ABSTRACT
The end of the Cold War has forced us to rethink state security. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the relationship with human well-being. Public authorities now are starting to acknowledge that sustained economic development, human rights and fundamental freedoms, the rule of law, good governance, sustainable development, and social equity are as important to global peace as arms control and disarmament (Axworthy 1997: 184). With the ‘clear and present dangers’ of the Cold War no longer possessing its former rhetorical power, the national interest is no longer as effective in justifying actions that are driven by Machiavellian and Hobbesian imperatives. While one cannot deny that there may have been other reasons than the high politics of humanitarianism, missions to the former Yugoslavia, Cambodia, Rwanda, Somalia, and East Timor do reflect a profound change in the security outlook for many states of the world. Security is beginning to be reconceptualized both above the state as international security and below as human security. Many medium-sized countries like Canada, Norway, The Netherlands, Denmark, and Switzerland are attempting to meet these challenges by being at the forefront of the human security movement. A people-centred conception of security provides the best opportunity for the generation of a new kind of public good.
