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SECURITY

Diplomacy

Homeland Security & Terrorism

Security

Until the end of the Cold War, the concept of security generally referred to nation-states maintaining their sovereignty and protecting their national interests from invasion or threats by foreign powers.   For nearly half a century, from 1945 until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the nation of Lenin and Stalin and the United States struggled for global supremacy through military build-ups and a nuclear arms race.   Following the collapse, the decades-long tensions between the United States and now Russia gradually receded, giving way to additional notions of security based upon internal struggles, including civil war, and external provocation by terrorist groups.  From the Kosovo Conflict in the late 1990's to the terrorist attacks in the United States on September 11, 2001 and Spain on March 11, 2004, what it means to be "secure" is now more nebulous than ever.        

That is not to say, however, that the traditional, sovereign-based notion of security has disappeared.  In addition to civil wars and terrorist attacks, the world faces growing threats from unchecked nuclear proliferation and a military buildup in nation-states like North Korea and Iran.  In the face of these threats, a comprehensive, international approach is being taken to global security that focuses more on the protection of the individual than the sovereignty of the state.  This approach consists of cooperative measures taken by nations and international organizations such as the United Nations, including peacekeeping missions, international treaties and conventions, and collective military action, measures in which nation-states often cede control over their national defense and security policies to external actors.  While these measures may provide security for the person, they also have serious implications for the sovereignty of the nation-state.

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DIPLOMACY Cameron Pushes for Reform of European Court of Human Rights British Prime Minister declares: "once-in-a-generation chance" of improving the way Europeans advance the cause of human rights. Obama Administration Tries to "Fix" United Nations In a recent speech to the Council on Foreign Relations, Ambassador Joseph Torsella, the Obama administration's point man for UN management reform, explained what the United States is doing to fix the UN, which President Obama believes is both "flawed" and "indispensable." U.N. Secretariat Faces "Crisis of Confidence" Facing scores of criticism about the lack of transparency and accountability of his 43,700-member Secretariat, the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is considering a series of new proposals to effect change in those areas. UNESCO Petitions U.S. Congress for Funding Restoration Last week, UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova met with members of Congress to request that U.S. funding to UNESCO, which was cut in response to UNESCO's admission of Palestine as a Member, be restored. UN Remembers North Korean Dictator In honor of Kim Jong-il, North Korea's former leader who died on December 17, 2011, the United Nations General Assembly granted a request from North Korea to hold a moment of silence at the UN.		HOMELAND SECURITY & TERRORISM OSCE Official Lectures U.S. on Detention Practices Janez Lenarcic, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), has expressed regret over the U.S. Congress' passage of the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which permits the indefinite detention of terrorist suspects without a trial. Amnesty International Marks Guantanamo Bay Anniversary Amnesty International has published a report that highlights what it views as the unlawful treatment of Guantanamo Bay terrorist suspect detainees and outlines the reasons why the detention center constitutes an attack on human rights. HRW Asks U.S. Government to Clarify Legal Rationale for CIA Drone Attacks Human Rights Watch is calling on the Obama Administration to clarify its legal rationale for targeted killings and to transfer Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) command of aerial drone strikes to the armed forces. UN Seeks to Coordinate Response to Chemical and Biological Terrorism Threat A recent United Nations report suggests that the UN Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force "could facilitate the institutionalization of a platform" for regular exchanges among "organizations providing or facilitating legal assistance on the adoption and national application of instruments against chemical and biological terrorism." HRW Attempts to Shame U.S. Into Joining International Munitions Treaty Human Rights Watch has criticized the United States and other powers for not joining the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions.

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