What are the connections between security and development? This paper from the Centre for Research on Inequality, Human Security and Ethnicity argues that there is a symbiotic relationship between the two. Traditional interpretations of security that focus on military solutions are inadequate for preventing insecurity in developing countries or for preventing global terrorism. The paper instead interprets security as human security, and within this category focuses on political violence as an important source of insecurity.
Three types of connections between development and security are distinguished. Firstly, the immediate impact of security/insecurity on well-being and consequently development achievements. Secondly, the way insecurity affects elements of development and economic growth, or the ‘security instrumental role’. Lastly, the way development affects security, or the ‘development instrumental role’.
Broad definitions of human security encompass not just the achievement of minimal levels of material needs, but also the absence of severe threats to them of an economic or political kind. More narrowly, security can be defined as occurring where there are low levels of insecurity, where insecurity consists in inter-personal violence or the risk of it. Achievement of the development objective defined as the enlargement of human choices is adversely affected by such individual/community insecurity because it cuts life short and thwarts the use of human potential. Insecurity also has severe adverse effects on human happiness.
An absence of security at the individual and community level detracts from development objectives. The relationship between security and development can be further demonstrated in terms of:
- The development costs of insecurity. Conflict negatively affects economic growth, exports, consumption per capita and government revenue as a share of GDP. Expenditure to the military rises and social expenditure falls. Conflict negatively affects market entitlements, public entitlements -(especially where tax capacity collapses ), civic entitlements and extra-legal entitlements.
- The ways in which development affects security. Explaining conflict in terms of cultural and ethnic differences alone is inadequate. The level of development and its nature tie the causes of conflict to development. Group inequality, private motivation and failure of the social contract all contribute to conflict. All need to be addressed in any preventative policies.
- While current global threats to security have an adverse impact on global well-being, but there is no automatic translation between global threats to security and global growth.
Promoting security is an important part of societal progress. To the extent that such multiple connections between security and development exist, policies that enhance security will contribute to development. Similarly, policies towards development may enhance security. Designing policies for specific contexts will always depend on exactly how the three-way connections work, as well as the political economy of policy-making in particular contexts. However, a radical revision of both security and development policies is required, including:
- Recognising that group inequalities in political, cultural and economic situation (or horizontal inequalities) may contribute to the outbreak of conflict implies that inclusive patterns of development are an important element in avoiding conflict.
- This is true at the global as well as local levels. Horizontal inequalities need to be addressed as part of any long-run solution to the global terror situation as well as to conflicts within countries.
- Required policies to bring about such inclusive patterns of political and economic participation go well beyond the normal development agenda of majoritarian democracies on the political side, and markets and poverty reduction on the economic side.
