Security Essay Reflection

Post by Anthony Coppola

In the first essay of the semester, I argued that the word “security” should be only used when referring to foreign threats. However, over the course of the semester, we explored other types of security, such as ontological and human. As I revisit my essay two months later, it is now clear to me that the term “security” should apply to more aspects of everyday life.

In my essay, I argued that security must have a connotation of violence in order for it to truly be an issue of security. However, it is clear that violence is much too narrow in defining security. There really does not need to be a definition for security, per se. In order for something to qualify as a security issue, however, it should be associated with at least one of the following: violence, fear, health, self-image, migration, food and water, etc. This “definition” is substantially larger than what I argued in my essay.

But why did I change my mind? It is clear, that through our many case studies, suffering is widespread across the world, and most of this suffering is not necessarily war-related. The chances of a terrorist attack occurring is much slimmer than one might think, yet Americans tend to be preoccupied with terror as opposed to giving even a little attention to nations suffering from climate change, such as Tuvalu, which is on the verge of sinking, rendering its thousands of people soon homeless. This, at least for Tuvalu, is an issue of security, because people living there will soon have to leave, damaging their ontological security.

It is clear to me now that climate change, no matter its cause, is an issue of security. It is the foundation of the world’s problems -- one problem caused by climate change begets another. For instance, it is believed that one major cause of migration from Syria is not just from the violence there, but from a severe water shortage. Because of this, these people are moving to neighboring countries, putting pressure on them to cause a domino effect. Ontological, human, and national security are all affected from this water shortage in Syria.

Epidemics, such as with Ebola, certainly qualifies as a security issue. This deadly disease originated in Africa and slowly spread throughout the continent, killing thousands. This was no attack orchestrated by ISIS -- it was an attack of poor health that managed to kill far more than al-Qaeda did on 9/11. If terrorism is a security issue, then diseases such as Ebola absolutely have to fall under that category alongside it. This is an argument I would have never made if I did not take this course.

Of course, there are several more examples I could invoke, but it should be clear, from reading my essay and then this, that my opinion has changed. Back in October, I submitted myself to a narrow-minded perspective; but now, I have liberated my mind to consider every dire problem in the world a security issue, and in doing so, my desire to help fix them has increased so that the word “security” will never have to be used.

Reflection on Security Essay

Post by Brianna Arnold

In my security essay, I argued that the definition of security needed to be expanded to include human security. After looking at various cases of security, I believe this is still the best way to look at security. If security is thought of as simply threats against the country, or national security, then a lot of security threats would not be considered security threats at all. There is a concern with overusing the term security threat because if everything is called a security threat it loses the seriousness of the term. However, instances where someone’s human security is threatened should be considered a security threat. In addition, many of the threats to human security have an overlap with national security. Two examples of human security being an important aspect to the security threat are climate change, more specifically the island nation of Tuvalu, and sex trafficking. Both of these examples also have an impact on national security.

            In the case of climate change and the Pacific Island nation of Tuvalu, if nothing is done about the recent rising sea levels the island could completely disappear. The citizens of this nation therefore would have to leave and abandon the life they are accustomed to. Leaving their home would mean they would become refugees and they wouldn’t necessarily know where they would be living or where they would be getting resources like food and water. These are both examples of human security because they impact the individual person. Many of the people who live on the island of Tuvalu rely on fishing and tourism for their livelihood so if they are forced to relocate they must learn new skills to work or not have a job which would lead to even more insecurity for their family. In addition to there being many human security aspects to this case there is a national security aspect as well. The island itself is going to no longer exist. This is very similar to a nuclear holocaust, everything that has been established by this nation will be completely eliminated. There is also a huge national security risk in terms of unstable government and the countries receiving the refugees from Tuvalu. In conclusion, the tragic outlook for Tuvalu is not only a national security threat but also a human security threat and only focusing on one or the other does not give a complete picture of the problem.

            Another case where both national security and human security are incredibly important is sex trafficking. With the estimated number of victims of sex trafficking around the world, there is not one singular country that is inflicted with this problem. However, any nation where victims of sex trafficking are brought to, there are potentially serious public health, border control, and immigration issues. Since sex trafficking is a virtually silent issue, it is easy to believe that this issue is not a national security issue because it isn’t seen, however, it could happen to anyone. In addition, there is a variety of serious human security issues surrounding this issue, mostly for the victims. They are forced out of their homes and, in most cases, forced to have sex with strangers. There are clear violations of rights and concerns in regards to health and access to food, sanitations, and education. In conclusion, just like with climate change and Tuvalu, there is a twofold security threat with sex trafficking in regards to national security and human security.

            In conclusion, when it comes to defining security there are benefits to including human security in the definition. The overall issue and the seriousness of issues become significantly more clear when both national security and human security are considered. Although there is the possibility that eventually the word security could become so overused that it would lose its meaning. But not calling these instances security threats have more immediate negative implications.  

Reflection on Security Essay

There are several forms of security that fall under the realm of security. Looking back at my security essay I still agree with my definition that the term security encompasses human and national security, however, I would now argue that it also encompasses ontological and emancipation as a security. I think all four should be considered under the term security as security by definition means individuals feel safe and unthreatened by harm. When any of the given types of security is threatened an individual is no longer “whole”, in other words, some aspect of them or their life is in danger. Often it is not whether something is or isn’t a security issue, but instead what kind of security it is and how it is securitized. In this paper the four types of security: national, human, ontological and emancipation will be applied to the Tuvalu and human trafficking cases to illustrate their significance in our defining of the term security.

            If we consider the Tuvalu and Climate Change case, we can identify the four forms of security mentioned above. This case illustrates that there can be multiple types of security threats all based on the same case. National Security is a vital threat in terms of Tuvalu’s climate change as it is possible their people as a whole could go away. A national security concern would be relocating people within the island as well as neighboring areas such as Australia, Fiji and New Zealand who could potentially be taking in refugees. As the residents of Tuvalu are becoming refugees all forms of human security come into question such as food, health and education. Additionally, people begin losing their livelihood through the decline in the fishing industry and tourism. This leads to rising unemployment, political instability and crime, all factors of concern. Ontological security comes into play when people begin to lose their homes to displacement or Tuvalu’s complete disappearance and are forced to adapt to a new culture and a new way of life. There are also implications within the major industrial nations of dealing with climate change and those countries that take in the refugees. Lastly, emancipation cannot be achieved if one’s identity is under threat. As people become refugees they become undervalued and therefore, without emancipation there can be no security.

            Similarly, the four forms of security mentioned earlier can be identified in the human trafficking case. Several categories that fall under national security come into question when discussing human trafficking such as the legitimacy of the law for these criminal acts, border control and immigration. Human trafficking is a modern form of slavery, which makes it a violation of basic human rights. Human security is challenged in that human trafficking is forced labor that takes away the rights of individuals and forces them to sell their bodies for profits. It also leads to problems with health, sanitation and education. The displacement of victims within their own countries or to other countries or continents entails a concern for ontological security. Additionally, it is an ontological security issue in that it is an eminent threat to women in general because the women being trafficked are contributing their bodies. Emancipation as a security means you cannot be secure unless you are fully equal. However, when you are being trafficked you are not equal because you are coerced into doing sexual acts even if you don’t want to.

            While considering all forms of security may be problematic as it leads to a broad definition of the term what defines a security issue is the kind of security it is and how it is securitized. There are many cases that can be argued to be security issues, but are not treated as such in our society today. I think while all these forms of security fall under the definition and understanding of security they aren’t all ranked at the same level. There are degrees of threats to each of the securities listed above such as a terrorist attack in terms of national security or widespread hunger for human security. Although both are definitely security concerns and should be handled as security issues they are treated differently because they fall under different types of security.

Post By: Hedvig Blanco

Reflection on Security Essay

by: Dom Dellamano

In my original security essay, I argued that security should be defined through the scope of national security. In other words, security should be viewed as pertaining to each individual state's own national security. With national security, the other types of security (physical security, human security, ontological security) trickled down from it. They combined together with different weights to form national security. I said that human security was the most important, because it is most important to keep citizens happy and safe. If human security could be accomplished, ontological security would follow. This would all be feasible if physical security is accomplished at the same time, but not with insane defense budgets. In essence, my security essay talked about how the connection between these three types of security would form national security, and this was the definition of security that made the most sense. I said this mainly because if each state could maintain national security, then there would not be as much of a global focus. With a global focus, one country's security problems could implicate one or more other countries.

If I were to rewrite it, I would focus more on how security has more to do with human security. Instead of saying it is national security, I would try to narrow it down to human security, and focus my argument around that. After taking the course, I see how my definition is too broad. It gives the illusion of specificity, because it says it is national security, but then the security aspect if loosely defined. The only thing that makes it somewhat specific is the national aspect. While that is important, it does not clearly define security. It is too broad, and after taking the course I can see how problematic that is. Without the perfect balance of broadness and specificity, security cannot be accurately defined. For example, if you were to say sex trafficking is a issue of national security, it can go so many ways, If you were to say it is a human security issue, then it can be accurately talked about, and possibly solved. You can narrow it down and start solving the problem.

Reflection on Security Essay

 Post by Chirusha de Mel

In my security essay I argued that global security should be correlated with human security, in order to protect individuals from disease, hunger, unemployment, crime, social conflict, political repression, and environmental hazards. While some individuals may disagree, and believe that global security is inversely proportional to human security.  As stated in my essay, there are daily worries people can have, and it is critical to be aware that there are people in our state who are dying of hunger, crime, diseases, etc. In order to prevent that from happening it is important that states should see this as a global issue. For example, there are more people dying of malnutrition, homicides, and cancer than the 9/11 terrorist attack. I am not saying terrorists’ attacks are not vital to protect individuals, but it is equally important to find ways to protect human security. For example, the number of individuals who die from poverty are much higher than the people who get killed from terrorists’ attacks. Global security and human security should mean the “freedom from fear” and the “freedom from want.” [1]

However, if I were to make changes to my argument, I would discuss more on security as a speech act. There is a possibility that security might harm the pursuit of ending world hunger, which means we would have to get the defense department involved. Security as a speech act suggests that security expands beyond military sector, and is the, “move that takes politics beyond established rules of the game.” In Security and the Smokeless War, Ally Butler defines security issues as those staged as perceived threats to the survival of a highly valued referent object.  Butler also makes it clear that in order for a security issue to become an act of securitization, an existential threat must be recognized through a speech act. [2]In sum, I would only add how security is a speech act. After learning about the different types of security.

 I would still argue that global security should be interconnected with human security. One can argue that having the right for health care or basic needs would take a lower priority when the collective lives of people are in danger in the hands of terrorists. In this sense, global security means providing security for the people, and not about focusing on human security.

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[1] "Franklin D. Roosevelt, The "Four Freedoms" Address to Congress." Franklin D. Roosevelt, The "Four Freedoms" Address to Congress. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Sept. 2016.

[2] Butler, Ally. Security and the “Smokeless War.” Web. 11 Dec. 2016.