Human Security

For centuries, people have tended to think about security in military terms: as a balance of military power or as a means of securing their own state/community against violent threats from outside. However, in a world of globally interconnected social, humanitarian, economic and ecological challenges, it is evident that even the largest army cannot protect a single state from water shortages or economic crises, let alone global warming. This is why the IPB supports the broad concept of Human Security, meaning the security of people through development, not arms; through cooperation, not confrontation. Our Disarmament for Development programme covers a number of additional topics that can be viewed through the perspective of human security.