Abstract/Summary

How do we rethink international practice on peace operations? No special issue or edited volume would be able to offer complete coverage of such a topic. But what academia can do well is capture particular themes and develop research that digs into that theme and its influence or prospects for peace operations. The theme chosen by this special issue is ‘human security’ but what actually is ‘human security’? I have argued elsewhere that the concept of human security can serve as a conceptual framework to guide the UN’s activities in relation to international peace and security. Similarly, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) adopted a human security approach at the Madrid Summit in June 2022 and is operationalising the military contribution to human security (MC2HS) across the organization. NATO’s understanding of human security is as a multi-sectoral, organising concept that encompasses: combatting trafficking in human beings; protection of children in armed conflict; preventing and responding to conflict-related sexual violence; protection of civilians; and cultural property protection. But why have organisations used the term human security as distinct from others? What is different about human security and why could it make a valuable contribution to the UN and other organization’s work?