
security.
This interdependence has important implications for policymaking as it suggests that
human insecurity cannot be addressed in isolation through fragmented stand-alone responses.
Instead, human security involves a comprehensive approach that emphasizes the need for a
multi-sectoral response that brings together agendas related to security, development and
human rights.
Moreover, as a context-specific concept, human security recognizes that insecurity
varies across different settings and as such advances solutions that are contextually
responsive to the particular situation they seek to address. Finally, in addressing the risks and
root causes of insecurity, human security is prevention oriented and introduces a dual focus
on protection and empowerment.
Conclusion
Based on the analysis and discussion above, it can be concluded that national security
in the context of contemporary global issues in the perspective of international relations is
complex, because threats at the individual level become real. This is then explained in
transnational theory in international relations. In its development, the UN then offered to re-
conceptualize the notion of national security which ultimately provided input on human
security.
The UN has done many things related to humanitarian security. However, the most
obvious challenge still comes if it is clashed with the most classic international relations
theory, namely realism regarding superpowers. The extent to which superpower involvement
can be genuinely involved in the development of issues without any element of national
interest involvement in it, at least supports this conception.
History of the Emergence of Contemporary Global Issues
Contemporary history is a subset of modern history that describes the period of history
from about 1945 to the present. The term "contemporary history" has been used since at least
the early 20th century 19. Contemporary political history is dominated by the Cold War
(1945-1991) between the United States and the Soviet Union whose effects were felt around
the world. In this geopolitical context, the fall of European colonial empires in Africa and
Asia between 1945 and 1975 was often followed by American-Soviet confrontation in the
form of proxy wars and through intervention in the internal politics of smaller states. The
U.S.-Soviet rivalry eventually ended with the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw
Pact in 1991, following the Revolutions of 1989. and in the last stage and after the Cold War
paved the way for the democratization of large parts of Europe, Africa and Latin America.
In the Middle East, the period after 1945 was dominated by conflicts involving the new
state of Israel and the rise of petroleum politics, as well as the growth of Islamism after the
1980s. The period after 1945 saw the growth of the first supranational governmental
organizations, such as the United Nations and the European Union. Socially, western
countries experienced the rise of counter cultures3 and the sexual revolution4 between the
1960s and 1980s which transformed social relations and was fueled by the 1968 Protests.
Living standards rose sharply around the world especially in developed countries as a result
of, but also the emergence of, new economic powers such as Japan and West Germany. US
culture, especially consumerism, spread widely. By the 1960s, many western countries had
begun the process of deindustrialization. In their place, globalization led to the emergence of
new industrial centers, such as Japan, Taiwan and later China, based on exports consumer
goods for developed countries. The period after 1945 was also a transformative period in the
history of science because, among other things, nuclear technology, molecular biology,
particle physics and so on emerged which became the background for the emergence of
various technologies that appear today including the internet.
The history of the modern international system itself actually began in its history when
the Westphalia system (1648). States are interconnected with each other in an environment
called the international system. All countries are considered to have sovereignty, and some
countries are stronger than others. The system has many forms of informal rules about what
should happen, but these rules are not binding. International relations have existed since the
existence of states. The modern international system that we find ourselves in, however, is
not that old. The peace that ended a 30-year war between Catholic and Protestant states in
Western and Central Europe was the forerunner of the modern international system. It
declared that the sovereign leader of each nation state could do what he wanted within its
borders and established the state as a global actor in global politics. From then onwards, the
international system was in relation to nation states.
In the 17th-18th centuries, nation-states emerged to dominate the system of
international relations. A number of strong states dominated Europe, with some powers
coming and going. Weak states usually joined forces with others to prevent the dominant
power from becoming too strong, which is known as a proactive form of preserving the
balance of power. Economic competition and frequent wars marked this era, with countries
such as Britain and France being the most powerful to date, but some other powerful
countries collapsing over time, namely the Ottoman Empire and Spain.
Fundamental differences began to emerge in the 19th century, bringing about two major
changes in the international system:
Nationalism as a form of strength, which makes the nation state grow stronger.
Italy and Germany united, which changed the military and political balance in Europe.
Problems arose with the unification of Italy and Germany, which contributed to World
War I (1914-1918). The international system changed drastically after the war. Many
powerful countries in Europe were devastated by the war, and the United States (US) itself
began to come out of its isolation and turn into a global power. At the same time, the end of
the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian powers created a series of new states, and the rise of
communism in Russia. These factors led to the Treaty of Versailles, the Nazis and
Communism, and World War II (1939-1945).
New governments have emerged since the end of World War II. After the War, two
powers emerged: The US and the Soviet Union, which was called the bipolar system. Since
the end of the Cold War, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US has become the sole
ruler of the international system, which is called unipolar. However, there are other
viewpoints that see that the economic power of the US is not so strong that it cannot be said
that the control of the economy is entirely in the hands of the US because there are other
strong economic countries such as countries in Asia, thus calling it multi-polar.
Contemporary global issues emerged precisely at the end of the Cold War and/or when
the modern international system was unipolar. This can be regarded as the second period of
the new international order. The events that occurred became the context for contemporary
global issues. The most devastating event was the so-called 9/11 or September attacks. An
attack reportedly carried out by the Al Qaedah terrorist group on the US on September 11,
2001. There were about 2,999 victims, about 6,000 injured and 10 million properties and
infrastructures damaged.7 It is said to be devastating here because the attack was carried out
on the unipolar power holder of the international system at that time, namely the US. There
had been previous events that set the context for contemporary global issues such as the
genocides in Rwanda and Bosnia and the emergence of new states in Eastern Europe.
With the events of 9/11 and the genocide problem being addressed by the international
community, the new world government There is one threat that has a different character. The
nature of the threat this time is no longer from the state as was dominant in the Cold War
period but non-state actors. Non-state actors as the perpetrators of the causes of world
insecurity are becoming increasingly difficult to identify because such actors can also come
from the state concerned and/or from within the state itself. International issues in
international relations are becoming increasingly complex so that they are called
contemporary global issues. In this post-Cold War era, threats can mean disease outbreaks,
human trafficking, narcotics, arms trafficking, poverty, illiteracy, infectious viruses, which
are experienced by several countries not the country itself.
Thus, contemporary global issues are issues that developed and expanded after the end
of the Cold War in the 1990s. These contemporary global issues are related to the problems
faced by the international community in the new world order (new order) which is faced with
welfare issues related to human security. The form of security threats in this era has been
transformed so that the form of the international security agenda has also become new,
namely the New Global Security Agenda.
In 2002, the US Department of State under the US Secretary of Global Affairs, Paula J.
Dobriansky, issued a statement released on its website8 regarding new global security by
previously formulating an understanding of what is meant by global issues: At this point, it is
worth defining what I mean by global issues. Global issues are those issues that are not
limited by borders or boundaries but that reach across international lines to affect us all. My
global portfolio encompasses environment and science, refugees and migration, narcotics
trafficking and law enforcement, human rights, and health matters. Though he was speaking
in the first century B.C., the Roman poet Horace aptly described what could be called the
crux of modern global affairs when he wrote, "Your own safety is at stake when your
neighbor's wall is ablaze." The essence of global issues is a recognition that the people of the
world are inexorably linked and that, in today's world, that which touches some touches all.
Since September 11, never have we been more acutely aware that our own safety and the
protection of our way of life must be guarded by due attention to international problems -
such as injustice and the inadequacy of the rule of law, poverty, disease, and repression.
These are the blazing walls of today's world that threaten to engulf us. That is why these
issues have become central to American foreign policy and our efforts to protect our national
interests.
The US defines global issues as those that are not limited to cross-border issues but also
include international issues that impact the US across issues such as the environment and
science, refugees and migration, drug trafficking and law enforcement, human rights and
health. The US recognizes that since 9/11 issues have not been as acute regarding the safety
and protection of life. The aforementioned issues, including terrorism and disease, have
become one of the factors for the US to call it the new global security agenda.
Types and Characteristics of Contemporary Global Issues
Earlier in 1996, a paper was published by the Institute for Security Studies, which
identified several global sources of insecurity and their implications for national security
policy formulation. There are eight important things after the Cold War as strategic global
issues, namely drugs, migration, the environment, population, global economic challenges,
the crisis of liberal democracy, fusion and division, and light weapon proliferation.9 In the
paper, it is explained that there are global sources of insecurity and their implications for
national security policy formulation. These eight issues then become an important cluster as
an extraordinary threat to national and regional security and ultimately global security.10
This was then coupled with 9/11. Thus, the threat in this new form is not in the form of a
"military attack" carried out by a state against another state but an act of crime committed by
a non-state actor and aimed at the state (state actor), individuals or citizens who threaten the
security of humanity (Human Security).
Drugs
The domestic toll of drug addiction is alarming. These include loss of productivity,
soaring health costs, a sharp rise in drug-related crime, and the accelerated spread of AIDS
through contaminated needles. Drug use is not just a social phenomenon; it has far-reaching
political implications and security implications. For example, in Latin America there are
close links between drug traffickers and leftist revolutionary groups such as the Columbia M-
19 and the Peruvian Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path).11 In Lebanon and elsewhere in the
Middle East, in the Balkans, the Southern Republics of the former Soviet Union, Burma
(Myanmar) and Sri Lanka, drugs have become a major source of funds for movements.
Drug trafficking can also affect relations between countries. For example, a major
reason for the 1989 invasion of Panama by the US was that this government, under the
leadership of General Manuel Noriega, was allegedly serving as a conduit for drug travel to
the US.13 Most recently, Ross Perot's strongest attack on the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA), he argued that its eradication was a restriction on free access of goods
between Mexico and the US in allowing larger free traders of drugs in a sense to distribute
their 'poison' in the United States.
Migration
The largest and most dramatic population movement in recent years has been that of
approximately 30 million refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs).14 Political
unrest, social upheaval, economic dislocation and ecological disasters have contributed to the
movement of people across national borders of one 'southern' regional country to another. As
a result there are 3.2 million Afghans in Pakistan and 2.3 million in Iran; 685,000 in Ethiopia
are reported to have sought refuge in Sudan, while there are also 320,000 Somalis and
384,000 Sudanese in Ethiopia; and a further 600,000 Ethiopians are reported to have fled the
war to Somalia. 17 Civil war and famine have caused a third of Liberia's population (763,000
out of a total population of 2.4 million) to flee to neighboring Guinea, Sierra Leone and the
Coast.
Mass population movements are increasingly attracting the attention of key
policymakers, not only for humanitarian reasons, but also because they create domestic
instability, generate inter-state tensions and threaten international security. South Africa is
estimated to have received eight million illegal immigrants, which was the case at one point.
In 1994, it cost South African taxpayers R1, 985 million to host illegal alien residents.
In addition, there is a reciprocal relationship between illegal immigrants and the spread of
infectious diseases such as AIDS, malaria, cholera and tuberculosis. Police sources have also
noted that fourteen percent of all crimes in South Africa involve illegal immigrants including
arms sales, money laundering and drug trafficking.
Environment
The waning of Cold War military tensions coincided with the development of real
security problems that threaten the security of many countries and require international
solutions, including the hole in the ozone layer, the greenhouse effect, deforestation, scarce
water, energy and other resources. The increase in environmental hazards has underscored
two forms of interaction between states in the world: cooperation and conflict.
In 1940, David Mitrany developed a functional theory of international relations. He
proposed that given the common problems facing humanity everywhere, cooperation between
states should be broadened. This theme was embraced and magnified by globalists in the
1980s and 1990s - even going so far as to propose a federal world government for Planet
Earth. At the heart of the theory is the idea that the gravity of global problems requires global
solutions - resulting in greater levels of cooperation between the world's nations. For
example, one country cannot solve a problem such as the widening hole in the Earth's ozone;
it must be a combined planet-wide effort. On one level global cooperation, sharing common
problems, can be seen as a way of such as the Rio Earth Summit.
The potential for resource-based conflict was evident in the 1990 and 1991 Gulf Wars,
which essentially revolved around the scarce resource of energy. One of the main reasons for
the US to get involved in the Gulf War was its dependence on Gulf oil. American dependence
on Persian Gulf oil rose 500 percent between 1985 and 1989. By 1990 oil accounted for half
of the $100 billion US trade deficit.
Population
The world population is expected to grow from 5.3 billion in 1990 to 6.2 billion in
2000, and 8.5 billion in 2025. The growth rate of nearly one billion per decade has socio-
cultural and political economic consequences for the macro-environment. For example,
resource problems in countries such as Mexico and Egypt are directly linked to population
growth.
In Africa itself there is a noted reciprocal relationship between the conflict in Rwanda
and the fact that it has one of the highest levels of population density in Africa's growth.
Population was also seen to be responsible for two-thirds of the increase in carbon dioxide
entering the atmosphere between 1950 and 1985, thereby contributing to the greenhouse
effect. The population explosion was also listed as one of the contributing factors to the
occurrence of IDPs.16
Global Economic Challenges
The need to restructure the world economy stems from two major points: the north-
south growth divide and economic competition. The existence of a north-south split in
economic growth, and in some cases expansion, is obvious. This is highlighted by the fact
that the world's richest twenty percent control eighty percent of the world's economic
resources. This is demonstrated by the fact that the world's richest twenty percent are now
150 times richer than the poorest. It is further underscored by the fact that 1.3 billion people
in developing countries live in conditions of absolute poverty.
Saddest of all, it can be seen by the fact that 34,000 children die every day in the world
from malnutrition and disease. The need to address the north-south problem stems not only
from humanitarian reasons, but also from the threat of prosperity whose poverty is
increasingly exposed. Economic scarcity in the form of global markets and rising production
costs intensify economic competition. Technological competition and various forms of
commercial warfare have replaced the arms race from after the Cold War. According to
Japanese politician Isihara Shintaro, the twenty-first century will be a century of economic
warfare. If this happens, international security is threatened. Large economic power blocs
have been developed in the Pacific Rim and North America as a counterweight to the
European Union (EU). Similar economic formations have also been developed in Central
Africa and South America. The existence of large economic formations is necessary and does
not necessarily mean economic competition but rather complementarity. However, the
scarcity of such competition can develop and the history can become 'hot'.
The Crisis of Liberal Democracy
The end of Soviet-style communist rule consolidated the position of Western liberal
democracies. Since then, there has been state-sponsored ideological competition. The fall of
the Soviet system vindicated the principle of liberal democracy in the eyes of many: Smith,
Mill and Keynes. Western ideas of triumphalism were encapsulated in Francis Fukuyama's
books The End of History and Last Man. The liberal democratic paradigm seemed absolutely
dominant. Post-1989 developments seemed to show this as economic structural adjustment
programs (ESAPs) were liberalized in many African countries; liberal multiparty winds
democracy that swept across much of Africa, South America, the Middle East and Asia.17
Subsequent developments in the former Eastern bloc, which has seen the rise of the former
Communist Party, seem to disprove this notion.
Even in South Africa, political pluralism has experienced some setbacks. Soon after the
fall of the Berlin Wall, the surge towards multiparty democracy intensified in South Africa.
Kenneth Kaunda's corrupt one-party rule system was replaced by Frederick Chiluba's
Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD). In Malawi, the despotic rule of President-for-
life Hastings Kamuzu Band ended peacefully when Malawians went to the Banda elections
and his Malawi Congress Party (MCP) was voted out of power, replaced by United
Democratic Front (UDF) leader Bakili Muluzi.
In Lesotho, military rule ended and the Basotho National Party lost dominance in
elections that brought Prime Minister Ntsu Mokhehle and his Basotholand Congress Party
(BCP) to power. In South Africa, white minority rule came on April 27, 1994-the country's
first racially inclusive election. Meanwhile, both of the former Portuguese colonies in the
region, Angola and Mozambique, began to make the long and difficult transition to political
pluralism.
Fusion and Cleavage
The two most conflicting elements of the contemporary period are fusion and division-
peace coming together with the violent disintegration of society.
Regarding fusion, a newborn global culture seems to be taking shape. Denim jeans and
CocaCola are forms that are universal. If Toshiba and Toyota are in New York, then
MacDonald and Kentucky Fried Chicken will be found in Tokyo. If lamb is cooked and
stewed in a restaurant in New Delhi, then a fancy restaurant in London serves hot curry from
India. If Michael Jackson and Madonna become very famous in Montevideo, Maputo or
Kuala Lumpur, then West African and Indian music is represented by the likes of Manu
Dibango and Babu Shegal, who will surely be found playing in the discos of Paris or
Manchester. This is a nascent global cultural trend that goes even deeper than this: Human
rights and gender, geographical, political and cultural crossovers. One of the reasons for this
is The development of communication and technological innovation made it cheaper to travel
and made it possible for CNN broadcasts to reach 200 million people in ninety other
countries.
Fusion seems to buck this trend: scarce resources, varying degrees of population growth
in heterogeneous societies and the resultant growth of ethnic nationalism are tearing societies
apart. This has been evident in Rwanda and Burundi between Hutu and Tutsi; between Serbs,
Croats and Muslims in the former Yugoslavia; and between Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims in
India. What is even more interesting today is that these issues are beginning to surface in
western countries with liberal democracies: consider the growth of neo-Nazism in Germany;
the rising fortunes of Jean-Marie le Pen's National Front in France; the invigorating separatist
movements in Quebec; Catalonia; the Basque country; Corsica; Lombardy; Scotland and
Wales; and increasing tensions between the Flems and Walloons in Belgium. Not least, in the
US there were the 1992 riots in Los Angeles and the growth of ethnocentric nationalist
movements.
Light Weapons Production
Light weapons refer to crew-portable and ground weapons. Definitions include small
arms such as pistols, rifles, assault rifles and sub-machine guns; and medium machine guns;
heavy machine guns (HMG) with a caliber not exceeding 14.5 mm; anti-aircraft and anti-tank
missiles; light mortars; mines and grenades.
The danger of small arms proliferation to world peace is underscored by the fact that in
1994, major armed conflicts were being waged in 27 countries around the world and small
arms were the overwhelming cause of death from these weapons. The existence of small arms
is perhaps most fragile in third world countries due to power imbalances such as insurgents,
drug traffickers and other criminals. For example, guerrillas in Kashmir fighting India use
Soviet Kalashnikovs, in Pakistan, small arms exacerbate ethnic conflicts between mohajirs,
Pakistani Punjabis, Pathans from the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan and
Sindhis.
For Third World countries, issues related to the threat of a new form of security
(Human Security) are "real security threats" because they have relevance to the domestic
conditions of Third World countries that are still preoccupied with the threat of human
security by various issues regarding: 1) Political transition situation; 2) Weak government
power due to not maximizing law enforcement efforts; 3) Political uncertainty; 4) Economic
crisis; 5) Conflict issues in border areas; 6) Ethnic conflicts and communal conflicts with
various international dimensions; 7) The issue of national disintegration; 8) Increase in the
number of terrorism perpetrators; 9) The ability to carry out threatening actions against
human security, etc.
The development of technology, especially information technology, is one of the strong
reasons for the expansion of contemporary global issues, resulting in a shift in the nature of
global issues from before the Cold War. Due to the development of threats that have different
types than before the Cold War, contemporary global issues have specificity:
Unconventional;
In the sense that contemporary global issues are non-armaments and/or arms
competition.
Nontraditional;
This means that the issue category is not inter-state.
Non-military;
As mentioned earlier, disease outbreaks, and/or drugs can be a threat.
Multidimensional; and
Issues are complex such as those concerning poverty.
Transnational
The issues raised in contemporary global are cross-border such as migration, refugees,
and others.
Thus, the characteristics of contemporary global issues as non-traditional security
threats are:
Contemporary global issues that are non-traditional security threats are not centered on
one particular country. Thus, the threats that are part of these contemporary global
issues are not only faced by one country, but have threatened a number of countries at
once (have regional and global dimensions). Therefore, contemporary global issues are
often referred to as "transnational security threats".
Contemporary global issues are not focused on a particular geographical location.
Based on their geographical character, these issues are It is often difficult to
"recognize" because it crosses borders between countries and even regional
(transnational) boundaries.
Contemporary global issues cannot be addressed by military force alone. Indeed,
military force can be used in escalations that lead to armed conflict. However, in the
long run, military force can no longer be used effectively to address the threat of these
global issues.
Security issues that have become contemporary global issues have threatened the
existence of a country and individuals who are part of the country.
The most obvious thing is that in the development of contemporary global issues is the
emergence of a new term in responding to the threats faced, namely human security.
Strategic Global Issues and National Security in International Relations Theory
Strategic global issues and national security in international relations theory are divided
into two major parts: 1) state centric point of view; and 2) global cross cutting issues. The
state-centric point of view is divided between realism and institutionalism where realism
focuses on national interests while institutionalism focuses on regimes, namely regime
theory. Meanwhile, there is a cross-border theory pioneered by Wednt in the form of
constructivism theory and Joseph Nye in the form of transnationalism theory. In this cross-
border theory, the issue of globalization is raised as one of the factors.
Joseph Nye in his theory states that what is called global interaction is the movement of
information, money, goods, tangible and intangible objects beyond national borders.18 He
divides into four types of global interaction: 1) communication; 2) transportation; 3) money;
4) tourism.19 The interaction is divided into two types, namely interstate communication
and transnational communication. Interstate communication is a type of communication in
relations International communication is conducted entirely under the control of the
government of the nation state. Meanwhile, transnational communication is a type of
communication in international relations that has begun to involve non-state actors.
This form of interstate communication is the classical type, which is also called having
a classical paradigm. This interaction focuses on the government as the agent with which
people relate politically. This interstate politics is different from-although indirectly related
to-domestic politics. Transnational forms of communication in this type are not taken into
account.
Unlike interstate forms of interaction, transnational interactions may involve
governments, but they may not. Non-state actors play an important role in these interactions.
Talking about transnational interactions, we are talking about finance, travel and
communication, which in some cases can involve state actors, for example, to cross borders.
Thus, Nye and Keohanne refer to transnational interaction as a term to describe the
movement of tangible items and services (intangible items) across national borders when at
least one actor is not a state actor and/or an interstate organization.21 Nye and Keohanne
picked up the definition brought by J. David Singer which states that individuals and/or
organizations can have a role in world politics: 1) they can be involved in a coalition that
controls and influences their country; 2) they play their role directly confronting (vs) with
foreign policies and / or foreign societies that are not through (by pass) the government of
their country.22 Nye and Keohanne argue that transnational interactions fall into and / or
more precisely in the second type of Singer's explanation. Keohanne and Nye then describe
the form of transnational interaction as follows to distinguish it from interstate forms of
internation:
In the post-world war globalization era, which involves contemporary global issues of
international relations, many interactions are of the transnational type. This is inseparable
from the existence of Various technologies have been invented, especially communication
technology. Individuals can interact directly with the international community and/or
organizations of nations such as the United Nations. Some of the effects described by
Keohanne and Nye that occur in this type of interaction are essentially increased sensitivity
between people which means changing the form of their relationship with the government.
With global mass communication, different groups from different societies, such as
radical students, military personnel, or ethnic minorities, can observe each other's behavior
and then take it into action. Thus, student radicals can make political tactics and demands
without any direct contact. Their international "consipracy" is conducted publicly and
disseminated with the help of specialized media. Perpetrators in this global phenomenon may
be punished, but its scale, scope and speed are the product of global television.
In brief, Keohanne and Nye concluded that the effects of transnational interactions are:
1) changes in behavior; 2) international pluralism; 3) increased restrictions on states; 4)
increased ability of states to influence others; and 5) the emergence of independent actors
with private foreign policies that can directly oppose or reject their government's policies.
This is most evident in the fact that an individual in a family, the smallest organization
in the country, does not even have control over what his family members access with the
internet technology. This then becomes the same thing that happens at the state level. Thus,
state control is weakened and challenges to national security are strengthened. Threats are
becoming more complex as information technology can target the individual level and
influence their actions bypassing state governance. Does this mean that the state must be
authoritarian and or is there a new form?
Form a Comprehensive Security Strategy: A United Nations Proposal
To the challenges faced by the international community today, the United Nations (UN)
offers a way out. For two decades now, the international community has been working
towards a broad understanding of what constitutes security. Seeking input from governments,
academics, community groups and intergovernmental organizations, the UN held a meeting
called the 2000 Millennium Summit for a world "free of want" and "free of fear". As a result
of this meeting, an understanding and/or input on human security was formed.
In 2001, the UN created a special unit on humanitarian security called the Commission
of Human Security (CHS). The Commission consists of twelve international figures,
including Sadako Ogata - former UN High Commissioner for Refugees - and Professor
Amartya Sen (Nobel Laureate 1998). Humanitarian security has refocused the attention of
states and the international community on the survival, livelihoods and dignity of people as
the basis for peace, development and human progress.
While humanitarian security remains vital to stability and peace, the complexity and
interconnectedness of old and new threats - from chronic and persistent poverty, to violent
conflict, climate change, human trafficking, health, and financial crises - creates a shared
vulnerability to the growing risk of diffuse and cross cutting threats. As challenges can
evolve rapidly within and across nations and deliver powerful crises, humanitarian security
emphasizes the need for a new framework that combines the agendas of security and peace,
development and human rights in a more effective, efficient, and prevention-oriented process.
Here is the UN statement mentioned in the document: While national security remains pivotal
to peace and stability, the complexity and interrelatedness of old and new threats-from
chronic and persistent poverty, to violent conflicts, climate change, human trafficking, health
pandemics, and economic and financial crises-reveal our shared vulnerabilities to a growing
risk of threats that are widespread and cross-cutting. Because these challenges can spread
rapidly within and across nations and give rise to more intractable crises, human security
emphasizes the need for a new framework that combines the agendas of peace and security,
development and human rights in a more effective, efficient and prevention-oriented manner.
In United States, it can be summarized that humanitarian security is to protect the vital
core of human life by enhancing human freedom and fulfilling human needs. The CHS's
arguments for the importance of humanitarian security, touched on a little earlier, are detailed
below:
As argued by the Commission on Human Security (CHS), the need for a new paradigm
of security is associated with two sets of dynamics:
First, human security is needed in response to the complexity and the interrelatedness
of both old and new security threats-from chronic and persistent poverty to ethnic violence,
human trafficking, climate change, health pandemics, international terrorism, and sudden
economic and financial downturns. Such threats tend to acquire transnational dimensions and
move beyond traditional notions of security that focus on external military aggressions alone.
Second, human security is required as a comprehensive approach that utilizes the wide
range of new opportunities to tackle such threats in an integrated manner. Human security
threats cannot be tackled through conventional mechanisms alone. Instead, they require a new
consensus that recognizes the linkages and the interdependencies between development,
human rights and national security.
In essence, the definition provided by the CHS conceptualizes re-envision security with its
most fundamental issues:
moving away from the traditional, state-centric conception of security focused
primarily on the security of the state from military aggression, one that concentrates on
the security of individuals, their protection and empowerment;
draw attention to the many threats that cut across different aspects of human life and
thus highlight the interface between security, development and human rights; and
promote a new integrated, coordinated and people-centered approach to advancing
peace, security and development within and across countries.
Human security brings together the 'human element' in security, rights and
development. As such, it is an inter-disciplinary concept that displays the following
characteristics: 1) human-centered; 2) multi-sectoral; 3) comprehensive; 4) context-specific;
and 5) prevention-oriented.
As a human-centered concept, human security places the individual at the 'center of
analysis'. As a result, it considers the range of conditions that threaten survival, livelihoods
and dignity, and identifies the lower threshold of intolerable human life, threatened. Human
security is also based on a multi-sectoral understanding of insecurity. Therefore, human
security requires an expanded understanding of threats and includes related causes of
insecurity, e.g. for economic, food, health, environmental, personal, community and political
security.
This interdependence has important implications for policymaking as it suggests that
human insecurity cannot be addressed in isolation through fragmented stand-alone responses.
Instead, human security involves a comprehensive approach that emphasizes the need for a
multi-sectoral response that brings together agendas related to security, development and
human rights.
Moreover, as a context-specific concept, human security recognizes that insecurity
varies across different settings and as such advances solutions that are contextually
responsive to the particular situation they seek to address. Finally, in addressing the risks and
root causes of insecurity, human security is prevention oriented and introduces a dual focus
on protection and empowerment.
Conclusion
Based on the analysis and discussion above, it can be concluded that national security
in the context of contemporary global issues in the perspective of international relations is
complex, because threats at the individual level become real. This is then explained in
transnational theory in international relations. In its development, the UN then offered to re-
conceptualize the notion of national security which ultimately provided input on human
security.
The UN has done many things related to humanitarian security. However, the most
obvious challenge still comes if it is clashed with the most classic international relations
theory, namely realism regarding superpowers. The extent to which superpower involvement
can be genuinely involved in the development of issues without any element of national
interest involvement in it, at least supports this conception.
History of the Emergence of Contemporary Global Issues
Contemporary history is a subset of modern history that describes the period of history
from about 1945 to the present. The term "contemporary history" has been used since at least
the early 20th century 19. Contemporary political history is dominated by the Cold War
(1945-1991) between the United States and the Soviet Union whose effects were felt around
the world. In this geopolitical context, the fall of European colonial empires in Africa and
Asia between 1945 and 1975 was often followed by American-Soviet confrontation in the
form of proxy wars and through intervention in the internal politics of smaller states. The
U.S.-Soviet rivalry eventually ended with the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw
Pact in 1991, following the Revolutions of 1989. and in the last stage and after the Cold War
paved the way for the democratization of large parts of Europe, Africa and Latin America.
In the Middle East, the period after 1945 was dominated by conflicts involving the new
state of Israel and the rise of petroleum politics, as well as the growth of Islamism after the
1980s. The period after 1945 saw the growth of the first supranational governmental
organizations, such as the United Nations and the European Union. Socially, western
countries experienced the rise of counter cultures3 and the sexual revolution4 between the
1960s and 1980s which transformed social relations and was fueled by the 1968 Protests.
Living standards rose sharply around the world especially in developed countries as a result
of, but also the emergence of, new economic powers such as Japan and West Germany. US
culture, especially consumerism, spread widely. By the 1960s, many western countries had
begun the process of deindustrialization. In their place, globalization led to the emergence of
new industrial centers, such as Japan, Taiwan and later China, based on exports consumer
goods for developed countries. The period after 1945 was also a transformative period in the
history of science because, among other things, nuclear technology, molecular biology,
particle physics and so on emerged which became the background for the emergence of
various technologies that appear today including the internet.
The history of the modern international system itself actually began in its history when
the Westphalia system (1648). States are interconnected with each other in an environment
called the international system. All countries are considered to have sovereignty, and some
countries are stronger than others. The system has many forms of informal rules about what
should happen, but these rules are not binding. International relations have existed since the
existence of states. The modern international system that we find ourselves in, however, is
not that old. The peace that ended a 30-year war between Catholic and Protestant states in
Western and Central Europe was the forerunner of the modern international system. It
declared that the sovereign leader of each nation state could do what he wanted within its
borders and established the state as a global actor in global politics. From then onwards, the
international system was in relation to nation states.
In the 17th-18th centuries, nation-states emerged to dominate the system of
international relations. A number of strong states dominated Europe, with some powers
coming and going. Weak states usually joined forces with others to prevent the dominant
power from becoming too strong, which is known as a proactive form of preserving the
balance of power. Economic competition and frequent wars marked this era, with countries
such as Britain and France being the most powerful to date, but some other powerful
countries collapsing over time, namely the Ottoman Empire and Spain.
Fundamental differences began to emerge in the 19th century, bringing about two major
changes in the international system:
Nationalism as a form of strength, which makes the nation state grow stronger.
Italy and Germany united, which changed the military and political balance in Europe.
Problems arose with the unification of Italy and Germany, which contributed to World
War I (1914-1918). The international system changed drastically after the war. Many
powerful countries in Europe were devastated by the war, and the United States (US) itself
began to come out of its isolation and turn into a global power. At the same time, the end of
the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian powers created a series of new states, and the rise of
communism in Russia. These factors led to the Treaty of Versailles, the Nazis and
Communism, and World War II (1939-1945).
New governments have emerged since the end of World War II. After the War, two
powers emerged: The US and the Soviet Union, which was called the bipolar system. Since
the end of the Cold War, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US has become the sole
ruler of the international system, which is called unipolar. However, there are other
viewpoints that see that the economic power of the US is not so strong that it cannot be said
that the control of the economy is entirely in the hands of the US because there are other
strong economic countries such as countries in Asia, thus calling it multi-polar.
Contemporary global issues emerged precisely at the end of the Cold War and/or when
the modern international system was unipolar. This can be regarded as the second period of
the new international order. The events that occurred became the context for contemporary
global issues. The most devastating event was the so-called 9/11 or September attacks. An
attack reportedly carried out by the Al Qaedah terrorist group on the US on September 11,
2001. There were about 2,999 victims, about 6,000 injured and 10 million properties and
infrastructures damaged.7 It is said to be devastating here because the attack was carried out
on the unipolar power holder of the international system at that time, namely the US. There
had been previous events that set the context for contemporary global issues such as the
genocides in Rwanda and Bosnia and the emergence of new states in Eastern Europe.
With the events of 9/11 and the genocide problem being addressed by the international
community, the new world government There is one threat that has a different character. The
nature of the threat this time is no longer from the state as was dominant in the Cold War
period but non-state actors. Non-state actors as the perpetrators of the causes of world
insecurity are becoming increasingly difficult to identify because such actors can also come
from the state concerned and/or from within the state itself. International issues in
international relations are becoming increasingly complex so that they are called
contemporary global issues. In this post-Cold War era, threats can mean disease outbreaks,
human trafficking, narcotics, arms trafficking, poverty, illiteracy, infectious viruses, which
are experienced by several countries not the country itself.
Thus, contemporary global issues are issues that developed and expanded after the end
of the Cold War in the 1990s. These contemporary global issues are related to the problems
faced by the international community in the new world order (new order) which is faced with
welfare issues related to human security. The form of security threats in this era has been
transformed so that the form of the international security agenda has also become new,
namely the New Global Security Agenda.
In 2002, the US Department of State under the US Secretary of Global Affairs, Paula J.
Dobriansky, issued a statement released on its website8 regarding new global security by
previously formulating an understanding of what is meant by global issues: At this point, it is
worth defining what I mean by global issues. Global issues are those issues that are not
limited by borders or boundaries but that reach across international lines to affect us all. My
global portfolio encompasses environment and science, refugees and migration, narcotics
trafficking and law enforcement, human rights, and health matters. Though he was speaking
in the first century B.C., the Roman poet Horace aptly described what could be called the
crux of modern global affairs when he wrote, "Your own safety is at stake when your
neighbor's wall is ablaze." The essence of global issues is a recognition that the people of the
world are inexorably linked and that, in today's world, that which touches some touches all.
Since September 11, never have we been more acutely aware that our own safety and the
protection of our way of life must be guarded by due attention to international problems -
such as injustice and the inadequacy of the rule of law, poverty, disease, and repression.
These are the blazing walls of today's world that threaten to engulf us. That is why these
issues have become central to American foreign policy and our efforts to protect our national
interests.
The US defines global issues as those that are not limited to cross-border issues but also
include international issues that impact the US across issues such as the environment and
science, refugees and migration, drug trafficking and law enforcement, human rights and
health. The US recognizes that since 9/11 issues have not been as acute regarding the safety
and protection of life. The aforementioned issues, including terrorism and disease, have
become one of the factors for the US to call it the new global security agenda.
Types and Characteristics of Contemporary Global Issues
Earlier in 1996, a paper was published by the Institute for Security Studies, which
identified several global sources of insecurity and their implications for national security
policy formulation. There are eight important things after the Cold War as strategic global
issues, namely drugs, migration, the environment, population, global economic challenges,
the crisis of liberal democracy, fusion and division, and light weapon proliferation.9 In the
paper, it is explained that there are global sources of insecurity and their implications for
national security policy formulation. These eight issues then become an important cluster as
an extraordinary threat to national and regional security and ultimately global security.10
This was then coupled with 9/11. Thus, the threat in this new form is not in the form of a
"military attack" carried out by a state against another state but an act of crime committed by
a non-state actor and aimed at the state (state actor), individuals or citizens who threaten the
security of humanity (Human Security).
Drugs
The domestic toll of drug addiction is alarming. These include loss of productivity,
soaring health costs, a sharp rise in drug-related crime, and the accelerated spread of AIDS
through contaminated needles. Drug use is not just a social phenomenon; it has far-reaching
political implications and security implications. For example, in Latin America there are
close links between drug traffickers and leftist revolutionary groups such as the Columbia M-
19 and the Peruvian Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path).11 In Lebanon and elsewhere in the
Middle East, in the Balkans, the Southern Republics of the former Soviet Union, Burma
(Myanmar) and Sri Lanka, drugs have become a major source of funds for movements.
Drug trafficking can also affect relations between countries. For example, a major
reason for the 1989 invasion of Panama by the US was that this government, under the
leadership of General Manuel Noriega, was allegedly serving as a conduit for drug travel to
the US.13 Most recently, Ross Perot's strongest attack on the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA), he argued that its eradication was a restriction on free access of goods
between Mexico and the US in allowing larger free traders of drugs in a sense to distribute
their 'poison' in the United States.
Migration
The largest and most dramatic population movement in recent years has been that of
approximately 30 million refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs).14 Political
unrest, social upheaval, economic dislocation and ecological disasters have contributed to the
movement of people across national borders of one 'southern' regional country to another. As
a result there are 3.2 million Afghans in Pakistan and 2.3 million in Iran; 685,000 in Ethiopia
are reported to have sought refuge in Sudan, while there are also 320,000 Somalis and
384,000 Sudanese in Ethiopia; and a further 600,000 Ethiopians are reported to have fled the
war to Somalia. 17 Civil war and famine have caused a third of Liberia's population (763,000
out of a total population of 2.4 million) to flee to neighboring Guinea, Sierra Leone and the
Coast.
Mass population movements are increasingly attracting the attention of key
policymakers, not only for humanitarian reasons, but also because they create domestic
instability, generate inter-state tensions and threaten international security. South Africa is
estimated to have received eight million illegal immigrants, which was the case at one point.
In 1994, it cost South African taxpayers R1, 985 million to host illegal alien residents.
In addition, there is a reciprocal relationship between illegal immigrants and the spread of
infectious diseases such as AIDS, malaria, cholera and tuberculosis. Police sources have also
noted that fourteen percent of all crimes in South Africa involve illegal immigrants including
arms sales, money laundering and drug trafficking.
Environment
The waning of Cold War military tensions coincided with the development of real
security problems that threaten the security of many countries and require international
solutions, including the hole in the ozone layer, the greenhouse effect, deforestation, scarce
water, energy and other resources. The increase in environmental hazards has underscored
two forms of interaction between states in the world: cooperation and conflict.
In 1940, David Mitrany developed a functional theory of international relations. He
proposed that given the common problems facing humanity everywhere, cooperation between
states should be broadened. This theme was embraced and magnified by globalists in the
1980s and 1990s - even going so far as to propose a federal world government for Planet
Earth. At the heart of the theory is the idea that the gravity of global problems requires global
solutions - resulting in greater levels of cooperation between the world's nations. For
example, one country cannot solve a problem such as the widening hole in the Earth's ozone;
it must be a combined planet-wide effort. On one level global cooperation, sharing common
problems, can be seen as a way of such as the Rio Earth Summit.
The potential for resource-based conflict was evident in the 1990 and 1991 Gulf Wars,
which essentially revolved around the scarce resource of energy. One of the main reasons for
the US to get involved in the Gulf War was its dependence on Gulf oil. American dependence
on Persian Gulf oil rose 500 percent between 1985 and 1989. By 1990 oil accounted for half
of the $100 billion US trade deficit.
Population
The world population is expected to grow from 5.3 billion in 1990 to 6.2 billion in
2000, and 8.5 billion in 2025. The growth rate of nearly one billion per decade has socio-
cultural and political economic consequences for the macro-environment. For example,
resource problems in countries such as Mexico and Egypt are directly linked to population
growth.
In Africa itself there is a noted reciprocal relationship between the conflict in Rwanda
and the fact that it has one of the highest levels of population density in Africa's growth.
Population was also seen to be responsible for two-thirds of the increase in carbon dioxide
entering the atmosphere between 1950 and 1985, thereby contributing to the greenhouse
effect. The population explosion was also listed as one of the contributing factors to the
occurrence of IDPs.16
Global Economic Challenges
The need to restructure the world economy stems from two major points: the north-
south growth divide and economic competition. The existence of a north-south split in
economic growth, and in some cases expansion, is obvious. This is highlighted by the fact
that the world's richest twenty percent control eighty percent of the world's economic
resources. This is demonstrated by the fact that the world's richest twenty percent are now
150 times richer than the poorest. It is further underscored by the fact that 1.3 billion people
in developing countries live in conditions of absolute poverty.
Saddest of all, it can be seen by the fact that 34,000 children die every day in the world
from malnutrition and disease. The need to address the north-south problem stems not only
from humanitarian reasons, but also from the threat of prosperity whose poverty is
increasingly exposed. Economic scarcity in the form of global markets and rising production
costs intensify economic competition. Technological competition and various forms of
commercial warfare have replaced the arms race from after the Cold War. According to
Japanese politician Isihara Shintaro, the twenty-first century will be a century of economic
warfare. If this happens, international security is threatened. Large economic power blocs
have been developed in the Pacific Rim and North America as a counterweight to the
European Union (EU). Similar economic formations have also been developed in Central
Africa and South America. The existence of large economic formations is necessary and does
not necessarily mean economic competition but rather complementarity. However, the
scarcity of such competition can develop and the history can become 'hot'.
The Crisis of Liberal Democracy
The end of Soviet-style communist rule consolidated the position of Western liberal
democracies. Since then, there has been state-sponsored ideological competition. The fall of
the Soviet system vindicated the principle of liberal democracy in the eyes of many: Smith,
Mill and Keynes. Western ideas of triumphalism were encapsulated in Francis Fukuyama's
books The End of History and Last Man. The liberal democratic paradigm seemed absolutely
dominant. Post-1989 developments seemed to show this as economic structural adjustment
programs (ESAPs) were liberalized in many African countries; liberal multiparty winds
democracy that swept across much of Africa, South America, the Middle East and Asia.17
Subsequent developments in the former Eastern bloc, which has seen the rise of the former
Communist Party, seem to disprove this notion.
Even in South Africa, political pluralism has experienced some setbacks. Soon after the
fall of the Berlin Wall, the surge towards multiparty democracy intensified in South Africa.
Kenneth Kaunda's corrupt one-party rule system was replaced by Frederick Chiluba's
Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD). In Malawi, the despotic rule of President-for-
life Hastings Kamuzu Band ended peacefully when Malawians went to the Banda elections
and his Malawi Congress Party (MCP) was voted out of power, replaced by United
Democratic Front (UDF) leader Bakili Muluzi.
In Lesotho, military rule ended and the Basotho National Party lost dominance in
elections that brought Prime Minister Ntsu Mokhehle and his Basotholand Congress Party
(BCP) to power. In South Africa, white minority rule came on April 27, 1994-the country's
first racially inclusive election. Meanwhile, both of the former Portuguese colonies in the
region, Angola and Mozambique, began to make the long and difficult transition to political
pluralism.
Fusion and Cleavage
The two most conflicting elements of the contemporary period are fusion and division-
peace coming together with the violent disintegration of society.
Regarding fusion, a newborn global culture seems to be taking shape. Denim jeans and
CocaCola are forms that are universal. If Toshiba and Toyota are in New York, then
MacDonald and Kentucky Fried Chicken will be found in Tokyo. If lamb is cooked and
stewed in a restaurant in New Delhi, then a fancy restaurant in London serves hot curry from
India. If Michael Jackson and Madonna become very famous in Montevideo, Maputo or
Kuala Lumpur, then West African and Indian music is represented by the likes of Manu
Dibango and Babu Shegal, who will surely be found playing in the discos of Paris or
Manchester. This is a nascent global cultural trend that goes even deeper than this: Human
rights and gender, geographical, political and cultural crossovers. One of the reasons for this
is The development of communication and technological innovation made it cheaper to travel
and made it possible for CNN broadcasts to reach 200 million people in ninety other
countries.
Fusion seems to buck this trend: scarce resources, varying degrees of population growth
in heterogeneous societies and the resultant growth of ethnic nationalism are tearing societies
apart. This has been evident in Rwanda and Burundi between Hutu and Tutsi; between Serbs,
Croats and Muslims in the former Yugoslavia; and between Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims in
India. What is even more interesting today is that these issues are beginning to surface in
western countries with liberal democracies: consider the growth of neo-Nazism in Germany;
the rising fortunes of Jean-Marie le Pen's National Front in France; the invigorating separatist
movements in Quebec; Catalonia; the Basque country; Corsica; Lombardy; Scotland and
Wales; and increasing tensions between the Flems and Walloons in Belgium. Not least, in the
US there were the 1992 riots in Los Angeles and the growth of ethnocentric nationalist
movements.
Light Weapons Production
Light weapons refer to crew-portable and ground weapons. Definitions include small
arms such as pistols, rifles, assault rifles and sub-machine guns; and medium machine guns;
heavy machine guns (HMG) with a caliber not exceeding 14.5 mm; anti-aircraft and anti-tank
missiles; light mortars; mines and grenades.
The danger of small arms proliferation to world peace is underscored by the fact that in
1994, major armed conflicts were being waged in 27 countries around the world and small
arms were the overwhelming cause of death from these weapons. The existence of small arms
is perhaps most fragile in third world countries due to power imbalances such as insurgents,
drug traffickers and other criminals. For example, guerrillas in Kashmir fighting India use
Soviet Kalashnikovs, in Pakistan, small arms exacerbate ethnic conflicts between mohajirs,
Pakistani Punjabis, Pathans from the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan and
Sindhis.
For Third World countries, issues related to the threat of a new form of security
(Human Security) are "real security threats" because they have relevance to the domestic
conditions of Third World countries that are still preoccupied with the threat of human
security by various issues regarding: 1) Political transition situation; 2) Weak government
power due to not maximizing law enforcement efforts; 3) Political uncertainty; 4) Economic
crisis; 5) Conflict issues in border areas; 6) Ethnic conflicts and communal conflicts with
various international dimensions; 7) The issue of national disintegration; 8) Increase in the
number of terrorism perpetrators; 9) The ability to carry out threatening actions against
human security, etc.
The development of technology, especially information technology, is one of the strong
reasons for the expansion of contemporary global issues, resulting in a shift in the nature of
global issues from before the Cold War. Due to the development of threats that have different
types than before the Cold War, contemporary global issues have specificity:
Unconventional;
In the sense that contemporary global issues are non-armaments and/or arms
competition.
Nontraditional;
This means that the issue category is not inter-state.
Non-military;
As mentioned earlier, disease outbreaks, and/or drugs can be a threat.
Multidimensional; and
Issues are complex such as those concerning poverty.
Transnational
The issues raised in contemporary global are cross-border such as migration, refugees,
and others.
Thus, the characteristics of contemporary global issues as non-traditional security
threats are:
Contemporary global issues that are non-traditional security threats are not centered on
one particular country. Thus, the threats that are part of these contemporary global
issues are not only faced by one country, but have threatened a number of countries at
once (have regional and global dimensions). Therefore, contemporary global issues are
often referred to as "transnational security threats".
Contemporary global issues are not focused on a particular geographical location.
Based on their geographical character, these issues are It is often difficult to
"recognize" because it crosses borders between countries and even regional
(transnational) boundaries.
Contemporary global issues cannot be addressed by military force alone. Indeed,
military force can be used in escalations that lead to armed conflict. However, in the
long run, military force can no longer be used effectively to address the threat of these
global issues.
Security issues that have become contemporary global issues have threatened the
existence of a country and individuals who are part of the country.
The most obvious thing is that in the development of contemporary global issues is the
emergence of a new term in responding to the threats faced, namely human security.
Strategic Global Issues and National Security in International Relations Theory
Strategic global issues and national security in international relations theory are divided
into two major parts: 1) state centric point of view; and 2) global cross cutting issues. The
state-centric point of view is divided between realism and institutionalism where realism
focuses on national interests while institutionalism focuses on regimes, namely regime
theory. Meanwhile, there is a cross-border theory pioneered by Wednt in the form of
constructivism theory and Joseph Nye in the form of transnationalism theory. In this cross-
border theory, the issue of globalization is raised as one of the factors.
Joseph Nye in his theory states that what is called global interaction is the movement of
information, money, goods, tangible and intangible objects beyond national borders.18 He
divides into four types of global interaction: 1) communication; 2) transportation; 3) money;
4) tourism.19 The interaction is divided into two types, namely interstate communication
and transnational communication. Interstate communication is a type of communication in
relations International communication is conducted entirely under the control of the
government of the nation state. Meanwhile, transnational communication is a type of
communication in international relations that has begun to involve non-state actors.
This form of interstate communication is the classical type, which is also called having
a classical paradigm. This interaction focuses on the government as the agent with which
people relate politically. This interstate politics is different from-although indirectly related
to-domestic politics. Transnational forms of communication in this type are not taken into
account.
Unlike interstate forms of interaction, transnational interactions may involve
governments, but they may not. Non-state actors play an important role in these interactions.
Talking about transnational interactions, we are talking about finance, travel and
communication, which in some cases can involve state actors, for example, to cross borders.
Thus, Nye and Keohanne refer to transnational interaction as a term to describe the
movement of tangible items and services (intangible items) across national borders when at
least one actor is not a state actor and/or an interstate organization.21 Nye and Keohanne
picked up the definition brought by J. David Singer which states that individuals and/or
organizations can have a role in world politics: 1) they can be involved in a coalition that
controls and influences their country; 2) they play their role directly confronting (vs) with
foreign policies and / or foreign societies that are not through (by pass) the government of
their country.22 Nye and Keohanne argue that transnational interactions fall into and / or
more precisely in the second type of Singer's explanation. Keohanne and Nye then describe
the form of transnational interaction as follows to distinguish it from interstate forms of
internation:
In the post-world war globalization era, which involves contemporary global issues of
international relations, many interactions are of the transnational type. This is inseparable
from the existence of Various technologies have been invented, especially communication
technology. Individuals can interact directly with the international community and/or
organizations of nations such as the United Nations. Some of the effects described by
Keohanne and Nye that occur in this type of interaction are essentially increased sensitivity
between people which means changing the form of their relationship with the government.
With global mass communication, different groups from different societies, such as
radical students, military personnel, or ethnic minorities, can observe each other's behavior
and then take it into action. Thus, student radicals can make political tactics and demands
without any direct contact. Their international "consipracy" is conducted publicly and
disseminated with the help of specialized media. Perpetrators in this global phenomenon may
be punished, but its scale, scope and speed are the product of global television.
In brief, Keohanne and Nye concluded that the effects of transnational interactions are:
1) changes in behavior; 2) international pluralism; 3) increased restrictions on states; 4)
increased ability of states to influence others; and 5) the emergence of independent actors
with private foreign policies that can directly oppose or reject their government's policies.
This is most evident in the fact that an individual in a family, the smallest organization
in the country, does not even have control over what his family members access with the
internet technology. This then becomes the same thing that happens at the state level. Thus,
state control is weakened and challenges to national security are strengthened. Threats are
becoming more complex as information technology can target the individual level and
influence their actions bypassing state governance. Does this mean that the state must be
authoritarian and or is there a new form?
Form a Comprehensive Security Strategy: A United Nations Proposal
To the challenges faced by the international community today, the United Nations (UN)
offers a way out. For two decades now, the international community has been working
towards a broad understanding of what constitutes security. Seeking input from governments,
academics, community groups and intergovernmental organizations, the UN held a meeting
called the 2000 Millennium Summit for a world "free of want" and "free of fear". As a result
of this meeting, an understanding and/or input on human security was formed.
In 2001, the UN created a special unit on humanitarian security called the Commission
of Human Security (CHS). The Commission consists of twelve international figures,
including Sadako Ogata - former UN High Commissioner for Refugees - and Professor
Amartya Sen (Nobel Laureate 1998). Humanitarian security has refocused the attention of
states and the international community on the survival, livelihoods and dignity of people as
the basis for peace, development and human progress.
While humanitarian security remains vital to stability and peace, the complexity and
interconnectedness of old and new threats - from chronic and persistent poverty, to violent
conflict, climate change, human trafficking, health, and financial crises - creates a shared
vulnerability to the growing risk of diffuse and cross cutting threats. As challenges can
evolve rapidly within and across nations and deliver powerful crises, humanitarian security
emphasizes the need for a new framework that combines the agendas of security and peace,
development and human rights in a more effective, efficient, and prevention-oriented process.
Here is the UN statement mentioned in the document: While national security remains pivotal
to peace and stability, the complexity and interrelatedness of old and new threats-from
chronic and persistent poverty, to violent conflicts, climate change, human trafficking, health
pandemics, and economic and financial crises-reveal our shared vulnerabilities to a growing
risk of threats that are widespread and cross-cutting. Because these challenges can spread
rapidly within and across nations and give rise to more intractable crises, human security
emphasizes the need for a new framework that combines the agendas of peace and security,
development and human rights in a more effective, efficient and prevention-oriented manner.
In United States, it can be summarized that humanitarian security is to protect the vital
core of human life by enhancing human freedom and fulfilling human needs. The CHS's
arguments for the importance of humanitarian security, touched on a little earlier, are detailed
below:
As argued by the Commission on Human Security (CHS), the need for a new paradigm
of security is associated with two sets of dynamics:
First, human security is needed in response to the complexity and the interrelatedness
of both old and new security threats-from chronic and persistent poverty to ethnic violence,
human trafficking, climate change, health pandemics, international terrorism, and sudden
economic and financial downturns. Such threats tend to acquire transnational dimensions and
move beyond traditional notions of security that focus on external military aggressions alone.
Second, human security is required as a comprehensive approach that utilizes the wide
range of new opportunities to tackle such threats in an integrated manner. Human security
threats cannot be tackled through conventional mechanisms alone. Instead, they require a new
consensus that recognizes the linkages and the interdependencies between development,
human rights and national security.
In essence, the definition provided by the CHS conceptualizes re-envision security with its
most fundamental issues:
moving away from the traditional, state-centric conception of security focused
primarily on the security of the state from military aggression, one that concentrates on
the security of individuals, their protection and empowerment;
draw attention to the many threats that cut across different aspects of human life and
thus highlight the interface between security, development and human rights; and
promote a new integrated, coordinated and people-centered approach to advancing
peace, security and development within and across countries.
Human security brings together the 'human element' in security, rights and
development. As such, it is an inter-disciplinary concept that displays the following
characteristics: 1) human-centered; 2) multi-sectoral; 3) comprehensive; 4) context-specific;
and 5) prevention-oriented.
As a human-centered concept, human security places the individual at the 'center of
analysis'. As a result, it considers the range of conditions that threaten survival, livelihoods
and dignity, and identifies the lower threshold of intolerable human life, threatened. Human
security is also based on a multi-sectoral understanding of insecurity. Therefore, human
security requires an expanded understanding of threats and includes related causes of
insecurity, e.g. for economic, food, health, environmental, personal, community and political
security.
This interdependence has important implications for policymaking as it suggests that
human insecurity cannot be addressed in isolation through fragmented stand-alone responses.
Instead, human security involves a comprehensive approach that emphasizes the need for a
multi-sectoral response that brings together agendas related to security, development and
human rights.
Moreover, as a context-specific concept, human security recognizes that insecurity
varies across different settings and as such advances solutions that are contextually
responsive to the particular situation they seek to address. Finally, in addressing the risks and
root causes of insecurity, human security is prevention oriented and introduces a dual focus
on protection and empowerment.
Conclusion
Based on the analysis and discussion above, it can be concluded that national security
in the context of contemporary global issues in the perspective of international relations is
complex, because threats at the individual level become real. This is then explained in
transnational theory in international relations. In its development, the UN then offered to re-
conceptualize the notion of national security which ultimately provided input on human
security.
The UN has done many things related to humanitarian security. However, the most
obvious challenge still comes if it is clashed with the most classic international relations
theory, namely realism regarding superpowers. The extent to which superpower involvement
can be genuinely involved in the development of issues without any element of national
interest involvement in it, at least supports this conception.
History of the Emergence of Contemporary Global Issues
Contemporary history is a subset of modern history that describes the period of history
from about 1945 to the present. The term "contemporary history" has been used since at least
the early 20th century 19. Contemporary political history is dominated by the Cold War
(1945-1991) between the United States and the Soviet Union whose effects were felt around
the world. In this geopolitical context, the fall of European colonial empires in Africa and
Asia between 1945 and 1975 was often followed by American-Soviet confrontation in the
form of proxy wars and through intervention in the internal politics of smaller states. The
U.S.-Soviet rivalry eventually ended with the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw
Pact in 1991, following the Revolutions of 1989. and in the last stage and after the Cold War
paved the way for the democratization of large parts of Europe, Africa and Latin America.
In the Middle East, the period after 1945 was dominated by conflicts involving the new
state of Israel and the rise of petroleum politics, as well as the growth of Islamism after the
1980s. The period after 1945 saw the growth of the first supranational governmental
organizations, such as the United Nations and the European Union. Socially, western
countries experienced the rise of counter cultures3 and the sexual revolution4 between the
1960s and 1980s which transformed social relations and was fueled by the 1968 Protests.
Living standards rose sharply around the world especially in developed countries as a result
of, but also the emergence of, new economic powers such as Japan and West Germany. US
culture, especially consumerism, spread widely. By the 1960s, many western countries had
begun the process of deindustrialization. In their place, globalization led to the emergence of
new industrial centers, such as Japan, Taiwan and later China, based on exports consumer
goods for developed countries. The period after 1945 was also a transformative period in the
history of science because, among other things, nuclear technology, molecular biology,
particle physics and so on emerged which became the background for the emergence of
various technologies that appear today including the internet.
The history of the modern international system itself actually began in its history when
the Westphalia system (1648). States are interconnected with each other in an environment
called the international system. All countries are considered to have sovereignty, and some
countries are stronger than others. The system has many forms of informal rules about what
should happen, but these rules are not binding. International relations have existed since the
existence of states. The modern international system that we find ourselves in, however, is
not that old. The peace that ended a 30-year war between Catholic and Protestant states in
Western and Central Europe was the forerunner of the modern international system. It
declared that the sovereign leader of each nation state could do what he wanted within its
borders and established the state as a global actor in global politics. From then onwards, the
international system was in relation to nation states.
In the 17th-18th centuries, nation-states emerged to dominate the system of
international relations. A number of strong states dominated Europe, with some powers
coming and going. Weak states usually joined forces with others to prevent the dominant
power from becoming too strong, which is known as a proactive form of preserving the
balance of power. Economic competition and frequent wars marked this era, with countries
such as Britain and France being the most powerful to date, but some other powerful
countries collapsing over time, namely the Ottoman Empire and Spain.
Fundamental differences began to emerge in the 19th century, bringing about two major
changes in the international system:
Nationalism as a form of strength, which makes the nation state grow stronger.
Italy and Germany united, which changed the military and political balance in Europe.
Problems arose with the unification of Italy and Germany, which contributed to World
War I (1914-1918). The international system changed drastically after the war. Many
powerful countries in Europe were devastated by the war, and the United States (US) itself
began to come out of its isolation and turn into a global power. At the same time, the end of
the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian powers created a series of new states, and the rise of
communism in Russia. These factors led to the Treaty of Versailles, the Nazis and
Communism, and World War II (1939-1945).
New governments have emerged since the end of World War II. After the War, two
powers emerged: The US and the Soviet Union, which was called the bipolar system. Since
the end of the Cold War, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US has become the sole
ruler of the international system, which is called unipolar. However, there are other
viewpoints that see that the economic power of the US is not so strong that it cannot be said
that the control of the economy is entirely in the hands of the US because there are other
strong economic countries such as countries in Asia, thus calling it multi-polar.
Contemporary global issues emerged precisely at the end of the Cold War and/or when
the modern international system was unipolar. This can be regarded as the second period of
the new international order. The events that occurred became the context for contemporary
global issues. The most devastating event was the so-called 9/11 or September attacks. An
attack reportedly carried out by the Al Qaedah terrorist group on the US on September 11,
2001. There were about 2,999 victims, about 6,000 injured and 10 million properties and
infrastructures damaged.7 It is said to be devastating here because the attack was carried out
on the unipolar power holder of the international system at that time, namely the US. There
had been previous events that set the context for contemporary global issues such as the
genocides in Rwanda and Bosnia and the emergence of new states in Eastern Europe.
With the events of 9/11 and the genocide problem being addressed by the international
community, the new world government There is one threat that has a different character. The
nature of the threat this time is no longer from the state as was dominant in the Cold War
period but non-state actors. Non-state actors as the perpetrators of the causes of world
insecurity are becoming increasingly difficult to identify because such actors can also come
from the state concerned and/or from within the state itself. International issues in
international relations are becoming increasingly complex so that they are called
contemporary global issues. In this post-Cold War era, threats can mean disease outbreaks,
human trafficking, narcotics, arms trafficking, poverty, illiteracy, infectious viruses, which
are experienced by several countries not the country itself.
Thus, contemporary global issues are issues that developed and expanded after the end
of the Cold War in the 1990s. These contemporary global issues are related to the problems
faced by the international community in the new world order (new order) which is faced with
welfare issues related to human security. The form of security threats in this era has been
transformed so that the form of the international security agenda has also become new,
namely the New Global Security Agenda.
In 2002, the US Department of State under the US Secretary of Global Affairs, Paula J.
Dobriansky, issued a statement released on its website8 regarding new global security by
previously formulating an understanding of what is meant by global issues: At this point, it is
worth defining what I mean by global issues. Global issues are those issues that are not
limited by borders or boundaries but that reach across international lines to affect us all. My
global portfolio encompasses environment and science, refugees and migration, narcotics
trafficking and law enforcement, human rights, and health matters. Though he was speaking
in the first century B.C., the Roman poet Horace aptly described what could be called the
crux of modern global affairs when he wrote, "Your own safety is at stake when your
neighbor's wall is ablaze." The essence of global issues is a recognition that the people of the
world are inexorably linked and that, in today's world, that which touches some touches all.
Since September 11, never have we been more acutely aware that our own safety and the
protection of our way of life must be guarded by due attention to international problems -
such as injustice and the inadequacy of the rule of law, poverty, disease, and repression.
These are the blazing walls of today's world that threaten to engulf us. That is why these
issues have become central to American foreign policy and our efforts to protect our national
interests.
The US defines global issues as those that are not limited to cross-border issues but also
include international issues that impact the US across issues such as the environment and
science, refugees and migration, drug trafficking and law enforcement, human rights and
health. The US recognizes that since 9/11 issues have not been as acute regarding the safety
and protection of life. The aforementioned issues, including terrorism and disease, have
become one of the factors for the US to call it the new global security agenda.
Types and Characteristics of Contemporary Global Issues
Earlier in 1996, a paper was published by the Institute for Security Studies, which
identified several global sources of insecurity and their implications for national security
policy formulation. There are eight important things after the Cold War as strategic global
issues, namely drugs, migration, the environment, population, global economic challenges,
the crisis of liberal democracy, fusion and division, and light weapon proliferation.9 In the
paper, it is explained that there are global sources of insecurity and their implications for
national security policy formulation. These eight issues then become an important cluster as
an extraordinary threat to national and regional security and ultimately global security.10
This was then coupled with 9/11. Thus, the threat in this new form is not in the form of a
"military attack" carried out by a state against another state but an act of crime committed by
a non-state actor and aimed at the state (state actor), individuals or citizens who threaten the
security of humanity (Human Security).
Drugs
The domestic toll of drug addiction is alarming. These include loss of productivity,
soaring health costs, a sharp rise in drug-related crime, and the accelerated spread of AIDS
through contaminated needles. Drug use is not just a social phenomenon; it has far-reaching
political implications and security implications. For example, in Latin America there are
close links between drug traffickers and leftist revolutionary groups such as the Columbia M-
19 and the Peruvian Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path).11 In Lebanon and elsewhere in the
Middle East, in the Balkans, the Southern Republics of the former Soviet Union, Burma
(Myanmar) and Sri Lanka, drugs have become a major source of funds for movements.
Drug trafficking can also affect relations between countries. For example, a major
reason for the 1989 invasion of Panama by the US was that this government, under the
leadership of General Manuel Noriega, was allegedly serving as a conduit for drug travel to
the US.13 Most recently, Ross Perot's strongest attack on the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA), he argued that its eradication was a restriction on free access of goods
between Mexico and the US in allowing larger free traders of drugs in a sense to distribute
their 'poison' in the United States.
Migration
The largest and most dramatic population movement in recent years has been that of
approximately 30 million refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs).14 Political
unrest, social upheaval, economic dislocation and ecological disasters have contributed to the
movement of people across national borders of one 'southern' regional country to another. As
a result there are 3.2 million Afghans in Pakistan and 2.3 million in Iran; 685,000 in Ethiopia
are reported to have sought refuge in Sudan, while there are also 320,000 Somalis and
384,000 Sudanese in Ethiopia; and a further 600,000 Ethiopians are reported to have fled the
war to Somalia. 17 Civil war and famine have caused a third of Liberia's population (763,000
out of a total population of 2.4 million) to flee to neighboring Guinea, Sierra Leone and the
Coast.
Mass population movements are increasingly attracting the attention of key
policymakers, not only for humanitarian reasons, but also because they create domestic
instability, generate inter-state tensions and threaten international security. South Africa is
estimated to have received eight million illegal immigrants, which was the case at one point.
In 1994, it cost South African taxpayers R1, 985 million to host illegal alien residents.
In addition, there is a reciprocal relationship between illegal immigrants and the spread of
infectious diseases such as AIDS, malaria, cholera and tuberculosis. Police sources have also
noted that fourteen percent of all crimes in South Africa involve illegal immigrants including
arms sales, money laundering and drug trafficking.
Environment
The waning of Cold War military tensions coincided with the development of real
security problems that threaten the security of many countries and require international
solutions, including the hole in the ozone layer, the greenhouse effect, deforestation, scarce
water, energy and other resources. The increase in environmental hazards has underscored
two forms of interaction between states in the world: cooperation and conflict.
In 1940, David Mitrany developed a functional theory of international relations. He
proposed that given the common problems facing humanity everywhere, cooperation between
states should be broadened. This theme was embraced and magnified by globalists in the
1980s and 1990s - even going so far as to propose a federal world government for Planet
Earth. At the heart of the theory is the idea that the gravity of global problems requires global
solutions - resulting in greater levels of cooperation between the world's nations. For
example, one country cannot solve a problem such as the widening hole in the Earth's ozone;
it must be a combined planet-wide effort. On one level global cooperation, sharing common
problems, can be seen as a way of such as the Rio Earth Summit.
The potential for resource-based conflict was evident in the 1990 and 1991 Gulf Wars,
which essentially revolved around the scarce resource of energy. One of the main reasons for
the US to get involved in the Gulf War was its dependence on Gulf oil. American dependence
on Persian Gulf oil rose 500 percent between 1985 and 1989. By 1990 oil accounted for half
of the $100 billion US trade deficit.
Population
The world population is expected to grow from 5.3 billion in 1990 to 6.2 billion in
2000, and 8.5 billion in 2025. The growth rate of nearly one billion per decade has socio-
cultural and political economic consequences for the macro-environment. For example,
resource problems in countries such as Mexico and Egypt are directly linked to population
growth.
In Africa itself there is a noted reciprocal relationship between the conflict in Rwanda
and the fact that it has one of the highest levels of population density in Africa's growth.
Population was also seen to be responsible for two-thirds of the increase in carbon dioxide
entering the atmosphere between 1950 and 1985, thereby contributing to the greenhouse
effect. The population explosion was also listed as one of the contributing factors to the
occurrence of IDPs.16
Global Economic Challenges
The need to restructure the world economy stems from two major points: the north-
south growth divide and economic competition. The existence of a north-south split in
economic growth, and in some cases expansion, is obvious. This is highlighted by the fact
that the world's richest twenty percent control eighty percent of the world's economic
resources. This is demonstrated by the fact that the world's richest twenty percent are now
150 times richer than the poorest. It is further underscored by the fact that 1.3 billion people
in developing countries live in conditions of absolute poverty.
Saddest of all, it can be seen by the fact that 34,000 children die every day in the world
from malnutrition and disease. The need to address the north-south problem stems not only
from humanitarian reasons, but also from the threat of prosperity whose poverty is
increasingly exposed. Economic scarcity in the form of global markets and rising production
costs intensify economic competition. Technological competition and various forms of
commercial warfare have replaced the arms race from after the Cold War. According to
Japanese politician Isihara Shintaro, the twenty-first century will be a century of economic
warfare. If this happens, international security is threatened. Large economic power blocs
have been developed in the Pacific Rim and North America as a counterweight to the
European Union (EU). Similar economic formations have also been developed in Central
Africa and South America. The existence of large economic formations is necessary and does
not necessarily mean economic competition but rather complementarity. However, the
scarcity of such competition can develop and the history can become 'hot'.
The Crisis of Liberal Democracy
The end of Soviet-style communist rule consolidated the position of Western liberal
democracies. Since then, there has been state-sponsored ideological competition. The fall of
the Soviet system vindicated the principle of liberal democracy in the eyes of many: Smith,
Mill and Keynes. Western ideas of triumphalism were encapsulated in Francis Fukuyama's
books The End of History and Last Man. The liberal democratic paradigm seemed absolutely
dominant. Post-1989 developments seemed to show this as economic structural adjustment
programs (ESAPs) were liberalized in many African countries; liberal multiparty winds
democracy that swept across much of Africa, South America, the Middle East and Asia.17
Subsequent developments in the former Eastern bloc, which has seen the rise of the former
Communist Party, seem to disprove this notion.
Even in South Africa, political pluralism has experienced some setbacks. Soon after the
fall of the Berlin Wall, the surge towards multiparty democracy intensified in South Africa.
Kenneth Kaunda's corrupt one-party rule system was replaced by Frederick Chiluba's
Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD). In Malawi, the despotic rule of President-for-
life Hastings Kamuzu Band ended peacefully when Malawians went to the Banda elections
and his Malawi Congress Party (MCP) was voted out of power, replaced by United
Democratic Front (UDF) leader Bakili Muluzi.
In Lesotho, military rule ended and the Basotho National Party lost dominance in
elections that brought Prime Minister Ntsu Mokhehle and his Basotholand Congress Party
(BCP) to power. In South Africa, white minority rule came on April 27, 1994-the country's
first racially inclusive election. Meanwhile, both of the former Portuguese colonies in the
region, Angola and Mozambique, began to make the long and difficult transition to political
pluralism.
Fusion and Cleavage
The two most conflicting elements of the contemporary period are fusion and division-
peace coming together with the violent disintegration of society.
Regarding fusion, a newborn global culture seems to be taking shape. Denim jeans and
CocaCola are forms that are universal. If Toshiba and Toyota are in New York, then
MacDonald and Kentucky Fried Chicken will be found in Tokyo. If lamb is cooked and
stewed in a restaurant in New Delhi, then a fancy restaurant in London serves hot curry from
India. If Michael Jackson and Madonna become very famous in Montevideo, Maputo or
Kuala Lumpur, then West African and Indian music is represented by the likes of Manu
Dibango and Babu Shegal, who will surely be found playing in the discos of Paris or
Manchester. This is a nascent global cultural trend that goes even deeper than this: Human
rights and gender, geographical, political and cultural crossovers. One of the reasons for this
is The development of communication and technological innovation made it cheaper to travel
and made it possible for CNN broadcasts to reach 200 million people in ninety other
countries.
Fusion seems to buck this trend: scarce resources, varying degrees of population growth
in heterogeneous societies and the resultant growth of ethnic nationalism are tearing societies
apart. This has been evident in Rwanda and Burundi between Hutu and Tutsi; between Serbs,
Croats and Muslims in the former Yugoslavia; and between Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims in
India. What is even more interesting today is that these issues are beginning to surface in
western countries with liberal democracies: consider the growth of neo-Nazism in Germany;
the rising fortunes of Jean-Marie le Pen's National Front in France; the invigorating separatist
movements in Quebec; Catalonia; the Basque country; Corsica; Lombardy; Scotland and
Wales; and increasing tensions between the Flems and Walloons in Belgium. Not least, in the
US there were the 1992 riots in Los Angeles and the growth of ethnocentric nationalist
movements.
Light Weapons Production
Light weapons refer to crew-portable and ground weapons. Definitions include small
arms such as pistols, rifles, assault rifles and sub-machine guns; and medium machine guns;
heavy machine guns (HMG) with a caliber not exceeding 14.5 mm; anti-aircraft and anti-tank
missiles; light mortars; mines and grenades.
The danger of small arms proliferation to world peace is underscored by the fact that in
1994, major armed conflicts were being waged in 27 countries around the world and small
arms were the overwhelming cause of death from these weapons. The existence of small arms
is perhaps most fragile in third world countries due to power imbalances such as insurgents,
drug traffickers and other criminals. For example, guerrillas in Kashmir fighting India use
Soviet Kalashnikovs, in Pakistan, small arms exacerbate ethnic conflicts between mohajirs,
Pakistani Punjabis, Pathans from the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan and
Sindhis.
For Third World countries, issues related to the threat of a new form of security
(Human Security) are "real security threats" because they have relevance to the domestic
conditions of Third World countries that are still preoccupied with the threat of human
security by various issues regarding: 1) Political transition situation; 2) Weak government
power due to not maximizing law enforcement efforts; 3) Political uncertainty; 4) Economic
crisis; 5) Conflict issues in border areas; 6) Ethnic conflicts and communal conflicts with
various international dimensions; 7) The issue of national disintegration; 8) Increase in the
number of terrorism perpetrators; 9) The ability to carry out threatening actions against
human security, etc.
The development of technology, especially information technology, is one of the strong
reasons for the expansion of contemporary global issues, resulting in a shift in the nature of
global issues from before the Cold War. Due to the development of threats that have different
types than before the Cold War, contemporary global issues have specificity:
Unconventional;
In the sense that contemporary global issues are non-armaments and/or arms
competition.
Nontraditional;
This means that the issue category is not inter-state.
Non-military;
As mentioned earlier, disease outbreaks, and/or drugs can be a threat.
Multidimensional; and
Issues are complex such as those concerning poverty.
Transnational
The issues raised in contemporary global are cross-border such as migration, refugees,
and others.
Thus, the characteristics of contemporary global issues as non-traditional security
threats are:
Contemporary global issues that are non-traditional security threats are not centered on
one particular country. Thus, the threats that are part of these contemporary global
issues are not only faced by one country, but have threatened a number of countries at
once (have regional and global dimensions). Therefore, contemporary global issues are
often referred to as "transnational security threats".
Contemporary global issues are not focused on a particular geographical location.
Based on their geographical character, these issues are It is often difficult to
"recognize" because it crosses borders between countries and even regional
(transnational) boundaries.
Contemporary global issues cannot be addressed by military force alone. Indeed,
military force can be used in escalations that lead to armed conflict. However, in the
long run, military force can no longer be used effectively to address the threat of these
global issues.
Security issues that have become contemporary global issues have threatened the
existence of a country and individuals who are part of the country.
The most obvious thing is that in the development of contemporary global issues is the
emergence of a new term in responding to the threats faced, namely human security.
Strategic Global Issues and National Security in International Relations Theory
Strategic global issues and national security in international relations theory are divided
into two major parts: 1) state centric point of view; and 2) global cross cutting issues. The
state-centric point of view is divided between realism and institutionalism where realism
focuses on national interests while institutionalism focuses on regimes, namely regime
theory. Meanwhile, there is a cross-border theory pioneered by Wednt in the form of
constructivism theory and Joseph Nye in the form of transnationalism theory. In this cross-
border theory, the issue of globalization is raised as one of the factors.
Joseph Nye in his theory states that what is called global interaction is the movement of
information, money, goods, tangible and intangible objects beyond national borders.18 He
divides into four types of global interaction: 1) communication; 2) transportation; 3) money;
4) tourism.19 The interaction is divided into two types, namely interstate communication
and transnational communication. Interstate communication is a type of communication in
relations International communication is conducted entirely under the control of the
government of the nation state. Meanwhile, transnational communication is a type of
communication in international relations that has begun to involve non-state actors.
This form of interstate communication is the classical type, which is also called having
a classical paradigm. This interaction focuses on the government as the agent with which
people relate politically. This interstate politics is different from-although indirectly related
to-domestic politics. Transnational forms of communication in this type are not taken into
account.
Unlike interstate forms of interaction, transnational interactions may involve
governments, but they may not. Non-state actors play an important role in these interactions.
Talking about transnational interactions, we are talking about finance, travel and
communication, which in some cases can involve state actors, for example, to cross borders.
Thus, Nye and Keohanne refer to transnational interaction as a term to describe the
movement of tangible items and services (intangible items) across national borders when at
least one actor is not a state actor and/or an interstate organization.21 Nye and Keohanne
picked up the definition brought by J. David Singer which states that individuals and/or
organizations can have a role in world politics: 1) they can be involved in a coalition that
controls and influences their country; 2) they play their role directly confronting (vs) with
foreign policies and / or foreign societies that are not through (by pass) the government of
their country.22 Nye and Keohanne argue that transnational interactions fall into and / or
more precisely in the second type of Singer's explanation. Keohanne and Nye then describe
the form of transnational interaction as follows to distinguish it from interstate forms of
internation:
In the post-world war globalization era, which involves contemporary global issues of
international relations, many interactions are of the transnational type. This is inseparable
from the existence of Various technologies have been invented, especially communication
technology. Individuals can interact directly with the international community and/or
organizations of nations such as the United Nations. Some of the effects described by
Keohanne and Nye that occur in this type of interaction are essentially increased sensitivity
between people which means changing the form of their relationship with the government.
With global mass communication, different groups from different societies, such as
radical students, military personnel, or ethnic minorities, can observe each other's behavior
and then take it into action. Thus, student radicals can make political tactics and demands
without any direct contact. Their international "consipracy" is conducted publicly and
disseminated with the help of specialized media. Perpetrators in this global phenomenon may
be punished, but its scale, scope and speed are the product of global television.
In brief, Keohanne and Nye concluded that the effects of transnational interactions are:
1) changes in behavior; 2) international pluralism; 3) increased restrictions on states; 4)
increased ability of states to influence others; and 5) the emergence of independent actors
with private foreign policies that can directly oppose or reject their government's policies.
This is most evident in the fact that an individual in a family, the smallest organization
in the country, does not even have control over what his family members access with the
internet technology. This then becomes the same thing that happens at the state level. Thus,
state control is weakened and challenges to national security are strengthened. Threats are
becoming more complex as information technology can target the individual level and
influence their actions bypassing state governance. Does this mean that the state must be
authoritarian and or is there a new form?
Form a Comprehensive Security Strategy: A United Nations Proposal
To the challenges faced by the international community today, the United Nations (UN)
offers a way out. For two decades now, the international community has been working
towards a broad understanding of what constitutes security. Seeking input from governments,
academics, community groups and intergovernmental organizations, the UN held a meeting
called the 2000 Millennium Summit for a world "free of want" and "free of fear". As a result
of this meeting, an understanding and/or input on human security was formed.
In 2001, the UN created a special unit on humanitarian security called the Commission
of Human Security (CHS). The Commission consists of twelve international figures,
including Sadako Ogata - former UN High Commissioner for Refugees - and Professor
Amartya Sen (Nobel Laureate 1998). Humanitarian security has refocused the attention of
states and the international community on the survival, livelihoods and dignity of people as
the basis for peace, development and human progress.
While humanitarian security remains vital to stability and peace, the complexity and
interconnectedness of old and new threats - from chronic and persistent poverty, to violent
conflict, climate change, human trafficking, health, and financial crises - creates a shared
vulnerability to the growing risk of diffuse and cross cutting threats. As challenges can
evolve rapidly within and across nations and deliver powerful crises, humanitarian security
emphasizes the need for a new framework that combines the agendas of security and peace,
development and human rights in a more effective, efficient, and prevention-oriented process.
Here is the UN statement mentioned in the document: While national security remains pivotal
to peace and stability, the complexity and interrelatedness of old and new threats-from
chronic and persistent poverty, to violent conflicts, climate change, human trafficking, health
pandemics, and economic and financial crises-reveal our shared vulnerabilities to a growing
risk of threats that are widespread and cross-cutting. Because these challenges can spread
rapidly within and across nations and give rise to more intractable crises, human security
emphasizes the need for a new framework that combines the agendas of peace and security,
development and human rights in a more effective, efficient and prevention-oriented manner.
In United States, it can be summarized that humanitarian security is to protect the vital
core of human life by enhancing human freedom and fulfilling human needs. The CHS's
arguments for the importance of humanitarian security, touched on a little earlier, are detailed
below:
As argued by the Commission on Human Security (CHS), the need for a new paradigm
of security is associated with two sets of dynamics:
First, human security is needed in response to the complexity and the interrelatedness
of both old and new security threats-from chronic and persistent poverty to ethnic violence,
human trafficking, climate change, health pandemics, international terrorism, and sudden
economic and financial downturns. Such threats tend to acquire transnational dimensions and
move beyond traditional notions of security that focus on external military aggressions alone.
Second, human security is required as a comprehensive approach that utilizes the wide
range of new opportunities to tackle such threats in an integrated manner. Human security
threats cannot be tackled through conventional mechanisms alone. Instead, they require a new
consensus that recognizes the linkages and the interdependencies between development,
human rights and national security.
In essence, the definition provided by the CHS conceptualizes re-envision security with its
most fundamental issues:
moving away from the traditional, state-centric conception of security focused
primarily on the security of the state from military aggression, one that concentrates on
the security of individuals, their protection and empowerment;
draw attention to the many threats that cut across different aspects of human life and
thus highlight the interface between security, development and human rights; and
promote a new integrated, coordinated and people-centered approach to advancing
peace, security and development within and across countries.
Human security brings together the 'human element' in security, rights and
development. As such, it is an inter-disciplinary concept that displays the following
characteristics: 1) human-centered; 2) multi-sectoral; 3) comprehensive; 4) context-specific;
and 5) prevention-oriented.
As a human-centered concept, human security places the individual at the 'center of
analysis'. As a result, it considers the range of conditions that threaten survival, livelihoods
and dignity, and identifies the lower threshold of intolerable human life, threatened. Human
security is also based on a multi-sectoral understanding of insecurity. Therefore, human
security requires an expanded understanding of threats and includes related causes of
insecurity, e.g. for economic, food, health, environmental, personal, community and political
security.
This interdependence has important implications for policymaking as it suggests that
human insecurity cannot be addressed in isolation through fragmented stand-alone responses.
Instead, human security involves a comprehensive approach that emphasizes the need for a
multi-sectoral response that brings together agendas related to security, development and
human rights.
Moreover, as a context-specific concept, human security recognizes that insecurity
varies across different settings and as such advances solutions that are contextually
responsive to the particular situation they seek to address. Finally, in addressing the risks and
root causes of insecurity, human security is prevention oriented and introduces a dual focus
on protection and empowerment.
Conclusion
Based on the analysis and discussion above, it can be concluded that national security
in the context of contemporary global issues in the perspective of international relations is
complex, because threats at the individual level become real. This is then explained in
transnational theory in international relations. In its development, the UN then offered to re-
conceptualize the notion of national security which ultimately provided input on human
security.
The UN has done many things related to humanitarian security. However, the most
obvious challenge still comes if it is clashed with the most classic international relations
theory, namely realism regarding superpowers. The extent to which superpower involvement
can be genuinely involved in the development of issues without any element of national
interest involvement in it, at least supports this conception.
History of the Emergence of Contemporary Global Issues
Contemporary history is a subset of modern history that describes the period of history
from about 1945 to the present. The term "contemporary history" has been used since at least
the early 20th century 19. Contemporary political history is dominated by the Cold War
(1945-1991) between the United States and the Soviet Union whose effects were felt around
the world. In this geopolitical context, the fall of European colonial empires in Africa and
Asia between 1945 and 1975 was often followed by American-Soviet confrontation in the
form of proxy wars and through intervention in the internal politics of smaller states. The
U.S.-Soviet rivalry eventually ended with the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw
Pact in 1991, following the Revolutions of 1989. and in the last stage and after the Cold War
paved the way for the democratization of large parts of Europe, Africa and Latin America.
In the Middle East, the period after 1945 was dominated by conflicts involving the new
state of Israel and the rise of petroleum politics, as well as the growth of Islamism after the
1980s. The period after 1945 saw the growth of the first supranational governmental
organizations, such as the United Nations and the European Union. Socially, western
countries experienced the rise of counter cultures3 and the sexual revolution4 between the
1960s and 1980s which transformed social relations and was fueled by the 1968 Protests.
Living standards rose sharply around the world especially in developed countries as a result
of, but also the emergence of, new economic powers such as Japan and West Germany. US
culture, especially consumerism, spread widely. By the 1960s, many western countries had
begun the process of deindustrialization. In their place, globalization led to the emergence of
new industrial centers, such as Japan, Taiwan and later China, based on exports consumer
goods for developed countries. The period after 1945 was also a transformative period in the
history of science because, among other things, nuclear technology, molecular biology,
particle physics and so on emerged which became the background for the emergence of
various technologies that appear today including the internet.
The history of the modern international system itself actually began in its history when
the Westphalia system (1648). States are interconnected with each other in an environment
called the international system. All countries are considered to have sovereignty, and some
countries are stronger than others. The system has many forms of informal rules about what
should happen, but these rules are not binding. International relations have existed since the
existence of states. The modern international system that we find ourselves in, however, is
not that old. The peace that ended a 30-year war between Catholic and Protestant states in
Western and Central Europe was the forerunner of the modern international system. It
declared that the sovereign leader of each nation state could do what he wanted within its
borders and established the state as a global actor in global politics. From then onwards, the
international system was in relation to nation states.
In the 17th-18th centuries, nation-states emerged to dominate the system of
international relations. A number of strong states dominated Europe, with some powers
coming and going. Weak states usually joined forces with others to prevent the dominant
power from becoming too strong, which is known as a proactive form of preserving the
balance of power. Economic competition and frequent wars marked this era, with countries
such as Britain and France being the most powerful to date, but some other powerful
countries collapsing over time, namely the Ottoman Empire and Spain.
Fundamental differences began to emerge in the 19th century, bringing about two major
changes in the international system:
Nationalism as a form of strength, which makes the nation state grow stronger.
Italy and Germany united, which changed the military and political balance in Europe.
Problems arose with the unification of Italy and Germany, which contributed to World
War I (1914-1918). The international system changed drastically after the war. Many
powerful countries in Europe were devastated by the war, and the United States (US) itself
began to come out of its isolation and turn into a global power. At the same time, the end of
the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian powers created a series of new states, and the rise of
communism in Russia. These factors led to the Treaty of Versailles, the Nazis and
Communism, and World War II (1939-1945).
New governments have emerged since the end of World War II. After the War, two
powers emerged: The US and the Soviet Union, which was called the bipolar system. Since
the end of the Cold War, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US has become the sole
ruler of the international system, which is called unipolar. However, there are other
viewpoints that see that the economic power of the US is not so strong that it cannot be said
that the control of the economy is entirely in the hands of the US because there are other
strong economic countries such as countries in Asia, thus calling it multi-polar.
Contemporary global issues emerged precisely at the end of the Cold War and/or when
the modern international system was unipolar. This can be regarded as the second period of
the new international order. The events that occurred became the context for contemporary
global issues. The most devastating event was the so-called 9/11 or September attacks. An
attack reportedly carried out by the Al Qaedah terrorist group on the US on September 11,
2001. There were about 2,999 victims, about 6,000 injured and 10 million properties and
infrastructures damaged.7 It is said to be devastating here because the attack was carried out
on the unipolar power holder of the international system at that time, namely the US. There
had been previous events that set the context for contemporary global issues such as the
genocides in Rwanda and Bosnia and the emergence of new states in Eastern Europe.
With the events of 9/11 and the genocide problem being addressed by the international
community, the new world government There is one threat that has a different character. The
nature of the threat this time is no longer from the state as was dominant in the Cold War
period but non-state actors. Non-state actors as the perpetrators of the causes of world
insecurity are becoming increasingly difficult to identify because such actors can also come
from the state concerned and/or from within the state itself. International issues in
international relations are becoming increasingly complex so that they are called
contemporary global issues. In this post-Cold War era, threats can mean disease outbreaks,
human trafficking, narcotics, arms trafficking, poverty, illiteracy, infectious viruses, which
are experienced by several countries not the country itself.
Thus, contemporary global issues are issues that developed and expanded after the end
of the Cold War in the 1990s. These contemporary global issues are related to the problems
faced by the international community in the new world order (new order) which is faced with
welfare issues related to human security. The form of security threats in this era has been
transformed so that the form of the international security agenda has also become new,
namely the New Global Security Agenda.
In 2002, the US Department of State under the US Secretary of Global Affairs, Paula J.
Dobriansky, issued a statement released on its website8 regarding new global security by
previously formulating an understanding of what is meant by global issues: At this point, it is
worth defining what I mean by global issues. Global issues are those issues that are not
limited by borders or boundaries but that reach across international lines to affect us all. My
global portfolio encompasses environment and science, refugees and migration, narcotics
trafficking and law enforcement, human rights, and health matters. Though he was speaking
in the first century B.C., the Roman poet Horace aptly described what could be called the
crux of modern global affairs when he wrote, "Your own safety is at stake when your
neighbor's wall is ablaze." The essence of global issues is a recognition that the people of the
world are inexorably linked and that, in today's world, that which touches some touches all.
Since September 11, never have we been more acutely aware that our own safety and the
protection of our way of life must be guarded by due attention to international problems -
such as injustice and the inadequacy of the rule of law, poverty, disease, and repression.
These are the blazing walls of today's world that threaten to engulf us. That is why these
issues have become central to American foreign policy and our efforts to protect our national
interests.
The US defines global issues as those that are not limited to cross-border issues but also
include international issues that impact the US across issues such as the environment and
science, refugees and migration, drug trafficking and law enforcement, human rights and
health. The US recognizes that since 9/11 issues have not been as acute regarding the safety
and protection of life. The aforementioned issues, including terrorism and disease, have
become one of the factors for the US to call it the new global security agenda.
Types and Characteristics of Contemporary Global Issues
Earlier in 1996, a paper was published by the Institute for Security Studies, which
identified several global sources of insecurity and their implications for national security
policy formulation. There are eight important things after the Cold War as strategic global
issues, namely drugs, migration, the environment, population, global economic challenges,
the crisis of liberal democracy, fusion and division, and light weapon proliferation.9 In the
paper, it is explained that there are global sources of insecurity and their implications for
national security policy formulation. These eight issues then become an important cluster as
an extraordinary threat to national and regional security and ultimately global security.10
This was then coupled with 9/11. Thus, the threat in this new form is not in the form of a
"military attack" carried out by a state against another state but an act of crime committed by
a non-state actor and aimed at the state (state actor), individuals or citizens who threaten the
security of humanity (Human Security).
Drugs
The domestic toll of drug addiction is alarming. These include loss of productivity,
soaring health costs, a sharp rise in drug-related crime, and the accelerated spread of AIDS
through contaminated needles. Drug use is not just a social phenomenon; it has far-reaching
political implications and security implications. For example, in Latin America there are
close links between drug traffickers and leftist revolutionary groups such as the Columbia M-
19 and the Peruvian Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path).11 In Lebanon and elsewhere in the
Middle East, in the Balkans, the Southern Republics of the former Soviet Union, Burma
(Myanmar) and Sri Lanka, drugs have become a major source of funds for movements.
Drug trafficking can also affect relations between countries. For example, a major
reason for the 1989 invasion of Panama by the US was that this government, under the
leadership of General Manuel Noriega, was allegedly serving as a conduit for drug travel to
the US.13 Most recently, Ross Perot's strongest attack on the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA), he argued that its eradication was a restriction on free access of goods
between Mexico and the US in allowing larger free traders of drugs in a sense to distribute
their 'poison' in the United States.
Migration
The largest and most dramatic population movement in recent years has been that of
approximately 30 million refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs).14 Political
unrest, social upheaval, economic dislocation and ecological disasters have contributed to the
movement of people across national borders of one 'southern' regional country to another. As
a result there are 3.2 million Afghans in Pakistan and 2.3 million in Iran; 685,000 in Ethiopia
are reported to have sought refuge in Sudan, while there are also 320,000 Somalis and
384,000 Sudanese in Ethiopia; and a further 600,000 Ethiopians are reported to have fled the
war to Somalia. 17 Civil war and famine have caused a third of Liberia's population (763,000
out of a total population of 2.4 million) to flee to neighboring Guinea, Sierra Leone and the
Coast.
Mass population movements are increasingly attracting the attention of key
policymakers, not only for humanitarian reasons, but also because they create domestic
instability, generate inter-state tensions and threaten international security. South Africa is
estimated to have received eight million illegal immigrants, which was the case at one point.
In 1994, it cost South African taxpayers R1, 985 million to host illegal alien residents.
In addition, there is a reciprocal relationship between illegal immigrants and the spread of
infectious diseases such as AIDS, malaria, cholera and tuberculosis. Police sources have also
noted that fourteen percent of all crimes in South Africa involve illegal immigrants including
arms sales, money laundering and drug trafficking.
Environment
The waning of Cold War military tensions coincided with the development of real
security problems that threaten the security of many countries and require international
solutions, including the hole in the ozone layer, the greenhouse effect, deforestation, scarce
water, energy and other resources. The increase in environmental hazards has underscored
two forms of interaction between states in the world: cooperation and conflict.
In 1940, David Mitrany developed a functional theory of international relations. He
proposed that given the common problems facing humanity everywhere, cooperation between
states should be broadened. This theme was embraced and magnified by globalists in the
1980s and 1990s - even going so far as to propose a federal world government for Planet
Earth. At the heart of the theory is the idea that the gravity of global problems requires global
solutions - resulting in greater levels of cooperation between the world's nations. For
example, one country cannot solve a problem such as the widening hole in the Earth's ozone;
it must be a combined planet-wide effort. On one level global cooperation, sharing common
problems, can be seen as a way of such as the Rio Earth Summit.
The potential for resource-based conflict was evident in the 1990 and 1991 Gulf Wars,
which essentially revolved around the scarce resource of energy. One of the main reasons for
the US to get involved in the Gulf War was its dependence on Gulf oil. American dependence
on Persian Gulf oil rose 500 percent between 1985 and 1989. By 1990 oil accounted for half
of the $100 billion US trade deficit.
Population
The world population is expected to grow from 5.3 billion in 1990 to 6.2 billion in
2000, and 8.5 billion in 2025. The growth rate of nearly one billion per decade has socio-
cultural and political economic consequences for the macro-environment. For example,
resource problems in countries such as Mexico and Egypt are directly linked to population
growth.
In Africa itself there is a noted reciprocal relationship between the conflict in Rwanda
and the fact that it has one of the highest levels of population density in Africa's growth.
Population was also seen to be responsible for two-thirds of the increase in carbon dioxide
entering the atmosphere between 1950 and 1985, thereby contributing to the greenhouse
effect. The population explosion was also listed as one of the contributing factors to the
occurrence of IDPs.16
Global Economic Challenges
The need to restructure the world economy stems from two major points: the north-
south growth divide and economic competition. The existence of a north-south split in
economic growth, and in some cases expansion, is obvious. This is highlighted by the fact
that the world's richest twenty percent control eighty percent of the world's economic
resources. This is demonstrated by the fact that the world's richest twenty percent are now
150 times richer than the poorest. It is further underscored by the fact that 1.3 billion people
in developing countries live in conditions of absolute poverty.
Saddest of all, it can be seen by the fact that 34,000 children die every day in the world
from malnutrition and disease. The need to address the north-south problem stems not only
from humanitarian reasons, but also from the threat of prosperity whose poverty is
increasingly exposed. Economic scarcity in the form of global markets and rising production
costs intensify economic competition. Technological competition and various forms of
commercial warfare have replaced the arms race from after the Cold War. According to
Japanese politician Isihara Shintaro, the twenty-first century will be a century of economic
warfare. If this happens, international security is threatened. Large economic power blocs
have been developed in the Pacific Rim and North America as a counterweight to the
European Union (EU). Similar economic formations have also been developed in Central
Africa and South America. The existence of large economic formations is necessary and does
not necessarily mean economic competition but rather complementarity. However, the
scarcity of such competition can develop and the history can become 'hot'.
The Crisis of Liberal Democracy
The end of Soviet-style communist rule consolidated the position of Western liberal
democracies. Since then, there has been state-sponsored ideological competition. The fall of
the Soviet system vindicated the principle of liberal democracy in the eyes of many: Smith,
Mill and Keynes. Western ideas of triumphalism were encapsulated in Francis Fukuyama's
books The End of History and Last Man. The liberal democratic paradigm seemed absolutely
dominant. Post-1989 developments seemed to show this as economic structural adjustment
programs (ESAPs) were liberalized in many African countries; liberal multiparty winds
democracy that swept across much of Africa, South America, the Middle East and Asia.17
Subsequent developments in the former Eastern bloc, which has seen the rise of the former
Communist Party, seem to disprove this notion.
Even in South Africa, political pluralism has experienced some setbacks. Soon after the
fall of the Berlin Wall, the surge towards multiparty democracy intensified in South Africa.
Kenneth Kaunda's corrupt one-party rule system was replaced by Frederick Chiluba's
Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD). In Malawi, the despotic rule of President-for-
life Hastings Kamuzu Band ended peacefully when Malawians went to the Banda elections
and his Malawi Congress Party (MCP) was voted out of power, replaced by United
Democratic Front (UDF) leader Bakili Muluzi.
In Lesotho, military rule ended and the Basotho National Party lost dominance in
elections that brought Prime Minister Ntsu Mokhehle and his Basotholand Congress Party
(BCP) to power. In South Africa, white minority rule came on April 27, 1994-the country's
first racially inclusive election. Meanwhile, both of the former Portuguese colonies in the
region, Angola and Mozambique, began to make the long and difficult transition to political
pluralism.
Fusion and Cleavage
The two most conflicting elements of the contemporary period are fusion and division-
peace coming together with the violent disintegration of society.
Regarding fusion, a newborn global culture seems to be taking shape. Denim jeans and
CocaCola are forms that are universal. If Toshiba and Toyota are in New York, then
MacDonald and Kentucky Fried Chicken will be found in Tokyo. If lamb is cooked and
stewed in a restaurant in New Delhi, then a fancy restaurant in London serves hot curry from
India. If Michael Jackson and Madonna become very famous in Montevideo, Maputo or
Kuala Lumpur, then West African and Indian music is represented by the likes of Manu
Dibango and Babu Shegal, who will surely be found playing in the discos of Paris or
Manchester. This is a nascent global cultural trend that goes even deeper than this: Human
rights and gender, geographical, political and cultural crossovers. One of the reasons for this
is The development of communication and technological innovation made it cheaper to travel
and made it possible for CNN broadcasts to reach 200 million people in ninety other
countries.
Fusion seems to buck this trend: scarce resources, varying degrees of population growth
in heterogeneous societies and the resultant growth of ethnic nationalism are tearing societies
apart. This has been evident in Rwanda and Burundi between Hutu and Tutsi; between Serbs,
Croats and Muslims in the former Yugoslavia; and between Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims in
India. What is even more interesting today is that these issues are beginning to surface in
western countries with liberal democracies: consider the growth of neo-Nazism in Germany;
the rising fortunes of Jean-Marie le Pen's National Front in France; the invigorating separatist
movements in Quebec; Catalonia; the Basque country; Corsica; Lombardy; Scotland and
Wales; and increasing tensions between the Flems and Walloons in Belgium. Not least, in the
US there were the 1992 riots in Los Angeles and the growth of ethnocentric nationalist
movements.
Light Weapons Production
Light weapons refer to crew-portable and ground weapons. Definitions include small
arms such as pistols, rifles, assault rifles and sub-machine guns; and medium machine guns;
heavy machine guns (HMG) with a caliber not exceeding 14.5 mm; anti-aircraft and anti-tank
missiles; light mortars; mines and grenades.
The danger of small arms proliferation to world peace is underscored by the fact that in
1994, major armed conflicts were being waged in 27 countries around the world and small
arms were the overwhelming cause of death from these weapons. The existence of small arms
is perhaps most fragile in third world countries due to power imbalances such as insurgents,
drug traffickers and other criminals. For example, guerrillas in Kashmir fighting India use
Soviet Kalashnikovs, in Pakistan, small arms exacerbate ethnic conflicts between mohajirs,
Pakistani Punjabis, Pathans from the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan and
Sindhis.
For Third World countries, issues related to the threat of a new form of security
(Human Security) are "real security threats" because they have relevance to the domestic
conditions of Third World countries that are still preoccupied with the threat of human
security by various issues regarding: 1) Political transition situation; 2) Weak government
power due to not maximizing law enforcement efforts; 3) Political uncertainty; 4) Economic
crisis; 5) Conflict issues in border areas; 6) Ethnic conflicts and communal conflicts with
various international dimensions; 7) The issue of national disintegration; 8) Increase in the
number of terrorism perpetrators; 9) The ability to carry out threatening actions against
human security, etc.
The development of technology, especially information technology, is one of the strong
reasons for the expansion of contemporary global issues, resulting in a shift in the nature of
global issues from before the Cold War. Due to the development of threats that have different
types than before the Cold War, contemporary global issues have specificity:
Unconventional;
In the sense that contemporary global issues are non-armaments and/or arms
competition.
Nontraditional;
This means that the issue category is not inter-state.
Non-military;
As mentioned earlier, disease outbreaks, and/or drugs can be a threat.
Multidimensional; and
Issues are complex such as those concerning poverty.
Transnational
The issues raised in contemporary global are cross-border such as migration, refugees,
and others.
Thus, the characteristics of contemporary global issues as non-traditional security
threats are:
Contemporary global issues that are non-traditional security threats are not centered on
one particular country. Thus, the threats that are part of these contemporary global
issues are not only faced by one country, but have threatened a number of countries at
once (have regional and global dimensions). Therefore, contemporary global issues are
often referred to as "transnational security threats".
Contemporary global issues are not focused on a particular geographical location.
Based on their geographical character, these issues are It is often difficult to
"recognize" because it crosses borders between countries and even regional
(transnational) boundaries.
Contemporary global issues cannot be addressed by military force alone. Indeed,
military force can be used in escalations that lead to armed conflict. However, in the
long run, military force can no longer be used effectively to address the threat of these
global issues.
Security issues that have become contemporary global issues have threatened the
existence of a country and individuals who are part of the country.
The most obvious thing is that in the development of contemporary global issues is the
emergence of a new term in responding to the threats faced, namely human security.
Strategic Global Issues and National Security in International Relations Theory
Strategic global issues and national security in international relations theory are divided
into two major parts: 1) state centric point of view; and 2) global cross cutting issues. The
state-centric point of view is divided between realism and institutionalism where realism
focuses on national interests while institutionalism focuses on regimes, namely regime
theory. Meanwhile, there is a cross-border theory pioneered by Wednt in the form of
constructivism theory and Joseph Nye in the form of transnationalism theory. In this cross-
border theory, the issue of globalization is raised as one of the factors.
Joseph Nye in his theory states that what is called global interaction is the movement of
information, money, goods, tangible and intangible objects beyond national borders.18 He
divides into four types of global interaction: 1) communication; 2) transportation; 3) money;
4) tourism.19 The interaction is divided into two types, namely interstate communication
and transnational communication. Interstate communication is a type of communication in
relations International communication is conducted entirely under the control of the
government of the nation state. Meanwhile, transnational communication is a type of
communication in international relations that has begun to involve non-state actors.
This form of interstate communication is the classical type, which is also called having
a classical paradigm. This interaction focuses on the government as the agent with which
people relate politically. This interstate politics is different from-although indirectly related
to-domestic politics. Transnational forms of communication in this type are not taken into
account.
Unlike interstate forms of interaction, transnational interactions may involve
governments, but they may not. Non-state actors play an important role in these interactions.
Talking about transnational interactions, we are talking about finance, travel and
communication, which in some cases can involve state actors, for example, to cross borders.
Thus, Nye and Keohanne refer to transnational interaction as a term to describe the
movement of tangible items and services (intangible items) across national borders when at
least one actor is not a state actor and/or an interstate organization.21 Nye and Keohanne
picked up the definition brought by J. David Singer which states that individuals and/or
organizations can have a role in world politics: 1) they can be involved in a coalition that
controls and influences their country; 2) they play their role directly confronting (vs) with
foreign policies and / or foreign societies that are not through (by pass) the government of
their country.22 Nye and Keohanne argue that transnational interactions fall into and / or
more precisely in the second type of Singer's explanation. Keohanne and Nye then describe
the form of transnational interaction as follows to distinguish it from interstate forms of
internation:
In the post-world war globalization era, which involves contemporary global issues of
international relations, many interactions are of the transnational type. This is inseparable
from the existence of Various technologies have been invented, especially communication
technology. Individuals can interact directly with the international community and/or
organizations of nations such as the United Nations. Some of the effects described by
Keohanne and Nye that occur in this type of interaction are essentially increased sensitivity
between people which means changing the form of their relationship with the government.
With global mass communication, different groups from different societies, such as
radical students, military personnel, or ethnic minorities, can observe each other's behavior
and then take it into action. Thus, student radicals can make political tactics and demands
without any direct contact. Their international "consipracy" is conducted publicly and
disseminated with the help of specialized media. Perpetrators in this global phenomenon may
be punished, but its scale, scope and speed are the product of global television.
In brief, Keohanne and Nye concluded that the effects of transnational interactions are:
1) changes in behavior; 2) international pluralism; 3) increased restrictions on states; 4)
increased ability of states to influence others; and 5) the emergence of independent actors
with private foreign policies that can directly oppose or reject their government's policies.
This is most evident in the fact that an individual in a family, the smallest organization
in the country, does not even have control over what his family members access with the
internet technology. This then becomes the same thing that happens at the state level. Thus,
state control is weakened and challenges to national security are strengthened. Threats are
becoming more complex as information technology can target the individual level and
influence their actions bypassing state governance. Does this mean that the state must be
authoritarian and or is there a new form?
Form a Comprehensive Security Strategy: A United Nations Proposal
To the challenges faced by the international community today, the United Nations (UN)
offers a way out. For two decades now, the international community has been working
towards a broad understanding of what constitutes security. Seeking input from governments,
academics, community groups and intergovernmental organizations, the UN held a meeting
called the 2000 Millennium Summit for a world "free of want" and "free of fear". As a result
of this meeting, an understanding and/or input on human security was formed.
In 2001, the UN created a special unit on humanitarian security called the Commission
of Human Security (CHS). The Commission consists of twelve international figures,
including Sadako Ogata - former UN High Commissioner for Refugees - and Professor
Amartya Sen (Nobel Laureate 1998). Humanitarian security has refocused the attention of
states and the international community on the survival, livelihoods and dignity of people as
the basis for peace, development and human progress.
While humanitarian security remains vital to stability and peace, the complexity and
interconnectedness of old and new threats - from chronic and persistent poverty, to violent
conflict, climate change, human trafficking, health, and financial crises - creates a shared
vulnerability to the growing risk of diffuse and cross cutting threats. As challenges can
evolve rapidly within and across nations and deliver powerful crises, humanitarian security
emphasizes the need for a new framework that combines the agendas of security and peace,
development and human rights in a more effective, efficient, and prevention-oriented process.
Here is the UN statement mentioned in the document: While national security remains pivotal
to peace and stability, the complexity and interrelatedness of old and new threats-from
chronic and persistent poverty, to violent conflicts, climate change, human trafficking, health
pandemics, and economic and financial crises-reveal our shared vulnerabilities to a growing
risk of threats that are widespread and cross-cutting. Because these challenges can spread
rapidly within and across nations and give rise to more intractable crises, human security
emphasizes the need for a new framework that combines the agendas of peace and security,
development and human rights in a more effective, efficient and prevention-oriented manner.
In United States, it can be summarized that humanitarian security is to protect the vital
core of human life by enhancing human freedom and fulfilling human needs. The CHS's
arguments for the importance of humanitarian security, touched on a little earlier, are detailed
below:
As argued by the Commission on Human Security (CHS), the need for a new paradigm
of security is associated with two sets of dynamics:
First, human security is needed in response to the complexity and the interrelatedness
of both old and new security threats-from chronic and persistent poverty to ethnic violence,
human trafficking, climate change, health pandemics, international terrorism, and sudden
economic and financial downturns. Such threats tend to acquire transnational dimensions and
move beyond traditional notions of security that focus on external military aggressions alone.
Second, human security is required as a comprehensive approach that utilizes the wide
range of new opportunities to tackle such threats in an integrated manner. Human security
threats cannot be tackled through conventional mechanisms alone. Instead, they require a new
consensus that recognizes the linkages and the interdependencies between development,
human rights and national security.
In essence, the definition provided by the CHS conceptualizes re-envision security with its
most fundamental issues:
moving away from the traditional, state-centric conception of security focused
primarily on the security of the state from military aggression, one that concentrates on
the security of individuals, their protection and empowerment;
draw attention to the many threats that cut across different aspects of human life and
thus highlight the interface between security, development and human rights; and
promote a new integrated, coordinated and people-centered approach to advancing
peace, security and development within and across countries.
Human security brings together the 'human element' in security, rights and
development. As such, it is an inter-disciplinary concept that displays the following
characteristics: 1) human-centered; 2) multi-sectoral; 3) comprehensive; 4) context-specific;
and 5) prevention-oriented.
As a human-centered concept, human security places the individual at the 'center of
analysis'. As a result, it considers the range of conditions that threaten survival, livelihoods
and dignity, and identifies the lower threshold of intolerable human life, threatened. Human
security is also based on a multi-sectoral understanding of insecurity. Therefore, human
security requires an expanded understanding of threats and includes related causes of
insecurity, e.g. for economic, food, health, environmental, personal, community and political
security.
This interdependence has important implications for policymaking as it suggests that
human insecurity cannot be addressed in isolation through fragmented stand-alone responses.
Instead, human security involves a comprehensive approach that emphasizes the need for a
multi-sectoral response that brings together agendas related to security, development and
human rights.
Moreover, as a context-specific concept, human security recognizes that insecurity
varies across different settings and as such advances solutions that are contextually
responsive to the particular situation they seek to address. Finally, in addressing the risks and
root causes of insecurity, human security is prevention oriented and introduces a dual focus
on protection and empowerment.
Conclusion
Based on the analysis and discussion above, it can be concluded that national security
in the context of contemporary global issues in the perspective of international relations is
complex, because threats at the individual level become real. This is then explained in
transnational theory in international relations. In its development, the UN then offered to re-
conceptualize the notion of national security which ultimately provided input on human
security.
The UN has done many things related to humanitarian security. However, the most
obvious challenge still comes if it is clashed with the most classic international relations
theory, namely realism regarding superpowers. The extent to which superpower involvement
can be genuinely involved in the development of issues without any element of national
interest involvement in it, at least supports this conception.
History of the Emergence of Contemporary Global Issues
Contemporary history is a subset of modern history that describes the period of history
from about 1945 to the present. The term "contemporary history" has been used since at least
the early 20th century 19. Contemporary political history is dominated by the Cold War
(1945-1991) between the United States and the Soviet Union whose effects were felt around
the world. In this geopolitical context, the fall of European colonial empires in Africa and
Asia between 1945 and 1975 was often followed by American-Soviet confrontation in the
form of proxy wars and through intervention in the internal politics of smaller states. The
U.S.-Soviet rivalry eventually ended with the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw
Pact in 1991, following the Revolutions of 1989. and in the last stage and after the Cold War
paved the way for the democratization of large parts of Europe, Africa and Latin America.
In the Middle East, the period after 1945 was dominated by conflicts involving the new
state of Israel and the rise of petroleum politics, as well as the growth of Islamism after the
1980s. The period after 1945 saw the growth of the first supranational governmental
organizations, such as the United Nations and the European Union. Socially, western
countries experienced the rise of counter cultures3 and the sexual revolution4 between the
1960s and 1980s which transformed social relations and was fueled by the 1968 Protests.
Living standards rose sharply around the world especially in developed countries as a result
of, but also the emergence of, new economic powers such as Japan and West Germany. US
culture, especially consumerism, spread widely. By the 1960s, many western countries had
begun the process of deindustrialization. In their place, globalization led to the emergence of
new industrial centers, such as Japan, Taiwan and later China, based on exports consumer
goods for developed countries. The period after 1945 was also a transformative period in the
history of science because, among other things, nuclear technology, molecular biology,
particle physics and so on emerged which became the background for the emergence of
various technologies that appear today including the internet.
The history of the modern international system itself actually began in its history when
the Westphalia system (1648). States are interconnected with each other in an environment
called the international system. All countries are considered to have sovereignty, and some
countries are stronger than others. The system has many forms of informal rules about what
should happen, but these rules are not binding. International relations have existed since the
existence of states. The modern international system that we find ourselves in, however, is
not that old. The peace that ended a 30-year war between Catholic and Protestant states in
Western and Central Europe was the forerunner of the modern international system. It
declared that the sovereign leader of each nation state could do what he wanted within its
borders and established the state as a global actor in global politics. From then onwards, the
international system was in relation to nation states.
In the 17th-18th centuries, nation-states emerged to dominate the system of
international relations. A number of strong states dominated Europe, with some powers
coming and going. Weak states usually joined forces with others to prevent the dominant
power from becoming too strong, which is known as a proactive form of preserving the
balance of power. Economic competition and frequent wars marked this era, with countries
such as Britain and France being the most powerful to date, but some other powerful
countries collapsing over time, namely the Ottoman Empire and Spain.
Fundamental differences began to emerge in the 19th century, bringing about two major
changes in the international system:
Nationalism as a form of strength, which makes the nation state grow stronger.
Italy and Germany united, which changed the military and political balance in Europe.
Problems arose with the unification of Italy and Germany, which contributed to World
War I (1914-1918). The international system changed drastically after the war. Many
powerful countries in Europe were devastated by the war, and the United States (US) itself
began to come out of its isolation and turn into a global power. At the same time, the end of
the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian powers created a series of new states, and the rise of
communism in Russia. These factors led to the Treaty of Versailles, the Nazis and
Communism, and World War II (1939-1945).
New governments have emerged since the end of World War II. After the War, two
powers emerged: The US and the Soviet Union, which was called the bipolar system. Since
the end of the Cold War, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US has become the sole
ruler of the international system, which is called unipolar. However, there are other
viewpoints that see that the economic power of the US is not so strong that it cannot be said
that the control of the economy is entirely in the hands of the US because there are other
strong economic countries such as countries in Asia, thus calling it multi-polar.
Contemporary global issues emerged precisely at the end of the Cold War and/or when
the modern international system was unipolar. This can be regarded as the second period of
the new international order. The events that occurred became the context for contemporary
global issues. The most devastating event was the so-called 9/11 or September attacks. An
attack reportedly carried out by the Al Qaedah terrorist group on the US on September 11,
2001. There were about 2,999 victims, about 6,000 injured and 10 million properties and
infrastructures damaged.7 It is said to be devastating here because the attack was carried out
on the unipolar power holder of the international system at that time, namely the US. There
had been previous events that set the context for contemporary global issues such as the
genocides in Rwanda and Bosnia and the emergence of new states in Eastern Europe.
With the events of 9/11 and the genocide problem being addressed by the international
community, the new world government There is one threat that has a different character. The
nature of the threat this time is no longer from the state as was dominant in the Cold War
period but non-state actors. Non-state actors as the perpetrators of the causes of world
insecurity are becoming increasingly difficult to identify because such actors can also come
from the state concerned and/or from within the state itself. International issues in
international relations are becoming increasingly complex so that they are called
contemporary global issues. In this post-Cold War era, threats can mean disease outbreaks,
human trafficking, narcotics, arms trafficking, poverty, illiteracy, infectious viruses, which
are experienced by several countries not the country itself.
Thus, contemporary global issues are issues that developed and expanded after the end
of the Cold War in the 1990s. These contemporary global issues are related to the problems
faced by the international community in the new world order (new order) which is faced with
welfare issues related to human security. The form of security threats in this era has been
transformed so that the form of the international security agenda has also become new,
namely the New Global Security Agenda.
In 2002, the US Department of State under the US Secretary of Global Affairs, Paula J.
Dobriansky, issued a statement released on its website8 regarding new global security by
previously formulating an understanding of what is meant by global issues: At this point, it is
worth defining what I mean by global issues. Global issues are those issues that are not
limited by borders or boundaries but that reach across international lines to affect us all. My
global portfolio encompasses environment and science, refugees and migration, narcotics
trafficking and law enforcement, human rights, and health matters. Though he was speaking
in the first century B.C., the Roman poet Horace aptly described what could be called the
crux of modern global affairs when he wrote, "Your own safety is at stake when your
neighbor's wall is ablaze." The essence of global issues is a recognition that the people of the
world are inexorably linked and that, in today's world, that which touches some touches all.
Since September 11, never have we been more acutely aware that our own safety and the
protection of our way of life must be guarded by due attention to international problems -
such as injustice and the inadequacy of the rule of law, poverty, disease, and repression.
These are the blazing walls of today's world that threaten to engulf us. That is why these
issues have become central to American foreign policy and our efforts to protect our national
interests.
The US defines global issues as those that are not limited to cross-border issues but also
include international issues that impact the US across issues such as the environment and
science, refugees and migration, drug trafficking and law enforcement, human rights and
health. The US recognizes that since 9/11 issues have not been as acute regarding the safety
and protection of life. The aforementioned issues, including terrorism and disease, have
become one of the factors for the US to call it the new global security agenda.
Types and Characteristics of Contemporary Global Issues
Earlier in 1996, a paper was published by the Institute for Security Studies, which
identified several global sources of insecurity and their implications for national security
policy formulation. There are eight important things after the Cold War as strategic global
issues, namely drugs, migration, the environment, population, global economic challenges,
the crisis of liberal democracy, fusion and division, and light weapon proliferation.9 In the
paper, it is explained that there are global sources of insecurity and their implications for
national security policy formulation. These eight issues then become an important cluster as
an extraordinary threat to national and regional security and ultimately global security.10
This was then coupled with 9/11. Thus, the threat in this new form is not in the form of a
"military attack" carried out by a state against another state but an act of crime committed by
a non-state actor and aimed at the state (state actor), individuals or citizens who threaten the
security of humanity (Human Security).
Drugs
The domestic toll of drug addiction is alarming. These include loss of productivity,
soaring health costs, a sharp rise in drug-related crime, and the accelerated spread of AIDS
through contaminated needles. Drug use is not just a social phenomenon; it has far-reaching
political implications and security implications. For example, in Latin America there are
close links between drug traffickers and leftist revolutionary groups such as the Columbia M-
19 and the Peruvian Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path).11 In Lebanon and elsewhere in the
Middle East, in the Balkans, the Southern Republics of the former Soviet Union, Burma
(Myanmar) and Sri Lanka, drugs have become a major source of funds for movements.
Drug trafficking can also affect relations between countries. For example, a major
reason for the 1989 invasion of Panama by the US was that this government, under the
leadership of General Manuel Noriega, was allegedly serving as a conduit for drug travel to
the US.13 Most recently, Ross Perot's strongest attack on the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA), he argued that its eradication was a restriction on free access of goods
between Mexico and the US in allowing larger free traders of drugs in a sense to distribute
their 'poison' in the United States.
Migration
The largest and most dramatic population movement in recent years has been that of
approximately 30 million refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs).14 Political
unrest, social upheaval, economic dislocation and ecological disasters have contributed to the
movement of people across national borders of one 'southern' regional country to another. As
a result there are 3.2 million Afghans in Pakistan and 2.3 million in Iran; 685,000 in Ethiopia
are reported to have sought refuge in Sudan, while there are also 320,000 Somalis and
384,000 Sudanese in Ethiopia; and a further 600,000 Ethiopians are reported to have fled the
war to Somalia. 17 Civil war and famine have caused a third of Liberia's population (763,000
out of a total population of 2.4 million) to flee to neighboring Guinea, Sierra Leone and the
Coast.
Mass population movements are increasingly attracting the attention of key
policymakers, not only for humanitarian reasons, but also because they create domestic
instability, generate inter-state tensions and threaten international security. South Africa is
estimated to have received eight million illegal immigrants, which was the case at one point.
In 1994, it cost South African taxpayers R1, 985 million to host illegal alien residents.
In addition, there is a reciprocal relationship between illegal immigrants and the spread of
infectious diseases such as AIDS, malaria, cholera and tuberculosis. Police sources have also
noted that fourteen percent of all crimes in South Africa involve illegal immigrants including
arms sales, money laundering and drug trafficking.
Environment
The waning of Cold War military tensions coincided with the development of real
security problems that threaten the security of many countries and require international
solutions, including the hole in the ozone layer, the greenhouse effect, deforestation, scarce
water, energy and other resources. The increase in environmental hazards has underscored
two forms of interaction between states in the world: cooperation and conflict.
In 1940, David Mitrany developed a functional theory of international relations. He
proposed that given the common problems facing humanity everywhere, cooperation between
states should be broadened. This theme was embraced and magnified by globalists in the
1980s and 1990s - even going so far as to propose a federal world government for Planet
Earth. At the heart of the theory is the idea that the gravity of global problems requires global
solutions - resulting in greater levels of cooperation between the world's nations. For
example, one country cannot solve a problem such as the widening hole in the Earth's ozone;
it must be a combined planet-wide effort. On one level global cooperation, sharing common
problems, can be seen as a way of such as the Rio Earth Summit.
The potential for resource-based conflict was evident in the 1990 and 1991 Gulf Wars,
which essentially revolved around the scarce resource of energy. One of the main reasons for
the US to get involved in the Gulf War was its dependence on Gulf oil. American dependence
on Persian Gulf oil rose 500 percent between 1985 and 1989. By 1990 oil accounted for half
of the $100 billion US trade deficit.
Population
The world population is expected to grow from 5.3 billion in 1990 to 6.2 billion in
2000, and 8.5 billion in 2025. The growth rate of nearly one billion per decade has socio-
cultural and political economic consequences for the macro-environment. For example,
resource problems in countries such as Mexico and Egypt are directly linked to population
growth.
In Africa itself there is a noted reciprocal relationship between the conflict in Rwanda
and the fact that it has one of the highest levels of population density in Africa's growth.
Population was also seen to be responsible for two-thirds of the increase in carbon dioxide
entering the atmosphere between 1950 and 1985, thereby contributing to the greenhouse
effect. The population explosion was also listed as one of the contributing factors to the
occurrence of IDPs.16
Global Economic Challenges
The need to restructure the world economy stems from two major points: the north-
south growth divide and economic competition. The existence of a north-south split in
economic growth, and in some cases expansion, is obvious. This is highlighted by the fact
that the world's richest twenty percent control eighty percent of the world's economic
resources. This is demonstrated by the fact that the world's richest twenty percent are now
150 times richer than the poorest. It is further underscored by the fact that 1.3 billion people
in developing countries live in conditions of absolute poverty.
Saddest of all, it can be seen by the fact that 34,000 children die every day in the world
from malnutrition and disease. The need to address the north-south problem stems not only
from humanitarian reasons, but also from the threat of prosperity whose poverty is
increasingly exposed. Economic scarcity in the form of global markets and rising production
costs intensify economic competition. Technological competition and various forms of
commercial warfare have replaced the arms race from after the Cold War. According to
Japanese politician Isihara Shintaro, the twenty-first century will be a century of economic
warfare. If this happens, international security is threatened. Large economic power blocs
have been developed in the Pacific Rim and North America as a counterweight to the
European Union (EU). Similar economic formations have also been developed in Central
Africa and South America. The existence of large economic formations is necessary and does
not necessarily mean economic competition but rather complementarity. However, the
scarcity of such competition can develop and the history can become 'hot'.
The Crisis of Liberal Democracy
The end of Soviet-style communist rule consolidated the position of Western liberal
democracies. Since then, there has been state-sponsored ideological competition. The fall of
the Soviet system vindicated the principle of liberal democracy in the eyes of many: Smith,
Mill and Keynes. Western ideas of triumphalism were encapsulated in Francis Fukuyama's
books The End of History and Last Man. The liberal democratic paradigm seemed absolutely
dominant. Post-1989 developments seemed to show this as economic structural adjustment
programs (ESAPs) were liberalized in many African countries; liberal multiparty winds
democracy that swept across much of Africa, South America, the Middle East and Asia.17
Subsequent developments in the former Eastern bloc, which has seen the rise of the former
Communist Party, seem to disprove this notion.
Even in South Africa, political pluralism has experienced some setbacks. Soon after the
fall of the Berlin Wall, the surge towards multiparty democracy intensified in South Africa.
Kenneth Kaunda's corrupt one-party rule system was replaced by Frederick Chiluba's
Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD). In Malawi, the despotic rule of President-for-
life Hastings Kamuzu Band ended peacefully when Malawians went to the Banda elections
and his Malawi Congress Party (MCP) was voted out of power, replaced by United
Democratic Front (UDF) leader Bakili Muluzi.
In Lesotho, military rule ended and the Basotho National Party lost dominance in
elections that brought Prime Minister Ntsu Mokhehle and his Basotholand Congress Party
(BCP) to power. In South Africa, white minority rule came on April 27, 1994-the country's
first racially inclusive election. Meanwhile, both of the former Portuguese colonies in the
region, Angola and Mozambique, began to make the long and difficult transition to political
pluralism.
Fusion and Cleavage
The two most conflicting elements of the contemporary period are fusion and division-
peace coming together with the violent disintegration of society.
Regarding fusion, a newborn global culture seems to be taking shape. Denim jeans and
CocaCola are forms that are universal. If Toshiba and Toyota are in New York, then
MacDonald and Kentucky Fried Chicken will be found in Tokyo. If lamb is cooked and
stewed in a restaurant in New Delhi, then a fancy restaurant in London serves hot curry from
India. If Michael Jackson and Madonna become very famous in Montevideo, Maputo or
Kuala Lumpur, then West African and Indian music is represented by the likes of Manu
Dibango and Babu Shegal, who will surely be found playing in the discos of Paris or
Manchester. This is a nascent global cultural trend that goes even deeper than this: Human
rights and gender, geographical, political and cultural crossovers. One of the reasons for this
is The development of communication and technological innovation made it cheaper to travel
and made it possible for CNN broadcasts to reach 200 million people in ninety other
countries.
Fusion seems to buck this trend: scarce resources, varying degrees of population growth
in heterogeneous societies and the resultant growth of ethnic nationalism are tearing societies
apart. This has been evident in Rwanda and Burundi between Hutu and Tutsi; between Serbs,
Croats and Muslims in the former Yugoslavia; and between Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims in
India. What is even more interesting today is that these issues are beginning to surface in
western countries with liberal democracies: consider the growth of neo-Nazism in Germany;
the rising fortunes of Jean-Marie le Pen's National Front in France; the invigorating separatist
movements in Quebec; Catalonia; the Basque country; Corsica; Lombardy; Scotland and
Wales; and increasing tensions between the Flems and Walloons in Belgium. Not least, in the
US there were the 1992 riots in Los Angeles and the growth of ethnocentric nationalist
movements.
Light Weapons Production
Light weapons refer to crew-portable and ground weapons. Definitions include small
arms such as pistols, rifles, assault rifles and sub-machine guns; and medium machine guns;
heavy machine guns (HMG) with a caliber not exceeding 14.5 mm; anti-aircraft and anti-tank
missiles; light mortars; mines and grenades.
The danger of small arms proliferation to world peace is underscored by the fact that in
1994, major armed conflicts were being waged in 27 countries around the world and small
arms were the overwhelming cause of death from these weapons. The existence of small arms
is perhaps most fragile in third world countries due to power imbalances such as insurgents,
drug traffickers and other criminals. For example, guerrillas in Kashmir fighting India use
Soviet Kalashnikovs, in Pakistan, small arms exacerbate ethnic conflicts between mohajirs,
Pakistani Punjabis, Pathans from the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan and
Sindhis.
For Third World countries, issues related to the threat of a new form of security
(Human Security) are "real security threats" because they have relevance to the domestic
conditions of Third World countries that are still preoccupied with the threat of human
security by various issues regarding: 1) Political transition situation; 2) Weak government
power due to not maximizing law enforcement efforts; 3) Political uncertainty; 4) Economic
crisis; 5) Conflict issues in border areas; 6) Ethnic conflicts and communal conflicts with
various international dimensions; 7) The issue of national disintegration; 8) Increase in the
number of terrorism perpetrators; 9) The ability to carry out threatening actions against
human security, etc.
The development of technology, especially information technology, is one of the strong
reasons for the expansion of contemporary global issues, resulting in a shift in the nature of
global issues from before the Cold War. Due to the development of threats that have different
types than before the Cold War, contemporary global issues have specificity:
Unconventional;
In the sense that contemporary global issues are non-armaments and/or arms
competition.
Nontraditional;
This means that the issue category is not inter-state.
Non-military;
As mentioned earlier, disease outbreaks, and/or drugs can be a threat.
Multidimensional; and
Issues are complex such as those concerning poverty.
Transnational
The issues raised in contemporary global are cross-border such as migration, refugees,
and others.
Thus, the characteristics of contemporary global issues as non-traditional security
threats are:
Contemporary global issues that are non-traditional security threats are not centered on
one particular country. Thus, the threats that are part of these contemporary global
issues are not only faced by one country, but have threatened a number of countries at
once (have regional and global dimensions). Therefore, contemporary global issues are
often referred to as "transnational security threats".
Contemporary global issues are not focused on a particular geographical location.
Based on their geographical character, these issues are It is often difficult to
"recognize" because it crosses borders between countries and even regional
(transnational) boundaries.
Contemporary global issues cannot be addressed by military force alone. Indeed,
military force can be used in escalations that lead to armed conflict. However, in the
long run, military force can no longer be used effectively to address the threat of these
global issues.
Security issues that have become contemporary global issues have threatened the
existence of a country and individuals who are part of the country.
The most obvious thing is that in the development of contemporary global issues is the
emergence of a new term in responding to the threats faced, namely human security.
Strategic Global Issues and National Security in International Relations Theory
Strategic global issues and national security in international relations theory are divided
into two major parts: 1) state centric point of view; and 2) global cross cutting issues. The
state-centric point of view is divided between realism and institutionalism where realism
focuses on national interests while institutionalism focuses on regimes, namely regime
theory. Meanwhile, there is a cross-border theory pioneered by Wednt in the form of
constructivism theory and Joseph Nye in the form of transnationalism theory. In this cross-
border theory, the issue of globalization is raised as one of the factors.
Joseph Nye in his theory states that what is called global interaction is the movement of
information, money, goods, tangible and intangible objects beyond national borders.18 He
divides into four types of global interaction: 1) communication; 2) transportation; 3) money;
4) tourism.19 The interaction is divided into two types, namely interstate communication
and transnational communication. Interstate communication is a type of communication in
relations International communication is conducted entirely under the control of the
government of the nation state. Meanwhile, transnational communication is a type of
communication in international relations that has begun to involve non-state actors.
This form of interstate communication is the classical type, which is also called having
a classical paradigm. This interaction focuses on the government as the agent with which
people relate politically. This interstate politics is different from-although indirectly related
to-domestic politics. Transnational forms of communication in this type are not taken into
account.
Unlike interstate forms of interaction, transnational interactions may involve
governments, but they may not. Non-state actors play an important role in these interactions.
Talking about transnational interactions, we are talking about finance, travel and
communication, which in some cases can involve state actors, for example, to cross borders.
Thus, Nye and Keohanne refer to transnational interaction as a term to describe the
movement of tangible items and services (intangible items) across national borders when at
least one actor is not a state actor and/or an interstate organization.21 Nye and Keohanne
picked up the definition brought by J. David Singer which states that individuals and/or
organizations can have a role in world politics: 1) they can be involved in a coalition that
controls and influences their country; 2) they play their role directly confronting (vs) with
foreign policies and / or foreign societies that are not through (by pass) the government of
their country.22 Nye and Keohanne argue that transnational interactions fall into and / or
more precisely in the second type of Singer's explanation. Keohanne and Nye then describe
the form of transnational interaction as follows to distinguish it from interstate forms of
internation:
In the post-world war globalization era, which involves contemporary global issues of
international relations, many interactions are of the transnational type. This is inseparable
from the existence of Various technologies have been invented, especially communication
technology. Individuals can interact directly with the international community and/or
organizations of nations such as the United Nations. Some of the effects described by
Keohanne and Nye that occur in this type of interaction are essentially increased sensitivity
between people which means changing the form of their relationship with the government.
With global mass communication, different groups from different societies, such as
radical students, military personnel, or ethnic minorities, can observe each other's behavior
and then take it into action. Thus, student radicals can make political tactics and demands
without any direct contact. Their international "consipracy" is conducted publicly and
disseminated with the help of specialized media. Perpetrators in this global phenomenon may
be punished, but its scale, scope and speed are the product of global television.
In brief, Keohanne and Nye concluded that the effects of transnational interactions are:
1) changes in behavior; 2) international pluralism; 3) increased restrictions on states; 4)
increased ability of states to influence others; and 5) the emergence of independent actors
with private foreign policies that can directly oppose or reject their government's policies.
This is most evident in the fact that an individual in a family, the smallest organization
in the country, does not even have control over what his family members access with the
internet technology. This then becomes the same thing that happens at the state level. Thus,
state control is weakened and challenges to national security are strengthened. Threats are
becoming more complex as information technology can target the individual level and
influence their actions bypassing state governance. Does this mean that the state must be
authoritarian and or is there a new form?
Form a Comprehensive Security Strategy: A United Nations Proposal
To the challenges faced by the international community today, the United Nations (UN)
offers a way out. For two decades now, the international community has been working
towards a broad understanding of what constitutes security. Seeking input from governments,
academics, community groups and intergovernmental organizations, the UN held a meeting
called the 2000 Millennium Summit for a world "free of want" and "free of fear". As a result
of this meeting, an understanding and/or input on human security was formed.
In 2001, the UN created a special unit on humanitarian security called the Commission
of Human Security (CHS). The Commission consists of twelve international figures,
including Sadako Ogata - former UN High Commissioner for Refugees - and Professor
Amartya Sen (Nobel Laureate 1998). Humanitarian security has refocused the attention of
states and the international community on the survival, livelihoods and dignity of people as
the basis for peace, development and human progress.
While humanitarian security remains vital to stability and peace, the complexity and
interconnectedness of old and new threats - from chronic and persistent poverty, to violent
conflict, climate change, human trafficking, health, and financial crises - creates a shared
vulnerability to the growing risk of diffuse and cross cutting threats. As challenges can
evolve rapidly within and across nations and deliver powerful crises, humanitarian security
emphasizes the need for a new framework that combines the agendas of security and peace,
development and human rights in a more effective, efficient, and prevention-oriented process.
Here is the UN statement mentioned in the document: While national security remains pivotal
to peace and stability, the complexity and interrelatedness of old and new threats-from
chronic and persistent poverty, to violent conflicts, climate change, human trafficking, health
pandemics, and economic and financial crises-reveal our shared vulnerabilities to a growing
risk of threats that are widespread and cross-cutting. Because these challenges can spread
rapidly within and across nations and give rise to more intractable crises, human security
emphasizes the need for a new framework that combines the agendas of peace and security,
development and human rights in a more effective, efficient and prevention-oriented manner.
In United States, it can be summarized that humanitarian security is to protect the vital
core of human life by enhancing human freedom and fulfilling human needs. The CHS's
arguments for the importance of humanitarian security, touched on a little earlier, are detailed
below:
As argued by the Commission on Human Security (CHS), the need for a new paradigm
of security is associated with two sets of dynamics:
First, human security is needed in response to the complexity and the interrelatedness
of both old and new security threats-from chronic and persistent poverty to ethnic violence,
human trafficking, climate change, health pandemics, international terrorism, and sudden
economic and financial downturns. Such threats tend to acquire transnational dimensions and
move beyond traditional notions of security that focus on external military aggressions alone.
Second, human security is required as a comprehensive approach that utilizes the wide
range of new opportunities to tackle such threats in an integrated manner. Human security
threats cannot be tackled through conventional mechanisms alone. Instead, they require a new
consensus that recognizes the linkages and the interdependencies between development,
human rights and national security.
In essence, the definition provided by the CHS conceptualizes re-envision security with its
most fundamental issues:
moving away from the traditional, state-centric conception of security focused
primarily on the security of the state from military aggression, one that concentrates on
the security of individuals, their protection and empowerment;
draw attention to the many threats that cut across different aspects of human life and
thus highlight the interface between security, development and human rights; and
promote a new integrated, coordinated and people-centered approach to advancing
peace, security and development within and across countries.
Human security brings together the 'human element' in security, rights and
development. As such, it is an inter-disciplinary concept that displays the following
characteristics: 1) human-centered; 2) multi-sectoral; 3) comprehensive; 4) context-specific;
and 5) prevention-oriented.
As a human-centered concept, human security places the individual at the 'center of
analysis'. As a result, it considers the range of conditions that threaten survival, livelihoods
and dignity, and identifies the lower threshold of intolerable human life, threatened. Human
security is also based on a multi-sectoral understanding of insecurity. Therefore, human
security requires an expanded understanding of threats and includes related causes of
insecurity, e.g. for economic, food, health, environmental, personal, community and political
security.
This interdependence has important implications for policymaking as it suggests that
human insecurity cannot be addressed in isolation through fragmented stand-alone responses.
Instead, human security involves a comprehensive approach that emphasizes the need for a
multi-sectoral response that brings together agendas related to security, development and
human rights.
Moreover, as a context-specific concept, human security recognizes that insecurity
varies across different settings and as such advances solutions that are contextually
responsive to the particular situation they seek to address. Finally, in addressing the risks and
root causes of insecurity, human security is prevention oriented and introduces a dual focus
on protection and empowerment.
Conclusion
Based on the analysis and discussion above, it can be concluded that national security
in the context of contemporary global issues in the perspective of international relations is
complex, because threats at the individual level become real. This is then explained in
transnational theory in international relations. In its development, the UN then offered to re-
conceptualize the notion of national security which ultimately provided input on human
security.
The UN has done many things related to humanitarian security. However, the most
obvious challenge still comes if it is clashed with the most classic international relations
theory, namely realism regarding superpowers. The extent to which superpower involvement
can be genuinely involved in the development of issues without any element of national
interest involvement in it, at least supports this conception.
History of the Emergence of Contemporary Global Issues
Contemporary history is a subset of modern history that describes the period of history
from about 1945 to the present. The term "contemporary history" has been used since at least
the early 20th century 19. Contemporary political history is dominated by the Cold War
(1945-1991) between the United States and the Soviet Union whose effects were felt around
the world. In this geopolitical context, the fall of European colonial empires in Africa and
Asia between 1945 and 1975 was often followed by American-Soviet confrontation in the
form of proxy wars and through intervention in the internal politics of smaller states. The
U.S.-Soviet rivalry eventually ended with the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw
Pact in 1991, following the Revolutions of 1989. and in the last stage and after the Cold War
paved the way for the democratization of large parts of Europe, Africa and Latin America.
In the Middle East, the period after 1945 was dominated by conflicts involving the new
state of Israel and the rise of petroleum politics, as well as the growth of Islamism after the
1980s. The period after 1945 saw the growth of the first supranational governmental
organizations, such as the United Nations and the European Union. Socially, western
countries experienced the rise of counter cultures3 and the sexual revolution4 between the
1960s and 1980s which transformed social relations and was fueled by the 1968 Protests.
Living standards rose sharply around the world especially in developed countries as a result
of, but also the emergence of, new economic powers such as Japan and West Germany. US
culture, especially consumerism, spread widely. By the 1960s, many western countries had
begun the process of deindustrialization. In their place, globalization led to the emergence of
new industrial centers, such as Japan, Taiwan and later China, based on exports consumer
goods for developed countries. The period after 1945 was also a transformative period in the
history of science because, among other things, nuclear technology, molecular biology,
particle physics and so on emerged which became the background for the emergence of
various technologies that appear today including the internet.
The history of the modern international system itself actually began in its history when
the Westphalia system (1648). States are interconnected with each other in an environment
called the international system. All countries are considered to have sovereignty, and some
countries are stronger than others. The system has many forms of informal rules about what
should happen, but these rules are not binding. International relations have existed since the
existence of states. The modern international system that we find ourselves in, however, is
not that old. The peace that ended a 30-year war between Catholic and Protestant states in
Western and Central Europe was the forerunner of the modern international system. It
declared that the sovereign leader of each nation state could do what he wanted within its
borders and established the state as a global actor in global politics. From then onwards, the
international system was in relation to nation states.
In the 17th-18th centuries, nation-states emerged to dominate the system of
international relations. A number of strong states dominated Europe, with some powers
coming and going. Weak states usually joined forces with others to prevent the dominant
power from becoming too strong, which is known as a proactive form of preserving the
balance of power. Economic competition and frequent wars marked this era, with countries
such as Britain and France being the most powerful to date, but some other powerful
countries collapsing over time, namely the Ottoman Empire and Spain.
Fundamental differences began to emerge in the 19th century, bringing about two major
changes in the international system:
Nationalism as a form of strength, which makes the nation state grow stronger.
Italy and Germany united, which changed the military and political balance in Europe.
Problems arose with the unification of Italy and Germany, which contributed to World
War I (1914-1918). The international system changed drastically after the war. Many
powerful countries in Europe were devastated by the war, and the United States (US) itself
began to come out of its isolation and turn into a global power. At the same time, the end of
the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian powers created a series of new states, and the rise of
communism in Russia. These factors led to the Treaty of Versailles, the Nazis and
Communism, and World War II (1939-1945).
New governments have emerged since the end of World War II. After the War, two
powers emerged: The US and the Soviet Union, which was called the bipolar system. Since
the end of the Cold War, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US has become the sole
ruler of the international system, which is called unipolar. However, there are other
viewpoints that see that the economic power of the US is not so strong that it cannot be said
that the control of the economy is entirely in the hands of the US because there are other
strong economic countries such as countries in Asia, thus calling it multi-polar.
Contemporary global issues emerged precisely at the end of the Cold War and/or when
the modern international system was unipolar. This can be regarded as the second period of
the new international order. The events that occurred became the context for contemporary
global issues. The most devastating event was the so-called 9/11 or September attacks. An
attack reportedly carried out by the Al Qaedah terrorist group on the US on September 11,
2001. There were about 2,999 victims, about 6,000 injured and 10 million properties and
infrastructures damaged.7 It is said to be devastating here because the attack was carried out
on the unipolar power holder of the international system at that time, namely the US. There
had been previous events that set the context for contemporary global issues such as the
genocides in Rwanda and Bosnia and the emergence of new states in Eastern Europe.
With the events of 9/11 and the genocide problem being addressed by the international
community, the new world government There is one threat that has a different character. The
nature of the threat this time is no longer from the state as was dominant in the Cold War
period but non-state actors. Non-state actors as the perpetrators of the causes of world
insecurity are becoming increasingly difficult to identify because such actors can also come
from the state concerned and/or from within the state itself. International issues in
international relations are becoming increasingly complex so that they are called
contemporary global issues. In this post-Cold War era, threats can mean disease outbreaks,
human trafficking, narcotics, arms trafficking, poverty, illiteracy, infectious viruses, which
are experienced by several countries not the country itself.
Thus, contemporary global issues are issues that developed and expanded after the end
of the Cold War in the 1990s. These contemporary global issues are related to the problems
faced by the international community in the new world order (new order) which is faced with
welfare issues related to human security. The form of security threats in this era has been
transformed so that the form of the international security agenda has also become new,
namely the New Global Security Agenda.
In 2002, the US Department of State under the US Secretary of Global Affairs, Paula J.
Dobriansky, issued a statement released on its website8 regarding new global security by
previously formulating an understanding of what is meant by global issues: At this point, it is
worth defining what I mean by global issues. Global issues are those issues that are not
limited by borders or boundaries but that reach across international lines to affect us all. My
global portfolio encompasses environment and science, refugees and migration, narcotics
trafficking and law enforcement, human rights, and health matters. Though he was speaking
in the first century B.C., the Roman poet Horace aptly described what could be called the
crux of modern global affairs when he wrote, "Your own safety is at stake when your
neighbor's wall is ablaze." The essence of global issues is a recognition that the people of the
world are inexorably linked and that, in today's world, that which touches some touches all.
Since September 11, never have we been more acutely aware that our own safety and the
protection of our way of life must be guarded by due attention to international problems -
such as injustice and the inadequacy of the rule of law, poverty, disease, and repression.
These are the blazing walls of today's world that threaten to engulf us. That is why these
issues have become central to American foreign policy and our efforts to protect our national
interests.
The US defines global issues as those that are not limited to cross-border issues but also
include international issues that impact the US across issues such as the environment and
science, refugees and migration, drug trafficking and law enforcement, human rights and
health. The US recognizes that since 9/11 issues have not been as acute regarding the safety
and protection of life. The aforementioned issues, including terrorism and disease, have
become one of the factors for the US to call it the new global security agenda.
Types and Characteristics of Contemporary Global Issues
Earlier in 1996, a paper was published by the Institute for Security Studies, which
identified several global sources of insecurity and their implications for national security
policy formulation. There are eight important things after the Cold War as strategic global
issues, namely drugs, migration, the environment, population, global economic challenges,
the crisis of liberal democracy, fusion and division, and light weapon proliferation.9 In the
paper, it is explained that there are global sources of insecurity and their implications for
national security policy formulation. These eight issues then become an important cluster as
an extraordinary threat to national and regional security and ultimately global security.10
This was then coupled with 9/11. Thus, the threat in this new form is not in the form of a
"military attack" carried out by a state against another state but an act of crime committed by
a non-state actor and aimed at the state (state actor), individuals or citizens who threaten the
security of humanity (Human Security).
Drugs
The domestic toll of drug addiction is alarming. These include loss of productivity,
soaring health costs, a sharp rise in drug-related crime, and the accelerated spread of AIDS
through contaminated needles. Drug use is not just a social phenomenon; it has far-reaching
political implications and security implications. For example, in Latin America there are
close links between drug traffickers and leftist revolutionary groups such as the Columbia M-
19 and the Peruvian Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path).11 In Lebanon and elsewhere in the
Middle East, in the Balkans, the Southern Republics of the former Soviet Union, Burma
(Myanmar) and Sri Lanka, drugs have become a major source of funds for movements.
Drug trafficking can also affect relations between countries. For example, a major
reason for the 1989 invasion of Panama by the US was that this government, under the
leadership of General Manuel Noriega, was allegedly serving as a conduit for drug travel to
the US.13 Most recently, Ross Perot's strongest attack on the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA), he argued that its eradication was a restriction on free access of goods
between Mexico and the US in allowing larger free traders of drugs in a sense to distribute
their 'poison' in the United States.
Migration
The largest and most dramatic population movement in recent years has been that of
approximately 30 million refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs).14 Political
unrest, social upheaval, economic dislocation and ecological disasters have contributed to the
movement of people across national borders of one 'southern' regional country to another. As
a result there are 3.2 million Afghans in Pakistan and 2.3 million in Iran; 685,000 in Ethiopia
are reported to have sought refuge in Sudan, while there are also 320,000 Somalis and
384,000 Sudanese in Ethiopia; and a further 600,000 Ethiopians are reported to have fled the
war to Somalia. 17 Civil war and famine have caused a third of Liberia's population (763,000
out of a total population of 2.4 million) to flee to neighboring Guinea, Sierra Leone and the
Coast.
Mass population movements are increasingly attracting the attention of key
policymakers, not only for humanitarian reasons, but also because they create domestic
instability, generate inter-state tensions and threaten international security. South Africa is
estimated to have received eight million illegal immigrants, which was the case at one point.
In 1994, it cost South African taxpayers R1, 985 million to host illegal alien residents.
In addition, there is a reciprocal relationship between illegal immigrants and the spread of
infectious diseases such as AIDS, malaria, cholera and tuberculosis. Police sources have also
noted that fourteen percent of all crimes in South Africa involve illegal immigrants including
arms sales, money laundering and drug trafficking.
Environment
The waning of Cold War military tensions coincided with the development of real
security problems that threaten the security of many countries and require international
solutions, including the hole in the ozone layer, the greenhouse effect, deforestation, scarce
water, energy and other resources. The increase in environmental hazards has underscored
two forms of interaction between states in the world: cooperation and conflict.
In 1940, David Mitrany developed a functional theory of international relations. He
proposed that given the common problems facing humanity everywhere, cooperation between
states should be broadened. This theme was embraced and magnified by globalists in the
1980s and 1990s - even going so far as to propose a federal world government for Planet
Earth. At the heart of the theory is the idea that the gravity of global problems requires global
solutions - resulting in greater levels of cooperation between the world's nations. For
example, one country cannot solve a problem such as the widening hole in the Earth's ozone;
it must be a combined planet-wide effort. On one level global cooperation, sharing common
problems, can be seen as a way of such as the Rio Earth Summit.
The potential for resource-based conflict was evident in the 1990 and 1991 Gulf Wars,
which essentially revolved around the scarce resource of energy. One of the main reasons for
the US to get involved in the Gulf War was its dependence on Gulf oil. American dependence
on Persian Gulf oil rose 500 percent between 1985 and 1989. By 1990 oil accounted for half
of the $100 billion US trade deficit.
Population
The world population is expected to grow from 5.3 billion in 1990 to 6.2 billion in
2000, and 8.5 billion in 2025. The growth rate of nearly one billion per decade has socio-
cultural and political economic consequences for the macro-environment. For example,
resource problems in countries such as Mexico and Egypt are directly linked to population
growth.
In Africa itself there is a noted reciprocal relationship between the conflict in Rwanda
and the fact that it has one of the highest levels of population density in Africa's growth.
Population was also seen to be responsible for two-thirds of the increase in carbon dioxide
entering the atmosphere between 1950 and 1985, thereby contributing to the greenhouse
effect. The population explosion was also listed as one of the contributing factors to the
occurrence of IDPs.16
Global Economic Challenges
The need to restructure the world economy stems from two major points: the north-
south growth divide and economic competition. The existence of a north-south split in
economic growth, and in some cases expansion, is obvious. This is highlighted by the fact
that the world's richest twenty percent control eighty percent of the world's economic
resources. This is demonstrated by the fact that the world's richest twenty percent are now
150 times richer than the poorest. It is further underscored by the fact that 1.3 billion people
in developing countries live in conditions of absolute poverty.
Saddest of all, it can be seen by the fact that 34,000 children die every day in the world
from malnutrition and disease. The need to address the north-south problem stems not only
from humanitarian reasons, but also from the threat of prosperity whose poverty is
increasingly exposed. Economic scarcity in the form of global markets and rising production
costs intensify economic competition. Technological competition and various forms of
commercial warfare have replaced the arms race from after the Cold War. According to
Japanese politician Isihara Shintaro, the twenty-first century will be a century of economic
warfare. If this happens, international security is threatened. Large economic power blocs
have been developed in the Pacific Rim and North America as a counterweight to the
European Union (EU). Similar economic formations have also been developed in Central
Africa and South America. The existence of large economic formations is necessary and does
not necessarily mean economic competition but rather complementarity. However, the
scarcity of such competition can develop and the history can become 'hot'.
The Crisis of Liberal Democracy
The end of Soviet-style communist rule consolidated the position of Western liberal
democracies. Since then, there has been state-sponsored ideological competition. The fall of
the Soviet system vindicated the principle of liberal democracy in the eyes of many: Smith,
Mill and Keynes. Western ideas of triumphalism were encapsulated in Francis Fukuyama's
books The End of History and Last Man. The liberal democratic paradigm seemed absolutely
dominant. Post-1989 developments seemed to show this as economic structural adjustment
programs (ESAPs) were liberalized in many African countries; liberal multiparty winds
democracy that swept across much of Africa, South America, the Middle East and Asia.17
Subsequent developments in the former Eastern bloc, which has seen the rise of the former
Communist Party, seem to disprove this notion.
Even in South Africa, political pluralism has experienced some setbacks. Soon after the
fall of the Berlin Wall, the surge towards multiparty democracy intensified in South Africa.
Kenneth Kaunda's corrupt one-party rule system was replaced by Frederick Chiluba's
Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD). In Malawi, the despotic rule of President-for-
life Hastings Kamuzu Band ended peacefully when Malawians went to the Banda elections
and his Malawi Congress Party (MCP) was voted out of power, replaced by United
Democratic Front (UDF) leader Bakili Muluzi.
In Lesotho, military rule ended and the Basotho National Party lost dominance in
elections that brought Prime Minister Ntsu Mokhehle and his Basotholand Congress Party
(BCP) to power. In South Africa, white minority rule came on April 27, 1994-the country's
first racially inclusive election. Meanwhile, both of the former Portuguese colonies in the
region, Angola and Mozambique, began to make the long and difficult transition to political
pluralism.
Fusion and Cleavage
The two most conflicting elements of the contemporary period are fusion and division-
peace coming together with the violent disintegration of society.
Regarding fusion, a newborn global culture seems to be taking shape. Denim jeans and
CocaCola are forms that are universal. If Toshiba and Toyota are in New York, then
MacDonald and Kentucky Fried Chicken will be found in Tokyo. If lamb is cooked and
stewed in a restaurant in New Delhi, then a fancy restaurant in London serves hot curry from
India. If Michael Jackson and Madonna become very famous in Montevideo, Maputo or
Kuala Lumpur, then West African and Indian music is represented by the likes of Manu
Dibango and Babu Shegal, who will surely be found playing in the discos of Paris or
Manchester. This is a nascent global cultural trend that goes even deeper than this: Human
rights and gender, geographical, political and cultural crossovers. One of the reasons for this
is The development of communication and technological innovation made it cheaper to travel
and made it possible for CNN broadcasts to reach 200 million people in ninety other
countries.
Fusion seems to buck this trend: scarce resources, varying degrees of population growth
in heterogeneous societies and the resultant growth of ethnic nationalism are tearing societies
apart. This has been evident in Rwanda and Burundi between Hutu and Tutsi; between Serbs,
Croats and Muslims in the former Yugoslavia; and between Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims in
India. What is even more interesting today is that these issues are beginning to surface in
western countries with liberal democracies: consider the growth of neo-Nazism in Germany;
the rising fortunes of Jean-Marie le Pen's National Front in France; the invigorating separatist
movements in Quebec; Catalonia; the Basque country; Corsica; Lombardy; Scotland and
Wales; and increasing tensions between the Flems and Walloons in Belgium. Not least, in the
US there were the 1992 riots in Los Angeles and the growth of ethnocentric nationalist
movements.
Light Weapons Production
Light weapons refer to crew-portable and ground weapons. Definitions include small
arms such as pistols, rifles, assault rifles and sub-machine guns; and medium machine guns;
heavy machine guns (HMG) with a caliber not exceeding 14.5 mm; anti-aircraft and anti-tank
missiles; light mortars; mines and grenades.
The danger of small arms proliferation to world peace is underscored by the fact that in
1994, major armed conflicts were being waged in 27 countries around the world and small
arms were the overwhelming cause of death from these weapons. The existence of small arms
is perhaps most fragile in third world countries due to power imbalances such as insurgents,
drug traffickers and other criminals. For example, guerrillas in Kashmir fighting India use
Soviet Kalashnikovs, in Pakistan, small arms exacerbate ethnic conflicts between mohajirs,
Pakistani Punjabis, Pathans from the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan and
Sindhis.
For Third World countries, issues related to the threat of a new form of security
(Human Security) are "real security threats" because they have relevance to the domestic
conditions of Third World countries that are still preoccupied with the threat of human
security by various issues regarding: 1) Political transition situation; 2) Weak government
power due to not maximizing law enforcement efforts; 3) Political uncertainty; 4) Economic
crisis; 5) Conflict issues in border areas; 6) Ethnic conflicts and communal conflicts with
various international dimensions; 7) The issue of national disintegration; 8) Increase in the
number of terrorism perpetrators; 9) The ability to carry out threatening actions against
human security, etc.
The development of technology, especially information technology, is one of the strong
reasons for the expansion of contemporary global issues, resulting in a shift in the nature of
global issues from before the Cold War. Due to the development of threats that have different
types than before the Cold War, contemporary global issues have specificity:
Unconventional;
In the sense that contemporary global issues are non-armaments and/or arms
competition.
Nontraditional;
This means that the issue category is not inter-state.
Non-military;
As mentioned earlier, disease outbreaks, and/or drugs can be a threat.
Multidimensional; and
Issues are complex such as those concerning poverty.
Transnational
The issues raised in contemporary global are cross-border such as migration, refugees,
and others.
Thus, the characteristics of contemporary global issues as non-traditional security
threats are:
Contemporary global issues that are non-traditional security threats are not centered on
one particular country. Thus, the threats that are part of these contemporary global
issues are not only faced by one country, but have threatened a number of countries at
once (have regional and global dimensions). Therefore, contemporary global issues are
often referred to as "transnational security threats".
Contemporary global issues are not focused on a particular geographical location.
Based on their geographical character, these issues are It is often difficult to
"recognize" because it crosses borders between countries and even regional
(transnational) boundaries.
Contemporary global issues cannot be addressed by military force alone. Indeed,
military force can be used in escalations that lead to armed conflict. However, in the
long run, military force can no longer be used effectively to address the threat of these
global issues.
Security issues that have become contemporary global issues have threatened the
existence of a country and individuals who are part of the country.
The most obvious thing is that in the development of contemporary global issues is the
emergence of a new term in responding to the threats faced, namely human security.
Strategic Global Issues and National Security in International Relations Theory
Strategic global issues and national security in international relations theory are divided
into two major parts: 1) state centric point of view; and 2) global cross cutting issues. The
state-centric point of view is divided between realism and institutionalism where realism
focuses on national interests while institutionalism focuses on regimes, namely regime
theory. Meanwhile, there is a cross-border theory pioneered by Wednt in the form of
constructivism theory and Joseph Nye in the form of transnationalism theory. In this cross-
border theory, the issue of globalization is raised as one of the factors.
Joseph Nye in his theory states that what is called global interaction is the movement of
information, money, goods, tangible and intangible objects beyond national borders.18 He
divides into four types of global interaction: 1) communication; 2) transportation; 3) money;
4) tourism.19 The interaction is divided into two types, namely interstate communication
and transnational communication. Interstate communication is a type of communication in
relations International communication is conducted entirely under the control of the
government of the nation state. Meanwhile, transnational communication is a type of
communication in international relations that has begun to involve non-state actors.
This form of interstate communication is the classical type, which is also called having
a classical paradigm. This interaction focuses on the government as the agent with which
people relate politically. This interstate politics is different from-although indirectly related
to-domestic politics. Transnational forms of communication in this type are not taken into
account.
Unlike interstate forms of interaction, transnational interactions may involve
governments, but they may not. Non-state actors play an important role in these interactions.
Talking about transnational interactions, we are talking about finance, travel and
communication, which in some cases can involve state actors, for example, to cross borders.
Thus, Nye and Keohanne refer to transnational interaction as a term to describe the
movement of tangible items and services (intangible items) across national borders when at
least one actor is not a state actor and/or an interstate organization.21 Nye and Keohanne
picked up the definition brought by J. David Singer which states that individuals and/or
organizations can have a role in world politics: 1) they can be involved in a coalition that
controls and influences their country; 2) they play their role directly confronting (vs) with
foreign policies and / or foreign societies that are not through (by pass) the government of
their country.22 Nye and Keohanne argue that transnational interactions fall into and / or
more precisely in the second type of Singer's explanation. Keohanne and Nye then describe
the form of transnational interaction as follows to distinguish it from interstate forms of
internation:
In the post-world war globalization era, which involves contemporary global issues of
international relations, many interactions are of the transnational type. This is inseparable
from the existence of Various technologies have been invented, especially communication
technology. Individuals can interact directly with the international community and/or
organizations of nations such as the United Nations. Some of the effects described by
Keohanne and Nye that occur in this type of interaction are essentially increased sensitivity
between people which means changing the form of their relationship with the government.
With global mass communication, different groups from different societies, such as
radical students, military personnel, or ethnic minorities, can observe each other's behavior
and then take it into action. Thus, student radicals can make political tactics and demands
without any direct contact. Their international "consipracy" is conducted publicly and
disseminated with the help of specialized media. Perpetrators in this global phenomenon may
be punished, but its scale, scope and speed are the product of global television.
In brief, Keohanne and Nye concluded that the effects of transnational interactions are:
1) changes in behavior; 2) international pluralism; 3) increased restrictions on states; 4)
increased ability of states to influence others; and 5) the emergence of independent actors
with private foreign policies that can directly oppose or reject their government's policies.
This is most evident in the fact that an individual in a family, the smallest organization
in the country, does not even have control over what his family members access with the
internet technology. This then becomes the same thing that happens at the state level. Thus,
state control is weakened and challenges to national security are strengthened. Threats are
becoming more complex as information technology can target the individual level and
influence their actions bypassing state governance. Does this mean that the state must be
authoritarian and or is there a new form?
Form a Comprehensive Security Strategy: A United Nations Proposal
To the challenges faced by the international community today, the United Nations (UN)
offers a way out. For two decades now, the international community has been working
towards a broad understanding of what constitutes security. Seeking input from governments,
academics, community groups and intergovernmental organizations, the UN held a meeting
called the 2000 Millennium Summit for a world "free of want" and "free of fear". As a result
of this meeting, an understanding and/or input on human security was formed.
In 2001, the UN created a special unit on humanitarian security called the Commission
of Human Security (CHS). The Commission consists of twelve international figures,
including Sadako Ogata - former UN High Commissioner for Refugees - and Professor
Amartya Sen (Nobel Laureate 1998). Humanitarian security has refocused the attention of
states and the international community on the survival, livelihoods and dignity of people as
the basis for peace, development and human progress.
While humanitarian security remains vital to stability and peace, the complexity and
interconnectedness of old and new threats - from chronic and persistent poverty, to violent
conflict, climate change, human trafficking, health, and financial crises - creates a shared
vulnerability to the growing risk of diffuse and cross cutting threats. As challenges can
evolve rapidly within and across nations and deliver powerful crises, humanitarian security
emphasizes the need for a new framework that combines the agendas of security and peace,
development and human rights in a more effective, efficient, and prevention-oriented process.
Here is the UN statement mentioned in the document: While national security remains pivotal
to peace and stability, the complexity and interrelatedness of old and new threats-from
chronic and persistent poverty, to violent conflicts, climate change, human trafficking, health
pandemics, and economic and financial crises-reveal our shared vulnerabilities to a growing
risk of threats that are widespread and cross-cutting. Because these challenges can spread
rapidly within and across nations and give rise to more intractable crises, human security
emphasizes the need for a new framework that combines the agendas of peace and security,
development and human rights in a more effective, efficient and prevention-oriented manner.
In United States, it can be summarized that humanitarian security is to protect the vital
core of human life by enhancing human freedom and fulfilling human needs. The CHS's
arguments for the importance of humanitarian security, touched on a little earlier, are detailed
below:
As argued by the Commission on Human Security (CHS), the need for a new paradigm
of security is associated with two sets of dynamics:
First, human security is needed in response to the complexity and the interrelatedness
of both old and new security threats-from chronic and persistent poverty to ethnic violence,
human trafficking, climate change, health pandemics, international terrorism, and sudden
economic and financial downturns. Such threats tend to acquire transnational dimensions and
move beyond traditional notions of security that focus on external military aggressions alone.
Second, human security is required as a comprehensive approach that utilizes the wide
range of new opportunities to tackle such threats in an integrated manner. Human security
threats cannot be tackled through conventional mechanisms alone. Instead, they require a new
consensus that recognizes the linkages and the interdependencies between development,
human rights and national security.
In essence, the definition provided by the CHS conceptualizes re-envision security with its
most fundamental issues:
moving away from the traditional, state-centric conception of security focused
primarily on the security of the state from military aggression, one that concentrates on
the security of individuals, their protection and empowerment;
draw attention to the many threats that cut across different aspects of human life and
thus highlight the interface between security, development and human rights; and
promote a new integrated, coordinated and people-centered approach to advancing
peace, security and development within and across countries.
Human security brings together the 'human element' in security, rights and
development. As such, it is an inter-disciplinary concept that displays the following
characteristics: 1) human-centered; 2) multi-sectoral; 3) comprehensive; 4) context-specific;
and 5) prevention-oriented.
As a human-centered concept, human security places the individual at the 'center of
analysis'. As a result, it considers the range of conditions that threaten survival, livelihoods
and dignity, and identifies the lower threshold of intolerable human life, threatened. Human
security is also based on a multi-sectoral understanding of insecurity. Therefore, human
security requires an expanded understanding of threats and includes related causes of
insecurity, e.g. for economic, food, health, environmental, personal, community and political
security.
This interdependence has important implications for policymaking as it suggests that
human insecurity cannot be addressed in isolation through fragmented stand-alone responses.
Instead, human security involves a comprehensive approach that emphasizes the need for a
multi-sectoral response that brings together agendas related to security, development and
human rights.
Moreover, as a context-specific concept, human security recognizes that insecurity
varies across different settings and as such advances solutions that are contextually
responsive to the particular situation they seek to address. Finally, in addressing the risks and
root causes of insecurity, human security is prevention oriented and introduces a dual focus
on protection and empowerment.
Conclusion
Based on the analysis and discussion above, it can be concluded that national security
in the context of contemporary global issues in the perspective of international relations is
complex, because threats at the individual level become real. This is then explained in
transnational theory in international relations. In its development, the UN then offered to re-
conceptualize the notion of national security which ultimately provided input on human
security.
The UN has done many things related to humanitarian security. However, the most
obvious challenge still comes if it is clashed with the most classic international relations
theory, namely realism regarding superpowers. The extent to which superpower involvement
can be genuinely involved in the development of issues without any element of national
interest involvement in it, at least supports this conception.
History of the Emergence of Contemporary Global Issues
Contemporary history is a subset of modern history that describes the period of history
from about 1945 to the present. The term "contemporary history" has been used since at least
the early 20th century 19. Contemporary political history is dominated by the Cold War
(1945-1991) between the United States and the Soviet Union whose effects were felt around
the world. In this geopolitical context, the fall of European colonial empires in Africa and
Asia between 1945 and 1975 was often followed by American-Soviet confrontation in the
form of proxy wars and through intervention in the internal politics of smaller states. The
U.S.-Soviet rivalry eventually ended with the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw
Pact in 1991, following the Revolutions of 1989. and in the last stage and after the Cold War
paved the way for the democratization of large parts of Europe, Africa and Latin America.
In the Middle East, the period after 1945 was dominated by conflicts involving the new
state of Israel and the rise of petroleum politics, as well as the growth of Islamism after the
1980s. The period after 1945 saw the growth of the first supranational governmental
organizations, such as the United Nations and the European Union. Socially, western
countries experienced the rise of counter cultures3 and the sexual revolution4 between the
1960s and 1980s which transformed social relations and was fueled by the 1968 Protests.
Living standards rose sharply around the world especially in developed countries as a result
of, but also the emergence of, new economic powers such as Japan and West Germany. US
culture, especially consumerism, spread widely. By the 1960s, many western countries had
begun the process of deindustrialization. In their place, globalization led to the emergence of
new industrial centers, such as Japan, Taiwan and later China, based on exports consumer
goods for developed countries. The period after 1945 was also a transformative period in the
history of science because, among other things, nuclear technology, molecular biology,
particle physics and so on emerged which became the background for the emergence of
various technologies that appear today including the internet.
The history of the modern international system itself actually began in its history when
the Westphalia system (1648). States are interconnected with each other in an environment
called the international system. All countries are considered to have sovereignty, and some
countries are stronger than others. The system has many forms of informal rules about what
should happen, but these rules are not binding. International relations have existed since the
existence of states. The modern international system that we find ourselves in, however, is
not that old. The peace that ended a 30-year war between Catholic and Protestant states in
Western and Central Europe was the forerunner of the modern international system. It
declared that the sovereign leader of each nation state could do what he wanted within its
borders and established the state as a global actor in global politics. From then onwards, the
international system was in relation to nation states.
In the 17th-18th centuries, nation-states emerged to dominate the system of
international relations. A number of strong states dominated Europe, with some powers
coming and going. Weak states usually joined forces with others to prevent the dominant
power from becoming too strong, which is known as a proactive form of preserving the
balance of power. Economic competition and frequent wars marked this era, with countries
such as Britain and France being the most powerful to date, but some other powerful
countries collapsing over time, namely the Ottoman Empire and Spain.
Fundamental differences began to emerge in the 19th century, bringing about two major
changes in the international system:
Nationalism as a form of strength, which makes the nation state grow stronger.
Italy and Germany united, which changed the military and political balance in Europe.
Problems arose with the unification of Italy and Germany, which contributed to World
War I (1914-1918). The international system changed drastically after the war. Many
powerful countries in Europe were devastated by the war, and the United States (US) itself
began to come out of its isolation and turn into a global power. At the same time, the end of
the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian powers created a series of new states, and the rise of
communism in Russia. These factors led to the Treaty of Versailles, the Nazis and
Communism, and World War II (1939-1945).
New governments have emerged since the end of World War II. After the War, two
powers emerged: The US and the Soviet Union, which was called the bipolar system. Since
the end of the Cold War, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US has become the sole
ruler of the international system, which is called unipolar. However, there are other
viewpoints that see that the economic power of the US is not so strong that it cannot be said
that the control of the economy is entirely in the hands of the US because there are other
strong economic countries such as countries in Asia, thus calling it multi-polar.
Contemporary global issues emerged precisely at the end of the Cold War and/or when
the modern international system was unipolar. This can be regarded as the second period of
the new international order. The events that occurred became the context for contemporary
global issues. The most devastating event was the so-called 9/11 or September attacks. An
attack reportedly carried out by the Al Qaedah terrorist group on the US on September 11,
2001. There were about 2,999 victims, about 6,000 injured and 10 million properties and
infrastructures damaged.7 It is said to be devastating here because the attack was carried out
on the unipolar power holder of the international system at that time, namely the US. There
had been previous events that set the context for contemporary global issues such as the
genocides in Rwanda and Bosnia and the emergence of new states in Eastern Europe.
With the events of 9/11 and the genocide problem being addressed by the international
community, the new world government There is one threat that has a different character. The
nature of the threat this time is no longer from the state as was dominant in the Cold War
period but non-state actors. Non-state actors as the perpetrators of the causes of world
insecurity are becoming increasingly difficult to identify because such actors can also come
from the state concerned and/or from within the state itself. International issues in
international relations are becoming increasingly complex so that they are called
contemporary global issues. In this post-Cold War era, threats can mean disease outbreaks,
human trafficking, narcotics, arms trafficking, poverty, illiteracy, infectious viruses, which
are experienced by several countries not the country itself.
Thus, contemporary global issues are issues that developed and expanded after the end
of the Cold War in the 1990s. These contemporary global issues are related to the problems
faced by the international community in the new world order (new order) which is faced with
welfare issues related to human security. The form of security threats in this era has been
transformed so that the form of the international security agenda has also become new,
namely the New Global Security Agenda.
In 2002, the US Department of State under the US Secretary of Global Affairs, Paula J.
Dobriansky, issued a statement released on its website8 regarding new global security by
previously formulating an understanding of what is meant by global issues: At this point, it is
worth defining what I mean by global issues. Global issues are those issues that are not
limited by borders or boundaries but that reach across international lines to affect us all. My
global portfolio encompasses environment and science, refugees and migration, narcotics
trafficking and law enforcement, human rights, and health matters. Though he was speaking
in the first century B.C., the Roman poet Horace aptly described what could be called the
crux of modern global affairs when he wrote, "Your own safety is at stake when your
neighbor's wall is ablaze." The essence of global issues is a recognition that the people of the
world are inexorably linked and that, in today's world, that which touches some touches all.
Since September 11, never have we been more acutely aware that our own safety and the
protection of our way of life must be guarded by due attention to international problems -
such as injustice and the inadequacy of the rule of law, poverty, disease, and repression.
These are the blazing walls of today's world that threaten to engulf us. That is why these
issues have become central to American foreign policy and our efforts to protect our national
interests.
The US defines global issues as those that are not limited to cross-border issues but also
include international issues that impact the US across issues such as the environment and
science, refugees and migration, drug trafficking and law enforcement, human rights and
health. The US recognizes that since 9/11 issues have not been as acute regarding the safety
and protection of life. The aforementioned issues, including terrorism and disease, have
become one of the factors for the US to call it the new global security agenda.
Types and Characteristics of Contemporary Global Issues
Earlier in 1996, a paper was published by the Institute for Security Studies, which
identified several global sources of insecurity and their implications for national security
policy formulation. There are eight important things after the Cold War as strategic global
issues, namely drugs, migration, the environment, population, global economic challenges,
the crisis of liberal democracy, fusion and division, and light weapon proliferation.9 In the
paper, it is explained that there are global sources of insecurity and their implications for
national security policy formulation. These eight issues then become an important cluster as
an extraordinary threat to national and regional security and ultimately global security.10
This was then coupled with 9/11. Thus, the threat in this new form is not in the form of a
"military attack" carried out by a state against another state but an act of crime committed by
a non-state actor and aimed at the state (state actor), individuals or citizens who threaten the
security of humanity (Human Security).
Drugs
The domestic toll of drug addiction is alarming. These include loss of productivity,
soaring health costs, a sharp rise in drug-related crime, and the accelerated spread of AIDS
through contaminated needles. Drug use is not just a social phenomenon; it has far-reaching
political implications and security implications. For example, in Latin America there are
close links between drug traffickers and leftist revolutionary groups such as the Columbia M-
19 and the Peruvian Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path).11 In Lebanon and elsewhere in the
Middle East, in the Balkans, the Southern Republics of the former Soviet Union, Burma
(Myanmar) and Sri Lanka, drugs have become a major source of funds for movements.
Drug trafficking can also affect relations between countries. For example, a major
reason for the 1989 invasion of Panama by the US was that this government, under the
leadership of General Manuel Noriega, was allegedly serving as a conduit for drug travel to
the US.13 Most recently, Ross Perot's strongest attack on the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA), he argued that its eradication was a restriction on free access of goods
between Mexico and the US in allowing larger free traders of drugs in a sense to distribute
their 'poison' in the United States.
Migration
The largest and most dramatic population movement in recent years has been that of
approximately 30 million refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs).14 Political
unrest, social upheaval, economic dislocation and ecological disasters have contributed to the
movement of people across national borders of one 'southern' regional country to another. As
a result there are 3.2 million Afghans in Pakistan and 2.3 million in Iran; 685,000 in Ethiopia
are reported to have sought refuge in Sudan, while there are also 320,000 Somalis and
384,000 Sudanese in Ethiopia; and a further 600,000 Ethiopians are reported to have fled the
war to Somalia. 17 Civil war and famine have caused a third of Liberia's population (763,000
out of a total population of 2.4 million) to flee to neighboring Guinea, Sierra Leone and the
Coast.
Mass population movements are increasingly attracting the attention of key
policymakers, not only for humanitarian reasons, but also because they create domestic
instability, generate inter-state tensions and threaten international security. South Africa is
estimated to have received eight million illegal immigrants, which was the case at one point.
In 1994, it cost South African taxpayers R1, 985 million to host illegal alien residents.
In addition, there is a reciprocal relationship between illegal immigrants and the spread of
infectious diseases such as AIDS, malaria, cholera and tuberculosis. Police sources have also
noted that fourteen percent of all crimes in South Africa involve illegal immigrants including
arms sales, money laundering and drug trafficking.
Environment
The waning of Cold War military tensions coincided with the development of real
security problems that threaten the security of many countries and require international
solutions, including the hole in the ozone layer, the greenhouse effect, deforestation, scarce
water, energy and other resources. The increase in environmental hazards has underscored
two forms of interaction between states in the world: cooperation and conflict.
In 1940, David Mitrany developed a functional theory of international relations. He
proposed that given the common problems facing humanity everywhere, cooperation between
states should be broadened. This theme was embraced and magnified by globalists in the
1980s and 1990s - even going so far as to propose a federal world government for Planet
Earth. At the heart of the theory is the idea that the gravity of global problems requires global
solutions - resulting in greater levels of cooperation between the world's nations. For
example, one country cannot solve a problem such as the widening hole in the Earth's ozone;
it must be a combined planet-wide effort. On one level global cooperation, sharing common
problems, can be seen as a way of such as the Rio Earth Summit.
The potential for resource-based conflict was evident in the 1990 and 1991 Gulf Wars,
which essentially revolved around the scarce resource of energy. One of the main reasons for
the US to get involved in the Gulf War was its dependence on Gulf oil. American dependence
on Persian Gulf oil rose 500 percent between 1985 and 1989. By 1990 oil accounted for half
of the $100 billion US trade deficit.
Population
The world population is expected to grow from 5.3 billion in 1990 to 6.2 billion in
2000, and 8.5 billion in 2025. The growth rate of nearly one billion per decade has socio-
cultural and political economic consequences for the macro-environment. For example,
resource problems in countries such as Mexico and Egypt are directly linked to population
growth.
In Africa itself there is a noted reciprocal relationship between the conflict in Rwanda
and the fact that it has one of the highest levels of population density in Africa's growth.
Population was also seen to be responsible for two-thirds of the increase in carbon dioxide
entering the atmosphere between 1950 and 1985, thereby contributing to the greenhouse
effect. The population explosion was also listed as one of the contributing factors to the
occurrence of IDPs.16
Global Economic Challenges
The need to restructure the world economy stems from two major points: the north-
south growth divide and economic competition. The existence of a north-south split in
economic growth, and in some cases expansion, is obvious. This is highlighted by the fact
that the world's richest twenty percent control eighty percent of the world's economic
resources. This is demonstrated by the fact that the world's richest twenty percent are now
150 times richer than the poorest. It is further underscored by the fact that 1.3 billion people
in developing countries live in conditions of absolute poverty.
Saddest of all, it can be seen by the fact that 34,000 children die every day in the world
from malnutrition and disease. The need to address the north-south problem stems not only
from humanitarian reasons, but also from the threat of prosperity whose poverty is
increasingly exposed. Economic scarcity in the form of global markets and rising production
costs intensify economic competition. Technological competition and various forms of
commercial warfare have replaced the arms race from after the Cold War. According to
Japanese politician Isihara Shintaro, the twenty-first century will be a century of economic
warfare. If this happens, international security is threatened. Large economic power blocs
have been developed in the Pacific Rim and North America as a counterweight to the
European Union (EU). Similar economic formations have also been developed in Central
Africa and South America. The existence of large economic formations is necessary and does
not necessarily mean economic competition but rather complementarity. However, the
scarcity of such competition can develop and the history can become 'hot'.
The Crisis of Liberal Democracy
The end of Soviet-style communist rule consolidated the position of Western liberal
democracies. Since then, there has been state-sponsored ideological competition. The fall of
the Soviet system vindicated the principle of liberal democracy in the eyes of many: Smith,
Mill and Keynes. Western ideas of triumphalism were encapsulated in Francis Fukuyama's
books The End of History and Last Man. The liberal democratic paradigm seemed absolutely
dominant. Post-1989 developments seemed to show this as economic structural adjustment
programs (ESAPs) were liberalized in many African countries; liberal multiparty winds
democracy that swept across much of Africa, South America, the Middle East and Asia.17
Subsequent developments in the former Eastern bloc, which has seen the rise of the former
Communist Party, seem to disprove this notion.
Even in South Africa, political pluralism has experienced some setbacks. Soon after the
fall of the Berlin Wall, the surge towards multiparty democracy intensified in South Africa.
Kenneth Kaunda's corrupt one-party rule system was replaced by Frederick Chiluba's
Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD). In Malawi, the despotic rule of President-for-
life Hastings Kamuzu Band ended peacefully when Malawians went to the Banda elections
and his Malawi Congress Party (MCP) was voted out of power, replaced by United
Democratic Front (UDF) leader Bakili Muluzi.
In Lesotho, military rule ended and the Basotho National Party lost dominance in
elections that brought Prime Minister Ntsu Mokhehle and his Basotholand Congress Party
(BCP) to power. In South Africa, white minority rule came on April 27, 1994-the country's
first racially inclusive election. Meanwhile, both of the former Portuguese colonies in the
region, Angola and Mozambique, began to make the long and difficult transition to political
pluralism.
Fusion and Cleavage
The two most conflicting elements of the contemporary period are fusion and division-
peace coming together with the violent disintegration of society.
Regarding fusion, a newborn global culture seems to be taking shape. Denim jeans and
CocaCola are forms that are universal. If Toshiba and Toyota are in New York, then
MacDonald and Kentucky Fried Chicken will be found in Tokyo. If lamb is cooked and
stewed in a restaurant in New Delhi, then a fancy restaurant in London serves hot curry from
India. If Michael Jackson and Madonna become very famous in Montevideo, Maputo or
Kuala Lumpur, then West African and Indian music is represented by the likes of Manu
Dibango and Babu Shegal, who will surely be found playing in the discos of Paris or
Manchester. This is a nascent global cultural trend that goes even deeper than this: Human
rights and gender, geographical, political and cultural crossovers. One of the reasons for this
is The development of communication and technological innovation made it cheaper to travel
and made it possible for CNN broadcasts to reach 200 million people in ninety other
countries.
Fusion seems to buck this trend: scarce resources, varying degrees of population growth
in heterogeneous societies and the resultant growth of ethnic nationalism are tearing societies
apart. This has been evident in Rwanda and Burundi between Hutu and Tutsi; between Serbs,
Croats and Muslims in the former Yugoslavia; and between Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims in
India. What is even more interesting today is that these issues are beginning to surface in
western countries with liberal democracies: consider the growth of neo-Nazism in Germany;
the rising fortunes of Jean-Marie le Pen's National Front in France; the invigorating separatist
movements in Quebec; Catalonia; the Basque country; Corsica; Lombardy; Scotland and
Wales; and increasing tensions between the Flems and Walloons in Belgium. Not least, in the
US there were the 1992 riots in Los Angeles and the growth of ethnocentric nationalist
movements.
Light Weapons Production
Light weapons refer to crew-portable and ground weapons. Definitions include small
arms such as pistols, rifles, assault rifles and sub-machine guns; and medium machine guns;
heavy machine guns (HMG) with a caliber not exceeding 14.5 mm; anti-aircraft and anti-tank
missiles; light mortars; mines and grenades.
The danger of small arms proliferation to world peace is underscored by the fact that in
1994, major armed conflicts were being waged in 27 countries around the world and small
arms were the overwhelming cause of death from these weapons. The existence of small arms
is perhaps most fragile in third world countries due to power imbalances such as insurgents,
drug traffickers and other criminals. For example, guerrillas in Kashmir fighting India use
Soviet Kalashnikovs, in Pakistan, small arms exacerbate ethnic conflicts between mohajirs,
Pakistani Punjabis, Pathans from the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan and
Sindhis.
For Third World countries, issues related to the threat of a new form of security
(Human Security) are "real security threats" because they have relevance to the domestic
conditions of Third World countries that are still preoccupied with the threat of human
security by various issues regarding: 1) Political transition situation; 2) Weak government
power due to not maximizing law enforcement efforts; 3) Political uncertainty; 4) Economic
crisis; 5) Conflict issues in border areas; 6) Ethnic conflicts and communal conflicts with
various international dimensions; 7) The issue of national disintegration; 8) Increase in the
number of terrorism perpetrators; 9) The ability to carry out threatening actions against
human security, etc.
The development of technology, especially information technology, is one of the strong
reasons for the expansion of contemporary global issues, resulting in a shift in the nature of
global issues from before the Cold War. Due to the development of threats that have different
types than before the Cold War, contemporary global issues have specificity:
Unconventional;
In the sense that contemporary global issues are non-armaments and/or arms
competition.
Nontraditional;
This means that the issue category is not inter-state.
Non-military;
As mentioned earlier, disease outbreaks, and/or drugs can be a threat.
Multidimensional; and
Issues are complex such as those concerning poverty.
Transnational
The issues raised in contemporary global are cross-border such as migration, refugees,
and others.
Thus, the characteristics of contemporary global issues as non-traditional security
threats are:
Contemporary global issues that are non-traditional security threats are not centered on
one particular country. Thus, the threats that are part of these contemporary global
issues are not only faced by one country, but have threatened a number of countries at
once (have regional and global dimensions). Therefore, contemporary global issues are
often referred to as "transnational security threats".
Contemporary global issues are not focused on a particular geographical location.
Based on their geographical character, these issues are It is often difficult to
"recognize" because it crosses borders between countries and even regional
(transnational) boundaries.
Contemporary global issues cannot be addressed by military force alone. Indeed,
military force can be used in escalations that lead to armed conflict. However, in the
long run, military force can no longer be used effectively to address the threat of these
global issues.
Security issues that have become contemporary global issues have threatened the
existence of a country and individuals who are part of the country.
The most obvious thing is that in the development of contemporary global issues is the
emergence of a new term in responding to the threats faced, namely human security.
Strategic Global Issues and National Security in International Relations Theory
Strategic global issues and national security in international relations theory are divided
into two major parts: 1) state centric point of view; and 2) global cross cutting issues. The
state-centric point of view is divided between realism and institutionalism where realism
focuses on national interests while institutionalism focuses on regimes, namely regime
theory. Meanwhile, there is a cross-border theory pioneered by Wednt in the form of
constructivism theory and Joseph Nye in the form of transnationalism theory. In this cross-
border theory, the issue of globalization is raised as one of the factors.
Joseph Nye in his theory states that what is called global interaction is the movement of
information, money, goods, tangible and intangible objects beyond national borders.18 He
divides into four types of global interaction: 1) communication; 2) transportation; 3) money;
4) tourism.19 The interaction is divided into two types, namely interstate communication
and transnational communication. Interstate communication is a type of communication in
relations International communication is conducted entirely under the control of the
government of the nation state. Meanwhile, transnational communication is a type of
communication in international relations that has begun to involve non-state actors.
This form of interstate communication is the classical type, which is also called having
a classical paradigm. This interaction focuses on the government as the agent with which
people relate politically. This interstate politics is different from-although indirectly related
to-domestic politics. Transnational forms of communication in this type are not taken into
account.
Unlike interstate forms of interaction, transnational interactions may involve
governments, but they may not. Non-state actors play an important role in these interactions.
Talking about transnational interactions, we are talking about finance, travel and
communication, which in some cases can involve state actors, for example, to cross borders.
Thus, Nye and Keohanne refer to transnational interaction as a term to describe the
movement of tangible items and services (intangible items) across national borders when at
least one actor is not a state actor and/or an interstate organization.21 Nye and Keohanne
picked up the definition brought by J. David Singer which states that individuals and/or
organizations can have a role in world politics: 1) they can be involved in a coalition that
controls and influences their country; 2) they play their role directly confronting (vs) with
foreign policies and / or foreign societies that are not through (by pass) the government of
their country.22 Nye and Keohanne argue that transnational interactions fall into and / or
more precisely in the second type of Singer's explanation. Keohanne and Nye then describe
the form of transnational interaction as follows to distinguish it from interstate forms of
internation:
In the post-world war globalization era, which involves contemporary global issues of
international relations, many interactions are of the transnational type. This is inseparable
from the existence of Various technologies have been invented, especially communication
technology. Individuals can interact directly with the international community and/or
organizations of nations such as the United Nations. Some of the effects described by
Keohanne and Nye that occur in this type of interaction are essentially increased sensitivity
between people which means changing the form of their relationship with the government.
With global mass communication, different groups from different societies, such as
radical students, military personnel, or ethnic minorities, can observe each other's behavior
and then take it into action. Thus, student radicals can make political tactics and demands
without any direct contact. Their international "consipracy" is conducted publicly and
disseminated with the help of specialized media. Perpetrators in this global phenomenon may
be punished, but its scale, scope and speed are the product of global television.
In brief, Keohanne and Nye concluded that the effects of transnational interactions are:
1) changes in behavior; 2) international pluralism; 3) increased restrictions on states; 4)
increased ability of states to influence others; and 5) the emergence of independent actors
with private foreign policies that can directly oppose or reject their government's policies.
This is most evident in the fact that an individual in a family, the smallest organization
in the country, does not even have control over what his family members access with the
internet technology. This then becomes the same thing that happens at the state level. Thus,
state control is weakened and challenges to national security are strengthened. Threats are
becoming more complex as information technology can target the individual level and
influence their actions bypassing state governance. Does this mean that the state must be
authoritarian and or is there a new form?
Form a Comprehensive Security Strategy: A United Nations Proposal
To the challenges faced by the international community today, the United Nations (UN)
offers a way out. For two decades now, the international community has been working
towards a broad understanding of what constitutes security. Seeking input from governments,
academics, community groups and intergovernmental organizations, the UN held a meeting
called the 2000 Millennium Summit for a world "free of want" and "free of fear". As a result
of this meeting, an understanding and/or input on human security was formed.
In 2001, the UN created a special unit on humanitarian security called the Commission
of Human Security (CHS). The Commission consists of twelve international figures,
including Sadako Ogata - former UN High Commissioner for Refugees - and Professor
Amartya Sen (Nobel Laureate 1998). Humanitarian security has refocused the attention of
states and the international community on the survival, livelihoods and dignity of people as
the basis for peace, development and human progress.
While humanitarian security remains vital to stability and peace, the complexity and
interconnectedness of old and new threats - from chronic and persistent poverty, to violent
conflict, climate change, human trafficking, health, and financial crises - creates a shared
vulnerability to the growing risk of diffuse and cross cutting threats. As challenges can
evolve rapidly within and across nations and deliver powerful crises, humanitarian security
emphasizes the need for a new framework that combines the agendas of security and peace,
development and human rights in a more effective, efficient, and prevention-oriented process.
Here is the UN statement mentioned in the document: While national security remains pivotal
to peace and stability, the complexity and interrelatedness of old and new threats-from
chronic and persistent poverty, to violent conflicts, climate change, human trafficking, health
pandemics, and economic and financial crises-reveal our shared vulnerabilities to a growing
risk of threats that are widespread and cross-cutting. Because these challenges can spread
rapidly within and across nations and give rise to more intractable crises, human security
emphasizes the need for a new framework that combines the agendas of peace and security,
development and human rights in a more effective, efficient and prevention-oriented manner.
In United States, it can be summarized that humanitarian security is to protect the vital
core of human life by enhancing human freedom and fulfilling human needs. The CHS's
arguments for the importance of humanitarian security, touched on a little earlier, are detailed
below:
As argued by the Commission on Human Security (CHS), the need for a new paradigm
of security is associated with two sets of dynamics:
First, human security is needed in response to the complexity and the interrelatedness
of both old and new security threats-from chronic and persistent poverty to ethnic violence,
human trafficking, climate change, health pandemics, international terrorism, and sudden
economic and financial downturns. Such threats tend to acquire transnational dimensions and
move beyond traditional notions of security that focus on external military aggressions alone.
Second, human security is required as a comprehensive approach that utilizes the wide
range of new opportunities to tackle such threats in an integrated manner. Human security
threats cannot be tackled through conventional mechanisms alone. Instead, they require a new
consensus that recognizes the linkages and the interdependencies between development,
human rights and national security.
In essence, the definition provided by the CHS conceptualizes re-envision security with its
most fundamental issues:
moving away from the traditional, state-centric conception of security focused
primarily on the security of the state from military aggression, one that concentrates on
the security of individuals, their protection and empowerment;
draw attention to the many threats that cut across different aspects of human life and
thus highlight the interface between security, development and human rights; and
promote a new integrated, coordinated and people-centered approach to advancing
peace, security and development within and across countries.
Human security brings together the 'human element' in security, rights and
development. As such, it is an inter-disciplinary concept that displays the following
characteristics: 1) human-centered; 2) multi-sectoral; 3) comprehensive; 4) context-specific;
and 5) prevention-oriented.
As a human-centered concept, human security places the individual at the 'center of
analysis'. As a result, it considers the range of conditions that threaten survival, livelihoods
and dignity, and identifies the lower threshold of intolerable human life, threatened. Human
security is also based on a multi-sectoral understanding of insecurity. Therefore, human
security requires an expanded understanding of threats and includes related causes of
insecurity, e.g. for economic, food, health, environmental, personal, community and political
security.
This interdependence has important implications for policymaking as it suggests that
human insecurity cannot be addressed in isolation through fragmented stand-alone responses.
Instead, human security involves a comprehensive approach that emphasizes the need for a
multi-sectoral response that brings together agendas related to security, development and
human rights.
Moreover, as a context-specific concept, human security recognizes that insecurity
varies across different settings and as such advances solutions that are contextually
responsive to the particular situation they seek to address. Finally, in addressing the risks and
root causes of insecurity, human security is prevention oriented and introduces a dual focus
on protection and empowerment.
Conclusion
Based on the analysis and discussion above, it can be concluded that national security
in the context of contemporary global issues in the perspective of international relations is
complex, because threats at the individual level become real. This is then explained in
transnational theory in international relations. In its development, the UN then offered to re-
conceptualize the notion of national security which ultimately provided input on human
security.
The UN has done many things related to humanitarian security. However, the most
obvious challenge still comes if it is clashed with the most classic international relations
theory, namely realism regarding superpowers. The extent to which superpower involvement
can be genuinely involved in the development of issues without any element of national
interest involvement in it, at least supports this conception.
History of the Emergence of Contemporary Global Issues
Contemporary history is a subset of modern history that describes the period of history
from about 1945 to the present. The term "contemporary history" has been used since at least
the early 20th century 19. Contemporary political history is dominated by the Cold War
(1945-1991) between the United States and the Soviet Union whose effects were felt around
the world. In this geopolitical context, the fall of European colonial empires in Africa and
Asia between 1945 and 1975 was often followed by American-Soviet confrontation in the
form of proxy wars and through intervention in the internal politics of smaller states. The
U.S.-Soviet rivalry eventually ended with the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw
Pact in 1991, following the Revolutions of 1989. and in the last stage and after the Cold War
paved the way for the democratization of large parts of Europe, Africa and Latin America.
In the Middle East, the period after 1945 was dominated by conflicts involving the new
state of Israel and the rise of petroleum politics, as well as the growth of Islamism after the
1980s. The period after 1945 saw the growth of the first supranational governmental
organizations, such as the United Nations and the European Union. Socially, western
countries experienced the rise of counter cultures3 and the sexual revolution4 between the
1960s and 1980s which transformed social relations and was fueled by the 1968 Protests.
Living standards rose sharply around the world especially in developed countries as a result
of, but also the emergence of, new economic powers such as Japan and West Germany. US
culture, especially consumerism, spread widely. By the 1960s, many western countries had
begun the process of deindustrialization. In their place, globalization led to the emergence of
new industrial centers, such as Japan, Taiwan and later China, based on exports consumer
goods for developed countries. The period after 1945 was also a transformative period in the
history of science because, among other things, nuclear technology, molecular biology,
particle physics and so on emerged which became the background for the emergence of
various technologies that appear today including the internet.
The history of the modern international system itself actually began in its history when
the Westphalia system (1648). States are interconnected with each other in an environment
called the international system. All countries are considered to have sovereignty, and some
countries are stronger than others. The system has many forms of informal rules about what
should happen, but these rules are not binding. International relations have existed since the
existence of states. The modern international system that we find ourselves in, however, is
not that old. The peace that ended a 30-year war between Catholic and Protestant states in
Western and Central Europe was the forerunner of the modern international system. It
declared that the sovereign leader of each nation state could do what he wanted within its
borders and established the state as a global actor in global politics. From then onwards, the
international system was in relation to nation states.
In the 17th-18th centuries, nation-states emerged to dominate the system of
international relations. A number of strong states dominated Europe, with some powers
coming and going. Weak states usually joined forces with others to prevent the dominant
power from becoming too strong, which is known as a proactive form of preserving the
balance of power. Economic competition and frequent wars marked this era, with countries
such as Britain and France being the most powerful to date, but some other powerful
countries collapsing over time, namely the Ottoman Empire and Spain.
Fundamental differences began to emerge in the 19th century, bringing about two major
changes in the international system:
Nationalism as a form of strength, which makes the nation state grow stronger.
Italy and Germany united, which changed the military and political balance in Europe.
Problems arose with the unification of Italy and Germany, which contributed to World
War I (1914-1918). The international system changed drastically after the war. Many
powerful countries in Europe were devastated by the war, and the United States (US) itself
began to come out of its isolation and turn into a global power. At the same time, the end of
the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian powers created a series of new states, and the rise of
communism in Russia. These factors led to the Treaty of Versailles, the Nazis and
Communism, and World War II (1939-1945).
New governments have emerged since the end of World War II. After the War, two
powers emerged: The US and the Soviet Union, which was called the bipolar system. Since
the end of the Cold War, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US has become the sole
ruler of the international system, which is called unipolar. However, there are other
viewpoints that see that the economic power of the US is not so strong that it cannot be said
that the control of the economy is entirely in the hands of the US because there are other
strong economic countries such as countries in Asia, thus calling it multi-polar.
Contemporary global issues emerged precisely at the end of the Cold War and/or when
the modern international system was unipolar. This can be regarded as the second period of
the new international order. The events that occurred became the context for contemporary
global issues. The most devastating event was the so-called 9/11 or September attacks. An
attack reportedly carried out by the Al Qaedah terrorist group on the US on September 11,
2001. There were about 2,999 victims, about 6,000 injured and 10 million properties and
infrastructures damaged.7 It is said to be devastating here because the attack was carried out
on the unipolar power holder of the international system at that time, namely the US. There
had been previous events that set the context for contemporary global issues such as the
genocides in Rwanda and Bosnia and the emergence of new states in Eastern Europe.
With the events of 9/11 and the genocide problem being addressed by the international
community, the new world government There is one threat that has a different character. The
nature of the threat this time is no longer from the state as was dominant in the Cold War
period but non-state actors. Non-state actors as the perpetrators of the causes of world
insecurity are becoming increasingly difficult to identify because such actors can also come
from the state concerned and/or from within the state itself. International issues in
international relations are becoming increasingly complex so that they are called
contemporary global issues. In this post-Cold War era, threats can mean disease outbreaks,
human trafficking, narcotics, arms trafficking, poverty, illiteracy, infectious viruses, which
are experienced by several countries not the country itself.
Thus, contemporary global issues are issues that developed and expanded after the end
of the Cold War in the 1990s. These contemporary global issues are related to the problems
faced by the international community in the new world order (new order) which is faced with
welfare issues related to human security. The form of security threats in this era has been
transformed so that the form of the international security agenda has also become new,
namely the New Global Security Agenda.
In 2002, the US Department of State under the US Secretary of Global Affairs, Paula J.
Dobriansky, issued a statement released on its website8 regarding new global security by
previously formulating an understanding of what is meant by global issues: At this point, it is
worth defining what I mean by global issues. Global issues are those issues that are not
limited by borders or boundaries but that reach across international lines to affect us all. My
global portfolio encompasses environment and science, refugees and migration, narcotics
trafficking and law enforcement, human rights, and health matters. Though he was speaking
in the first century B.C., the Roman poet Horace aptly described what could be called the
crux of modern global affairs when he wrote, "Your own safety is at stake when your
neighbor's wall is ablaze." The essence of global issues is a recognition that the people of the
world are inexorably linked and that, in today's world, that which touches some touches all.
Since September 11, never have we been more acutely aware that our own safety and the
protection of our way of life must be guarded by due attention to international problems -
such as injustice and the inadequacy of the rule of law, poverty, disease, and repression.
These are the blazing walls of today's world that threaten to engulf us. That is why these
issues have become central to American foreign policy and our efforts to protect our national
interests.
The US defines global issues as those that are not limited to cross-border issues but also
include international issues that impact the US across issues such as the environment and
science, refugees and migration, drug trafficking and law enforcement, human rights and
health. The US recognizes that since 9/11 issues have not been as acute regarding the safety
and protection of life. The aforementioned issues, including terrorism and disease, have
become one of the factors for the US to call it the new global security agenda.
Types and Characteristics of Contemporary Global Issues
Earlier in 1996, a paper was published by the Institute for Security Studies, which
identified several global sources of insecurity and their implications for national security
policy formulation. There are eight important things after the Cold War as strategic global
issues, namely drugs, migration, the environment, population, global economic challenges,
the crisis of liberal democracy, fusion and division, and light weapon proliferation.9 In the
paper, it is explained that there are global sources of insecurity and their implications for
national security policy formulation. These eight issues then become an important cluster as
an extraordinary threat to national and regional security and ultimately global security.10
This was then coupled with 9/11. Thus, the threat in this new form is not in the form of a
"military attack" carried out by a state against another state but an act of crime committed by
a non-state actor and aimed at the state (state actor), individuals or citizens who threaten the
security of humanity (Human Security).
Drugs
The domestic toll of drug addiction is alarming. These include loss of productivity,
soaring health costs, a sharp rise in drug-related crime, and the accelerated spread of AIDS
through contaminated needles. Drug use is not just a social phenomenon; it has far-reaching
political implications and security implications. For example, in Latin America there are
close links between drug traffickers and leftist revolutionary groups such as the Columbia M-
19 and the Peruvian Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path).11 In Lebanon and elsewhere in the
Middle East, in the Balkans, the Southern Republics of the former Soviet Union, Burma
(Myanmar) and Sri Lanka, drugs have become a major source of funds for movements.
Drug trafficking can also affect relations between countries. For example, a major
reason for the 1989 invasion of Panama by the US was that this government, under the
leadership of General Manuel Noriega, was allegedly serving as a conduit for drug travel to
the US.13 Most recently, Ross Perot's strongest attack on the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA), he argued that its eradication was a restriction on free access of goods
between Mexico and the US in allowing larger free traders of drugs in a sense to distribute
their 'poison' in the United States.
Migration
The largest and most dramatic population movement in recent years has been that of
approximately 30 million refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs).14 Political
unrest, social upheaval, economic dislocation and ecological disasters have contributed to the
movement of people across national borders of one 'southern' regional country to another. As
a result there are 3.2 million Afghans in Pakistan and 2.3 million in Iran; 685,000 in Ethiopia
are reported to have sought refuge in Sudan, while there are also 320,000 Somalis and
384,000 Sudanese in Ethiopia; and a further 600,000 Ethiopians are reported to have fled the
war to Somalia. 17 Civil war and famine have caused a third of Liberia's population (763,000
out of a total population of 2.4 million) to flee to neighboring Guinea, Sierra Leone and the
Coast.
Mass population movements are increasingly attracting the attention of key
policymakers, not only for humanitarian reasons, but also because they create domestic
instability, generate inter-state tensions and threaten international security. South Africa is
estimated to have received eight million illegal immigrants, which was the case at one point.
In 1994, it cost South African taxpayers R1, 985 million to host illegal alien residents.
In addition, there is a reciprocal relationship between illegal immigrants and the spread of
infectious diseases such as AIDS, malaria, cholera and tuberculosis. Police sources have also
noted that fourteen percent of all crimes in South Africa involve illegal immigrants including
arms sales, money laundering and drug trafficking.
Environment
The waning of Cold War military tensions coincided with the development of real
security problems that threaten the security of many countries and require international
solutions, including the hole in the ozone layer, the greenhouse effect, deforestation, scarce
water, energy and other resources. The increase in environmental hazards has underscored
two forms of interaction between states in the world: cooperation and conflict.
In 1940, David Mitrany developed a functional theory of international relations. He
proposed that given the common problems facing humanity everywhere, cooperation between
states should be broadened. This theme was embraced and magnified by globalists in the
1980s and 1990s - even going so far as to propose a federal world government for Planet
Earth. At the heart of the theory is the idea that the gravity of global problems requires global
solutions - resulting in greater levels of cooperation between the world's nations. For
example, one country cannot solve a problem such as the widening hole in the Earth's ozone;
it must be a combined planet-wide effort. On one level global cooperation, sharing common
problems, can be seen as a way of such as the Rio Earth Summit.
The potential for resource-based conflict was evident in the 1990 and 1991 Gulf Wars,
which essentially revolved around the scarce resource of energy. One of the main reasons for
the US to get involved in the Gulf War was its dependence on Gulf oil. American dependence
on Persian Gulf oil rose 500 percent between 1985 and 1989. By 1990 oil accounted for half
of the $100 billion US trade deficit.
Population
The world population is expected to grow from 5.3 billion in 1990 to 6.2 billion in
2000, and 8.5 billion in 2025. The growth rate of nearly one billion per decade has socio-
cultural and political economic consequences for the macro-environment. For example,
resource problems in countries such as Mexico and Egypt are directly linked to population
growth.
In Africa itself there is a noted reciprocal relationship between the conflict in Rwanda
and the fact that it has one of the highest levels of population density in Africa's growth.
Population was also seen to be responsible for two-thirds of the increase in carbon dioxide
entering the atmosphere between 1950 and 1985, thereby contributing to the greenhouse
effect. The population explosion was also listed as one of the contributing factors to the
occurrence of IDPs.16
Global Economic Challenges
The need to restructure the world economy stems from two major points: the north-
south growth divide and economic competition. The existence of a north-south split in
economic growth, and in some cases expansion, is obvious. This is highlighted by the fact
that the world's richest twenty percent control eighty percent of the world's economic
resources. This is demonstrated by the fact that the world's richest twenty percent are now
150 times richer than the poorest. It is further underscored by the fact that 1.3 billion people
in developing countries live in conditions of absolute poverty.
Saddest of all, it can be seen by the fact that 34,000 children die every day in the world
from malnutrition and disease. The need to address the north-south problem stems not only
from humanitarian reasons, but also from the threat of prosperity whose poverty is
increasingly exposed. Economic scarcity in the form of global markets and rising production
costs intensify economic competition. Technological competition and various forms of
commercial warfare have replaced the arms race from after the Cold War. According to
Japanese politician Isihara Shintaro, the twenty-first century will be a century of economic
warfare. If this happens, international security is threatened. Large economic power blocs
have been developed in the Pacific Rim and North America as a counterweight to the
European Union (EU). Similar economic formations have also been developed in Central
Africa and South America. The existence of large economic formations is necessary and does
not necessarily mean economic competition but rather complementarity. However, the
scarcity of such competition can develop and the history can become 'hot'.
The Crisis of Liberal Democracy
The end of Soviet-style communist rule consolidated the position of Western liberal
democracies. Since then, there has been state-sponsored ideological competition. The fall of
the Soviet system vindicated the principle of liberal democracy in the eyes of many: Smith,
Mill and Keynes. Western ideas of triumphalism were encapsulated in Francis Fukuyama's
books The End of History and Last Man. The liberal democratic paradigm seemed absolutely
dominant. Post-1989 developments seemed to show this as economic structural adjustment
programs (ESAPs) were liberalized in many African countries; liberal multiparty winds
democracy that swept across much of Africa, South America, the Middle East and Asia.17
Subsequent developments in the former Eastern bloc, which has seen the rise of the former
Communist Party, seem to disprove this notion.
Even in South Africa, political pluralism has experienced some setbacks. Soon after the
fall of the Berlin Wall, the surge towards multiparty democracy intensified in South Africa.
Kenneth Kaunda's corrupt one-party rule system was replaced by Frederick Chiluba's
Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD). In Malawi, the despotic rule of President-for-
life Hastings Kamuzu Band ended peacefully when Malawians went to the Banda elections
and his Malawi Congress Party (MCP) was voted out of power, replaced by United
Democratic Front (UDF) leader Bakili Muluzi.
In Lesotho, military rule ended and the Basotho National Party lost dominance in
elections that brought Prime Minister Ntsu Mokhehle and his Basotholand Congress Party
(BCP) to power. In South Africa, white minority rule came on April 27, 1994-the country's
first racially inclusive election. Meanwhile, both of the former Portuguese colonies in the
region, Angola and Mozambique, began to make the long and difficult transition to political
pluralism.
Fusion and Cleavage
The two most conflicting elements of the contemporary period are fusion and division-
peace coming together with the violent disintegration of society.
Regarding fusion, a newborn global culture seems to be taking shape. Denim jeans and
CocaCola are forms that are universal. If Toshiba and Toyota are in New York, then
MacDonald and Kentucky Fried Chicken will be found in Tokyo. If lamb is cooked and
stewed in a restaurant in New Delhi, then a fancy restaurant in London serves hot curry from
India. If Michael Jackson and Madonna become very famous in Montevideo, Maputo or
Kuala Lumpur, then West African and Indian music is represented by the likes of Manu
Dibango and Babu Shegal, who will surely be found playing in the discos of Paris or
Manchester. This is a nascent global cultural trend that goes even deeper than this: Human
rights and gender, geographical, political and cultural crossovers. One of the reasons for this
is The development of communication and technological innovation made it cheaper to travel
and made it possible for CNN broadcasts to reach 200 million people in ninety other
countries.
Fusion seems to buck this trend: scarce resources, varying degrees of population growth
in heterogeneous societies and the resultant growth of ethnic nationalism are tearing societies
apart. This has been evident in Rwanda and Burundi between Hutu and Tutsi; between Serbs,
Croats and Muslims in the former Yugoslavia; and between Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims in
India. What is even more interesting today is that these issues are beginning to surface in
western countries with liberal democracies: consider the growth of neo-Nazism in Germany;
the rising fortunes of Jean-Marie le Pen's National Front in France; the invigorating separatist
movements in Quebec; Catalonia; the Basque country; Corsica; Lombardy; Scotland and
Wales; and increasing tensions between the Flems and Walloons in Belgium. Not least, in the
US there were the 1992 riots in Los Angeles and the growth of ethnocentric nationalist
movements.
Light Weapons Production
Light weapons refer to crew-portable and ground weapons. Definitions include small
arms such as pistols, rifles, assault rifles and sub-machine guns; and medium machine guns;
heavy machine guns (HMG) with a caliber not exceeding 14.5 mm; anti-aircraft and anti-tank
missiles; light mortars; mines and grenades.
The danger of small arms proliferation to world peace is underscored by the fact that in
1994, major armed conflicts were being waged in 27 countries around the world and small
arms were the overwhelming cause of death from these weapons. The existence of small arms
is perhaps most fragile in third world countries due to power imbalances such as insurgents,
drug traffickers and other criminals. For example, guerrillas in Kashmir fighting India use
Soviet Kalashnikovs, in Pakistan, small arms exacerbate ethnic conflicts between mohajirs,
Pakistani Punjabis, Pathans from the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan and
Sindhis.
For Third World countries, issues related to the threat of a new form of security
(Human Security) are "real security threats" because they have relevance to the domestic
conditions of Third World countries that are still preoccupied with the threat of human
security by various issues regarding: 1) Political transition situation; 2) Weak government
power due to not maximizing law enforcement efforts; 3) Political uncertainty; 4) Economic
crisis; 5) Conflict issues in border areas; 6) Ethnic conflicts and communal conflicts with
various international dimensions; 7) The issue of national disintegration; 8) Increase in the
number of terrorism perpetrators; 9) The ability to carry out threatening actions against
human security, etc.
The development of technology, especially information technology, is one of the strong
reasons for the expansion of contemporary global issues, resulting in a shift in the nature of
global issues from before the Cold War. Due to the development of threats that have different
types than before the Cold War, contemporary global issues have specificity:
Unconventional;
In the sense that contemporary global issues are non-armaments and/or arms
competition.
Nontraditional;
This means that the issue category is not inter-state.
Non-military;
As mentioned earlier, disease outbreaks, and/or drugs can be a threat.
Multidimensional; and
Issues are complex such as those concerning poverty.
Transnational
The issues raised in contemporary global are cross-border such as migration, refugees,
and others.
Thus, the characteristics of contemporary global issues as non-traditional security
threats are:
Contemporary global issues that are non-traditional security threats are not centered on
one particular country. Thus, the threats that are part of these contemporary global
issues are not only faced by one country, but have threatened a number of countries at
once (have regional and global dimensions). Therefore, contemporary global issues are
often referred to as "transnational security threats".
Contemporary global issues are not focused on a particular geographical location.
Based on their geographical character, these issues are It is often difficult to
"recognize" because it crosses borders between countries and even regional
(transnational) boundaries.
Contemporary global issues cannot be addressed by military force alone. Indeed,
military force can be used in escalations that lead to armed conflict. However, in the
long run, military force can no longer be used effectively to address the threat of these
global issues.
Security issues that have become contemporary global issues have threatened the
existence of a country and individuals who are part of the country.
The most obvious thing is that in the development of contemporary global issues is the
emergence of a new term in responding to the threats faced, namely human security.
Strategic Global Issues and National Security in International Relations Theory
Strategic global issues and national security in international relations theory are divided
into two major parts: 1) state centric point of view; and 2) global cross cutting issues. The
state-centric point of view is divided between realism and institutionalism where realism
focuses on national interests while institutionalism focuses on regimes, namely regime
theory. Meanwhile, there is a cross-border theory pioneered by Wednt in the form of
constructivism theory and Joseph Nye in the form of transnationalism theory. In this cross-
border theory, the issue of globalization is raised as one of the factors.
Joseph Nye in his theory states that what is called global interaction is the movement of
information, money, goods, tangible and intangible objects beyond national borders.18 He
divides into four types of global interaction: 1) communication; 2) transportation; 3) money;
4) tourism.19 The interaction is divided into two types, namely interstate communication
and transnational communication. Interstate communication is a type of communication in
relations International communication is conducted entirely under the control of the
government of the nation state. Meanwhile, transnational communication is a type of
communication in international relations that has begun to involve non-state actors.
This form of interstate communication is the classical type, which is also called having
a classical paradigm. This interaction focuses on the government as the agent with which
people relate politically. This interstate politics is different from-although indirectly related
to-domestic politics. Transnational forms of communication in this type are not taken into
account.
Unlike interstate forms of interaction, transnational interactions may involve
governments, but they may not. Non-state actors play an important role in these interactions.
Talking about transnational interactions, we are talking about finance, travel and
communication, which in some cases can involve state actors, for example, to cross borders.
Thus, Nye and Keohanne refer to transnational interaction as a term to describe the
movement of tangible items and services (intangible items) across national borders when at
least one actor is not a state actor and/or an interstate organization.21 Nye and Keohanne
picked up the definition brought by J. David Singer which states that individuals and/or
organizations can have a role in world politics: 1) they can be involved in a coalition that
controls and influences their country; 2) they play their role directly confronting (vs) with
foreign policies and / or foreign societies that are not through (by pass) the government of
their country.22 Nye and Keohanne argue that transnational interactions fall into and / or
more precisely in the second type of Singer's explanation. Keohanne and Nye then describe
the form of transnational interaction as follows to distinguish it from interstate forms of
internation:
In the post-world war globalization era, which involves contemporary global issues of
international relations, many interactions are of the transnational type. This is inseparable
from the existence of Various technologies have been invented, especially communication
technology. Individuals can interact directly with the international community and/or
organizations of nations such as the United Nations. Some of the effects described by
Keohanne and Nye that occur in this type of interaction are essentially increased sensitivity
between people which means changing the form of their relationship with the government.
With global mass communication, different groups from different societies, such as
radical students, military personnel, or ethnic minorities, can observe each other's behavior
and then take it into action. Thus, student radicals can make political tactics and demands
without any direct contact. Their international "consipracy" is conducted publicly and
disseminated with the help of specialized media. Perpetrators in this global phenomenon may
be punished, but its scale, scope and speed are the product of global television.
In brief, Keohanne and Nye concluded that the effects of transnational interactions are:
1) changes in behavior; 2) international pluralism; 3) increased restrictions on states; 4)
increased ability of states to influence others; and 5) the emergence of independent actors
with private foreign policies that can directly oppose or reject their government's policies.
This is most evident in the fact that an individual in a family, the smallest organization
in the country, does not even have control over what his family members access with the
internet technology. This then becomes the same thing that happens at the state level. Thus,
state control is weakened and challenges to national security are strengthened. Threats are
becoming more complex as information technology can target the individual level and
influence their actions bypassing state governance. Does this mean that the state must be
authoritarian and or is there a new form?
Form a Comprehensive Security Strategy: A United Nations Proposal
To the challenges faced by the international community today, the United Nations (UN)
offers a way out. For two decades now, the international community has been working
towards a broad understanding of what constitutes security. Seeking input from governments,
academics, community groups and intergovernmental organizations, the UN held a meeting
called the 2000 Millennium Summit for a world "free of want" and "free of fear". As a result
of this meeting, an understanding and/or input on human security was formed.
In 2001, the UN created a special unit on humanitarian security called the Commission
of Human Security (CHS). The Commission consists of twelve international figures,
including Sadako Ogata - former UN High Commissioner for Refugees - and Professor
Amartya Sen (Nobel Laureate 1998). Humanitarian security has refocused the attention of
states and the international community on the survival, livelihoods and dignity of people as
the basis for peace, development and human progress.
While humanitarian security remains vital to stability and peace, the complexity and
interconnectedness of old and new threats - from chronic and persistent poverty, to violent
conflict, climate change, human trafficking, health, and financial crises - creates a shared
vulnerability to the growing risk of diffuse and cross cutting threats. As challenges can
evolve rapidly within and across nations and deliver powerful crises, humanitarian security
emphasizes the need for a new framework that combines the agendas of security and peace,
development and human rights in a more effective, efficient, and prevention-oriented process.
Here is the UN statement mentioned in the document: While national security remains pivotal
to peace and stability, the complexity and interrelatedness of old and new threats-from
chronic and persistent poverty, to violent conflicts, climate change, human trafficking, health
pandemics, and economic and financial crises-reveal our shared vulnerabilities to a growing
risk of threats that are widespread and cross-cutting. Because these challenges can spread
rapidly within and across nations and give rise to more intractable crises, human security
emphasizes the need for a new framework that combines the agendas of peace and security,
development and human rights in a more effective, efficient and prevention-oriented manner.
In United States, it can be summarized that humanitarian security is to protect the vital
core of human life by enhancing human freedom and fulfilling human needs. The CHS's
arguments for the importance of humanitarian security, touched on a little earlier, are detailed
below:
As argued by the Commission on Human Security (CHS), the need for a new paradigm
of security is associated with two sets of dynamics:
First, human security is needed in response to the complexity and the interrelatedness
of both old and new security threats-from chronic and persistent poverty to ethnic violence,
human trafficking, climate change, health pandemics, international terrorism, and sudden
economic and financial downturns. Such threats tend to acquire transnational dimensions and
move beyond traditional notions of security that focus on external military aggressions alone.
Second, human security is required as a comprehensive approach that utilizes the wide
range of new opportunities to tackle such threats in an integrated manner. Human security
threats cannot be tackled through conventional mechanisms alone. Instead, they require a new
consensus that recognizes the linkages and the interdependencies between development,
human rights and national security.
In essence, the definition provided by the CHS conceptualizes re-envision security with its
most fundamental issues:
moving away from the traditional, state-centric conception of security focused
primarily on the security of the state from military aggression, one that concentrates on
the security of individuals, their protection and empowerment;
draw attention to the many threats that cut across different aspects of human life and
thus highlight the interface between security, development and human rights; and
promote a new integrated, coordinated and people-centered approach to advancing
peace, security and development within and across countries.
Human security brings together the 'human element' in security, rights and
development. As such, it is an inter-disciplinary concept that displays the following
characteristics: 1) human-centered; 2) multi-sectoral; 3) comprehensive; 4) context-specific;
and 5) prevention-oriented.
As a human-centered concept, human security places the individual at the 'center of
analysis'. As a result, it considers the range of conditions that threaten survival, livelihoods
and dignity, and identifies the lower threshold of intolerable human life, threatened. Human
security is also based on a multi-sectoral understanding of insecurity. Therefore, human
security requires an expanded understanding of threats and includes related causes of
insecurity, e.g. for economic, food, health, environmental, personal, community and political
security.
This interdependence has important implications for policymaking as it suggests that
human insecurity cannot be addressed in isolation through fragmented stand-alone responses.
Instead, human security involves a comprehensive approach that emphasizes the need for a
multi-sectoral response that brings together agendas related to security, development and
human rights.
Moreover, as a context-specific concept, human security recognizes that insecurity
varies across different settings and as such advances solutions that are contextually
responsive to the particular situation they seek to address. Finally, in addressing the risks and
root causes of insecurity, human security is prevention oriented and introduces a dual focus
on protection and empowerment.
Conclusion
Based on the analysis and discussion above, it can be concluded that national security
in the context of contemporary global issues in the perspective of international relations is
complex, because threats at the individual level become real. This is then explained in
transnational theory in international relations. In its development, the UN then offered to re-
conceptualize the notion of national security which ultimately provided input on human
security.
The UN has done many things related to humanitarian security. However, the most
obvious challenge still comes if it is clashed with the most classic international relations
theory, namely realism regarding superpowers. The extent to which superpower involvement
can be genuinely involved in the development of issues without any element of national
interest involvement in it, at least supports this conception.
History of the Emergence of Contemporary Global Issues
Contemporary history is a subset of modern history that describes the period of history
from about 1945 to the present. The term "contemporary history" has been used since at least
the early 20th century 19. Contemporary political history is dominated by the Cold War
(1945-1991) between the United States and the Soviet Union whose effects were felt around
the world. In this geopolitical context, the fall of European colonial empires in Africa and
Asia between 1945 and 1975 was often followed by American-Soviet confrontation in the
form of proxy wars and through intervention in the internal politics of smaller states. The
U.S.-Soviet rivalry eventually ended with the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw
Pact in 1991, following the Revolutions of 1989. and in the last stage and after the Cold War
paved the way for the democratization of large parts of Europe, Africa and Latin America.
In the Middle East, the period after 1945 was dominated by conflicts involving the new
state of Israel and the rise of petroleum politics, as well as the growth of Islamism after the
1980s. The period after 1945 saw the growth of the first supranational governmental
organizations, such as the United Nations and the European Union. Socially, western
countries experienced the rise of counter cultures3 and the sexual revolution4 between the
1960s and 1980s which transformed social relations and was fueled by the 1968 Protests.
Living standards rose sharply around the world especially in developed countries as a result
of, but also the emergence of, new economic powers such as Japan and West Germany. US
culture, especially consumerism, spread widely. By the 1960s, many western countries had
begun the process of deindustrialization. In their place, globalization led to the emergence of
new industrial centers, such as Japan, Taiwan and later China, based on exports consumer
goods for developed countries. The period after 1945 was also a transformative period in the
history of science because, among other things, nuclear technology, molecular biology,
particle physics and so on emerged which became the background for the emergence of
various technologies that appear today including the internet.
The history of the modern international system itself actually began in its history when
the Westphalia system (1648). States are interconnected with each other in an environment
called the international system. All countries are considered to have sovereignty, and some
countries are stronger than others. The system has many forms of informal rules about what
should happen, but these rules are not binding. International relations have existed since the
existence of states. The modern international system that we find ourselves in, however, is
not that old. The peace that ended a 30-year war between Catholic and Protestant states in
Western and Central Europe was the forerunner of the modern international system. It
declared that the sovereign leader of each nation state could do what he wanted within its
borders and established the state as a global actor in global politics. From then onwards, the
international system was in relation to nation states.
In the 17th-18th centuries, nation-states emerged to dominate the system of
international relations. A number of strong states dominated Europe, with some powers
coming and going. Weak states usually joined forces with others to prevent the dominant
power from becoming too strong, which is known as a proactive form of preserving the
balance of power. Economic competition and frequent wars marked this era, with countries
such as Britain and France being the most powerful to date, but some other powerful
countries collapsing over time, namely the Ottoman Empire and Spain.
Fundamental differences began to emerge in the 19th century, bringing about two major
changes in the international system:
Nationalism as a form of strength, which makes the nation state grow stronger.
Italy and Germany united, which changed the military and political balance in Europe.
Problems arose with the unification of Italy and Germany, which contributed to World
War I (1914-1918). The international system changed drastically after the war. Many
powerful countries in Europe were devastated by the war, and the United States (US) itself
began to come out of its isolation and turn into a global power. At the same time, the end of
the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian powers created a series of new states, and the rise of
communism in Russia. These factors led to the Treaty of Versailles, the Nazis and
Communism, and World War II (1939-1945).
New governments have emerged since the end of World War II. After the War, two
powers emerged: The US and the Soviet Union, which was called the bipolar system. Since
the end of the Cold War, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US has become the sole
ruler of the international system, which is called unipolar. However, there are other
viewpoints that see that the economic power of the US is not so strong that it cannot be said
that the control of the economy is entirely in the hands of the US because there are other
strong economic countries such as countries in Asia, thus calling it multi-polar.
Contemporary global issues emerged precisely at the end of the Cold War and/or when
the modern international system was unipolar. This can be regarded as the second period of
the new international order. The events that occurred became the context for contemporary
global issues. The most devastating event was the so-called 9/11 or September attacks. An
attack reportedly carried out by the Al Qaedah terrorist group on the US on September 11,
2001. There were about 2,999 victims, about 6,000 injured and 10 million properties and
infrastructures damaged.7 It is said to be devastating here because the attack was carried out
on the unipolar power holder of the international system at that time, namely the US. There
had been previous events that set the context for contemporary global issues such as the
genocides in Rwanda and Bosnia and the emergence of new states in Eastern Europe.
With the events of 9/11 and the genocide problem being addressed by the international
community, the new world government There is one threat that has a different character. The
nature of the threat this time is no longer from the state as was dominant in the Cold War
period but non-state actors. Non-state actors as the perpetrators of the causes of world
insecurity are becoming increasingly difficult to identify because such actors can also come
from the state concerned and/or from within the state itself. International issues in
international relations are becoming increasingly complex so that they are called
contemporary global issues. In this post-Cold War era, threats can mean disease outbreaks,
human trafficking, narcotics, arms trafficking, poverty, illiteracy, infectious viruses, which
are experienced by several countries not the country itself.
Thus, contemporary global issues are issues that developed and expanded after the end
of the Cold War in the 1990s. These contemporary global issues are related to the problems
faced by the international community in the new world order (new order) which is faced with
welfare issues related to human security. The form of security threats in this era has been
transformed so that the form of the international security agenda has also become new,
namely the New Global Security Agenda.
In 2002, the US Department of State under the US Secretary of Global Affairs, Paula J.
Dobriansky, issued a statement released on its website8 regarding new global security by
previously formulating an understanding of what is meant by global issues: At this point, it is
worth defining what I mean by global issues. Global issues are those issues that are not
limited by borders or boundaries but that reach across international lines to affect us all. My
global portfolio encompasses environment and science, refugees and migration, narcotics
trafficking and law enforcement, human rights, and health matters. Though he was speaking
in the first century B.C., the Roman poet Horace aptly described what could be called the
crux of modern global affairs when he wrote, "Your own safety is at stake when your
neighbor's wall is ablaze." The essence of global issues is a recognition that the people of the
world are inexorably linked and that, in today's world, that which touches some touches all.
Since September 11, never have we been more acutely aware that our own safety and the
protection of our way of life must be guarded by due attention to international problems -
such as injustice and the inadequacy of the rule of law, poverty, disease, and repression.
These are the blazing walls of today's world that threaten to engulf us. That is why these
issues have become central to American foreign policy and our efforts to protect our national
interests.
The US defines global issues as those that are not limited to cross-border issues but also
include international issues that impact the US across issues such as the environment and
science, refugees and migration, drug trafficking and law enforcement, human rights and
health. The US recognizes that since 9/11 issues have not been as acute regarding the safety
and protection of life. The aforementioned issues, including terrorism and disease, have
become one of the factors for the US to call it the new global security agenda.
Types and Characteristics of Contemporary Global Issues
Earlier in 1996, a paper was published by the Institute for Security Studies, which
identified several global sources of insecurity and their implications for national security
policy formulation. There are eight important things after the Cold War as strategic global
issues, namely drugs, migration, the environment, population, global economic challenges,
the crisis of liberal democracy, fusion and division, and light weapon proliferation.9 In the
paper, it is explained that there are global sources of insecurity and their implications for
national security policy formulation. These eight issues then become an important cluster as
an extraordinary threat to national and regional security and ultimately global security.10
This was then coupled with 9/11. Thus, the threat in this new form is not in the form of a
"military attack" carried out by a state against another state but an act of crime committed by
a non-state actor and aimed at the state (state actor), individuals or citizens who threaten the
security of humanity (Human Security).
Drugs
The domestic toll of drug addiction is alarming. These include loss of productivity,
soaring health costs, a sharp rise in drug-related crime, and the accelerated spread of AIDS
through contaminated needles. Drug use is not just a social phenomenon; it has far-reaching
political implications and security implications. For example, in Latin America there are
close links between drug traffickers and leftist revolutionary groups such as the Columbia M-
19 and the Peruvian Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path).11 In Lebanon and elsewhere in the
Middle East, in the Balkans, the Southern Republics of the former Soviet Union, Burma
(Myanmar) and Sri Lanka, drugs have become a major source of funds for movements.
Drug trafficking can also affect relations between countries. For example, a major
reason for the 1989 invasion of Panama by the US was that this government, under the
leadership of General Manuel Noriega, was allegedly serving as a conduit for drug travel to
the US.13 Most recently, Ross Perot's strongest attack on the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA), he argued that its eradication was a restriction on free access of goods
between Mexico and the US in allowing larger free traders of drugs in a sense to distribute
their 'poison' in the United States.
Migration
The largest and most dramatic population movement in recent years has been that of
approximately 30 million refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs).14 Political
unrest, social upheaval, economic dislocation and ecological disasters have contributed to the
movement of people across national borders of one 'southern' regional country to another. As
a result there are 3.2 million Afghans in Pakistan and 2.3 million in Iran; 685,000 in Ethiopia
are reported to have sought refuge in Sudan, while there are also 320,000 Somalis and
384,000 Sudanese in Ethiopia; and a further 600,000 Ethiopians are reported to have fled the
war to Somalia. 17 Civil war and famine have caused a third of Liberia's population (763,000
out of a total population of 2.4 million) to flee to neighboring Guinea, Sierra Leone and the
Coast.
Mass population movements are increasingly attracting the attention of key
policymakers, not only for humanitarian reasons, but also because they create domestic
instability, generate inter-state tensions and threaten international security. South Africa is
estimated to have received eight million illegal immigrants, which was the case at one point.
In 1994, it cost South African taxpayers R1, 985 million to host illegal alien residents.
In addition, there is a reciprocal relationship between illegal immigrants and the spread of
infectious diseases such as AIDS, malaria, cholera and tuberculosis. Police sources have also
noted that fourteen percent of all crimes in South Africa involve illegal immigrants including
arms sales, money laundering and drug trafficking.
Environment
The waning of Cold War military tensions coincided with the development of real
security problems that threaten the security of many countries and require international
solutions, including the hole in the ozone layer, the greenhouse effect, deforestation, scarce
water, energy and other resources. The increase in environmental hazards has underscored
two forms of interaction between states in the world: cooperation and conflict.
In 1940, David Mitrany developed a functional theory of international relations. He
proposed that given the common problems facing humanity everywhere, cooperation between
states should be broadened. This theme was embraced and magnified by globalists in the
1980s and 1990s - even going so far as to propose a federal world government for Planet
Earth. At the heart of the theory is the idea that the gravity of global problems requires global
solutions - resulting in greater levels of cooperation between the world's nations. For
example, one country cannot solve a problem such as the widening hole in the Earth's ozone;
it must be a combined planet-wide effort. On one level global cooperation, sharing common
problems, can be seen as a way of such as the Rio Earth Summit.
The potential for resource-based conflict was evident in the 1990 and 1991 Gulf Wars,
which essentially revolved around the scarce resource of energy. One of the main reasons for
the US to get involved in the Gulf War was its dependence on Gulf oil. American dependence
on Persian Gulf oil rose 500 percent between 1985 and 1989. By 1990 oil accounted for half
of the $100 billion US trade deficit.
Population
The world population is expected to grow from 5.3 billion in 1990 to 6.2 billion in
2000, and 8.5 billion in 2025. The growth rate of nearly one billion per decade has socio-
cultural and political economic consequences for the macro-environment. For example,
resource problems in countries such as Mexico and Egypt are directly linked to population
growth.
In Africa itself there is a noted reciprocal relationship between the conflict in Rwanda
and the fact that it has one of the highest levels of population density in Africa's growth.
Population was also seen to be responsible for two-thirds of the increase in carbon dioxide
entering the atmosphere between 1950 and 1985, thereby contributing to the greenhouse
effect. The population explosion was also listed as one of the contributing factors to the
occurrence of IDPs.16
Global Economic Challenges
The need to restructure the world economy stems from two major points: the north-
south growth divide and economic competition. The existence of a north-south split in
economic growth, and in some cases expansion, is obvious. This is highlighted by the fact
that the world's richest twenty percent control eighty percent of the world's economic
resources. This is demonstrated by the fact that the world's richest twenty percent are now
150 times richer than the poorest. It is further underscored by the fact that 1.3 billion people
in developing countries live in conditions of absolute poverty.
Saddest of all, it can be seen by the fact that 34,000 children die every day in the world
from malnutrition and disease. The need to address the north-south problem stems not only
from humanitarian reasons, but also from the threat of prosperity whose poverty is
increasingly exposed. Economic scarcity in the form of global markets and rising production
costs intensify economic competition. Technological competition and various forms of
commercial warfare have replaced the arms race from after the Cold War. According to
Japanese politician Isihara Shintaro, the twenty-first century will be a century of economic
warfare. If this happens, international security is threatened. Large economic power blocs
have been developed in the Pacific Rim and North America as a counterweight to the
European Union (EU). Similar economic formations have also been developed in Central
Africa and South America. The existence of large economic formations is necessary and does
not necessarily mean economic competition but rather complementarity. However, the
scarcity of such competition can develop and the history can become 'hot'.
The Crisis of Liberal Democracy
The end of Soviet-style communist rule consolidated the position of Western liberal
democracies. Since then, there has been state-sponsored ideological competition. The fall of
the Soviet system vindicated the principle of liberal democracy in the eyes of many: Smith,
Mill and Keynes. Western ideas of triumphalism were encapsulated in Francis Fukuyama's
books The End of History and Last Man. The liberal democratic paradigm seemed absolutely
dominant. Post-1989 developments seemed to show this as economic structural adjustment
programs (ESAPs) were liberalized in many African countries; liberal multiparty winds
democracy that swept across much of Africa, South America, the Middle East and Asia.17
Subsequent developments in the former Eastern bloc, which has seen the rise of the former
Communist Party, seem to disprove this notion.
Even in South Africa, political pluralism has experienced some setbacks. Soon after the
fall of the Berlin Wall, the surge towards multiparty democracy intensified in South Africa.
Kenneth Kaunda's corrupt one-party rule system was replaced by Frederick Chiluba's
Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD). In Malawi, the despotic rule of President-for-
life Hastings Kamuzu Band ended peacefully when Malawians went to the Banda elections
and his Malawi Congress Party (MCP) was voted out of power, replaced by United
Democratic Front (UDF) leader Bakili Muluzi.
In Lesotho, military rule ended and the Basotho National Party lost dominance in
elections that brought Prime Minister Ntsu Mokhehle and his Basotholand Congress Party
(BCP) to power. In South Africa, white minority rule came on April 27, 1994-the country's
first racially inclusive election. Meanwhile, both of the former Portuguese colonies in the
region, Angola and Mozambique, began to make the long and difficult transition to political
pluralism.
Fusion and Cleavage
The two most conflicting elements of the contemporary period are fusion and division-
peace coming together with the violent disintegration of society.
Regarding fusion, a newborn global culture seems to be taking shape. Denim jeans and
CocaCola are forms that are universal. If Toshiba and Toyota are in New York, then
MacDonald and Kentucky Fried Chicken will be found in Tokyo. If lamb is cooked and
stewed in a restaurant in New Delhi, then a fancy restaurant in London serves hot curry from
India. If Michael Jackson and Madonna become very famous in Montevideo, Maputo or
Kuala Lumpur, then West African and Indian music is represented by the likes of Manu
Dibango and Babu Shegal, who will surely be found playing in the discos of Paris or
Manchester. This is a nascent global cultural trend that goes even deeper than this: Human
rights and gender, geographical, political and cultural crossovers. One of the reasons for this
is The development of communication and technological innovation made it cheaper to travel
and made it possible for CNN broadcasts to reach 200 million people in ninety other
countries.
Fusion seems to buck this trend: scarce resources, varying degrees of population growth
in heterogeneous societies and the resultant growth of ethnic nationalism are tearing societies
apart. This has been evident in Rwanda and Burundi between Hutu and Tutsi; between Serbs,
Croats and Muslims in the former Yugoslavia; and between Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims in
India. What is even more interesting today is that these issues are beginning to surface in
western countries with liberal democracies: consider the growth of neo-Nazism in Germany;
the rising fortunes of Jean-Marie le Pen's National Front in France; the invigorating separatist
movements in Quebec; Catalonia; the Basque country; Corsica; Lombardy; Scotland and
Wales; and increasing tensions between the Flems and Walloons in Belgium. Not least, in the
US there were the 1992 riots in Los Angeles and the growth of ethnocentric nationalist
movements.
Light Weapons Production
Light weapons refer to crew-portable and ground weapons. Definitions include small
arms such as pistols, rifles, assault rifles and sub-machine guns; and medium machine guns;
heavy machine guns (HMG) with a caliber not exceeding 14.5 mm; anti-aircraft and anti-tank
missiles; light mortars; mines and grenades.
The danger of small arms proliferation to world peace is underscored by the fact that in
1994, major armed conflicts were being waged in 27 countries around the world and small
arms were the overwhelming cause of death from these weapons. The existence of small arms
is perhaps most fragile in third world countries due to power imbalances such as insurgents,
drug traffickers and other criminals. For example, guerrillas in Kashmir fighting India use
Soviet Kalashnikovs, in Pakistan, small arms exacerbate ethnic conflicts between mohajirs,
Pakistani Punjabis, Pathans from the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan and
Sindhis.
For Third World countries, issues related to the threat of a new form of security
(Human Security) are "real security threats" because they have relevance to the domestic
conditions of Third World countries that are still preoccupied with the threat of human
security by various issues regarding: 1) Political transition situation; 2) Weak government
power due to not maximizing law enforcement efforts; 3) Political uncertainty; 4) Economic
crisis; 5) Conflict issues in border areas; 6) Ethnic conflicts and communal conflicts with
various international dimensions; 7) The issue of national disintegration; 8) Increase in the
number of terrorism perpetrators; 9) The ability to carry out threatening actions against
human security, etc.
The development of technology, especially information technology, is one of the strong
reasons for the expansion of contemporary global issues, resulting in a shift in the nature of
global issues from before the Cold War. Due to the development of threats that have different
types than before the Cold War, contemporary global issues have specificity:
Unconventional;
In the sense that contemporary global issues are non-armaments and/or arms
competition.
Nontraditional;
This means that the issue category is not inter-state.
Non-military;
As mentioned earlier, disease outbreaks, and/or drugs can be a threat.
Multidimensional; and
Issues are complex such as those concerning poverty.
Transnational
The issues raised in contemporary global are cross-border such as migration, refugees,
and others.
Thus, the characteristics of contemporary global issues as non-traditional security
threats are:
Contemporary global issues that are non-traditional security threats are not centered on
one particular country. Thus, the threats that are part of these contemporary global
issues are not only faced by one country, but have threatened a number of countries at
once (have regional and global dimensions). Therefore, contemporary global issues are
often referred to as "transnational security threats".
Contemporary global issues are not focused on a particular geographical location.
Based on their geographical character, these issues are It is often difficult to
"recognize" because it crosses borders between countries and even regional
(transnational) boundaries.
Contemporary global issues cannot be addressed by military force alone. Indeed,
military force can be used in escalations that lead to armed conflict. However, in the
long run, military force can no longer be used effectively to address the threat of these
global issues.
Security issues that have become contemporary global issues have threatened the
existence of a country and individuals who are part of the country.
The most obvious thing is that in the development of contemporary global issues is the
emergence of a new term in responding to the threats faced, namely human security.
Strategic Global Issues and National Security in International Relations Theory
Strategic global issues and national security in international relations theory are divided
into two major parts: 1) state centric point of view; and 2) global cross cutting issues. The
state-centric point of view is divided between realism and institutionalism where realism
focuses on national interests while institutionalism focuses on regimes, namely regime
theory. Meanwhile, there is a cross-border theory pioneered by Wednt in the form of
constructivism theory and Joseph Nye in the form of transnationalism theory. In this cross-
border theory, the issue of globalization is raised as one of the factors.
Joseph Nye in his theory states that what is called global interaction is the movement of
information, money, goods, tangible and intangible objects beyond national borders.18 He
divides into four types of global interaction: 1) communication; 2) transportation; 3) money;
4) tourism.19 The interaction is divided into two types, namely interstate communication
and transnational communication. Interstate communication is a type of communication in
relations International communication is conducted entirely under the control of the
government of the nation state. Meanwhile, transnational communication is a type of
communication in international relations that has begun to involve non-state actors.
This form of interstate communication is the classical type, which is also called having
a classical paradigm. This interaction focuses on the government as the agent with which
people relate politically. This interstate politics is different from-although indirectly related
to-domestic politics. Transnational forms of communication in this type are not taken into
account.
Unlike interstate forms of interaction, transnational interactions may involve
governments, but they may not. Non-state actors play an important role in these interactions.
Talking about transnational interactions, we are talking about finance, travel and
communication, which in some cases can involve state actors, for example, to cross borders.
Thus, Nye and Keohanne refer to transnational interaction as a term to describe the
movement of tangible items and services (intangible items) across national borders when at
least one actor is not a state actor and/or an interstate organization.21 Nye and Keohanne
picked up the definition brought by J. David Singer which states that individuals and/or
organizations can have a role in world politics: 1) they can be involved in a coalition that
controls and influences their country; 2) they play their role directly confronting (vs) with
foreign policies and / or foreign societies that are not through (by pass) the government of
their country.22 Nye and Keohanne argue that transnational interactions fall into and / or
more precisely in the second type of Singer's explanation. Keohanne and Nye then describe
the form of transnational interaction as follows to distinguish it from interstate forms of
internation:
In the post-world war globalization era, which involves contemporary global issues of
international relations, many interactions are of the transnational type. This is inseparable
from the existence of Various technologies have been invented, especially communication
technology. Individuals can interact directly with the international community and/or
organizations of nations such as the United Nations. Some of the effects described by
Keohanne and Nye that occur in this type of interaction are essentially increased sensitivity
between people which means changing the form of their relationship with the government.
With global mass communication, different groups from different societies, such as
radical students, military personnel, or ethnic minorities, can observe each other's behavior
and then take it into action. Thus, student radicals can make political tactics and demands
without any direct contact. Their international "consipracy" is conducted publicly and
disseminated with the help of specialized media. Perpetrators in this global phenomenon may
be punished, but its scale, scope and speed are the product of global television.
In brief, Keohanne and Nye concluded that the effects of transnational interactions are:
1) changes in behavior; 2) international pluralism; 3) increased restrictions on states; 4)
increased ability of states to influence others; and 5) the emergence of independent actors
with private foreign policies that can directly oppose or reject their government's policies.
This is most evident in the fact that an individual in a family, the smallest organization
in the country, does not even have control over what his family members access with the
internet technology. This then becomes the same thing that happens at the state level. Thus,
state control is weakened and challenges to national security are strengthened. Threats are
becoming more complex as information technology can target the individual level and
influence their actions bypassing state governance. Does this mean that the state must be
authoritarian and or is there a new form?
Form a Comprehensive Security Strategy: A United Nations Proposal
To the challenges faced by the international community today, the United Nations (UN)
offers a way out. For two decades now, the international community has been working
towards a broad understanding of what constitutes security. Seeking input from governments,
academics, community groups and intergovernmental organizations, the UN held a meeting
called the 2000 Millennium Summit for a world "free of want" and "free of fear". As a result
of this meeting, an understanding and/or input on human security was formed.
In 2001, the UN created a special unit on humanitarian security called the Commission
of Human Security (CHS). The Commission consists of twelve international figures,
including Sadako Ogata - former UN High Commissioner for Refugees - and Professor
Amartya Sen (Nobel Laureate 1998). Humanitarian security has refocused the attention of
states and the international community on the survival, livelihoods and dignity of people as
the basis for peace, development and human progress.
While humanitarian security remains vital to stability and peace, the complexity and
interconnectedness of old and new threats - from chronic and persistent poverty, to violent
conflict, climate change, human trafficking, health, and financial crises - creates a shared
vulnerability to the growing risk of diffuse and cross cutting threats. As challenges can
evolve rapidly within and across nations and deliver powerful crises, humanitarian security
emphasizes the need for a new framework that combines the agendas of security and peace,
development and human rights in a more effective, efficient, and prevention-oriented process.
Here is the UN statement mentioned in the document: While national security remains pivotal
to peace and stability, the complexity and interrelatedness of old and new threats-from
chronic and persistent poverty, to violent conflicts, climate change, human trafficking, health
pandemics, and economic and financial crises-reveal our shared vulnerabilities to a growing
risk of threats that are widespread and cross-cutting. Because these challenges can spread
rapidly within and across nations and give rise to more intractable crises, human security
emphasizes the need for a new framework that combines the agendas of peace and security,
development and human rights in a more effective, efficient and prevention-oriented manner.
In United States, it can be summarized that humanitarian security is to protect the vital
core of human life by enhancing human freedom and fulfilling human needs. The CHS's
arguments for the importance of humanitarian security, touched on a little earlier, are detailed
below:
As argued by the Commission on Human Security (CHS), the need for a new paradigm
of security is associated with two sets of dynamics:
First, human security is needed in response to the complexity and the interrelatedness
of both old and new security threats-from chronic and persistent poverty to ethnic violence,
human trafficking, climate change, health pandemics, international terrorism, and sudden
economic and financial downturns. Such threats tend to acquire transnational dimensions and
move beyond traditional notions of security that focus on external military aggressions alone.
Second, human security is required as a comprehensive approach that utilizes the wide
range of new opportunities to tackle such threats in an integrated manner. Human security
threats cannot be tackled through conventional mechanisms alone. Instead, they require a new
consensus that recognizes the linkages and the interdependencies between development,
human rights and national security.
In essence, the definition provided by the CHS conceptualizes re-envision security with its
most fundamental issues:
moving away from the traditional, state-centric conception of security focused
primarily on the security of the state from military aggression, one that concentrates on
the security of individuals, their protection and empowerment;
draw attention to the many threats that cut across different aspects of human life and
thus highlight the interface between security, development and human rights; and
promote a new integrated, coordinated and people-centered approach to advancing
peace, security and development within and across countries.
Human security brings together the 'human element' in security, rights and
development. As such, it is an inter-disciplinary concept that displays the following
characteristics: 1) human-centered; 2) multi-sectoral; 3) comprehensive; 4) context-specific;
and 5) prevention-oriented.
As a human-centered concept, human security places the individual at the 'center of
analysis'. As a result, it considers the range of conditions that threaten survival, livelihoods
and dignity, and identifies the lower threshold of intolerable human life, threatened. Human
security is also based on a multi-sectoral understanding of insecurity. Therefore, human
security requires an expanded understanding of threats and includes related causes of
insecurity, e.g. for economic, food, health, environmental, personal, community and political
security.
This interdependence has important implications for policymaking as it suggests that
human insecurity cannot be addressed in isolation through fragmented stand-alone responses.
Instead, human security involves a comprehensive approach that emphasizes the need for a
multi-sectoral response that brings together agendas related to security, development and
human rights.
Moreover, as a context-specific concept, human security recognizes that insecurity
varies across different settings and as such advances solutions that are contextually
responsive to the particular situation they seek to address. Finally, in addressing the risks and
root causes of insecurity, human security is prevention oriented and introduces a dual focus
on protection and empowerment.
Conclusion
Based on the analysis and discussion above, it can be concluded that national security
in the context of contemporary global issues in the perspective of international relations is
complex, because threats at the individual level become real. This is then explained in
transnational theory in international relations. In its development, the UN then offered to re-
conceptualize the notion of national security which ultimately provided input on human
security.
The UN has done many things related to humanitarian security. However, the most
obvious challenge still comes if it is clashed with the most classic international relations
theory, namely realism regarding superpowers. The extent to which superpower involvement
can be genuinely involved in the development of issues without any element of national
interest involvement in it, at least supports this conception.
History of the Emergence of Contemporary Global Issues
Contemporary history is a subset of modern history that describes the period of history
from about 1945 to the present. The term "contemporary history" has been used since at least
the early 20th century 19. Contemporary political history is dominated by the Cold War
(1945-1991) between the United States and the Soviet Union whose effects were felt around
the world. In this geopolitical context, the fall of European colonial empires in Africa and
Asia between 1945 and 1975 was often followed by American-Soviet confrontation in the
form of proxy wars and through intervention in the internal politics of smaller states. The
U.S.-Soviet rivalry eventually ended with the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw
Pact in 1991, following the Revolutions of 1989. and in the last stage and after the Cold War
paved the way for the democratization of large parts of Europe, Africa and Latin America.
In the Middle East, the period after 1945 was dominated by conflicts involving the new
state of Israel and the rise of petroleum politics, as well as the growth of Islamism after the
1980s. The period after 1945 saw the growth of the first supranational governmental
organizations, such as the United Nations and the European Union. Socially, western
countries experienced the rise of counter cultures3 and the sexual revolution4 between the
1960s and 1980s which transformed social relations and was fueled by the 1968 Protests.
Living standards rose sharply around the world especially in developed countries as a result
of, but also the emergence of, new economic powers such as Japan and West Germany. US
culture, especially consumerism, spread widely. By the 1960s, many western countries had
begun the process of deindustrialization. In their place, globalization led to the emergence of
new industrial centers, such as Japan, Taiwan and later China, based on exports consumer
goods for developed countries. The period after 1945 was also a transformative period in the
history of science because, among other things, nuclear technology, molecular biology,
particle physics and so on emerged which became the background for the emergence of
various technologies that appear today including the internet.
The history of the modern international system itself actually began in its history when
the Westphalia system (1648). States are interconnected with each other in an environment
called the international system. All countries are considered to have sovereignty, and some
countries are stronger than others. The system has many forms of informal rules about what
should happen, but these rules are not binding. International relations have existed since the
existence of states. The modern international system that we find ourselves in, however, is
not that old. The peace that ended a 30-year war between Catholic and Protestant states in
Western and Central Europe was the forerunner of the modern international system. It
declared that the sovereign leader of each nation state could do what he wanted within its
borders and established the state as a global actor in global politics. From then onwards, the
international system was in relation to nation states.
In the 17th-18th centuries, nation-states emerged to dominate the system of
international relations. A number of strong states dominated Europe, with some powers
coming and going. Weak states usually joined forces with others to prevent the dominant
power from becoming too strong, which is known as a proactive form of preserving the
balance of power. Economic competition and frequent wars marked this era, with countries
such as Britain and France being the most powerful to date, but some other powerful
countries collapsing over time, namely the Ottoman Empire and Spain.
Fundamental differences began to emerge in the 19th century, bringing about two major
changes in the international system:
Nationalism as a form of strength, which makes the nation state grow stronger.
Italy and Germany united, which changed the military and political balance in Europe.
Problems arose with the unification of Italy and Germany, which contributed to World
War I (1914-1918). The international system changed drastically after the war. Many
powerful countries in Europe were devastated by the war, and the United States (US) itself
began to come out of its isolation and turn into a global power. At the same time, the end of
the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian powers created a series of new states, and the rise of
communism in Russia. These factors led to the Treaty of Versailles, the Nazis and
Communism, and World War II (1939-1945).
New governments have emerged since the end of World War II. After the War, two
powers emerged: The US and the Soviet Union, which was called the bipolar system. Since
the end of the Cold War, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US has become the sole
ruler of the international system, which is called unipolar. However, there are other
viewpoints that see that the economic power of the US is not so strong that it cannot be said
that the control of the economy is entirely in the hands of the US because there are other
strong economic countries such as countries in Asia, thus calling it multi-polar.
Contemporary global issues emerged precisely at the end of the Cold War and/or when
the modern international system was unipolar. This can be regarded as the second period of
the new international order. The events that occurred became the context for contemporary
global issues. The most devastating event was the so-called 9/11 or September attacks. An
attack reportedly carried out by the Al Qaedah terrorist group on the US on September 11,
2001. There were about 2,999 victims, about 6,000 injured and 10 million properties and
infrastructures damaged.7 It is said to be devastating here because the attack was carried out
on the unipolar power holder of the international system at that time, namely the US. There
had been previous events that set the context for contemporary global issues such as the
genocides in Rwanda and Bosnia and the emergence of new states in Eastern Europe.
With the events of 9/11 and the genocide problem being addressed by the international
community, the new world government There is one threat that has a different character. The
nature of the threat this time is no longer from the state as was dominant in the Cold War
period but non-state actors. Non-state actors as the perpetrators of the causes of world
insecurity are becoming increasingly difficult to identify because such actors can also come
from the state concerned and/or from within the state itself. International issues in
international relations are becoming increasingly complex so that they are called
contemporary global issues. In this post-Cold War era, threats can mean disease outbreaks,
human trafficking, narcotics, arms trafficking, poverty, illiteracy, infectious viruses, which
are experienced by several countries not the country itself.
Thus, contemporary global issues are issues that developed and expanded after the end
of the Cold War in the 1990s. These contemporary global issues are related to the problems
faced by the international community in the new world order (new order) which is faced with
welfare issues related to human security. The form of security threats in this era has been
transformed so that the form of the international security agenda has also become new,
namely the New Global Security Agenda.
In 2002, the US Department of State under the US Secretary of Global Affairs, Paula J.
Dobriansky, issued a statement released on its website8 regarding new global security by
previously formulating an understanding of what is meant by global issues: At this point, it is
worth defining what I mean by global issues. Global issues are those issues that are not
limited by borders or boundaries but that reach across international lines to affect us all. My
global portfolio encompasses environment and science, refugees and migration, narcotics
trafficking and law enforcement, human rights, and health matters. Though he was speaking
in the first century B.C., the Roman poet Horace aptly described what could be called the
crux of modern global affairs when he wrote, "Your own safety is at stake when your
neighbor's wall is ablaze." The essence of global issues is a recognition that the people of the
world are inexorably linked and that, in today's world, that which touches some touches all.
Since September 11, never have we been more acutely aware that our own safety and the
protection of our way of life must be guarded by due attention to international problems -
such as injustice and the inadequacy of the rule of law, poverty, disease, and repression.
These are the blazing walls of today's world that threaten to engulf us. That is why these
issues have become central to American foreign policy and our efforts to protect our national
interests.
The US defines global issues as those that are not limited to cross-border issues but also
include international issues that impact the US across issues such as the environment and
science, refugees and migration, drug trafficking and law enforcement, human rights and
health. The US recognizes that since 9/11 issues have not been as acute regarding the safety
and protection of life. The aforementioned issues, including terrorism and disease, have
become one of the factors for the US to call it the new global security agenda.
Types and Characteristics of Contemporary Global Issues
Earlier in 1996, a paper was published by the Institute for Security Studies, which
identified several global sources of insecurity and their implications for national security
policy formulation. There are eight important things after the Cold War as strategic global
issues, namely drugs, migration, the environment, population, global economic challenges,
the crisis of liberal democracy, fusion and division, and light weapon proliferation.9 In the
paper, it is explained that there are global sources of insecurity and their implications for
national security policy formulation. These eight issues then become an important cluster as
an extraordinary threat to national and regional security and ultimately global security.10
This was then coupled with 9/11. Thus, the threat in this new form is not in the form of a
"military attack" carried out by a state against another state but an act of crime committed by
a non-state actor and aimed at the state (state actor), individuals or citizens who threaten the
security of humanity (Human Security).
Drugs
The domestic toll of drug addiction is alarming. These include loss of productivity,
soaring health costs, a sharp rise in drug-related crime, and the accelerated spread of AIDS
through contaminated needles. Drug use is not just a social phenomenon; it has far-reaching
political implications and security implications. For example, in Latin America there are
close links between drug traffickers and leftist revolutionary groups such as the Columbia M-
19 and the Peruvian Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path).11 In Lebanon and elsewhere in the
Middle East, in the Balkans, the Southern Republics of the former Soviet Union, Burma
(Myanmar) and Sri Lanka, drugs have become a major source of funds for movements.
Drug trafficking can also affect relations between countries. For example, a major
reason for the 1989 invasion of Panama by the US was that this government, under the
leadership of General Manuel Noriega, was allegedly serving as a conduit for drug travel to
the US.13 Most recently, Ross Perot's strongest attack on the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA), he argued that its eradication was a restriction on free access of goods
between Mexico and the US in allowing larger free traders of drugs in a sense to distribute
their 'poison' in the United States.
Migration
The largest and most dramatic population movement in recent years has been that of
approximately 30 million refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs).14 Political
unrest, social upheaval, economic dislocation and ecological disasters have contributed to the
movement of people across national borders of one 'southern' regional country to another. As
a result there are 3.2 million Afghans in Pakistan and 2.3 million in Iran; 685,000 in Ethiopia
are reported to have sought refuge in Sudan, while there are also 320,000 Somalis and
384,000 Sudanese in Ethiopia; and a further 600,000 Ethiopians are reported to have fled the
war to Somalia. 17 Civil war and famine have caused a third of Liberia's population (763,000
out of a total population of 2.4 million) to flee to neighboring Guinea, Sierra Leone and the
Coast.
Mass population movements are increasingly attracting the attention of key
policymakers, not only for humanitarian reasons, but also because they create domestic
instability, generate inter-state tensions and threaten international security. South Africa is
estimated to have received eight million illegal immigrants, which was the case at one point.
In 1994, it cost South African taxpayers R1, 985 million to host illegal alien residents.
In addition, there is a reciprocal relationship between illegal immigrants and the spread of
infectious diseases such as AIDS, malaria, cholera and tuberculosis. Police sources have also
noted that fourteen percent of all crimes in South Africa involve illegal immigrants including
arms sales, money laundering and drug trafficking.
Environment
The waning of Cold War military tensions coincided with the development of real
security problems that threaten the security of many countries and require international
solutions, including the hole in the ozone layer, the greenhouse effect, deforestation, scarce
water, energy and other resources. The increase in environmental hazards has underscored
two forms of interaction between states in the world: cooperation and conflict.
In 1940, David Mitrany developed a functional theory of international relations. He
proposed that given the common problems facing humanity everywhere, cooperation between
states should be broadened. This theme was embraced and magnified by globalists in the
1980s and 1990s - even going so far as to propose a federal world government for Planet
Earth. At the heart of the theory is the idea that the gravity of global problems requires global
solutions - resulting in greater levels of cooperation between the world's nations. For
example, one country cannot solve a problem such as the widening hole in the Earth's ozone;
it must be a combined planet-wide effort. On one level global cooperation, sharing common
problems, can be seen as a way of such as the Rio Earth Summit.
The potential for resource-based conflict was evident in the 1990 and 1991 Gulf Wars,
which essentially revolved around the scarce resource of energy. One of the main reasons for
the US to get involved in the Gulf War was its dependence on Gulf oil. American dependence
on Persian Gulf oil rose 500 percent between 1985 and 1989. By 1990 oil accounted for half
of the $100 billion US trade deficit.
Population
The world population is expected to grow from 5.3 billion in 1990 to 6.2 billion in
2000, and 8.5 billion in 2025. The growth rate of nearly one billion per decade has socio-
cultural and political economic consequences for the macro-environment. For example,
resource problems in countries such as Mexico and Egypt are directly linked to population
growth.
In Africa itself there is a noted reciprocal relationship between the conflict in Rwanda
and the fact that it has one of the highest levels of population density in Africa's growth.
Population was also seen to be responsible for two-thirds of the increase in carbon dioxide
entering the atmosphere between 1950 and 1985, thereby contributing to the greenhouse
effect. The population explosion was also listed as one of the contributing factors to the
occurrence of IDPs.16
Global Economic Challenges
The need to restructure the world economy stems from two major points: the north-
south growth divide and economic competition. The existence of a north-south split in
economic growth, and in some cases expansion, is obvious. This is highlighted by the fact
that the world's richest twenty percent control eighty percent of the world's economic
resources. This is demonstrated by the fact that the world's richest twenty percent are now
150 times richer than the poorest. It is further underscored by the fact that 1.3 billion people
in developing countries live in conditions of absolute poverty.
Saddest of all, it can be seen by the fact that 34,000 children die every day in the world
from malnutrition and disease. The need to address the north-south problem stems not only
from humanitarian reasons, but also from the threat of prosperity whose poverty is
increasingly exposed. Economic scarcity in the form of global markets and rising production
costs intensify economic competition. Technological competition and various forms of
commercial warfare have replaced the arms race from after the Cold War. According to
Japanese politician Isihara Shintaro, the twenty-first century will be a century of economic
warfare. If this happens, international security is threatened. Large economic power blocs
have been developed in the Pacific Rim and North America as a counterweight to the
European Union (EU). Similar economic formations have also been developed in Central
Africa and South America. The existence of large economic formations is necessary and does
not necessarily mean economic competition but rather complementarity. However, the
scarcity of such competition can develop and the history can become 'hot'.
The Crisis of Liberal Democracy
The end of Soviet-style communist rule consolidated the position of Western liberal
democracies. Since then, there has been state-sponsored ideological competition. The fall of
the Soviet system vindicated the principle of liberal democracy in the eyes of many: Smith,
Mill and Keynes. Western ideas of triumphalism were encapsulated in Francis Fukuyama's
books The End of History and Last Man. The liberal democratic paradigm seemed absolutely
dominant. Post-1989 developments seemed to show this as economic structural adjustment
programs (ESAPs) were liberalized in many African countries; liberal multiparty winds
democracy that swept across much of Africa, South America, the Middle East and Asia.17
Subsequent developments in the former Eastern bloc, which has seen the rise of the former
Communist Party, seem to disprove this notion.
Even in South Africa, political pluralism has experienced some setbacks. Soon after the
fall of the Berlin Wall, the surge towards multiparty democracy intensified in South Africa.
Kenneth Kaunda's corrupt one-party rule system was replaced by Frederick Chiluba's
Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD). In Malawi, the despotic rule of President-for-
life Hastings Kamuzu Band ended peacefully when Malawians went to the Banda elections
and his Malawi Congress Party (MCP) was voted out of power, replaced by United
Democratic Front (UDF) leader Bakili Muluzi.
In Lesotho, military rule ended and the Basotho National Party lost dominance in
elections that brought Prime Minister Ntsu Mokhehle and his Basotholand Congress Party
(BCP) to power. In South Africa, white minority rule came on April 27, 1994-the country's
first racially inclusive election. Meanwhile, both of the former Portuguese colonies in the
region, Angola and Mozambique, began to make the long and difficult transition to political
pluralism.
Fusion and Cleavage
The two most conflicting elements of the contemporary period are fusion and division-
peace coming together with the violent disintegration of society.
Regarding fusion, a newborn global culture seems to be taking shape. Denim jeans and
CocaCola are forms that are universal. If Toshiba and Toyota are in New York, then
MacDonald and Kentucky Fried Chicken will be found in Tokyo. If lamb is cooked and
stewed in a restaurant in New Delhi, then a fancy restaurant in London serves hot curry from
India. If Michael Jackson and Madonna become very famous in Montevideo, Maputo or
Kuala Lumpur, then West African and Indian music is represented by the likes of Manu
Dibango and Babu Shegal, who will surely be found playing in the discos of Paris or
Manchester. This is a nascent global cultural trend that goes even deeper than this: Human
rights and gender, geographical, political and cultural crossovers. One of the reasons for this
is The development of communication and technological innovation made it cheaper to travel
and made it possible for CNN broadcasts to reach 200 million people in ninety other
countries.
Fusion seems to buck this trend: scarce resources, varying degrees of population growth
in heterogeneous societies and the resultant growth of ethnic nationalism are tearing societies
apart. This has been evident in Rwanda and Burundi between Hutu and Tutsi; between Serbs,
Croats and Muslims in the former Yugoslavia; and between Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims in
India. What is even more interesting today is that these issues are beginning to surface in
western countries with liberal democracies: consider the growth of neo-Nazism in Germany;
the rising fortunes of Jean-Marie le Pen's National Front in France; the invigorating separatist
movements in Quebec; Catalonia; the Basque country; Corsica; Lombardy; Scotland and
Wales; and increasing tensions between the Flems and Walloons in Belgium. Not least, in the
US there were the 1992 riots in Los Angeles and the growth of ethnocentric nationalist
movements.
Light Weapons Production
Light weapons refer to crew-portable and ground weapons. Definitions include small
arms such as pistols, rifles, assault rifles and sub-machine guns; and medium machine guns;
heavy machine guns (HMG) with a caliber not exceeding 14.5 mm; anti-aircraft and anti-tank
missiles; light mortars; mines and grenades.
The danger of small arms proliferation to world peace is underscored by the fact that in
1994, major armed conflicts were being waged in 27 countries around the world and small
arms were the overwhelming cause of death from these weapons. The existence of small arms
is perhaps most fragile in third world countries due to power imbalances such as insurgents,
drug traffickers and other criminals. For example, guerrillas in Kashmir fighting India use
Soviet Kalashnikovs, in Pakistan, small arms exacerbate ethnic conflicts between mohajirs,
Pakistani Punjabis, Pathans from the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan and
Sindhis.
For Third World countries, issues related to the threat of a new form of security
(Human Security) are "real security threats" because they have relevance to the domestic
conditions of Third World countries that are still preoccupied with the threat of human
security by various issues regarding: 1) Political transition situation; 2) Weak government
power due to not maximizing law enforcement efforts; 3) Political uncertainty; 4) Economic
crisis; 5) Conflict issues in border areas; 6) Ethnic conflicts and communal conflicts with
various international dimensions; 7) The issue of national disintegration; 8) Increase in the
number of terrorism perpetrators; 9) The ability to carry out threatening actions against
human security, etc.
The development of technology, especially information technology, is one of the strong
reasons for the expansion of contemporary global issues, resulting in a shift in the nature of
global issues from before the Cold War. Due to the development of threats that have different
types than before the Cold War, contemporary global issues have specificity:
Unconventional;
In the sense that contemporary global issues are non-armaments and/or arms
competition.
Nontraditional;
This means that the issue category is not inter-state.
Non-military;
As mentioned earlier, disease outbreaks, and/or drugs can be a threat.
Multidimensional; and
Issues are complex such as those concerning poverty.
Transnational
The issues raised in contemporary global are cross-border such as migration, refugees,
and others.
Thus, the characteristics of contemporary global issues as non-traditional security
threats are:
Contemporary global issues that are non-traditional security threats are not centered on
one particular country. Thus, the threats that are part of these contemporary global
issues are not only faced by one country, but have threatened a number of countries at
once (have regional and global dimensions). Therefore, contemporary global issues are
often referred to as "transnational security threats".
Contemporary global issues are not focused on a particular geographical location.
Based on their geographical character, these issues are It is often difficult to
"recognize" because it crosses borders between countries and even regional
(transnational) boundaries.
Contemporary global issues cannot be addressed by military force alone. Indeed,
military force can be used in escalations that lead to armed conflict. However, in the
long run, military force can no longer be used effectively to address the threat of these
global issues.
Security issues that have become contemporary global issues have threatened the
existence of a country and individuals who are part of the country.
The most obvious thing is that in the development of contemporary global issues is the
emergence of a new term in responding to the threats faced, namely human security.
Strategic Global Issues and National Security in International Relations Theory
Strategic global issues and national security in international relations theory are divided
into two major parts: 1) state centric point of view; and 2) global cross cutting issues. The
state-centric point of view is divided between realism and institutionalism where realism
focuses on national interests while institutionalism focuses on regimes, namely regime
theory. Meanwhile, there is a cross-border theory pioneered by Wednt in the form of
constructivism theory and Joseph Nye in the form of transnationalism theory. In this cross-
border theory, the issue of globalization is raised as one of the factors.
Joseph Nye in his theory states that what is called global interaction is the movement of
information, money, goods, tangible and intangible objects beyond national borders.18 He
divides into four types of global interaction: 1) communication; 2) transportation; 3) money;
4) tourism.19 The interaction is divided into two types, namely interstate communication
and transnational communication. Interstate communication is a type of communication in
relations International communication is conducted entirely under the control of the
government of the nation state. Meanwhile, transnational communication is a type of
communication in international relations that has begun to involve non-state actors.
This form of interstate communication is the classical type, which is also called having
a classical paradigm. This interaction focuses on the government as the agent with which
people relate politically. This interstate politics is different from-although indirectly related
to-domestic politics. Transnational forms of communication in this type are not taken into
account.
Unlike interstate forms of interaction, transnational interactions may involve
governments, but they may not. Non-state actors play an important role in these interactions.
Talking about transnational interactions, we are talking about finance, travel and
communication, which in some cases can involve state actors, for example, to cross borders.
Thus, Nye and Keohanne refer to transnational interaction as a term to describe the
movement of tangible items and services (intangible items) across national borders when at
least one actor is not a state actor and/or an interstate organization.21 Nye and Keohanne
picked up the definition brought by J. David Singer which states that individuals and/or
organizations can have a role in world politics: 1) they can be involved in a coalition that
controls and influences their country; 2) they play their role directly confronting (vs) with
foreign policies and / or foreign societies that are not through (by pass) the government of
their country.22 Nye and Keohanne argue that transnational interactions fall into and / or
more precisely in the second type of Singer's explanation. Keohanne and Nye then describe
the form of transnational interaction as follows to distinguish it from interstate forms of
internation:
In the post-world war globalization era, which involves contemporary global issues of
international relations, many interactions are of the transnational type. This is inseparable
from the existence of Various technologies have been invented, especially communication
technology. Individuals can interact directly with the international community and/or
organizations of nations such as the United Nations. Some of the effects described by
Keohanne and Nye that occur in this type of interaction are essentially increased sensitivity
between people which means changing the form of their relationship with the government.
With global mass communication, different groups from different societies, such as
radical students, military personnel, or ethnic minorities, can observe each other's behavior
and then take it into action. Thus, student radicals can make political tactics and demands
without any direct contact. Their international "consipracy" is conducted publicly and
disseminated with the help of specialized media. Perpetrators in this global phenomenon may
be punished, but its scale, scope and speed are the product of global television.
In brief, Keohanne and Nye concluded that the effects of transnational interactions are:
1) changes in behavior; 2) international pluralism; 3) increased restrictions on states; 4)
increased ability of states to influence others; and 5) the emergence of independent actors
with private foreign policies that can directly oppose or reject their government's policies.
This is most evident in the fact that an individual in a family, the smallest organization
in the country, does not even have control over what his family members access with the
internet technology. This then becomes the same thing that happens at the state level. Thus,
state control is weakened and challenges to national security are strengthened. Threats are
becoming more complex as information technology can target the individual level and
influence their actions bypassing state governance. Does this mean that the state must be
authoritarian and or is there a new form?
Form a Comprehensive Security Strategy: A United Nations Proposal
To the challenges faced by the international community today, the United Nations (UN)
offers a way out. For two decades now, the international community has been working
towards a broad understanding of what constitutes security. Seeking input from governments,
academics, community groups and intergovernmental organizations, the UN held a meeting
called the 2000 Millennium Summit for a world "free of want" and "free of fear". As a result
of this meeting, an understanding and/or input on human security was formed.
In 2001, the UN created a special unit on humanitarian security called the Commission
of Human Security (CHS). The Commission consists of twelve international figures,
including Sadako Ogata - former UN High Commissioner for Refugees - and Professor
Amartya Sen (Nobel Laureate 1998). Humanitarian security has refocused the attention of
states and the international community on the survival, livelihoods and dignity of people as
the basis for peace, development and human progress.
While humanitarian security remains vital to stability and peace, the complexity and
interconnectedness of old and new threats - from chronic and persistent poverty, to violent
conflict, climate change, human trafficking, health, and financial crises - creates a shared
vulnerability to the growing risk of diffuse and cross cutting threats. As challenges can
evolve rapidly within and across nations and deliver powerful crises, humanitarian security
emphasizes the need for a new framework that combines the agendas of security and peace,
development and human rights in a more effective, efficient, and prevention-oriented process.
Here is the UN statement mentioned in the document: While national security remains pivotal
to peace and stability, the complexity and interrelatedness of old and new threats-from
chronic and persistent poverty, to violent conflicts, climate change, human trafficking, health
pandemics, and economic and financial crises-reveal our shared vulnerabilities to a growing
risk of threats that are widespread and cross-cutting. Because these challenges can spread
rapidly within and across nations and give rise to more intractable crises, human security
emphasizes the need for a new framework that combines the agendas of peace and security,
development and human rights in a more effective, efficient and prevention-oriented manner.
In United States, it can be summarized that humanitarian security is to protect the vital
core of human life by enhancing human freedom and fulfilling human needs. The CHS's
arguments for the importance of humanitarian security, touched on a little earlier, are detailed
below:
As argued by the Commission on Human Security (CHS), the need for a new paradigm
of security is associated with two sets of dynamics:
First, human security is needed in response to the complexity and the interrelatedness
of both old and new security threats-from chronic and persistent poverty to ethnic violence,
human trafficking, climate change, health pandemics, international terrorism, and sudden
economic and financial downturns. Such threats tend to acquire transnational dimensions and
move beyond traditional notions of security that focus on external military aggressions alone.
Second, human security is required as a comprehensive approach that utilizes the wide
range of new opportunities to tackle such threats in an integrated manner. Human security
threats cannot be tackled through conventional mechanisms alone. Instead, they require a new
consensus that recognizes the linkages and the interdependencies between development,
human rights and national security.
In essence, the definition provided by the CHS conceptualizes re-envision security with its
most fundamental issues:
moving away from the traditional, state-centric conception of security focused
primarily on the security of the state from military aggression, one that concentrates on
the security of individuals, their protection and empowerment;
draw attention to the many threats that cut across different aspects of human life and
thus highlight the interface between security, development and human rights; and
promote a new integrated, coordinated and people-centered approach to advancing
peace, security and development within and across countries.
Human security brings together the 'human element' in security, rights and
development. As such, it is an inter-disciplinary concept that displays the following
characteristics: 1) human-centered; 2) multi-sectoral; 3) comprehensive; 4) context-specific;
and 5) prevention-oriented.
As a human-centered concept, human security places the individual at the 'center of
analysis'. As a result, it considers the range of conditions that threaten survival, livelihoods
and dignity, and identifies the lower threshold of intolerable human life, threatened. Human
security is also based on a multi-sectoral understanding of insecurity. Therefore, human
security requires an expanded understanding of threats and includes related causes of
insecurity, e.g. for economic, food, health, environmental, personal, community and political
security.
This interdependence has important implications for policymaking as it suggests that
human insecurity cannot be addressed in isolation through fragmented stand-alone responses.
Instead, human security involves a comprehensive approach that emphasizes the need for a
multi-sectoral response that brings together agendas related to security, development and
human rights.
Moreover, as a context-specific concept, human security recognizes that insecurity
varies across different settings and as such advances solutions that are contextually
responsive to the particular situation they seek to address. Finally, in addressing the risks and
root causes of insecurity, human security is prevention oriented and introduces a dual focus
on protection and empowerment.
Conclusion
Based on the analysis and discussion above, it can be concluded that national security
in the context of contemporary global issues in the perspective of international relations is
complex, because threats at the individual level become real. This is then explained in
transnational theory in international relations. In its development, the UN then offered to re-
conceptualize the notion of national security which ultimately provided input on human
security.
The UN has done many things related to humanitarian security. However, the most
obvious challenge still comes if it is clashed with the most classic international relations
theory, namely realism regarding superpowers. The extent to which superpower involvement
can be genuinely involved in the development of issues without any element of national
interest involvement in it, at least supports this conception.
History of the Emergence of Contemporary Global Issues
Contemporary history is a subset of modern history that describes the period of history
from about 1945 to the present. The term "contemporary history" has been used since at least
the early 20th century 19. Contemporary political history is dominated by the Cold War
(1945-1991) between the United States and the Soviet Union whose effects were felt around
the world. In this geopolitical context, the fall of European colonial empires in Africa and
Asia between 1945 and 1975 was often followed by American-Soviet confrontation in the
form of proxy wars and through intervention in the internal politics of smaller states. The
U.S.-Soviet rivalry eventually ended with the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw
Pact in 1991, following the Revolutions of 1989. and in the last stage and after the Cold War
paved the way for the democratization of large parts of Europe, Africa and Latin America.
In the Middle East, the period after 1945 was dominated by conflicts involving the new
state of Israel and the rise of petroleum politics, as well as the growth of Islamism after the
1980s. The period after 1945 saw the growth of the first supranational governmental
organizations, such as the United Nations and the European Union. Socially, western
countries experienced the rise of counter cultures3 and the sexual revolution4 between the
1960s and 1980s which transformed social relations and was fueled by the 1968 Protests.
Living standards rose sharply around the world especially in developed countries as a result
of, but also the emergence of, new economic powers such as Japan and West Germany. US
culture, especially consumerism, spread widely. By the 1960s, many western countries had
begun the process of deindustrialization. In their place, globalization led to the emergence of
new industrial centers, such as Japan, Taiwan and later China, based on exports consumer
goods for developed countries. The period after 1945 was also a transformative period in the
history of science because, among other things, nuclear technology, molecular biology,
particle physics and so on emerged which became the background for the emergence of
various technologies that appear today including the internet.
The history of the modern international system itself actually began in its history when
the Westphalia system (1648). States are interconnected with each other in an environment
called the international system. All countries are considered to have sovereignty, and some
countries are stronger than others. The system has many forms of informal rules about what
should happen, but these rules are not binding. International relations have existed since the
existence of states. The modern international system that we find ourselves in, however, is
not that old. The peace that ended a 30-year war between Catholic and Protestant states in
Western and Central Europe was the forerunner of the modern international system. It
declared that the sovereign leader of each nation state could do what he wanted within its
borders and established the state as a global actor in global politics. From then onwards, the
international system was in relation to nation states.
In the 17th-18th centuries, nation-states emerged to dominate the system of
international relations. A number of strong states dominated Europe, with some powers
coming and going. Weak states usually joined forces with others to prevent the dominant
power from becoming too strong, which is known as a proactive form of preserving the
balance of power. Economic competition and frequent wars marked this era, with countries
such as Britain and France being the most powerful to date, but some other powerful
countries collapsing over time, namely the Ottoman Empire and Spain.
Fundamental differences began to emerge in the 19th century, bringing about two major
changes in the international system:
Nationalism as a form of strength, which makes the nation state grow stronger.
Italy and Germany united, which changed the military and political balance in Europe.
Problems arose with the unification of Italy and Germany, which contributed to World
War I (1914-1918). The international system changed drastically after the war. Many
powerful countries in Europe were devastated by the war, and the United States (US) itself
began to come out of its isolation and turn into a global power. At the same time, the end of
the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian powers created a series of new states, and the rise of
communism in Russia. These factors led to the Treaty of Versailles, the Nazis and
Communism, and World War II (1939-1945).
New governments have emerged since the end of World War II. After the War, two
powers emerged: The US and the Soviet Union, which was called the bipolar system. Since
the end of the Cold War, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US has become the sole
ruler of the international system, which is called unipolar. However, there are other
viewpoints that see that the economic power of the US is not so strong that it cannot be said
that the control of the economy is entirely in the hands of the US because there are other
strong economic countries such as countries in Asia, thus calling it multi-polar.
Contemporary global issues emerged precisely at the end of the Cold War and/or when
the modern international system was unipolar. This can be regarded as the second period of
the new international order. The events that occurred became the context for contemporary
global issues. The most devastating event was the so-called 9/11 or September attacks. An
attack reportedly carried out by the Al Qaedah terrorist group on the US on September 11,
2001. There were about 2,999 victims, about 6,000 injured and 10 million properties and
infrastructures damaged.7 It is said to be devastating here because the attack was carried out
on the unipolar power holder of the international system at that time, namely the US. There
had been previous events that set the context for contemporary global issues such as the
genocides in Rwanda and Bosnia and the emergence of new states in Eastern Europe.
With the events of 9/11 and the genocide problem being addressed by the international
community, the new world government There is one threat that has a different character. The
nature of the threat this time is no longer from the state as was dominant in the Cold War
period but non-state actors. Non-state actors as the perpetrators of the causes of world
insecurity are becoming increasingly difficult to identify because such actors can also come
from the state concerned and/or from within the state itself. International issues in
international relations are becoming increasingly complex so that they are called
contemporary global issues. In this post-Cold War era, threats can mean disease outbreaks,
human trafficking, narcotics, arms trafficking, poverty, illiteracy, infectious viruses, which
are experienced by several countries not the country itself.
Thus, contemporary global issues are issues that developed and expanded after the end
of the Cold War in the 1990s. These contemporary global issues are related to the problems
faced by the international community in the new world order (new order) which is faced with
welfare issues related to human security. The form of security threats in this era has been
transformed so that the form of the international security agenda has also become new,
namely the New Global Security Agenda.
In 2002, the US Department of State under the US Secretary of Global Affairs, Paula J.
Dobriansky, issued a statement released on its website8 regarding new global security by
previously formulating an understanding of what is meant by global issues: At this point, it is
worth defining what I mean by global issues. Global issues are those issues that are not
limited by borders or boundaries but that reach across international lines to affect us all. My
global portfolio encompasses environment and science, refugees and migration, narcotics
trafficking and law enforcement, human rights, and health matters. Though he was speaking
in the first century B.C., the Roman poet Horace aptly described what could be called the
crux of modern global affairs when he wrote, "Your own safety is at stake when your
neighbor's wall is ablaze." The essence of global issues is a recognition that the people of the
world are inexorably linked and that, in today's world, that which touches some touches all.
Since September 11, never have we been more acutely aware that our own safety and the
protection of our way of life must be guarded by due attention to international problems -
such as injustice and the inadequacy of the rule of law, poverty, disease, and repression.
These are the blazing walls of today's world that threaten to engulf us. That is why these
issues have become central to American foreign policy and our efforts to protect our national
interests.
The US defines global issues as those that are not limited to cross-border issues but also
include international issues that impact the US across issues such as the environment and
science, refugees and migration, drug trafficking and law enforcement, human rights and
health. The US recognizes that since 9/11 issues have not been as acute regarding the safety
and protection of life. The aforementioned issues, including terrorism and disease, have
become one of the factors for the US to call it the new global security agenda.
Types and Characteristics of Contemporary Global Issues
Earlier in 1996, a paper was published by the Institute for Security Studies, which
identified several global sources of insecurity and their implications for national security
policy formulation. There are eight important things after the Cold War as strategic global
issues, namely drugs, migration, the environment, population, global economic challenges,
the crisis of liberal democracy, fusion and division, and light weapon proliferation.9 In the
paper, it is explained that there are global sources of insecurity and their implications for
national security policy formulation. These eight issues then become an important cluster as
an extraordinary threat to national and regional security and ultimately global security.10
This was then coupled with 9/11. Thus, the threat in this new form is not in the form of a
"military attack" carried out by a state against another state but an act of crime committed by
a non-state actor and aimed at the state (state actor), individuals or citizens who threaten the
security of humanity (Human Security).
Drugs
The domestic toll of drug addiction is alarming. These include loss of productivity,
soaring health costs, a sharp rise in drug-related crime, and the accelerated spread of AIDS
through contaminated needles. Drug use is not just a social phenomenon; it has far-reaching
political implications and security implications. For example, in Latin America there are
close links between drug traffickers and leftist revolutionary groups such as the Columbia M-
19 and the Peruvian Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path).11 In Lebanon and elsewhere in the
Middle East, in the Balkans, the Southern Republics of the former Soviet Union, Burma
(Myanmar) and Sri Lanka, drugs have become a major source of funds for movements.
Drug trafficking can also affect relations between countries. For example, a major
reason for the 1989 invasion of Panama by the US was that this government, under the
leadership of General Manuel Noriega, was allegedly serving as a conduit for drug travel to
the US.13 Most recently, Ross Perot's strongest attack on the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA), he argued that its eradication was a restriction on free access of goods
between Mexico and the US in allowing larger free traders of drugs in a sense to distribute
their 'poison' in the United States.
Migration
The largest and most dramatic population movement in recent years has been that of
approximately 30 million refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs).14 Political
unrest, social upheaval, economic dislocation and ecological disasters have contributed to the
movement of people across national borders of one 'southern' regional country to another. As
a result there are 3.2 million Afghans in Pakistan and 2.3 million in Iran; 685,000 in Ethiopia
are reported to have sought refuge in Sudan, while there are also 320,000 Somalis and
384,000 Sudanese in Ethiopia; and a further 600,000 Ethiopians are reported to have fled the
war to Somalia. 17 Civil war and famine have caused a third of Liberia's population (763,000
out of a total population of 2.4 million) to flee to neighboring Guinea, Sierra Leone and the
Coast.
Mass population movements are increasingly attracting the attention of key
policymakers, not only for humanitarian reasons, but also because they create domestic
instability, generate inter-state tensions and threaten international security. South Africa is
estimated to have received eight million illegal immigrants, which was the case at one point.
In 1994, it cost South African taxpayers R1, 985 million to host illegal alien residents.
In addition, there is a reciprocal relationship between illegal immigrants and the spread of
infectious diseases such as AIDS, malaria, cholera and tuberculosis. Police sources have also
noted that fourteen percent of all crimes in South Africa involve illegal immigrants including
arms sales, money laundering and drug trafficking.
Environment
The waning of Cold War military tensions coincided with the development of real
security problems that threaten the security of many countries and require international
solutions, including the hole in the ozone layer, the greenhouse effect, deforestation, scarce
water, energy and other resources. The increase in environmental hazards has underscored
two forms of interaction between states in the world: cooperation and conflict.
In 1940, David Mitrany developed a functional theory of international relations. He
proposed that given the common problems facing humanity everywhere, cooperation between
states should be broadened. This theme was embraced and magnified by globalists in the
1980s and 1990s - even going so far as to propose a federal world government for Planet
Earth. At the heart of the theory is the idea that the gravity of global problems requires global
solutions - resulting in greater levels of cooperation between the world's nations. For
example, one country cannot solve a problem such as the widening hole in the Earth's ozone;
it must be a combined planet-wide effort. On one level global cooperation, sharing common
problems, can be seen as a way of such as the Rio Earth Summit.
The potential for resource-based conflict was evident in the 1990 and 1991 Gulf Wars,
which essentially revolved around the scarce resource of energy. One of the main reasons for
the US to get involved in the Gulf War was its dependence on Gulf oil. American dependence
on Persian Gulf oil rose 500 percent between 1985 and 1989. By 1990 oil accounted for half
of the $100 billion US trade deficit.
Population
The world population is expected to grow from 5.3 billion in 1990 to 6.2 billion in
2000, and 8.5 billion in 2025. The growth rate of nearly one billion per decade has socio-
cultural and political economic consequences for the macro-environment. For example,
resource problems in countries such as Mexico and Egypt are directly linked to population
growth.
In Africa itself there is a noted reciprocal relationship between the conflict in Rwanda
and the fact that it has one of the highest levels of population density in Africa's growth.
Population was also seen to be responsible for two-thirds of the increase in carbon dioxide
entering the atmosphere between 1950 and 1985, thereby contributing to the greenhouse
effect. The population explosion was also listed as one of the contributing factors to the
occurrence of IDPs.16
Global Economic Challenges
The need to restructure the world economy stems from two major points: the north-
south growth divide and economic competition. The existence of a north-south split in
economic growth, and in some cases expansion, is obvious. This is highlighted by the fact
that the world's richest twenty percent control eighty percent of the world's economic
resources. This is demonstrated by the fact that the world's richest twenty percent are now
150 times richer than the poorest. It is further underscored by the fact that 1.3 billion people
in developing countries live in conditions of absolute poverty.
Saddest of all, it can be seen by the fact that 34,000 children die every day in the world
from malnutrition and disease. The need to address the north-south problem stems not only
from humanitarian reasons, but also from the threat of prosperity whose poverty is
increasingly exposed. Economic scarcity in the form of global markets and rising production
costs intensify economic competition. Technological competition and various forms of
commercial warfare have replaced the arms race from after the Cold War. According to
Japanese politician Isihara Shintaro, the twenty-first century will be a century of economic
warfare. If this happens, international security is threatened. Large economic power blocs
have been developed in the Pacific Rim and North America as a counterweight to the
European Union (EU). Similar economic formations have also been developed in Central
Africa and South America. The existence of large economic formations is necessary and does
not necessarily mean economic competition but rather complementarity. However, the
scarcity of such competition can develop and the history can become 'hot'.
The Crisis of Liberal Democracy
The end of Soviet-style communist rule consolidated the position of Western liberal
democracies. Since then, there has been state-sponsored ideological competition. The fall of
the Soviet system vindicated the principle of liberal democracy in the eyes of many: Smith,
Mill and Keynes. Western ideas of triumphalism were encapsulated in Francis Fukuyama's
books The End of History and Last Man. The liberal democratic paradigm seemed absolutely
dominant. Post-1989 developments seemed to show this as economic structural adjustment
programs (ESAPs) were liberalized in many African countries; liberal multiparty winds
democracy that swept across much of Africa, South America, the Middle East and Asia.17
Subsequent developments in the former Eastern bloc, which has seen the rise of the former
Communist Party, seem to disprove this notion.
Even in South Africa, political pluralism has experienced some setbacks. Soon after the
fall of the Berlin Wall, the surge towards multiparty democracy intensified in South Africa.
Kenneth Kaunda's corrupt one-party rule system was replaced by Frederick Chiluba's
Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD). In Malawi, the despotic rule of President-for-
life Hastings Kamuzu Band ended peacefully when Malawians went to the Banda elections
and his Malawi Congress Party (MCP) was voted out of power, replaced by United
Democratic Front (UDF) leader Bakili Muluzi.
In Lesotho, military rule ended and the Basotho National Party lost dominance in
elections that brought Prime Minister Ntsu Mokhehle and his Basotholand Congress Party
(BCP) to power. In South Africa, white minority rule came on April 27, 1994-the country's
first racially inclusive election. Meanwhile, both of the former Portuguese colonies in the
region, Angola and Mozambique, began to make the long and difficult transition to political
pluralism.
Fusion and Cleavage
The two most conflicting elements of the contemporary period are fusion and division-
peace coming together with the violent disintegration of society.
Regarding fusion, a newborn global culture seems to be taking shape. Denim jeans and
CocaCola are forms that are universal. If Toshiba and Toyota are in New York, then
MacDonald and Kentucky Fried Chicken will be found in Tokyo. If lamb is cooked and
stewed in a restaurant in New Delhi, then a fancy restaurant in London serves hot curry from
India. If Michael Jackson and Madonna become very famous in Montevideo, Maputo or
Kuala Lumpur, then West African and Indian music is represented by the likes of Manu
Dibango and Babu Shegal, who will surely be found playing in the discos of Paris or
Manchester. This is a nascent global cultural trend that goes even deeper than this: Human
rights and gender, geographical, political and cultural crossovers. One of the reasons for this
is The development of communication and technological innovation made it cheaper to travel
and made it possible for CNN broadcasts to reach 200 million people in ninety other
countries.
Fusion seems to buck this trend: scarce resources, varying degrees of population growth
in heterogeneous societies and the resultant growth of ethnic nationalism are tearing societies
apart. This has been evident in Rwanda and Burundi between Hutu and Tutsi; between Serbs,
Croats and Muslims in the former Yugoslavia; and between Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims in
India. What is even more interesting today is that these issues are beginning to surface in
western countries with liberal democracies: consider the growth of neo-Nazism in Germany;
the rising fortunes of Jean-Marie le Pen's National Front in France; the invigorating separatist
movements in Quebec; Catalonia; the Basque country; Corsica; Lombardy; Scotland and
Wales; and increasing tensions between the Flems and Walloons in Belgium. Not least, in the
US there were the 1992 riots in Los Angeles and the growth of ethnocentric nationalist
movements.
Light Weapons Production
Light weapons refer to crew-portable and ground weapons. Definitions include small
arms such as pistols, rifles, assault rifles and sub-machine guns; and medium machine guns;
heavy machine guns (HMG) with a caliber not exceeding 14.5 mm; anti-aircraft and anti-tank
missiles; light mortars; mines and grenades.
The danger of small arms proliferation to world peace is underscored by the fact that in
1994, major armed conflicts were being waged in 27 countries around the world and small
arms were the overwhelming cause of death from these weapons. The existence of small arms
is perhaps most fragile in third world countries due to power imbalances such as insurgents,
drug traffickers and other criminals. For example, guerrillas in Kashmir fighting India use
Soviet Kalashnikovs, in Pakistan, small arms exacerbate ethnic conflicts between mohajirs,
Pakistani Punjabis, Pathans from the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan and
Sindhis.
For Third World countries, issues related to the threat of a new form of security
(Human Security) are "real security threats" because they have relevance to the domestic
conditions of Third World countries that are still preoccupied with the threat of human
security by various issues regarding: 1) Political transition situation; 2) Weak government
power due to not maximizing law enforcement efforts; 3) Political uncertainty; 4) Economic
crisis; 5) Conflict issues in border areas; 6) Ethnic conflicts and communal conflicts with
various international dimensions; 7) The issue of national disintegration; 8) Increase in the
number of terrorism perpetrators; 9) The ability to carry out threatening actions against
human security, etc.
The development of technology, especially information technology, is one of the strong
reasons for the expansion of contemporary global issues, resulting in a shift in the nature of
global issues from before the Cold War. Due to the development of threats that have different
types than before the Cold War, contemporary global issues have specificity:
Unconventional;
In the sense that contemporary global issues are non-armaments and/or arms
competition.
Nontraditional;
This means that the issue category is not inter-state.
Non-military;
As mentioned earlier, disease outbreaks, and/or drugs can be a threat.
Multidimensional; and
Issues are complex such as those concerning poverty.
Transnational
The issues raised in contemporary global are cross-border such as migration, refugees,
and others.
Thus, the characteristics of contemporary global issues as non-traditional security
threats are:
Contemporary global issues that are non-traditional security threats are not centered on
one particular country. Thus, the threats that are part of these contemporary global
issues are not only faced by one country, but have threatened a number of countries at
once (have regional and global dimensions). Therefore, contemporary global issues are
often referred to as "transnational security threats".
Contemporary global issues are not focused on a particular geographical location.
Based on their geographical character, these issues are It is often difficult to
"recognize" because it crosses borders between countries and even regional
(transnational) boundaries.
Contemporary global issues cannot be addressed by military force alone. Indeed,
military force can be used in escalations that lead to armed conflict. However, in the
long run, military force can no longer be used effectively to address the threat of these
global issues.
Security issues that have become contemporary global issues have threatened the
existence of a country and individuals who are part of the country.
The most obvious thing is that in the development of contemporary global issues is the
emergence of a new term in responding to the threats faced, namely human security.
Strategic Global Issues and National Security in International Relations Theory
Strategic global issues and national security in international relations theory are divided
into two major parts: 1) state centric point of view; and 2) global cross cutting issues. The
state-centric point of view is divided between realism and institutionalism where realism
focuses on national interests while institutionalism focuses on regimes, namely regime
theory. Meanwhile, there is a cross-border theory pioneered by Wednt in the form of
constructivism theory and Joseph Nye in the form of transnationalism theory. In this cross-
border theory, the issue of globalization is raised as one of the factors.
Joseph Nye in his theory states that what is called global interaction is the movement of
information, money, goods, tangible and intangible objects beyond national borders.18 He
divides into four types of global interaction: 1) communication; 2) transportation; 3) money;
4) tourism.19 The interaction is divided into two types, namely interstate communication
and transnational communication. Interstate communication is a type of communication in
relations International communication is conducted entirely under the control of the
government of the nation state. Meanwhile, transnational communication is a type of
communication in international relations that has begun to involve non-state actors.
This form of interstate communication is the classical type, which is also called having
a classical paradigm. This interaction focuses on the government as the agent with which
people relate politically. This interstate politics is different from-although indirectly related
to-domestic politics. Transnational forms of communication in this type are not taken into
account.
Unlike interstate forms of interaction, transnational interactions may involve
governments, but they may not. Non-state actors play an important role in these interactions.
Talking about transnational interactions, we are talking about finance, travel and
communication, which in some cases can involve state actors, for example, to cross borders.
Thus, Nye and Keohanne refer to transnational interaction as a term to describe the
movement of tangible items and services (intangible items) across national borders when at
least one actor is not a state actor and/or an interstate organization.21 Nye and Keohanne
picked up the definition brought by J. David Singer which states that individuals and/or
organizations can have a role in world politics: 1) they can be involved in a coalition that
controls and influences their country; 2) they play their role directly confronting (vs) with
foreign policies and / or foreign societies that are not through (by pass) the government of
their country.22 Nye and Keohanne argue that transnational interactions fall into and / or
more precisely in the second type of Singer's explanation. Keohanne and Nye then describe
the form of transnational interaction as follows to distinguish it from interstate forms of
internation:
In the post-world war globalization era, which involves contemporary global issues of
international relations, many interactions are of the transnational type. This is inseparable
from the existence of Various technologies have been invented, especially communication
technology. Individuals can interact directly with the international community and/or
organizations of nations such as the United Nations. Some of the effects described by
Keohanne and Nye that occur in this type of interaction are essentially increased sensitivity
between people which means changing the form of their relationship with the government.
With global mass communication, different groups from different societies, such as
radical students, military personnel, or ethnic minorities, can observe each other's behavior
and then take it into action. Thus, student radicals can make political tactics and demands
without any direct contact. Their international "consipracy" is conducted publicly and
disseminated with the help of specialized media. Perpetrators in this global phenomenon may
be punished, but its scale, scope and speed are the product of global television.
In brief, Keohanne and Nye concluded that the effects of transnational interactions are:
1) changes in behavior; 2) international pluralism; 3) increased restrictions on states; 4)
increased ability of states to influence others; and 5) the emergence of independent actors
with private foreign policies that can directly oppose or reject their government's policies.
This is most evident in the fact that an individual in a family, the smallest organization
in the country, does not even have control over what his family members access with the
internet technology. This then becomes the same thing that happens at the state level. Thus,
state control is weakened and challenges to national security are strengthened. Threats are
becoming more complex as information technology can target the individual level and
influence their actions bypassing state governance. Does this mean that the state must be
authoritarian and or is there a new form?
Form a Comprehensive Security Strategy: A United Nations Proposal
To the challenges faced by the international community today, the United Nations (UN)
offers a way out. For two decades now, the international community has been working
towards a broad understanding of what constitutes security. Seeking input from governments,
academics, community groups and intergovernmental organizations, the UN held a meeting
called the 2000 Millennium Summit for a world "free of want" and "free of fear". As a result
of this meeting, an understanding and/or input on human security was formed.
In 2001, the UN created a special unit on humanitarian security called the Commission
of Human Security (CHS). The Commission consists of twelve international figures,
including Sadako Ogata - former UN High Commissioner for Refugees - and Professor
Amartya Sen (Nobel Laureate 1998). Humanitarian security has refocused the attention of
states and the international community on the survival, livelihoods and dignity of people as
the basis for peace, development and human progress.
While humanitarian security remains vital to stability and peace, the complexity and
interconnectedness of old and new threats - from chronic and persistent poverty, to violent
conflict, climate change, human trafficking, health, and financial crises - creates a shared
vulnerability to the growing risk of diffuse and cross cutting threats. As challenges can
evolve rapidly within and across nations and deliver powerful crises, humanitarian security
emphasizes the need for a new framework that combines the agendas of security and peace,
development and human rights in a more effective, efficient, and prevention-oriented process.
Here is the UN statement mentioned in the document: While national security remains pivotal
to peace and stability, the complexity and interrelatedness of old and new threats-from
chronic and persistent poverty, to violent conflicts, climate change, human trafficking, health
pandemics, and economic and financial crises-reveal our shared vulnerabilities to a growing
risk of threats that are widespread and cross-cutting. Because these challenges can spread
rapidly within and across nations and give rise to more intractable crises, human security
emphasizes the need for a new framework that combines the agendas of peace and security,
development and human rights in a more effective, efficient and prevention-oriented manner.
In United States, it can be summarized that humanitarian security is to protect the vital
core of human life by enhancing human freedom and fulfilling human needs. The CHS's
arguments for the importance of humanitarian security, touched on a little earlier, are detailed
below:
As argued by the Commission on Human Security (CHS), the need for a new paradigm
of security is associated with two sets of dynamics:
First, human security is needed in response to the complexity and the interrelatedness
of both old and new security threats-from chronic and persistent poverty to ethnic violence,
human trafficking, climate change, health pandemics, international terrorism, and sudden
economic and financial downturns. Such threats tend to acquire transnational dimensions and
move beyond traditional notions of security that focus on external military aggressions alone.
Second, human security is required as a comprehensive approach that utilizes the wide
range of new opportunities to tackle such threats in an integrated manner. Human security
threats cannot be tackled through conventional mechanisms alone. Instead, they require a new
consensus that recognizes the linkages and the interdependencies between development,
human rights and national security.
In essence, the definition provided by the CHS conceptualizes re-envision security with its
most fundamental issues:
moving away from the traditional, state-centric conception of security focused
primarily on the security of the state from military aggression, one that concentrates on
the security of individuals, their protection and empowerment;
draw attention to the many threats that cut across different aspects of human life and
thus highlight the interface between security, development and human rights; and
promote a new integrated, coordinated and people-centered approach to advancing
peace, security and development within and across countries.
Human security brings together the 'human element' in security, rights and
development. As such, it is an inter-disciplinary concept that displays the following
characteristics: 1) human-centered; 2) multi-sectoral; 3) comprehensive; 4) context-specific;
and 5) prevention-oriented.
As a human-centered concept, human security places the individual at the 'center of
analysis'. As a result, it considers the range of conditions that threaten survival, livelihoods
and dignity, and identifies the lower threshold of intolerable human life, threatened. Human
security is also based on a multi-sectoral understanding of insecurity. Therefore, human
security requires an expanded understanding of threats and includes related causes of
insecurity, e.g. for economic, food, health, environmental, personal, community and political
security.
This interdependence has important implications for policymaking as it suggests that
human insecurity cannot be addressed in isolation through fragmented stand-alone responses.
Instead, human security involves a comprehensive approach that emphasizes the need for a
multi-sectoral response that brings together agendas related to security, development and
human rights.
Moreover, as a context-specific concept, human security recognizes that insecurity
varies across different settings and as such advances solutions that are contextually
responsive to the particular situation they seek to address. Finally, in addressing the risks and
root causes of insecurity, human security is prevention oriented and introduces a dual focus
on protection and empowerment.
Conclusion
Based on the analysis and discussion above, it can be concluded that national security
in the context of contemporary global issues in the perspective of international relations is
complex, because threats at the individual level become real. This is then explained in
transnational theory in international relations. In its development, the UN then offered to re-
conceptualize the notion of national security which ultimately provided input on human
security.
The UN has done many things related to humanitarian security. However, the most
obvious challenge still comes if it is clashed with the most classic international relations
theory, namely realism regarding superpowers. The extent to which superpower involvement
can be genuinely involved in the development of issues without any element of national
interest involvement in it, at least supports this conception.
History of the Emergence of Contemporary Global Issues
Contemporary history is a subset of modern history that describes the period of history
from about 1945 to the present. The term "contemporary history" has been used since at least
the early 20th century 19. Contemporary political history is dominated by the Cold War
(1945-1991) between the United States and the Soviet Union whose effects were felt around
the world. In this geopolitical context, the fall of European colonial empires in Africa and
Asia between 1945 and 1975 was often followed by American-Soviet confrontation in the
form of proxy wars and through intervention in the internal politics of smaller states. The
U.S.-Soviet rivalry eventually ended with the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw
Pact in 1991, following the Revolutions of 1989. and in the last stage and after the Cold War
paved the way for the democratization of large parts of Europe, Africa and Latin America.
In the Middle East, the period after 1945 was dominated by conflicts involving the new
state of Israel and the rise of petroleum politics, as well as the growth of Islamism after the
1980s. The period after 1945 saw the growth of the first supranational governmental
organizations, such as the United Nations and the European Union. Socially, western
countries experienced the rise of counter cultures3 and the sexual revolution4 between the
1960s and 1980s which transformed social relations and was fueled by the 1968 Protests.
Living standards rose sharply around the world especially in developed countries as a result
of, but also the emergence of, new economic powers such as Japan and West Germany. US
culture, especially consumerism, spread widely. By the 1960s, many western countries had
begun the process of deindustrialization. In their place, globalization led to the emergence of
new industrial centers, such as Japan, Taiwan and later China, based on exports consumer
goods for developed countries. The period after 1945 was also a transformative period in the
history of science because, among other things, nuclear technology, molecular biology,
particle physics and so on emerged which became the background for the emergence of
various technologies that appear today including the internet.
The history of the modern international system itself actually began in its history when
the Westphalia system (1648). States are interconnected with each other in an environment
called the international system. All countries are considered to have sovereignty, and some
countries are stronger than others. The system has many forms of informal rules about what
should happen, but these rules are not binding. International relations have existed since the
existence of states. The modern international system that we find ourselves in, however, is
not that old. The peace that ended a 30-year war between Catholic and Protestant states in
Western and Central Europe was the forerunner of the modern international system. It
declared that the sovereign leader of each nation state could do what he wanted within its
borders and established the state as a global actor in global politics. From then onwards, the
international system was in relation to nation states.
In the 17th-18th centuries, nation-states emerged to dominate the system of
international relations. A number of strong states dominated Europe, with some powers
coming and going. Weak states usually joined forces with others to prevent the dominant
power from becoming too strong, which is known as a proactive form of preserving the
balance of power. Economic competition and frequent wars marked this era, with countries
such as Britain and France being the most powerful to date, but some other powerful
countries collapsing over time, namely the Ottoman Empire and Spain.
Fundamental differences began to emerge in the 19th century, bringing about two major
changes in the international system:
Nationalism as a form of strength, which makes the nation state grow stronger.
Italy and Germany united, which changed the military and political balance in Europe.
Problems arose with the unification of Italy and Germany, which contributed to World
War I (1914-1918). The international system changed drastically after the war. Many
powerful countries in Europe were devastated by the war, and the United States (US) itself
began to come out of its isolation and turn into a global power. At the same time, the end of
the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian powers created a series of new states, and the rise of
communism in Russia. These factors led to the Treaty of Versailles, the Nazis and
Communism, and World War II (1939-1945).
New governments have emerged since the end of World War II. After the War, two
powers emerged: The US and the Soviet Union, which was called the bipolar system. Since
the end of the Cold War, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US has become the sole
ruler of the international system, which is called unipolar. However, there are other
viewpoints that see that the economic power of the US is not so strong that it cannot be said
that the control of the economy is entirely in the hands of the US because there are other
strong economic countries such as countries in Asia, thus calling it multi-polar.
Contemporary global issues emerged precisely at the end of the Cold War and/or when
the modern international system was unipolar. This can be regarded as the second period of
the new international order. The events that occurred became the context for contemporary
global issues. The most devastating event was the so-called 9/11 or September attacks. An
attack reportedly carried out by the Al Qaedah terrorist group on the US on September 11,
2001. There were about 2,999 victims, about 6,000 injured and 10 million properties and
infrastructures damaged.7 It is said to be devastating here because the attack was carried out
on the unipolar power holder of the international system at that time, namely the US. There
had been previous events that set the context for contemporary global issues such as the
genocides in Rwanda and Bosnia and the emergence of new states in Eastern Europe.
With the events of 9/11 and the genocide problem being addressed by the international
community, the new world government There is one threat that has a different character. The
nature of the threat this time is no longer from the state as was dominant in the Cold War
period but non-state actors. Non-state actors as the perpetrators of the causes of world
insecurity are becoming increasingly difficult to identify because such actors can also come
from the state concerned and/or from within the state itself. International issues in
international relations are becoming increasingly complex so that they are called
contemporary global issues. In this post-Cold War era, threats can mean disease outbreaks,
human trafficking, narcotics, arms trafficking, poverty, illiteracy, infectious viruses, which
are experienced by several countries not the country itself.
Thus, contemporary global issues are issues that developed and expanded after the end
of the Cold War in the 1990s. These contemporary global issues are related to the problems
faced by the international community in the new world order (new order) which is faced with
welfare issues related to human security. The form of security threats in this era has been
transformed so that the form of the international security agenda has also become new,
namely the New Global Security Agenda.
In 2002, the US Department of State under the US Secretary of Global Affairs, Paula J.
Dobriansky, issued a statement released on its website8 regarding new global security by
previously formulating an understanding of what is meant by global issues: At this point, it is
worth defining what I mean by global issues. Global issues are those issues that are not
limited by borders or boundaries but that reach across international lines to affect us all. My
global portfolio encompasses environment and science, refugees and migration, narcotics
trafficking and law enforcement, human rights, and health matters. Though he was speaking
in the first century B.C., the Roman poet Horace aptly described what could be called the
crux of modern global affairs when he wrote, "Your own safety is at stake when your
neighbor's wall is ablaze." The essence of global issues is a recognition that the people of the
world are inexorably linked and that, in today's world, that which touches some touches all.
Since September 11, never have we been more acutely aware that our own safety and the
protection of our way of life must be guarded by due attention to international problems -
such as injustice and the inadequacy of the rule of law, poverty, disease, and repression.
These are the blazing walls of today's world that threaten to engulf us. That is why these
issues have become central to American foreign policy and our efforts to protect our national
interests.
The US defines global issues as those that are not limited to cross-border issues but also
include international issues that impact the US across issues such as the environment and
science, refugees and migration, drug trafficking and law enforcement, human rights and
health. The US recognizes that since 9/11 issues have not been as acute regarding the safety
and protection of life. The aforementioned issues, including terrorism and disease, have
become one of the factors for the US to call it the new global security agenda.
Types and Characteristics of Contemporary Global Issues
Earlier in 1996, a paper was published by the Institute for Security Studies, which
identified several global sources of insecurity and their implications for national security
policy formulation. There are eight important things after the Cold War as strategic global
issues, namely drugs, migration, the environment, population, global economic challenges,
the crisis of liberal democracy, fusion and division, and light weapon proliferation.9 In the
paper, it is explained that there are global sources of insecurity and their implications for
national security policy formulation. These eight issues then become an important cluster as
an extraordinary threat to national and regional security and ultimately global security.10
This was then coupled with 9/11. Thus, the threat in this new form is not in the form of a
"military attack" carried out by a state against another state but an act of crime committed by
a non-state actor and aimed at the state (state actor), individuals or citizens who threaten the
security of humanity (Human Security).
Drugs
The domestic toll of drug addiction is alarming. These include loss of productivity,
soaring health costs, a sharp rise in drug-related crime, and the accelerated spread of AIDS
through contaminated needles. Drug use is not just a social phenomenon; it has far-reaching
political implications and security implications. For example, in Latin America there are
close links between drug traffickers and leftist revolutionary groups such as the Columbia M-
19 and the Peruvian Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path).11 In Lebanon and elsewhere in the
Middle East, in the Balkans, the Southern Republics of the former Soviet Union, Burma
(Myanmar) and Sri Lanka, drugs have become a major source of funds for movements.
Drug trafficking can also affect relations between countries. For example, a major
reason for the 1989 invasion of Panama by the US was that this government, under the
leadership of General Manuel Noriega, was allegedly serving as a conduit for drug travel to
the US.13 Most recently, Ross Perot's strongest attack on the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA), he argued that its eradication was a restriction on free access of goods
between Mexico and the US in allowing larger free traders of drugs in a sense to distribute
their 'poison' in the United States.
Migration
The largest and most dramatic population movement in recent years has been that of
approximately 30 million refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs).14 Political
unrest, social upheaval, economic dislocation and ecological disasters have contributed to the
movement of people across national borders of one 'southern' regional country to another. As
a result there are 3.2 million Afghans in Pakistan and 2.3 million in Iran; 685,000 in Ethiopia
are reported to have sought refuge in Sudan, while there are also 320,000 Somalis and
384,000 Sudanese in Ethiopia; and a further 600,000 Ethiopians are reported to have fled the
war to Somalia. 17 Civil war and famine have caused a third of Liberia's population (763,000
out of a total population of 2.4 million) to flee to neighboring Guinea, Sierra Leone and the
Coast.
Mass population movements are increasingly attracting the attention of key
policymakers, not only for humanitarian reasons, but also because they create domestic
instability, generate inter-state tensions and threaten international security. South Africa is
estimated to have received eight million illegal immigrants, which was the case at one point.
In 1994, it cost South African taxpayers R1, 985 million to host illegal alien residents.
In addition, there is a reciprocal relationship between illegal immigrants and the spread of
infectious diseases such as AIDS, malaria, cholera and tuberculosis. Police sources have also
noted that fourteen percent of all crimes in South Africa involve illegal immigrants including
arms sales, money laundering and drug trafficking.
Environment
The waning of Cold War military tensions coincided with the development of real
security problems that threaten the security of many countries and require international
solutions, including the hole in the ozone layer, the greenhouse effect, deforestation, scarce
water, energy and other resources. The increase in environmental hazards has underscored
two forms of interaction between states in the world: cooperation and conflict.
In 1940, David Mitrany developed a functional theory of international relations. He
proposed that given the common problems facing humanity everywhere, cooperation between
states should be broadened. This theme was embraced and magnified by globalists in the
1980s and 1990s - even going so far as to propose a federal world government for Planet
Earth. At the heart of the theory is the idea that the gravity of global problems requires global
solutions - resulting in greater levels of cooperation between the world's nations. For
example, one country cannot solve a problem such as the widening hole in the Earth's ozone;
it must be a combined planet-wide effort. On one level global cooperation, sharing common
problems, can be seen as a way of such as the Rio Earth Summit.
The potential for resource-based conflict was evident in the 1990 and 1991 Gulf Wars,
which essentially revolved around the scarce resource of energy. One of the main reasons for
the US to get involved in the Gulf War was its dependence on Gulf oil. American dependence
on Persian Gulf oil rose 500 percent between 1985 and 1989. By 1990 oil accounted for half
of the $100 billion US trade deficit.
Population
The world population is expected to grow from 5.3 billion in 1990 to 6.2 billion in
2000, and 8.5 billion in 2025. The growth rate of nearly one billion per decade has socio-
cultural and political economic consequences for the macro-environment. For example,
resource problems in countries such as Mexico and Egypt are directly linked to population
growth.
In Africa itself there is a noted reciprocal relationship between the conflict in Rwanda
and the fact that it has one of the highest levels of population density in Africa's growth.
Population was also seen to be responsible for two-thirds of the increase in carbon dioxide
entering the atmosphere between 1950 and 1985, thereby contributing to the greenhouse
effect. The population explosion was also listed as one of the contributing factors to the
occurrence of IDPs.16
Global Economic Challenges
The need to restructure the world economy stems from two major points: the north-
south growth divide and economic competition. The existence of a north-south split in
economic growth, and in some cases expansion, is obvious. This is highlighted by the fact
that the world's richest twenty percent control eighty percent of the world's economic
resources. This is demonstrated by the fact that the world's richest twenty percent are now
150 times richer than the poorest. It is further underscored by the fact that 1.3 billion people
in developing countries live in conditions of absolute poverty.
Saddest of all, it can be seen by the fact that 34,000 children die every day in the world
from malnutrition and disease. The need to address the north-south problem stems not only
from humanitarian reasons, but also from the threat of prosperity whose poverty is
increasingly exposed. Economic scarcity in the form of global markets and rising production
costs intensify economic competition. Technological competition and various forms of
commercial warfare have replaced the arms race from after the Cold War. According to
Japanese politician Isihara Shintaro, the twenty-first century will be a century of economic
warfare. If this happens, international security is threatened. Large economic power blocs
have been developed in the Pacific Rim and North America as a counterweight to the
European Union (EU). Similar economic formations have also been developed in Central
Africa and South America. The existence of large economic formations is necessary and does
not necessarily mean economic competition but rather complementarity. However, the
scarcity of such competition can develop and the history can become 'hot'.
The Crisis of Liberal Democracy
The end of Soviet-style communist rule consolidated the position of Western liberal
democracies. Since then, there has been state-sponsored ideological competition. The fall of
the Soviet system vindicated the principle of liberal democracy in the eyes of many: Smith,
Mill and Keynes. Western ideas of triumphalism were encapsulated in Francis Fukuyama's
books The End of History and Last Man. The liberal democratic paradigm seemed absolutely
dominant. Post-1989 developments seemed to show this as economic structural adjustment
programs (ESAPs) were liberalized in many African countries; liberal multiparty winds
democracy that swept across much of Africa, South America, the Middle East and Asia.17
Subsequent developments in the former Eastern bloc, which has seen the rise of the former
Communist Party, seem to disprove this notion.
Even in South Africa, political pluralism has experienced some setbacks. Soon after the
fall of the Berlin Wall, the surge towards multiparty democracy intensified in South Africa.
Kenneth Kaunda's corrupt one-party rule system was replaced by Frederick Chiluba's
Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD). In Malawi, the despotic rule of President-for-
life Hastings Kamuzu Band ended peacefully when Malawians went to the Banda elections
and his Malawi Congress Party (MCP) was voted out of power, replaced by United
Democratic Front (UDF) leader Bakili Muluzi.
In Lesotho, military rule ended and the Basotho National Party lost dominance in
elections that brought Prime Minister Ntsu Mokhehle and his Basotholand Congress Party
(BCP) to power. In South Africa, white minority rule came on April 27, 1994-the country's
first racially inclusive election. Meanwhile, both of the former Portuguese colonies in the
region, Angola and Mozambique, began to make the long and difficult transition to political
pluralism.
Fusion and Cleavage
The two most conflicting elements of the contemporary period are fusion and division-
peace coming together with the violent disintegration of society.
Regarding fusion, a newborn global culture seems to be taking shape. Denim jeans and
CocaCola are forms that are universal. If Toshiba and Toyota are in New York, then
MacDonald and Kentucky Fried Chicken will be found in Tokyo. If lamb is cooked and
stewed in a restaurant in New Delhi, then a fancy restaurant in London serves hot curry from
India. If Michael Jackson and Madonna become very famous in Montevideo, Maputo or
Kuala Lumpur, then West African and Indian music is represented by the likes of Manu
Dibango and Babu Shegal, who will surely be found playing in the discos of Paris or
Manchester. This is a nascent global cultural trend that goes even deeper than this: Human
rights and gender, geographical, political and cultural crossovers. One of the reasons for this
is The development of communication and technological innovation made it cheaper to travel
and made it possible for CNN broadcasts to reach 200 million people in ninety other
countries.
Fusion seems to buck this trend: scarce resources, varying degrees of population growth
in heterogeneous societies and the resultant growth of ethnic nationalism are tearing societies
apart. This has been evident in Rwanda and Burundi between Hutu and Tutsi; between Serbs,
Croats and Muslims in the former Yugoslavia; and between Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims in
India. What is even more interesting today is that these issues are beginning to surface in
western countries with liberal democracies: consider the growth of neo-Nazism in Germany;
the rising fortunes of Jean-Marie le Pen's National Front in France; the invigorating separatist
movements in Quebec; Catalonia; the Basque country; Corsica; Lombardy; Scotland and
Wales; and increasing tensions between the Flems and Walloons in Belgium. Not least, in the
US there were the 1992 riots in Los Angeles and the growth of ethnocentric nationalist
movements.
Light Weapons Production
Light weapons refer to crew-portable and ground weapons. Definitions include small
arms such as pistols, rifles, assault rifles and sub-machine guns; and medium machine guns;
heavy machine guns (HMG) with a caliber not exceeding 14.5 mm; anti-aircraft and anti-tank
missiles; light mortars; mines and grenades.
The danger of small arms proliferation to world peace is underscored by the fact that in
1994, major armed conflicts were being waged in 27 countries around the world and small
arms were the overwhelming cause of death from these weapons. The existence of small arms
is perhaps most fragile in third world countries due to power imbalances such as insurgents,
drug traffickers and other criminals. For example, guerrillas in Kashmir fighting India use
Soviet Kalashnikovs, in Pakistan, small arms exacerbate ethnic conflicts between mohajirs,
Pakistani Punjabis, Pathans from the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan and
Sindhis.
For Third World countries, issues related to the threat of a new form of security
(Human Security) are "real security threats" because they have relevance to the domestic
conditions of Third World countries that are still preoccupied with the threat of human
security by various issues regarding: 1) Political transition situation; 2) Weak government
power due to not maximizing law enforcement efforts; 3) Political uncertainty; 4) Economic
crisis; 5) Conflict issues in border areas; 6) Ethnic conflicts and communal conflicts with
various international dimensions; 7) The issue of national disintegration; 8) Increase in the
number of terrorism perpetrators; 9) The ability to carry out threatening actions against
human security, etc.
The development of technology, especially information technology, is one of the strong
reasons for the expansion of contemporary global issues, resulting in a shift in the nature of
global issues from before the Cold War. Due to the development of threats that have different
types than before the Cold War, contemporary global issues have specificity:
Unconventional;
In the sense that contemporary global issues are non-armaments and/or arms
competition.
Nontraditional;
This means that the issue category is not inter-state.
Non-military;
As mentioned earlier, disease outbreaks, and/or drugs can be a threat.
Multidimensional; and
Issues are complex such as those concerning poverty.
Transnational
The issues raised in contemporary global are cross-border such as migration, refugees,
and others.
Thus, the characteristics of contemporary global issues as non-traditional security
threats are:
Contemporary global issues that are non-traditional security threats are not centered on
one particular country. Thus, the threats that are part of these contemporary global
issues are not only faced by one country, but have threatened a number of countries at
once (have regional and global dimensions). Therefore, contemporary global issues are
often referred to as "transnational security threats".
Contemporary global issues are not focused on a particular geographical location.
Based on their geographical character, these issues are It is often difficult to
"recognize" because it crosses borders between countries and even regional
(transnational) boundaries.
Contemporary global issues cannot be addressed by military force alone. Indeed,
military force can be used in escalations that lead to armed conflict. However, in the
long run, military force can no longer be used effectively to address the threat of these
global issues.
Security issues that have become contemporary global issues have threatened the
existence of a country and individuals who are part of the country.
The most obvious thing is that in the development of contemporary global issues is the
emergence of a new term in responding to the threats faced, namely human security.
Strategic Global Issues and National Security in International Relations Theory
Strategic global issues and national security in international relations theory are divided
into two major parts: 1) state centric point of view; and 2) global cross cutting issues. The
state-centric point of view is divided between realism and institutionalism where realism
focuses on national interests while institutionalism focuses on regimes, namely regime
theory. Meanwhile, there is a cross-border theory pioneered by Wednt in the form of
constructivism theory and Joseph Nye in the form of transnationalism theory. In this cross-
border theory, the issue of globalization is raised as one of the factors.
Joseph Nye in his theory states that what is called global interaction is the movement of
information, money, goods, tangible and intangible objects beyond national borders.18 He
divides into four types of global interaction: 1) communication; 2) transportation; 3) money;
4) tourism.19 The interaction is divided into two types, namely interstate communication
and transnational communication. Interstate communication is a type of communication in
relations International communication is conducted entirely under the control of the
government of the nation state. Meanwhile, transnational communication is a type of
communication in international relations that has begun to involve non-state actors.
This form of interstate communication is the classical type, which is also called having
a classical paradigm. This interaction focuses on the government as the agent with which
people relate politically. This interstate politics is different from-although indirectly related
to-domestic politics. Transnational forms of communication in this type are not taken into
account.
Unlike interstate forms of interaction, transnational interactions may involve
governments, but they may not. Non-state actors play an important role in these interactions.
Talking about transnational interactions, we are talking about finance, travel and
communication, which in some cases can involve state actors, for example, to cross borders.
Thus, Nye and Keohanne refer to transnational interaction as a term to describe the
movement of tangible items and services (intangible items) across national borders when at
least one actor is not a state actor and/or an interstate organization.21 Nye and Keohanne
picked up the definition brought by J. David Singer which states that individuals and/or
organizations can have a role in world politics: 1) they can be involved in a coalition that
controls and influences their country; 2) they play their role directly confronting (vs) with
foreign policies and / or foreign societies that are not through (by pass) the government of
their country.22 Nye and Keohanne argue that transnational interactions fall into and / or
more precisely in the second type of Singer's explanation. Keohanne and Nye then describe
the form of transnational interaction as follows to distinguish it from interstate forms of
internation:
In the post-world war globalization era, which involves contemporary global issues of
international relations, many interactions are of the transnational type. This is inseparable
from the existence of Various technologies have been invented, especially communication
technology. Individuals can interact directly with the international community and/or
organizations of nations such as the United Nations. Some of the effects described by
Keohanne and Nye that occur in this type of interaction are essentially increased sensitivity
between people which means changing the form of their relationship with the government.
With global mass communication, different groups from different societies, such as
radical students, military personnel, or ethnic minorities, can observe each other's behavior
and then take it into action. Thus, student radicals can make political tactics and demands
without any direct contact. Their international "consipracy" is conducted publicly and
disseminated with the help of specialized media. Perpetrators in this global phenomenon may
be punished, but its scale, scope and speed are the product of global television.
In brief, Keohanne and Nye concluded that the effects of transnational interactions are:
1) changes in behavior; 2) international pluralism; 3) increased restrictions on states; 4)
increased ability of states to influence others; and 5) the emergence of independent actors
with private foreign policies that can directly oppose or reject their government's policies.
This is most evident in the fact that an individual in a family, the smallest organization
in the country, does not even have control over what his family members access with the
internet technology. This then becomes the same thing that happens at the state level. Thus,
state control is weakened and challenges to national security are strengthened. Threats are
becoming more complex as information technology can target the individual level and
influence their actions bypassing state governance. Does this mean that the state must be
authoritarian and or is there a new form?
Form a Comprehensive Security Strategy: A United Nations Proposal
To the challenges faced by the international community today, the United Nations (UN)
offers a way out. For two decades now, the international community has been working
towards a broad understanding of what constitutes security. Seeking input from governments,
academics, community groups and intergovernmental organizations, the UN held a meeting
called the 2000 Millennium Summit for a world "free of want" and "free of fear". As a result
of this meeting, an understanding and/or input on human security was formed.
In 2001, the UN created a special unit on humanitarian security called the Commission
of Human Security (CHS). The Commission consists of twelve international figures,
including Sadako Ogata - former UN High Commissioner for Refugees - and Professor
Amartya Sen (Nobel Laureate 1998). Humanitarian security has refocused the attention of
states and the international community on the survival, livelihoods and dignity of people as
the basis for peace, development and human progress.
While humanitarian security remains vital to stability and peace, the complexity and
interconnectedness of old and new threats - from chronic and persistent poverty, to violent
conflict, climate change, human trafficking, health, and financial crises - creates a shared
vulnerability to the growing risk of diffuse and cross cutting threats. As challenges can
evolve rapidly within and across nations and deliver powerful crises, humanitarian security
emphasizes the need for a new framework that combines the agendas of security and peace,
development and human rights in a more effective, efficient, and prevention-oriented process.
Here is the UN statement mentioned in the document: While national security remains pivotal
to peace and stability, the complexity and interrelatedness of old and new threats-from
chronic and persistent poverty, to violent conflicts, climate change, human trafficking, health
pandemics, and economic and financial crises-reveal our shared vulnerabilities to a growing
risk of threats that are widespread and cross-cutting. Because these challenges can spread
rapidly within and across nations and give rise to more intractable crises, human security
emphasizes the need for a new framework that combines the agendas of peace and security,
development and human rights in a more effective, efficient and prevention-oriented manner.
In United States, it can be summarized that humanitarian security is to protect the vital
core of human life by enhancing human freedom and fulfilling human needs. The CHS's
arguments for the importance of humanitarian security, touched on a little earlier, are detailed
below:
As argued by the Commission on Human Security (CHS), the need for a new paradigm
of security is associated with two sets of dynamics:
First, human security is needed in response to the complexity and the interrelatedness
of both old and new security threats-from chronic and persistent poverty to ethnic violence,
human trafficking, climate change, health pandemics, international terrorism, and sudden
economic and financial downturns. Such threats tend to acquire transnational dimensions and
move beyond traditional notions of security that focus on external military aggressions alone.
Second, human security is required as a comprehensive approach that utilizes the wide
range of new opportunities to tackle such threats in an integrated manner. Human security
threats cannot be tackled through conventional mechanisms alone. Instead, they require a new
consensus that recognizes the linkages and the interdependencies between development,
human rights and national security.
In essence, the definition provided by the CHS conceptualizes re-envision security with its
most fundamental issues:
moving away from the traditional, state-centric conception of security focused
primarily on the security of the state from military aggression, one that concentrates on
the security of individuals, their protection and empowerment;
draw attention to the many threats that cut across different aspects of human life and
thus highlight the interface between security, development and human rights; and
promote a new integrated, coordinated and people-centered approach to advancing
peace, security and development within and across countries.
Human security brings together the 'human element' in security, rights and
development. As such, it is an inter-disciplinary concept that displays the following
characteristics: 1) human-centered; 2) multi-sectoral; 3) comprehensive; 4) context-specific;
and 5) prevention-oriented.
As a human-centered concept, human security places the individual at the 'center of
analysis'. As a result, it considers the range of conditions that threaten survival, livelihoods
and dignity, and identifies the lower threshold of intolerable human life, threatened. Human
security is also based on a multi-sectoral understanding of insecurity. Therefore, human
security requires an expanded understanding of threats and includes related causes of
insecurity, e.g. for economic, food, health, environmental, personal, community and political
security.
This interdependence has important implications for policymaking as it suggests that
human insecurity cannot be addressed in isolation through fragmented stand-alone responses.
Instead, human security involves a comprehensive approach that emphasizes the need for a
multi-sectoral response that brings together agendas related to security, development and
human rights.
Moreover, as a context-specific concept, human security recognizes that insecurity
varies across different settings and as such advances solutions that are contextually
responsive to the particular situation they seek to address. Finally, in addressing the risks and
root causes of insecurity, human security is prevention oriented and introduces a dual focus
on protection and empowerment.
Conclusion
Based on the analysis and discussion above, it can be concluded that national security
in the context of contemporary global issues in the perspective of international relations is
complex, because threats at the individual level become real. This is then explained in
transnational theory in international relations. In its development, the UN then offered to re-
conceptualize the notion of national security which ultimately provided input on human
security.
The UN has done many things related to humanitarian security. However, the most
obvious challenge still comes if it is clashed with the most classic international relations
theory, namely realism regarding superpowers. The extent to which superpower involvement
can be genuinely involved in the development of issues without any element of national
interest involvement in it, at least supports this conception.
History of the Emergence of Contemporary Global Issues
Contemporary history is a subset of modern history that describes the period of history
from about 1945 to the present. The term "contemporary history" has been used since at least
the early 20th century 19. Contemporary political history is dominated by the Cold War
(1945-1991) between the United States and the Soviet Union whose effects were felt around
the world. In this geopolitical context, the fall of European colonial empires in Africa and
Asia between 1945 and 1975 was often followed by American-Soviet confrontation in the
form of proxy wars and through intervention in the internal politics of smaller states. The
U.S.-Soviet rivalry eventually ended with the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw
Pact in 1991, following the Revolutions of 1989. and in the last stage and after the Cold War
paved the way for the democratization of large parts of Europe, Africa and Latin America.
In the Middle East, the period after 1945 was dominated by conflicts involving the new
state of Israel and the rise of petroleum politics, as well as the growth of Islamism after the
1980s. The period after 1945 saw the growth of the first supranational governmental
organizations, such as the United Nations and the European Union. Socially, western
countries experienced the rise of counter cultures3 and the sexual revolution4 between the
1960s and 1980s which transformed social relations and was fueled by the 1968 Protests.
Living standards rose sharply around the world especially in developed countries as a result
of, but also the emergence of, new economic powers such as Japan and West Germany. US
culture, especially consumerism, spread widely. By the 1960s, many western countries had
begun the process of deindustrialization. In their place, globalization led to the emergence of
new industrial centers, such as Japan, Taiwan and later China, based on exports consumer
goods for developed countries. The period after 1945 was also a transformative period in the
history of science because, among other things, nuclear technology, molecular biology,
particle physics and so on emerged which became the background for the emergence of
various technologies that appear today including the internet.
The history of the modern international system itself actually began in its history when
the Westphalia system (1648). States are interconnected with each other in an environment
called the international system. All countries are considered to have sovereignty, and some
countries are stronger than others. The system has many forms of informal rules about what
should happen, but these rules are not binding. International relations have existed since the
existence of states. The modern international system that we find ourselves in, however, is
not that old. The peace that ended a 30-year war between Catholic and Protestant states in
Western and Central Europe was the forerunner of the modern international system. It
declared that the sovereign leader of each nation state could do what he wanted within its
borders and established the state as a global actor in global politics. From then onwards, the
international system was in relation to nation states.
In the 17th-18th centuries, nation-states emerged to dominate the system of
international relations. A number of strong states dominated Europe, with some powers
coming and going. Weak states usually joined forces with others to prevent the dominant
power from becoming too strong, which is known as a proactive form of preserving the
balance of power. Economic competition and frequent wars marked this era, with countries
such as Britain and France being the most powerful to date, but some other powerful
countries collapsing over time, namely the Ottoman Empire and Spain.
Fundamental differences began to emerge in the 19th century, bringing about two major
changes in the international system:
Nationalism as a form of strength, which makes the nation state grow stronger.
Italy and Germany united, which changed the military and political balance in Europe.
Problems arose with the unification of Italy and Germany, which contributed to World
War I (1914-1918). The international system changed drastically after the war. Many
powerful countries in Europe were devastated by the war, and the United States (US) itself
began to come out of its isolation and turn into a global power. At the same time, the end of
the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian powers created a series of new states, and the rise of
communism in Russia. These factors led to the Treaty of Versailles, the Nazis and
Communism, and World War II (1939-1945).
New governments have emerged since the end of World War II. After the War, two
powers emerged: The US and the Soviet Union, which was called the bipolar system. Since
the end of the Cold War, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US has become the sole
ruler of the international system, which is called unipolar. However, there are other
viewpoints that see that the economic power of the US is not so strong that it cannot be said
that the control of the economy is entirely in the hands of the US because there are other
strong economic countries such as countries in Asia, thus calling it multi-polar.
Contemporary global issues emerged precisely at the end of the Cold War and/or when
the modern international system was unipolar. This can be regarded as the second period of
the new international order. The events that occurred became the context for contemporary
global issues. The most devastating event was the so-called 9/11 or September attacks. An
attack reportedly carried out by the Al Qaedah terrorist group on the US on September 11,
2001. There were about 2,999 victims, about 6,000 injured and 10 million properties and
infrastructures damaged.7 It is said to be devastating here because the attack was carried out
on the unipolar power holder of the international system at that time, namely the US. There
had been previous events that set the context for contemporary global issues such as the
genocides in Rwanda and Bosnia and the emergence of new states in Eastern Europe.
With the events of 9/11 and the genocide problem being addressed by the international
community, the new world government There is one threat that has a different character. The
nature of the threat this time is no longer from the state as was dominant in the Cold War
period but non-state actors. Non-state actors as the perpetrators of the causes of world
insecurity are becoming increasingly difficult to identify because such actors can also come
from the state concerned and/or from within the state itself. International issues in
international relations are becoming increasingly complex so that they are called
contemporary global issues. In this post-Cold War era, threats can mean disease outbreaks,
human trafficking, narcotics, arms trafficking, poverty, illiteracy, infectious viruses, which
are experienced by several countries not the country itself.
Thus, contemporary global issues are issues that developed and expanded after the end
of the Cold War in the 1990s. These contemporary global issues are related to the problems
faced by the international community in the new world order (new order) which is faced with
welfare issues related to human security. The form of security threats in this era has been
transformed so that the form of the international security agenda has also become new,
namely the New Global Security Agenda.
In 2002, the US Department of State under the US Secretary of Global Affairs, Paula J.
Dobriansky, issued a statement released on its website8 regarding new global security by
previously formulating an understanding of what is meant by global issues: At this point, it is
worth defining what I mean by global issues. Global issues are those issues that are not
limited by borders or boundaries but that reach across international lines to affect us all. My
global portfolio encompasses environment and science, refugees and migration, narcotics
trafficking and law enforcement, human rights, and health matters. Though he was speaking
in the first century B.C., the Roman poet Horace aptly described what could be called the
crux of modern global affairs when he wrote, "Your own safety is at stake when your
neighbor's wall is ablaze." The essence of global issues is a recognition that the people of the
world are inexorably linked and that, in today's world, that which touches some touches all.
Since September 11, never have we been more acutely aware that our own safety and the
protection of our way of life must be guarded by due attention to international problems -
such as injustice and the inadequacy of the rule of law, poverty, disease, and repression.
These are the blazing walls of today's world that threaten to engulf us. That is why these
issues have become central to American foreign policy and our efforts to protect our national
interests.
The US defines global issues as those that are not limited to cross-border issues but also
include international issues that impact the US across issues such as the environment and
science, refugees and migration, drug trafficking and law enforcement, human rights and
health. The US recognizes that since 9/11 issues have not been as acute regarding the safety
and protection of life. The aforementioned issues, including terrorism and disease, have
become one of the factors for the US to call it the new global security agenda.
Types and Characteristics of Contemporary Global Issues
Earlier in 1996, a paper was published by the Institute for Security Studies, which
identified several global sources of insecurity and their implications for national security
policy formulation. There are eight important things after the Cold War as strategic global
issues, namely drugs, migration, the environment, population, global economic challenges,
the crisis of liberal democracy, fusion and division, and light weapon proliferation.9 In the
paper, it is explained that there are global sources of insecurity and their implications for
national security policy formulation. These eight issues then become an important cluster as
an extraordinary threat to national and regional security and ultimately global security.10
This was then coupled with 9/11. Thus, the threat in this new form is not in the form of a
"military attack" carried out by a state against another state but an act of crime committed by
a non-state actor and aimed at the state (state actor), individuals or citizens who threaten the
security of humanity (Human Security).
Drugs
The domestic toll of drug addiction is alarming. These include loss of productivity,
soaring health costs, a sharp rise in drug-related crime, and the accelerated spread of AIDS
through contaminated needles. Drug use is not just a social phenomenon; it has far-reaching
political implications and security implications. For example, in Latin America there are
close links between drug traffickers and leftist revolutionary groups such as the Columbia M-
19 and the Peruvian Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path).11 In Lebanon and elsewhere in the
Middle East, in the Balkans, the Southern Republics of the former Soviet Union, Burma
(Myanmar) and Sri Lanka, drugs have become a major source of funds for movements.
Drug trafficking can also affect relations between countries. For example, a major
reason for the 1989 invasion of Panama by the US was that this government, under the
leadership of General Manuel Noriega, was allegedly serving as a conduit for drug travel to
the US.13 Most recently, Ross Perot's strongest attack on the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA), he argued that its eradication was a restriction on free access of goods
between Mexico and the US in allowing larger free traders of drugs in a sense to distribute
their 'poison' in the United States.
Migration
The largest and most dramatic population movement in recent years has been that of
approximately 30 million refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs).14 Political
unrest, social upheaval, economic dislocation and ecological disasters have contributed to the
movement of people across national borders of one 'southern' regional country to another. As
a result there are 3.2 million Afghans in Pakistan and 2.3 million in Iran; 685,000 in Ethiopia
are reported to have sought refuge in Sudan, while there are also 320,000 Somalis and
384,000 Sudanese in Ethiopia; and a further 600,000 Ethiopians are reported to have fled the
war to Somalia. 17 Civil war and famine have caused a third of Liberia's population (763,000
out of a total population of 2.4 million) to flee to neighboring Guinea, Sierra Leone and the
Coast.
Mass population movements are increasingly attracting the attention of key
policymakers, not only for humanitarian reasons, but also because they create domestic
instability, generate inter-state tensions and threaten international security. South Africa is
estimated to have received eight million illegal immigrants, which was the case at one point.
In 1994, it cost South African taxpayers R1, 985 million to host illegal alien residents.
In addition, there is a reciprocal relationship between illegal immigrants and the spread of
infectious diseases such as AIDS, malaria, cholera and tuberculosis. Police sources have also
noted that fourteen percent of all crimes in South Africa involve illegal immigrants including
arms sales, money laundering and drug trafficking.
Environment
The waning of Cold War military tensions coincided with the development of real
security problems that threaten the security of many countries and require international
solutions, including the hole in the ozone layer, the greenhouse effect, deforestation, scarce
water, energy and other resources. The increase in environmental hazards has underscored
two forms of interaction between states in the world: cooperation and conflict.
In 1940, David Mitrany developed a functional theory of international relations. He
proposed that given the common problems facing humanity everywhere, cooperation between
states should be broadened. This theme was embraced and magnified by globalists in the
1980s and 1990s - even going so far as to propose a federal world government for Planet
Earth. At the heart of the theory is the idea that the gravity of global problems requires global
solutions - resulting in greater levels of cooperation between the world's nations. For
example, one country cannot solve a problem such as the widening hole in the Earth's ozone;
it must be a combined planet-wide effort. On one level global cooperation, sharing common
problems, can be seen as a way of such as the Rio Earth Summit.
The potential for resource-based conflict was evident in the 1990 and 1991 Gulf Wars,
which essentially revolved around the scarce resource of energy. One of the main reasons for
the US to get involved in the Gulf War was its dependence on Gulf oil. American dependence
on Persian Gulf oil rose 500 percent between 1985 and 1989. By 1990 oil accounted for half
of the $100 billion US trade deficit.
Population
The world population is expected to grow from 5.3 billion in 1990 to 6.2 billion in
2000, and 8.5 billion in 2025. The growth rate of nearly one billion per decade has socio-
cultural and political economic consequences for the macro-environment. For example,
resource problems in countries such as Mexico and Egypt are directly linked to population
growth.
In Africa itself there is a noted reciprocal relationship between the conflict in Rwanda
and the fact that it has one of the highest levels of population density in Africa's growth.
Population was also seen to be responsible for two-thirds of the increase in carbon dioxide
entering the atmosphere between 1950 and 1985, thereby contributing to the greenhouse
effect. The population explosion was also listed as one of the contributing factors to the
occurrence of IDPs.16
Global Economic Challenges
The need to restructure the world economy stems from two major points: the north-
south growth divide and economic competition. The existence of a north-south split in
economic growth, and in some cases expansion, is obvious. This is highlighted by the fact
that the world's richest twenty percent control eighty percent of the world's economic
resources. This is demonstrated by the fact that the world's richest twenty percent are now
150 times richer than the poorest. It is further underscored by the fact that 1.3 billion people
in developing countries live in conditions of absolute poverty.
Saddest of all, it can be seen by the fact that 34,000 children die every day in the world
from malnutrition and disease. The need to address the north-south problem stems not only
from humanitarian reasons, but also from the threat of prosperity whose poverty is
increasingly exposed. Economic scarcity in the form of global markets and rising production
costs intensify economic competition. Technological competition and various forms of
commercial warfare have replaced the arms race from after the Cold War. According to
Japanese politician Isihara Shintaro, the twenty-first century will be a century of economic
warfare. If this happens, international security is threatened. Large economic power blocs
have been developed in the Pacific Rim and North America as a counterweight to the
European Union (EU). Similar economic formations have also been developed in Central
Africa and South America. The existence of large economic formations is necessary and does
not necessarily mean economic competition but rather complementarity. However, the
scarcity of such competition can develop and the history can become 'hot'.
The Crisis of Liberal Democracy
The end of Soviet-style communist rule consolidated the position of Western liberal
democracies. Since then, there has been state-sponsored ideological competition. The fall of
the Soviet system vindicated the principle of liberal democracy in the eyes of many: Smith,
Mill and Keynes. Western ideas of triumphalism were encapsulated in Francis Fukuyama's
books The End of History and Last Man. The liberal democratic paradigm seemed absolutely
dominant. Post-1989 developments seemed to show this as economic structural adjustment
programs (ESAPs) were liberalized in many African countries; liberal multiparty winds
democracy that swept across much of Africa, South America, the Middle East and Asia.17
Subsequent developments in the former Eastern bloc, which has seen the rise of the former
Communist Party, seem to disprove this notion.
Even in South Africa, political pluralism has experienced some setbacks. Soon after the
fall of the Berlin Wall, the surge towards multiparty democracy intensified in South Africa.
Kenneth Kaunda's corrupt one-party rule system was replaced by Frederick Chiluba's
Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD). In Malawi, the despotic rule of President-for-
life Hastings Kamuzu Band ended peacefully when Malawians went to the Banda elections
and his Malawi Congress Party (MCP) was voted out of power, replaced by United
Democratic Front (UDF) leader Bakili Muluzi.
In Lesotho, military rule ended and the Basotho National Party lost dominance in
elections that brought Prime Minister Ntsu Mokhehle and his Basotholand Congress Party
(BCP) to power. In South Africa, white minority rule came on April 27, 1994-the country's
first racially inclusive election. Meanwhile, both of the former Portuguese colonies in the
region, Angola and Mozambique, began to make the long and difficult transition to political
pluralism.
Fusion and Cleavage
The two most conflicting elements of the contemporary period are fusion and division-
peace coming together with the violent disintegration of society.
Regarding fusion, a newborn global culture seems to be taking shape. Denim jeans and
CocaCola are forms that are universal. If Toshiba and Toyota are in New York, then
MacDonald and Kentucky Fried Chicken will be found in Tokyo. If lamb is cooked and
stewed in a restaurant in New Delhi, then a fancy restaurant in London serves hot curry from
India. If Michael Jackson and Madonna become very famous in Montevideo, Maputo or
Kuala Lumpur, then West African and Indian music is represented by the likes of Manu
Dibango and Babu Shegal, who will surely be found playing in the discos of Paris or
Manchester. This is a nascent global cultural trend that goes even deeper than this: Human
rights and gender, geographical, political and cultural crossovers. One of the reasons for this
is The development of communication and technological innovation made it cheaper to travel
and made it possible for CNN broadcasts to reach 200 million people in ninety other
countries.
Fusion seems to buck this trend: scarce resources, varying degrees of population growth
in heterogeneous societies and the resultant growth of ethnic nationalism are tearing societies
apart. This has been evident in Rwanda and Burundi between Hutu and Tutsi; between Serbs,
Croats and Muslims in the former Yugoslavia; and between Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims in
India. What is even more interesting today is that these issues are beginning to surface in
western countries with liberal democracies: consider the growth of neo-Nazism in Germany;
the rising fortunes of Jean-Marie le Pen's National Front in France; the invigorating separatist
movements in Quebec; Catalonia; the Basque country; Corsica; Lombardy; Scotland and
Wales; and increasing tensions between the Flems and Walloons in Belgium. Not least, in the
US there were the 1992 riots in Los Angeles and the growth of ethnocentric nationalist
movements.
Light Weapons Production
Light weapons refer to crew-portable and ground weapons. Definitions include small
arms such as pistols, rifles, assault rifles and sub-machine guns; and medium machine guns;
heavy machine guns (HMG) with a caliber not exceeding 14.5 mm; anti-aircraft and anti-tank
missiles; light mortars; mines and grenades.
The danger of small arms proliferation to world peace is underscored by the fact that in
1994, major armed conflicts were being waged in 27 countries around the world and small
arms were the overwhelming cause of death from these weapons. The existence of small arms
is perhaps most fragile in third world countries due to power imbalances such as insurgents,
drug traffickers and other criminals. For example, guerrillas in Kashmir fighting India use
Soviet Kalashnikovs, in Pakistan, small arms exacerbate ethnic conflicts between mohajirs,
Pakistani Punjabis, Pathans from the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan and
Sindhis.
For Third World countries, issues related to the threat of a new form of security
(Human Security) are "real security threats" because they have relevance to the domestic
conditions of Third World countries that are still preoccupied with the threat of human
security by various issues regarding: 1) Political transition situation; 2) Weak government
power due to not maximizing law enforcement efforts; 3) Political uncertainty; 4) Economic
crisis; 5) Conflict issues in border areas; 6) Ethnic conflicts and communal conflicts with
various international dimensions; 7) The issue of national disintegration; 8) Increase in the
number of terrorism perpetrators; 9) The ability to carry out threatening actions against
human security, etc.
The development of technology, especially information technology, is one of the strong
reasons for the expansion of contemporary global issues, resulting in a shift in the nature of
global issues from before the Cold War. Due to the development of threats that have different
types than before the Cold War, contemporary global issues have specificity:
Unconventional;
In the sense that contemporary global issues are non-armaments and/or arms
competition.
Nontraditional;
This means that the issue category is not inter-state.
Non-military;
As mentioned earlier, disease outbreaks, and/or drugs can be a threat.
Multidimensional; and
Issues are complex such as those concerning poverty.
Transnational
The issues raised in contemporary global are cross-border such as migration, refugees,
and others.
Thus, the characteristics of contemporary global issues as non-traditional security
threats are:
Contemporary global issues that are non-traditional security threats are not centered on
one particular country. Thus, the threats that are part of these contemporary global
issues are not only faced by one country, but have threatened a number of countries at
once (have regional and global dimensions). Therefore, contemporary global issues are
often referred to as "transnational security threats".
Contemporary global issues are not focused on a particular geographical location.
Based on their geographical character, these issues are It is often difficult to
"recognize" because it crosses borders between countries and even regional
(transnational) boundaries.
Contemporary global issues cannot be addressed by military force alone. Indeed,
military force can be used in escalations that lead to armed conflict. However, in the
long run, military force can no longer be used effectively to address the threat of these
global issues.
Security issues that have become contemporary global issues have threatened the
existence of a country and individuals who are part of the country.
The most obvious thing is that in the development of contemporary global issues is the
emergence of a new term in responding to the threats faced, namely human security.
Strategic Global Issues and National Security in International Relations Theory
Strategic global issues and national security in international relations theory are divided
into two major parts: 1) state centric point of view; and 2) global cross cutting issues. The
state-centric point of view is divided between realism and institutionalism where realism
focuses on national interests while institutionalism focuses on regimes, namely regime
theory. Meanwhile, there is a cross-border theory pioneered by Wednt in the form of
constructivism theory and Joseph Nye in the form of transnationalism theory. In this cross-
border theory, the issue of globalization is raised as one of the factors.
Joseph Nye in his theory states that what is called global interaction is the movement of
information, money, goods, tangible and intangible objects beyond national borders.18 He
divides into four types of global interaction: 1) communication; 2) transportation; 3) money;
4) tourism.19 The interaction is divided into two types, namely interstate communication
and transnational communication. Interstate communication is a type of communication in
relations International communication is conducted entirely under the control of the
government of the nation state. Meanwhile, transnational communication is a type of
communication in international relations that has begun to involve non-state actors.
This form of interstate communication is the classical type, which is also called having
a classical paradigm. This interaction focuses on the government as the agent with which
people relate politically. This interstate politics is different from-although indirectly related
to-domestic politics. Transnational forms of communication in this type are not taken into
account.
Unlike interstate forms of interaction, transnational interactions may involve
governments, but they may not. Non-state actors play an important role in these interactions.
Talking about transnational interactions, we are talking about finance, travel and
communication, which in some cases can involve state actors, for example, to cross borders.
Thus, Nye and Keohanne refer to transnational interaction as a term to describe the
movement of tangible items and services (intangible items) across national borders when at
least one actor is not a state actor and/or an interstate organization.21 Nye and Keohanne
picked up the definition brought by J. David Singer which states that individuals and/or
organizations can have a role in world politics: 1) they can be involved in a coalition that
controls and influences their country; 2) they play their role directly confronting (vs) with
foreign policies and / or foreign societies that are not through (by pass) the government of
their country.22 Nye and Keohanne argue that transnational interactions fall into and / or
more precisely in the second type of Singer's explanation. Keohanne and Nye then describe
the form of transnational interaction as follows to distinguish it from interstate forms of
internation:
In the post-world war globalization era, which involves contemporary global issues of
international relations, many interactions are of the transnational type. This is inseparable
from the existence of Various technologies have been invented, especially communication
technology. Individuals can interact directly with the international community and/or
organizations of nations such as the United Nations. Some of the effects described by
Keohanne and Nye that occur in this type of interaction are essentially increased sensitivity
between people which means changing the form of their relationship with the government.
With global mass communication, different groups from different societies, such as
radical students, military personnel, or ethnic minorities, can observe each other's behavior
and then take it into action. Thus, student radicals can make political tactics and demands
without any direct contact. Their international "consipracy" is conducted publicly and
disseminated with the help of specialized media. Perpetrators in this global phenomenon may
be punished, but its scale, scope and speed are the product of global television.
In brief, Keohanne and Nye concluded that the effects of transnational interactions are:
1) changes in behavior; 2) international pluralism; 3) increased restrictions on states; 4)
increased ability of states to influence others; and 5) the emergence of independent actors
with private foreign policies that can directly oppose or reject their government's policies.
This is most evident in the fact that an individual in a family, the smallest organization
in the country, does not even have control over what his family members access with the
internet technology. This then becomes the same thing that happens at the state level. Thus,
state control is weakened and challenges to national security are strengthened. Threats are
becoming more complex as information technology can target the individual level and
influence their actions bypassing state governance. Does this mean that the state must be
authoritarian and or is there a new form?
Form a Comprehensive Security Strategy: A United Nations Proposal
To the challenges faced by the international community today, the United Nations (UN)
offers a way out. For two decades now, the international community has been working
towards a broad understanding of what constitutes security. Seeking input from governments,
academics, community groups and intergovernmental organizations, the UN held a meeting
called the 2000 Millennium Summit for a world "free of want" and "free of fear". As a result
of this meeting, an understanding and/or input on human security was formed.
In 2001, the UN created a special unit on humanitarian security called the Commission
of Human Security (CHS). The Commission consists of twelve international figures,
including Sadako Ogata - former UN High Commissioner for Refugees - and Professor
Amartya Sen (Nobel Laureate 1998). Humanitarian security has refocused the attention of
states and the international community on the survival, livelihoods and dignity of people as
the basis for peace, development and human progress.
While humanitarian security remains vital to stability and peace, the complexity and
interconnectedness of old and new threats - from chronic and persistent poverty, to violent
conflict, climate change, human trafficking, health, and financial crises - creates a shared
vulnerability to the growing risk of diffuse and cross cutting threats. As challenges can
evolve rapidly within and across nations and deliver powerful crises, humanitarian security
emphasizes the need for a new framework that combines the agendas of security and peace,
development and human rights in a more effective, efficient, and prevention-oriented process.
Here is the UN statement mentioned in the document: While national security remains pivotal
to peace and stability, the complexity and interrelatedness of old and new threats-from
chronic and persistent poverty, to violent conflicts, climate change, human trafficking, health
pandemics, and economic and financial crises-reveal our shared vulnerabilities to a growing
risk of threats that are widespread and cross-cutting. Because these challenges can spread
rapidly within and across nations and give rise to more intractable crises, human security
emphasizes the need for a new framework that combines the agendas of peace and security,
development and human rights in a more effective, efficient and prevention-oriented manner.
In United States, it can be summarized that humanitarian security is to protect the vital
core of human life by enhancing human freedom and fulfilling human needs. The CHS's
arguments for the importance of humanitarian security, touched on a little earlier, are detailed
below:
As argued by the Commission on Human Security (CHS), the need for a new paradigm
of security is associated with two sets of dynamics:
First, human security is needed in response to the complexity and the interrelatedness
of both old and new security threats-from chronic and persistent poverty to ethnic violence,
human trafficking, climate change, health pandemics, international terrorism, and sudden
economic and financial downturns. Such threats tend to acquire transnational dimensions and
move beyond traditional notions of security that focus on external military aggressions alone.
Second, human security is required as a comprehensive approach that utilizes the wide
range of new opportunities to tackle such threats in an integrated manner. Human security
threats cannot be tackled through conventional mechanisms alone. Instead, they require a new
consensus that recognizes the linkages and the interdependencies between development,
human rights and national security.
In essence, the definition provided by the CHS conceptualizes re-envision security with its
most fundamental issues:
moving away from the traditional, state-centric conception of security focused
primarily on the security of the state from military aggression, one that concentrates on
the security of individuals, their protection and empowerment;
draw attention to the many threats that cut across different aspects of human life and
thus highlight the interface between security, development and human rights; and
promote a new integrated, coordinated and people-centered approach to advancing
peace, security and development within and across countries.
Human security brings together the 'human element' in security, rights and
development. As such, it is an inter-disciplinary concept that displays the following
characteristics: 1) human-centered; 2) multi-sectoral; 3) comprehensive; 4) context-specific;
and 5) prevention-oriented.
As a human-centered concept, human security places the individual at the 'center of
analysis'. As a result, it considers the range of conditions that threaten survival, livelihoods
and dignity, and identifies the lower threshold of intolerable human life, threatened. Human
security is also based on a multi-sectoral understanding of insecurity. Therefore, human
security requires an expanded understanding of threats and includes related causes of
insecurity, e.g. for economic, food, health, environmental, personal, community and political
security.
This interdependence has important implications for policymaking as it suggests that
human insecurity cannot be addressed in isolation through fragmented stand-alone responses.
Instead, human security involves a comprehensive approach that emphasizes the need for a
multi-sectoral response that brings together agendas related to security, development and
human rights.
Moreover, as a context-specific concept, human security recognizes that insecurity
varies across different settings and as such advances solutions that are contextually
responsive to the particular situation they seek to address. Finally, in addressing the risks and
root causes of insecurity, human security is prevention oriented and introduces a dual focus
on protection and empowerment.
Conclusion
Based on the analysis and discussion above, it can be concluded that national security
in the context of contemporary global issues in the perspective of international relations is
complex, because threats at the individual level become real. This is then explained in
transnational theory in international relations. In its development, the UN then offered to re-
conceptualize the notion of national security which ultimately provided input on human
security.
The UN has done many things related to humanitarian security. However, the most
obvious challenge still comes if it is clashed with the most classic international relations
theory, namely realism regarding superpowers. The extent to which superpower involvement
can be genuinely involved in the development of issues without any element of national
interest involvement in it, at least supports this conception.
History of the Emergence of Contemporary Global Issues
Contemporary history is a subset of modern history that describes the period of history
from about 1945 to the present. The term "contemporary history" has been used since at least
the early 20th century 19. Contemporary political history is dominated by the Cold War
(1945-1991) between the United States and the Soviet Union whose effects were felt around
the world. In this geopolitical context, the fall of European colonial empires in Africa and
Asia between 1945 and 1975 was often followed by American-Soviet confrontation in the
form of proxy wars and through intervention in the internal politics of smaller states. The
U.S.-Soviet rivalry eventually ended with the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw
Pact in 1991, following the Revolutions of 1989. and in the last stage and after the Cold War
paved the way for the democratization of large parts of Europe, Africa and Latin America.
In the Middle East, the period after 1945 was dominated by conflicts involving the new
state of Israel and the rise of petroleum politics, as well as the growth of Islamism after the
1980s. The period after 1945 saw the growth of the first supranational governmental
organizations, such as the United Nations and the European Union. Socially, western
countries experienced the rise of counter cultures3 and the sexual revolution4 between the
1960s and 1980s which transformed social relations and was fueled by the 1968 Protests.
Living standards rose sharply around the world especially in developed countries as a result
of, but also the emergence of, new economic powers such as Japan and West Germany. US
culture, especially consumerism, spread widely. By the 1960s, many western countries had
begun the process of deindustrialization. In their place, globalization led to the emergence of
new industrial centers, such as Japan, Taiwan and later China, based on exports consumer
goods for developed countries. The period after 1945 was also a transformative period in the
history of science because, among other things, nuclear technology, molecular biology,
particle physics and so on emerged which became the background for the emergence of
various technologies that appear today including the internet.
The history of the modern international system itself actually began in its history when
the Westphalia system (1648). States are interconnected with each other in an environment
called the international system. All countries are considered to have sovereignty, and some
countries are stronger than others. The system has many forms of informal rules about what
should happen, but these rules are not binding. International relations have existed since the
existence of states. The modern international system that we find ourselves in, however, is
not that old. The peace that ended a 30-year war between Catholic and Protestant states in
Western and Central Europe was the forerunner of the modern international system. It
declared that the sovereign leader of each nation state could do what he wanted within its
borders and established the state as a global actor in global politics. From then onwards, the
international system was in relation to nation states.
In the 17th-18th centuries, nation-states emerged to dominate the system of
international relations. A number of strong states dominated Europe, with some powers
coming and going. Weak states usually joined forces with others to prevent the dominant
power from becoming too strong, which is known as a proactive form of preserving the
balance of power. Economic competition and frequent wars marked this era, with countries
such as Britain and France being the most powerful to date, but some other powerful
countries collapsing over time, namely the Ottoman Empire and Spain.
Fundamental differences began to emerge in the 19th century, bringing about two major
changes in the international system:
Nationalism as a form of strength, which makes the nation state grow stronger.
Italy and Germany united, which changed the military and political balance in Europe.
Problems arose with the unification of Italy and Germany, which contributed to World
War I (1914-1918). The international system changed drastically after the war. Many
powerful countries in Europe were devastated by the war, and the United States (US) itself
began to come out of its isolation and turn into a global power. At the same time, the end of
the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian powers created a series of new states, and the rise of
communism in Russia. These factors led to the Treaty of Versailles, the Nazis and
Communism, and World War II (1939-1945).
New governments have emerged since the end of World War II. After the War, two
powers emerged: The US and the Soviet Union, which was called the bipolar system. Since
the end of the Cold War, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US has become the sole
ruler of the international system, which is called unipolar. However, there are other
viewpoints that see that the economic power of the US is not so strong that it cannot be said
that the control of the economy is entirely in the hands of the US because there are other
strong economic countries such as countries in Asia, thus calling it multi-polar.
Contemporary global issues emerged precisely at the end of the Cold War and/or when
the modern international system was unipolar. This can be regarded as the second period of
the new international order. The events that occurred became the context for contemporary
global issues. The most devastating event was the so-called 9/11 or September attacks. An
attack reportedly carried out by the Al Qaedah terrorist group on the US on September 11,
2001. There were about 2,999 victims, about 6,000 injured and 10 million properties and
infrastructures damaged.7 It is said to be devastating here because the attack was carried out
on the unipolar power holder of the international system at that time, namely the US. There
had been previous events that set the context for contemporary global issues such as the
genocides in Rwanda and Bosnia and the emergence of new states in Eastern Europe.
With the events of 9/11 and the genocide problem being addressed by the international
community, the new world government There is one threat that has a different character. The
nature of the threat this time is no longer from the state as was dominant in the Cold War
period but non-state actors. Non-state actors as the perpetrators of the causes of world
insecurity are becoming increasingly difficult to identify because such actors can also come
from the state concerned and/or from within the state itself. International issues in
international relations are becoming increasingly complex so that they are called
contemporary global issues. In this post-Cold War era, threats can mean disease outbreaks,
human trafficking, narcotics, arms trafficking, poverty, illiteracy, infectious viruses, which
are experienced by several countries not the country itself.
Thus, contemporary global issues are issues that developed and expanded after the end
of the Cold War in the 1990s. These contemporary global issues are related to the problems
faced by the international community in the new world order (new order) which is faced with
welfare issues related to human security. The form of security threats in this era has been
transformed so that the form of the international security agenda has also become new,
namely the New Global Security Agenda.
In 2002, the US Department of State under the US Secretary of Global Affairs, Paula J.
Dobriansky, issued a statement released on its website8 regarding new global security by
previously formulating an understanding of what is meant by global issues: At this point, it is
worth defining what I mean by global issues. Global issues are those issues that are not
limited by borders or boundaries but that reach across international lines to affect us all. My
global portfolio encompasses environment and science, refugees and migration, narcotics
trafficking and law enforcement, human rights, and health matters. Though he was speaking
in the first century B.C., the Roman poet Horace aptly described what could be called the
crux of modern global affairs when he wrote, "Your own safety is at stake when your
neighbor's wall is ablaze." The essence of global issues is a recognition that the people of the
world are inexorably linked and that, in today's world, that which touches some touches all.
Since September 11, never have we been more acutely aware that our own safety and the
protection of our way of life must be guarded by due attention to international problems -
such as injustice and the inadequacy of the rule of law, poverty, disease, and repression.
These are the blazing walls of today's world that threaten to engulf us. That is why these
issues have become central to American foreign policy and our efforts to protect our national
interests.
The US defines global issues as those that are not limited to cross-border issues but also
include international issues that impact the US across issues such as the environment and
science, refugees and migration, drug trafficking and law enforcement, human rights and
health. The US recognizes that since 9/11 issues have not been as acute regarding the safety
and protection of life. The aforementioned issues, including terrorism and disease, have
become one of the factors for the US to call it the new global security agenda.
Types and Characteristics of Contemporary Global Issues
Earlier in 1996, a paper was published by the Institute for Security Studies, which
identified several global sources of insecurity and their implications for national security
policy formulation. There are eight important things after the Cold War as strategic global
issues, namely drugs, migration, the environment, population, global economic challenges,
the crisis of liberal democracy, fusion and division, and light weapon proliferation.9 In the
paper, it is explained that there are global sources of insecurity and their implications for
national security policy formulation. These eight issues then become an important cluster as
an extraordinary threat to national and regional security and ultimately global security.10
This was then coupled with 9/11. Thus, the threat in this new form is not in the form of a
"military attack" carried out by a state against another state but an act of crime committed by
a non-state actor and aimed at the state (state actor), individuals or citizens who threaten the
security of humanity (Human Security).
Drugs
The domestic toll of drug addiction is alarming. These include loss of productivity,
soaring health costs, a sharp rise in drug-related crime, and the accelerated spread of AIDS
through contaminated needles. Drug use is not just a social phenomenon; it has far-reaching
political implications and security implications. For example, in Latin America there are
close links between drug traffickers and leftist revolutionary groups such as the Columbia M-
19 and the Peruvian Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path).11 In Lebanon and elsewhere in the
Middle East, in the Balkans, the Southern Republics of the former Soviet Union, Burma
(Myanmar) and Sri Lanka, drugs have become a major source of funds for movements.
Drug trafficking can also affect relations between countries. For example, a major
reason for the 1989 invasion of Panama by the US was that this government, under the
leadership of General Manuel Noriega, was allegedly serving as a conduit for drug travel to
the US.13 Most recently, Ross Perot's strongest attack on the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA), he argued that its eradication was a restriction on free access of goods
between Mexico and the US in allowing larger free traders of drugs in a sense to distribute
their 'poison' in the United States.
Migration
The largest and most dramatic population movement in recent years has been that of
approximately 30 million refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs).14 Political
unrest, social upheaval, economic dislocation and ecological disasters have contributed to the
movement of people across national borders of one 'southern' regional country to another. As
a result there are 3.2 million Afghans in Pakistan and 2.3 million in Iran; 685,000 in Ethiopia
are reported to have sought refuge in Sudan, while there are also 320,000 Somalis and
384,000 Sudanese in Ethiopia; and a further 600,000 Ethiopians are reported to have fled the
war to Somalia. 17 Civil war and famine have caused a third of Liberia's population (763,000
out of a total population of 2.4 million) to flee to neighboring Guinea, Sierra Leone and the
Coast.
Mass population movements are increasingly attracting the attention of key
policymakers, not only for humanitarian reasons, but also because they create domestic
instability, generate inter-state tensions and threaten international security. South Africa is
estimated to have received eight million illegal immigrants, which was the case at one point.
In 1994, it cost South African taxpayers R1, 985 million to host illegal alien residents.
In addition, there is a reciprocal relationship between illegal immigrants and the spread of
infectious diseases such as AIDS, malaria, cholera and tuberculosis. Police sources have also
noted that fourteen percent of all crimes in South Africa involve illegal immigrants including
arms sales, money laundering and drug trafficking.
Environment
The waning of Cold War military tensions coincided with the development of real
security problems that threaten the security of many countries and require international
solutions, including the hole in the ozone layer, the greenhouse effect, deforestation, scarce
water, energy and other resources. The increase in environmental hazards has underscored
two forms of interaction between states in the world: cooperation and conflict.
In 1940, David Mitrany developed a functional theory of international relations. He
proposed that given the common problems facing humanity everywhere, cooperation between
states should be broadened. This theme was embraced and magnified by globalists in the
1980s and 1990s - even going so far as to propose a federal world government for Planet
Earth. At the heart of the theory is the idea that the gravity of global problems requires global
solutions - resulting in greater levels of cooperation between the world's nations. For
example, one country cannot solve a problem such as the widening hole in the Earth's ozone;
it must be a combined planet-wide effort. On one level global cooperation, sharing common
problems, can be seen as a way of such as the Rio Earth Summit.
The potential for resource-based conflict was evident in the 1990 and 1991 Gulf Wars,
which essentially revolved around the scarce resource of energy. One of the main reasons for
the US to get involved in the Gulf War was its dependence on Gulf oil. American dependence
on Persian Gulf oil rose 500 percent between 1985 and 1989. By 1990 oil accounted for half
of the $100 billion US trade deficit.
Population
The world population is expected to grow from 5.3 billion in 1990 to 6.2 billion in
2000, and 8.5 billion in 2025. The growth rate of nearly one billion per decade has socio-
cultural and political economic consequences for the macro-environment. For example,
resource problems in countries such as Mexico and Egypt are directly linked to population
growth.
In Africa itself there is a noted reciprocal relationship between the conflict in Rwanda
and the fact that it has one of the highest levels of population density in Africa's growth.
Population was also seen to be responsible for two-thirds of the increase in carbon dioxide
entering the atmosphere between 1950 and 1985, thereby contributing to the greenhouse
effect. The population explosion was also listed as one of the contributing factors to the
occurrence of IDPs.16
Global Economic Challenges
The need to restructure the world economy stems from two major points: the north-
south growth divide and economic competition. The existence of a north-south split in
economic growth, and in some cases expansion, is obvious. This is highlighted by the fact
that the world's richest twenty percent control eighty percent of the world's economic
resources. This is demonstrated by the fact that the world's richest twenty percent are now
150 times richer than the poorest. It is further underscored by the fact that 1.3 billion people
in developing countries live in conditions of absolute poverty.
Saddest of all, it can be seen by the fact that 34,000 children die every day in the world
from malnutrition and disease. The need to address the north-south problem stems not only
from humanitarian reasons, but also from the threat of prosperity whose poverty is
increasingly exposed. Economic scarcity in the form of global markets and rising production
costs intensify economic competition. Technological competition and various forms of
commercial warfare have replaced the arms race from after the Cold War. According to
Japanese politician Isihara Shintaro, the twenty-first century will be a century of economic
warfare. If this happens, international security is threatened. Large economic power blocs
have been developed in the Pacific Rim and North America as a counterweight to the
European Union (EU). Similar economic formations have also been developed in Central
Africa and South America. The existence of large economic formations is necessary and does
not necessarily mean economic competition but rather complementarity. However, the
scarcity of such competition can develop and the history can become 'hot'.
The Crisis of Liberal Democracy
The end of Soviet-style communist rule consolidated the position of Western liberal
democracies. Since then, there has been state-sponsored ideological competition. The fall of
the Soviet system vindicated the principle of liberal democracy in the eyes of many: Smith,
Mill and Keynes. Western ideas of triumphalism were encapsulated in Francis Fukuyama's
books The End of History and Last Man. The liberal democratic paradigm seemed absolutely
dominant. Post-1989 developments seemed to show this as economic structural adjustment
programs (ESAPs) were liberalized in many African countries; liberal multiparty winds
democracy that swept across much of Africa, South America, the Middle East and Asia.17
Subsequent developments in the former Eastern bloc, which has seen the rise of the former
Communist Party, seem to disprove this notion.
Even in South Africa, political pluralism has experienced some setbacks. Soon after the
fall of the Berlin Wall, the surge towards multiparty democracy intensified in South Africa.
Kenneth Kaunda's corrupt one-party rule system was replaced by Frederick Chiluba's
Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD). In Malawi, the despotic rule of President-for-
life Hastings Kamuzu Band ended peacefully when Malawians went to the Banda elections
and his Malawi Congress Party (MCP) was voted out of power, replaced by United
Democratic Front (UDF) leader Bakili Muluzi.
In Lesotho, military rule ended and the Basotho National Party lost dominance in
elections that brought Prime Minister Ntsu Mokhehle and his Basotholand Congress Party
(BCP) to power. In South Africa, white minority rule came on April 27, 1994-the country's
first racially inclusive election. Meanwhile, both of the former Portuguese colonies in the
region, Angola and Mozambique, began to make the long and difficult transition to political
pluralism.
Fusion and Cleavage
The two most conflicting elements of the contemporary period are fusion and division-
peace coming together with the violent disintegration of society.
Regarding fusion, a newborn global culture seems to be taking shape. Denim jeans and
CocaCola are forms that are universal. If Toshiba and Toyota are in New York, then
MacDonald and Kentucky Fried Chicken will be found in Tokyo. If lamb is cooked and
stewed in a restaurant in New Delhi, then a fancy restaurant in London serves hot curry from
India. If Michael Jackson and Madonna become very famous in Montevideo, Maputo or
Kuala Lumpur, then West African and Indian music is represented by the likes of Manu
Dibango and Babu Shegal, who will surely be found playing in the discos of Paris or
Manchester. This is a nascent global cultural trend that goes even deeper than this: Human
rights and gender, geographical, political and cultural crossovers. One of the reasons for this
is The development of communication and technological innovation made it cheaper to travel
and made it possible for CNN broadcasts to reach 200 million people in ninety other
countries.
Fusion seems to buck this trend: scarce resources, varying degrees of population growth
in heterogeneous societies and the resultant growth of ethnic nationalism are tearing societies
apart. This has been evident in Rwanda and Burundi between Hutu and Tutsi; between Serbs,
Croats and Muslims in the former Yugoslavia; and between Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims in
India. What is even more interesting today is that these issues are beginning to surface in
western countries with liberal democracies: consider the growth of neo-Nazism in Germany;
the rising fortunes of Jean-Marie le Pen's National Front in France; the invigorating separatist
movements in Quebec; Catalonia; the Basque country; Corsica; Lombardy; Scotland and
Wales; and increasing tensions between the Flems and Walloons in Belgium. Not least, in the
US there were the 1992 riots in Los Angeles and the growth of ethnocentric nationalist
movements.
Light Weapons Production
Light weapons refer to crew-portable and ground weapons. Definitions include small
arms such as pistols, rifles, assault rifles and sub-machine guns; and medium machine guns;
heavy machine guns (HMG) with a caliber not exceeding 14.5 mm; anti-aircraft and anti-tank
missiles; light mortars; mines and grenades.
The danger of small arms proliferation to world peace is underscored by the fact that in
1994, major armed conflicts were being waged in 27 countries around the world and small
arms were the overwhelming cause of death from these weapons. The existence of small arms
is perhaps most fragile in third world countries due to power imbalances such as insurgents,
drug traffickers and other criminals. For example, guerrillas in Kashmir fighting India use
Soviet Kalashnikovs, in Pakistan, small arms exacerbate ethnic conflicts between mohajirs,
Pakistani Punjabis, Pathans from the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan and
Sindhis.
For Third World countries, issues related to the threat of a new form of security
(Human Security) are "real security threats" because they have relevance to the domestic
conditions of Third World countries that are still preoccupied with the threat of human
security by various issues regarding: 1) Political transition situation; 2) Weak government
power due to not maximizing law enforcement efforts; 3) Political uncertainty; 4) Economic
crisis; 5) Conflict issues in border areas; 6) Ethnic conflicts and communal conflicts with
various international dimensions; 7) The issue of national disintegration; 8) Increase in the
number of terrorism perpetrators; 9) The ability to carry out threatening actions against
human security, etc.
The development of technology, especially information technology, is one of the strong
reasons for the expansion of contemporary global issues, resulting in a shift in the nature of
global issues from before the Cold War. Due to the development of threats that have different
types than before the Cold War, contemporary global issues have specificity:
Unconventional;
In the sense that contemporary global issues are non-armaments and/or arms
competition.
Nontraditional;
This means that the issue category is not inter-state.
Non-military;
As mentioned earlier, disease outbreaks, and/or drugs can be a threat.
Multidimensional; and
Issues are complex such as those concerning poverty.
Transnational
The issues raised in contemporary global are cross-border such as migration, refugees,
and others.
Thus, the characteristics of contemporary global issues as non-traditional security
threats are:
Contemporary global issues that are non-traditional security threats are not centered on
one particular country. Thus, the threats that are part of these contemporary global
issues are not only faced by one country, but have threatened a number of countries at
once (have regional and global dimensions). Therefore, contemporary global issues are
often referred to as "transnational security threats".
Contemporary global issues are not focused on a particular geographical location.
Based on their geographical character, these issues are It is often difficult to
"recognize" because it crosses borders between countries and even regional
(transnational) boundaries.
Contemporary global issues cannot be addressed by military force alone. Indeed,
military force can be used in escalations that lead to armed conflict. However, in the
long run, military force can no longer be used effectively to address the threat of these
global issues.
Security issues that have become contemporary global issues have threatened the
existence of a country and individuals who are part of the country.
The most obvious thing is that in the development of contemporary global issues is the
emergence of a new term in responding to the threats faced, namely human security.
Strategic Global Issues and National Security in International Relations Theory
Strategic global issues and national security in international relations theory are divided
into two major parts: 1) state centric point of view; and 2) global cross cutting issues. The
state-centric point of view is divided between realism and institutionalism where realism
focuses on national interests while institutionalism focuses on regimes, namely regime
theory. Meanwhile, there is a cross-border theory pioneered by Wednt in the form of
constructivism theory and Joseph Nye in the form of transnationalism theory. In this cross-
border theory, the issue of globalization is raised as one of the factors.
Joseph Nye in his theory states that what is called global interaction is the movement of
information, money, goods, tangible and intangible objects beyond national borders.18 He
divides into four types of global interaction: 1) communication; 2) transportation; 3) money;
4) tourism.19 The interaction is divided into two types, namely interstate communication
and transnational communication. Interstate communication is a type of communication in
relations International communication is conducted entirely under the control of the
government of the nation state. Meanwhile, transnational communication is a type of
communication in international relations that has begun to involve non-state actors.
This form of interstate communication is the classical type, which is also called having
a classical paradigm. This interaction focuses on the government as the agent with which
people relate politically. This interstate politics is different from-although indirectly related
to-domestic politics. Transnational forms of communication in this type are not taken into
account.
Unlike interstate forms of interaction, transnational interactions may involve
governments, but they may not. Non-state actors play an important role in these interactions.
Talking about transnational interactions, we are talking about finance, travel and
communication, which in some cases can involve state actors, for example, to cross borders.
Thus, Nye and Keohanne refer to transnational interaction as a term to describe the
movement of tangible items and services (intangible items) across national borders when at
least one actor is not a state actor and/or an interstate organization.21 Nye and Keohanne
picked up the definition brought by J. David Singer which states that individuals and/or
organizations can have a role in world politics: 1) they can be involved in a coalition that
controls and influences their country; 2) they play their role directly confronting (vs) with
foreign policies and / or foreign societies that are not through (by pass) the government of
their country.22 Nye and Keohanne argue that transnational interactions fall into and / or
more precisely in the second type of Singer's explanation. Keohanne and Nye then describe
the form of transnational interaction as follows to distinguish it from interstate forms of
internation:
In the post-world war globalization era, which involves contemporary global issues of
international relations, many interactions are of the transnational type. This is inseparable
from the existence of Various technologies have been invented, especially communication
technology. Individuals can interact directly with the international community and/or
organizations of nations such as the United Nations. Some of the effects described by
Keohanne and Nye that occur in this type of interaction are essentially increased sensitivity
between people which means changing the form of their relationship with the government.
With global mass communication, different groups from different societies, such as
radical students, military personnel, or ethnic minorities, can observe each other's behavior
and then take it into action. Thus, student radicals can make political tactics and demands
without any direct contact. Their international "consipracy" is conducted publicly and
disseminated with the help of specialized media. Perpetrators in this global phenomenon may
be punished, but its scale, scope and speed are the product of global television.
In brief, Keohanne and Nye concluded that the effects of transnational interactions are:
1) changes in behavior; 2) international pluralism; 3) increased restrictions on states; 4)
increased ability of states to influence others; and 5) the emergence of independent actors
with private foreign policies that can directly oppose or reject their government's policies.
This is most evident in the fact that an individual in a family, the smallest organization
in the country, does not even have control over what his family members access with the
internet technology. This then becomes the same thing that happens at the state level. Thus,
state control is weakened and challenges to national security are strengthened. Threats are
becoming more complex as information technology can target the individual level and
influence their actions bypassing state governance. Does this mean that the state must be
authoritarian and or is there a new form?
Form a Comprehensive Security Strategy: A United Nations Proposal
To the challenges faced by the international community today, the United Nations (UN)
offers a way out. For two decades now, the international community has been working
towards a broad understanding of what constitutes security. Seeking input from governments,
academics, community groups and intergovernmental organizations, the UN held a meeting
called the 2000 Millennium Summit for a world "free of want" and "free of fear". As a result
of this meeting, an understanding and/or input on human security was formed.
In 2001, the UN created a special unit on humanitarian security called the Commission
of Human Security (CHS). The Commission consists of twelve international figures,
including Sadako Ogata - former UN High Commissioner for Refugees - and Professor
Amartya Sen (Nobel Laureate 1998). Humanitarian security has refocused the attention of
states and the international community on the survival, livelihoods and dignity of people as
the basis for peace, development and human progress.
While humanitarian security remains vital to stability and peace, the complexity and
interconnectedness of old and new threats - from chronic and persistent poverty, to violent
conflict, climate change, human trafficking, health, and financial crises - creates a shared
vulnerability to the growing risk of diffuse and cross cutting threats. As challenges can
evolve rapidly within and across nations and deliver powerful crises, humanitarian security
emphasizes the need for a new framework that combines the agendas of security and peace,
development and human rights in a more effective, efficient, and prevention-oriented process.
Here is the UN statement mentioned in the document: While national security remains pivotal
to peace and stability, the complexity and interrelatedness of old and new threats-from
chronic and persistent poverty, to violent conflicts, climate change, human trafficking, health
pandemics, and economic and financial crises-reveal our shared vulnerabilities to a growing
risk of threats that are widespread and cross-cutting. Because these challenges can spread
rapidly within and across nations and give rise to more intractable crises, human security
emphasizes the need for a new framework that combines the agendas of peace and security,
development and human rights in a more effective, efficient and prevention-oriented manner.
In United States, it can be summarized that humanitarian security is to protect the vital
core of human life by enhancing human freedom and fulfilling human needs. The CHS's
arguments for the importance of humanitarian security, touched on a little earlier, are detailed
below:
As argued by the Commission on Human Security (CHS), the need for a new paradigm
of security is associated with two sets of dynamics:
First, human security is needed in response to the complexity and the interrelatedness
of both old and new security threats-from chronic and persistent poverty to ethnic violence,
human trafficking, climate change, health pandemics, international terrorism, and sudden
economic and financial downturns. Such threats tend to acquire transnational dimensions and
move beyond traditional notions of security that focus on external military aggressions alone.
Second, human security is required as a comprehensive approach that utilizes the wide
range of new opportunities to tackle such threats in an integrated manner. Human security
threats cannot be tackled through conventional mechanisms alone. Instead, they require a new
consensus that recognizes the linkages and the interdependencies between development,
human rights and national security.
In essence, the definition provided by the CHS conceptualizes re-envision security with its
most fundamental issues:
moving away from the traditional, state-centric conception of security focused
primarily on the security of the state from military aggression, one that concentrates on
the security of individuals, their protection and empowerment;
draw attention to the many threats that cut across different aspects of human life and
thus highlight the interface between security, development and human rights; and
promote a new integrated, coordinated and people-centered approach to advancing
peace, security and development within and across countries.
Human security brings together the 'human element' in security, rights and
development. As such, it is an inter-disciplinary concept that displays the following
characteristics: 1) human-centered; 2) multi-sectoral; 3) comprehensive; 4) context-specific;
and 5) prevention-oriented.
As a human-centered concept, human security places the individual at the 'center of
analysis'. As a result, it considers the range of conditions that threaten survival, livelihoods
and dignity, and identifies the lower threshold of intolerable human life, threatened. Human
security is also based on a multi-sectoral understanding of insecurity. Therefore, human
security requires an expanded understanding of threats and includes related causes of
insecurity, e.g. for economic, food, health, environmental, personal, community and political
security.
This interdependence has important implications for policymaking as it suggests that
human insecurity cannot be addressed in isolation through fragmented stand-alone responses.
Instead, human security involves a comprehensive approach that emphasizes the need for a
multi-sectoral response that brings together agendas related to security, development and
human rights.
Moreover, as a context-specific concept, human security recognizes that insecurity
varies across different settings and as such advances solutions that are contextually
responsive to the particular situation they seek to address. Finally, in addressing the risks and
root causes of insecurity, human security is prevention oriented and introduces a dual focus
on protection and empowerment.
Conclusion
Based on the analysis and discussion above, it can be concluded that national security
in the context of contemporary global issues in the perspective of international relations is
complex, because threats at the individual level become real. This is then explained in
transnational theory in international relations. In its development, the UN then offered to re-
conceptualize the notion of national security which ultimately provided input on human
security.
The UN has done many things related to humanitarian security. However, the most
obvious challenge still comes if it is clashed with the most classic international relations
theory, namely realism regarding superpowers. The extent to which superpower involvement
can be genuinely involved in the development of issues without any element of national
interest involvement in it, at least supports this conception.
