ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the multifaceted issues involved in meeting the economic security needs of all human beings. It defines economic security and its initial conception under the influential 1994 United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report which laid out the human security construct. The chapter considers poverty more generally, and the critical role that women and gender issues play in this context. It also considers several specific challenges, such as food security and the role of agriculture. The chapter examines how the US perspective on development and economic assistance has evolved in tandem with its perceived link to national security interests. It addresses the role of free trade and its complicated relationship to economic growth, sustainable development, and politics. The chapter concludes with the observation that it is no exaggeration to claim that inequitable development is a bedrock issue which helps generate national security issues—such as radical populism and extremism—even as it fatally undermines achieving human security.
