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.