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