ABSTRACT
Over the last two decades human security has gained grudging but increasing acceptance in both the scholarly and policy-making communities. The UN Human Security Unit, charged with the ambitious mission of integrating the notion of ‘human security’ in all UN activities, has defined the concept as: protecting fundamental freedoms—freedoms that are the essence of life. It means protecting people from critical (severe) and pervasive (widespread) threats and situations. In reviewing the analytical rigour and practical utility of the human security concept the aim has been to do no more than advance a few key propositions that might shed useful light on an otherwise elusive and at times confusing field of inquiry. These propositions have been expressed at a relatively high level of abstraction. Notions of human security have intruded with increasing frequency into the policy-making process, especially in Europe, Japan and Canada.
