Human Security and Post-conflict studies
Source: SPC Jerry Leque
The second blog of the project focuses on the use of Human Security theory in post-conflict studies. To start with, this blog unpacks and conceptualizes different aspects in human security studies. Then, this essay focuses on how we should engage the concepts of human security in analyzing the post-conflict situations by using the Balkan example. The third section focuses on how this method can help us in understanding the relationship between post-conflict identities and rising of transnational terrorism.
Human security is different from other security studies as it focuses on an individual’s need and wants on security. United Nations Development Project (UNDP) has defined seven domains that human security works on which are economic security, food security, health security, environmental security, personal security, regional security, and political security and also the intention of keeping people’s freedom from fear, want and indignity. The theoretical framework is going to be used throughout the blog to assess the human security situations in the given context. Another dimension that could explain the human security concepts is the principles that human security specialists used. The first principle is the human-centered principle which urged the scholars to analyze the conflicts based on individual and community level. By achieving this aim, policymakers should do the research on each individual and community to learn their own insecurities which should be considered more than just elites. The second principle according to the United Nations human security handbook is comprehensive which includes actions such as ‘underlining the importance of addressing the totality of conditions that impact human beings and highlights the need to refrain from looking at people’s lives through the lens of specialized identities or interested parties, which often leads to silo- or supply-driven responses and also addresses the root causes of threats both within and across borders, and advances multisectoral responses to advance integrated and prioritized solutions over the short, medium and long run. The third principle is coherence which refers to the coordination across different fields and doctrines which can provide a consistent policy on Human Security. The last principle is contextualization which requires the policy makers to analyze each situation case by case to avoid the mismatch between policy and the domestic society.
Then, we are going to discuss the example of how to implement human security approach in West Balkan and its connection with the rising of terrorism. To start with, it is important to use the human security approach to investigate what prevents citizens in the West Balkan area from being secure in the aforementioned seven dimensions. Economically, by transitioning from the planned economy to the market economy, people experienced high inflation and the shortage of goods and services which lead to the economic insecurity, food insecurity and in some cases, the shortage of medicine or medical services would also lead to the health insecurity. Scholars also noticed the role that violence played in nation building in the West Balkan which did not end after the war1. That would lead to personal, political and regional insecurity. In terms of the three fears that we mentioned last time. The freedom from want has been damaged because of the shortage of necessities and the freedom from fear has been damaged due to the rising of violence in the region. Therefore, it is fair to reach the conclusion that the human security situation worsens in the post-war west Balkan as individuals suffer from 6 out of 7 insecurities and are not able to get freedom from want and fear.
At this point, you may be curious about what is the relationship between the human insecurity and the rise of terrorism. The tension in the civil society could explain this situation. Organized crime and terrorism play an important role in the post-war community where a public security vacuum exists2. Criminal networks insert themselves between citizens and the resources necessary for survival and decent life and cause insecurity, so as to provide a favorable environment for their own gains. In the process of peacebuilding even ‘ordinary’ criminal acts might be performed as politically motivated, as the political-criminal nexus is pervasive in conflicts. Hence, for societies in the process of building peace, the term serious crime could be used as it suggests a distinct meaning related ‘to the extent of a crime’s ramifications within the society … a criminal act or acts that can have a profoundly destabilizing impact on a post-conflict society’3. It includes ‘organized crime, ethnic or religious violence and terrorism of a variety that can upset the establishment of a viable post-conflict peace [and] requires a great deal of specialized know-how, political will, and time to tackle4. The rise of this kind of organized crime could be explained by using the theory of human security. Because of the insecurity from people, many of them join organized crime organizations to pursue protection, and the rising scale of organized crime organizations harms the human security situation. On the other hand, the vicious cycle explains the dilemma that the government faced in dealing with the post-conflict community.
The example of the rising terrorism and organized crime organization can further explain this situation in terms of the post-conflict identities. Bosnia-Herzegovina has been an independent country since the 1990s which consists of three main ethnic groups. The rising insecurity and ethnic tensions caused citizens to fail in establishing the new national identity in the peace-making process 5. The foreign intervention at this stage makes the situation worse. The US imposed a military embargo towards Muslim residents in Bosnia. The embargo itself can be seen as security policies that derived from human security concepts as it does not use the principle of contextualisation. Embargos in some contexts can be useful in the peace-making process as it may prevent each party from launching the war. However, this does not happen in the case of Bosnia-Herzegovina. The embargo to the Muslim groups caused the inequality between ethnic groups and the hatred from Muslim residents. Under this context, Muslim residents not only hate the US for starting the intervention but also for the newly established state and also the other ethnic groups in the conflict such as the Serbs and therefore they decided to make connections connections with the Arab world6. Not only weapons, but Bosnian also received direct military help from the El Midzahid battalion, the battle group that believed in extremism and religious ideologies. The recruits’ impact on the initial stages of the war was limited. Their major objective was to spread militant Muslim ideologies among their co-religionists. To do so they sought to attract young Bosnian followers. In 1994 the battle group became more aggressive, staging suicide attacks and harassing UN aid workers. They even attempted to form a Holy Brigade independent from the Bosnian army. Local Bosnians complained that the mujahideen were doing more harm than good because they were fighting for Muslim, not for Bosnia7. The given examples show the trend of the transition from extremism to violent extremism. In the following years, the violent extremism also intended to transform into terrorism. For instance, the Embassies of the United States and the United Kingdom in Sarajevo were closed down under threat of terrorist attacks. The al Haramain Islamic Foundation Is an organization with branches in 55 countries and annual expenditure of US $57 million. Measures against its overseas branches were undertaken by the US and Saudi Arabia. Its objectives include provision of food and clothing to Muslim refugees and orphans; building of mosques and Muslim centres; training imams; distributing Muslim literature; and establishing correct Muslim doctrines8.
In conclusion, this blog uses the post-conflict Bosnia and Herzegovina as a example to link the concepts we discussed in the last blog such as extremism, violent extremism and terrorism with the peace making process in evaluating the relationship between the failed peace process and the rise of terrorism. By reaching this conclusion, this blog firstly introduced the concept of human security and the principles of it. Then, this blog assesses the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina by using the human security approach. The inequality and overuse of violence leads to a greater scale of inequalities which roots the organized violence and terrorism. The use of inappropriate peace-making methods leads to a greater scale of ethnic tensions in the region. The embargo of the armament leads to the consequence of rising extremist force and ideology Then,, the extremism transformed to the volent extremism and terrorism which further harmed the human security in Bosnia.
Bibliography
1. Benedek, Wolfgang, Christopher Daase, Vojin Dimitrijevic, Petrus van Duyne, and Petrus van Duyne, eds. Transnational terrorism, organized crime and peace-building: Human security in the Western Balkans. Springer, 2010.
2. Benedek, Wolfgang, Christopher Daase, Vojin Dimitrijevic, Petrus van Duyne, and Petrus van Duyne, eds. Transnational terrorism, organized crime and peace-building: Human security in the Western Balkans. Springer, 2010, 21.
3. Rausch, Colette, Elaine Banar, Kristen Fennel, and Adalbert Gross. “Combating Serious Crimes in Postconflict Societies.” A Handbook for Policymakers and Pracitioners (2006), 30.
4. Ibid.
5. Benedek, Wolfgang, Christopher Daase, Vojin Dimitrijevic, Petrus van Duyne, and Petrus van Duyne, eds. Transnational terrorism, organized crime and peace-building: Human security in the Western Balkans. Springer, 2010.
6. Ibid.
7. Ibid.
8. Ibid.