Occasional Paper #12:OP:5  

by Raimo Väyrynen

Traditionally, the concept of security has been defined narrowly as the search of states for protection against external attacks. Now such a definition has turned out to be too narrow. To remedy the problem, academic and policy communities have started to favor more comprehensive definitions of security. They refer, in addition to the military aspects, also to economic, environment, and cultural dimensions. Thus, security has come to mean also the protection against social and economic fragmentation, environmental degradation and the loss of cultural identity. Another reason for the re-evaluation has been that the realistic concept of security is defined in negative, coercive terms and overlooks the role of positive, non-violent efforts to enhance safety. The paper identifies three basic meanings of security: survival, well-being and identity and discusses them at individual, group, state and global levels. This conceptual analysis, then, is linked to three different notions of multilateral security: common, cooperative and collective.

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