Human and Environmental Security

by Felix Dodds (Editor), Tim Pippard (Editor)

Security has tended to be seen as based on military force, yet this illusion is crumbling, literally and figuratively, before our eyes in the conflict zones of Iraq, Afghanistan and Africa. It is now clear that real human security, defined by the Commission on Human Security as 'protecting vital freedoms', can only be achieved if the full range of issues that underpin human security - including environmental integrity - are addressed. This ground-breaking book, authored by prominent international decision makers, tackles the global human security problem across the range of core issues including terrorism, nuclear proliferation, access to water, food security, loss of biodiversity and climate change. The authors identify the causes of insecurity, articulate the linkages between the different elements of human security and outline an agenda for engaging stakeholders from across the globe in building the foundations of genuine and lasting human security for all nations and all people. This is powerful, necessary, solution-focused reading in these times of peril, global conflict, mass inequity and rampant environmental degradation.

296 pages, Paperback

First published January 8, 2005

Reviews

[Jordan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Decent but many of the chapters are fairly one-sided, which is hardly surprising considering several are written by activists in one field or another, not to mention the ‘Agenda for Change’ subtitle. The bigger issue is that the book is nearly two decades old now and so quite outdated. Because there is a significant emphasis on figures and statistics, it’s somewhat of a waste of time to read as things have changed substantially in the years since. It’s not horrible if you are curious about how people felt about the environment in 2005, but there are better and more up-to-date options available today otherwise.