Human Security: Relevance to Japanese Foreign Policy - Essay Example

HUMAN SECURITY RELEVANCE TO JAPANESE FOREIGN POLICY Introduction. Over the years nationalism has been denoting the contours of security. Thus safety in the larger context is invariably seen as a national rather than an individual concept. Off late however it is felt that this concept of security is not fully evolved to cater for the varying challenges faced by humanity in modern times. The era of globalization has also denoted greater involvement of many nations and people in the well being of fellow humans regardless of their affiliation to a nationality. Under this paradigm, security assumes a trans national human characteristic which permeates the bonds of nationalism and is pluralistic in approach. The concept of human security has thus assumed primacy in societies which are highly developed. Canada and Japan are the principal proponents of this theory. The Japanese have officially adopted it as a foreign policy objective and have shaped their diplomatic efforts around it. Human security is considered as the most relevant facet of Japanese diplomacy as it has been effectively employed to further foreign policy goals of reducing human suffering through aid, assistance and capacity building. Human Security - Evolution of The Concept The concept of human security is regarded as a new norm in diplomacy. (McRae, Grant, 2005). McRae, Grant (2005) indicate that human security has the potential of not only promoting peace but also protecting the people. It can thus be regarded as a holistic concept of security as opposed to other precepts which are seen as, "state on state" security paradigms. Traditionally it is the responsibility of the state to protect its citizens. This liability provides it authority of making regulations and laws for its citizens. Over the years, security is seen not just territorial or external but also governs many other issues such as freedom from disease and hunger, the ability to survive environmental disasters, social as well as political repression. This is a post Cold War paradigm of security which has relegated the state as the prime regulator of security to the background and placed the, "human being" as the focus of security rather than the, "state'. (Henk, 2005). While mostly states as Canada and Japan have been credited to have focused on the concept, it is the United Nations which elaborated human security in some detail in its Human Development Report 1994. (UNDP, 1994). Human security included a large number of facets such as economic, food, health, environmental, personal, community as well as political safety of people as individuals rather than constituents of states. In its entirety as the Report (1994) has elaborated, the concept should include all these facets. As also in terms of each of these it laid down certain minimum standards, such as assurance to every individual optimum income as part of economic security, access to basic food requirements as food security, freedom and protection from disease as health security and protection from disasters as well as dangers due to deterioration in the environment as environmental security. (UNDP, 1994). The evolution of this concept led to the formation of the Human Security Network of 12 states with South Africa as an observer by 2004. These states included such diverse countries as Austria, Greece and Netherlands from Europe, traditional peaceful states as Norway and Switzerland, Thailand from Asia and Mali from Africa. (Beck, 2005). Japan was not an initial member of the group. But Japan became a strong advocate of the concept fostered by its Prime Minister in 1998 who instituted a fund in the UN Secretariat for the purpose called as the, "Trust Fund for Human Security". (Estrom, 2003). This was Japan's first foray for adoption of human security as a tool in international relations. The Japanese Concept, Background, Variation and Nuances The Japanese concept of human security has been based on the principle of contributions by able nations to reduction of the large number of travesties which are incumbent particularly in the developing world to include endemic poverty, disasters, HIV/AIDS, degradation of environment and so on. (JDBB, 2001). The Japanese deem these issues as difficult to resolve by nations which are regarded as less capable. Thus it is felt that there is a need for greater involvement of developed nations of the international community, unilaterally if need be, to ameliorate human suffering of less fortunate nations. (JDBB, 2001). Japanese policy deems it essential that the international community involves itself in adopting measures to alleviate problems of individuals within states. The concept envisages involving not just states but also non state actors as non profit organizations and members of the civil society to participate in the process. (JDBB, 2001). The Japanese adopt a three step approach to collective human security. It entails prevention of disasters as the first step, followed by stopping disasters which have occurred and finally the most critical step is an attempt to create conditions for prevention of occurrence of crisis. (Basic Concepts, Nd). These objectives are achieved not through the use of military force but through contributions in diverse fields. The Japanese also insist that their contribution should be in those fields where there is limited universal participation, thereby further enhancing its utility for human good. (Basic Concepts, Nd). This is a perfectly laudable objective as it ensures that those aspects of security which have not been addressed receive attention. Japanese commitment to human security has been total ever since its inception and initiation in the UN and subsequent follow up. The key issue in this case has been funding. Japan not only initiated the Trust Fund for Human Security in the UN but has been a singular contributor to many other aid agencies and funds for sponsoring human security related development in poor countries. It has thus effectively utilized its economic and financial corpus to advantage contributing to human good. The Japanese have successfully overcome the problem of application of human security as a political tool by focusing on aid and assistance rather than issues such as human rights which are considered relatively subjective and hence open for differing interpretation. The Japanese concept is thus primarily based on the aid and assistance in terms of humanitarian help in times of crisis as well as for development rather than political freedoms. This is the subtle difference between Japanese niche strategy of human security and that followed by some other nations who consider that human security has to be linked with other values. Since human security as a holistic concept of protection is not universal there has been some resistance as well as scrutiny of Japan's espousal of the concept. Human security as a diplomatic tool Diplomacy denotes the manner in which states respond to each other. Foreign policy on the other hand indicates the trajectory of diplomacy which is considered as a state on state relationship. However it is seen that in the global world human relations between people of two countries have transcended beyond that of the state. Thus these fall into a new sphere which can be regarded as the human orbit. Foreign policy which is designed to address this sphere of human relations directly with individuals, groups and social organizations in the transnational sphere with or without the state as an intermediary can be regarded as diplomacy based on the concept of human security. However there are many limitations to the application of this concept as a foreign policy tool. This is so as it can lead to charges of intervention in domestic affairs of a state when applied to political problems. For going strictly as per norms established in the UNDP Report (1994), human security would also include political and community security which can be nebulous in interpretation. Realist interpretation of security in particular deems that state on state relations are not purely altruistic, thus there is an overt and covert self interest which is involved in the same. This has resulted in some countries viewing human security initiatives by states as Japan as Canada as interference in the domestic political sphere. Thus there is a considerable restraint which needs to be exercised in adopting this as a national policy so that it is not seen as a goal of intervention. It would be thus evident that the main area of difference between the human security school and others comes about when it touches upon political freedoms which are also envisaged in the concept as outlined by the UNDP Report. (1994). Thus the paradigm of human security envisaged by Japan does not rightly include personal security which protects people from violence which can also be interpreted as state violence, security of communities and polity which could be considered as interference thereby providing Japan the advantage of a high moral ground in international relations. Japanese diplomacy - Shaping it through Human Security Japan's three step approach to human security as indicated above is implemented through clearly evolved diplomatic measures both internationally and bilaterally with various states. For prevention of disasters or occurrence of conflicts, Japan envisages that it needs to spread requisite values which create an atmosphere of peace rather than generating crisis. Japan thus sees itself as a model of harmony and stability to other nations. (Basic Concepts, Nd). For this purpose Japanese experience in conflict avoidance has been effectively transposed to other nations. The other facets of this aspect are to actively assist countries in building democratic societies and facilitate indigenous development. Towards this end particular focus is on assisting nations in building national rather than community based economies benefiting the society at large. The second facet of Japanese approach addresses the issue of restricting conflicts which are in progress. For this it considers its moral as well as economic resources as important levers. The basic focus is on multi national policing, promoting the concept of international community and providing relief to the affected in a sustained manner. (Basic Concepts, Nd). For creating conditions to prevent recurrence of conflicts, Japan aims to cooperate with other nations in building capacities to promote peace. It also attempts to promote comprehensive programmes between nations for holistic self reliance with particular attention to economic and social development. (Basic Concepts, Nd) Funding is an important facet of Japan's fostering of human security. Thus Japan is stated to have contributed 22,900 million yen for the UN Trust Fund for National Security. Japan is aware that its approach may be seen as restricted to the field of economic assistance alone, hence it is also attempting to diversify the same by providing social and community building assistance. (Basic Concepts, Nd). Thus we see a major contribution made by Japan to the upliftment and development of Cambodia from 1992 to 2000. This was the most turbulent period in the country post the civil war and Japanese contribution is said to have facilitated promotion of democracy and rebuilding of institutions. (Sato, 2004). Japan's human focused benevolence is not restricted to the Asian or South East Asian region. Japan has also contributed to development in other countries as Kenya in Africa, where Japanese assistance has enabled considerable improvement and progress in the slums in Kibera. (Sato, 2004). Japan has also attempted to some extent to shape its diplomacy with developed and larger states as China through human security. The success of this paradigm has however not been demonstrated so far though the potential exists. It may be thus larger Japanese intent to use human security as a diplomatic tool to shape its relationship with states as China and the USA, the manner in which this can be achieved is however as yet unclear. (Haverson, 2005). In terms of human security, Japan has been primarily adopting its developmental tools rather than intrusive tools particularly in South East Asia. In a research report published recently, Katsumata (2006) indicates that Japan has adopted a non coercive approach which does not impose conditions of human rights while providing official developmental assistance to the South East Asian states. This is in direct variation to the principles adopted by the European Union and the United States which have invariably linked developmental assistance to human rights implementation. Japan's concept does not envisage such a binding. Japan has thus been frequently accused by some states of ignoring human rights primarily to continue to foster trade and investment in South East Asia being a high growth economy. (Katsumata, 2006). The Japanese have however invariably opposed this premise and vehemently indicate that the non intrusive approach is in keeping with the special conditions obtained in the respective states rather than a result of its turning a blind eye towards authoritarianism and human rights violations in these states. The Japanese also feel that being an Asian state, their sensitivity towards their peculiarities is much greater and hence a congenial approach has been adopted. (Katsumata, 2006). Thus Japanese diplomacy endeavours to base itself on the concept of human security despite varied allegations from various quarters. Conclusion Human security is thus considered as the most relevant facet of Japanese diplomacy and has been effectively employed to further foreign policy goals of reducing human suffering through aid, assistance and capacity building. The impact of human security on improving inter state relations however has not been fully evident so far, as it is an evolving concept. Its utility has only recently been felt through active adoption by states as Japan and Canada. To that extent it has enabled enhancement of state on state relationship between the developed and developing state. As also it has provided relief to a number of suffering groups within a state, particularly in times of crisis or disasters. The potential of human security to improve inter state relations between developed states as Japan and China and Japan and the United States has however not been demonstrated. To that extent it has remained a concept applicable to the developing World rather than a universally applicable principle of foreign policy at present. In times to come the Japanese as well as other developed states could well employ it to improve transnational relations as it has a powerful connection with crisis avoidance, control and management from a human approach which is relatively alien to other schools of security. Reference: 1. Basic Concepts. Nd. (No Date). http://www.jfir.or.jp/e/pr_e/e-jf-pr-20a/pr20-summary.html. (3 December 2006). 2. Edstrom, Bert. 2003. "Japan's Foreign Policy and Human Security," Japan Forum: The International Journal of Japanese Studies, 15 (June 2003), 209-25. 3. Haverson, Mindy. 2005. Summary of The First Workshop on the Next Generation of US-Japan-China Relations 2005.3.11."Human Security: How Do We Define It" http://www.stanford-jc.or.jp/research/news-event/sjc/050311ws-sum.html. (3 December 2006) 4. Henk, Dan. Human Security: Relevance and Implications. Parameters. Summer 2005. http://www.carlisle.army.mil/USAWC/Parameters/05summer/henk.pdf. (3 December 2006). 5. JDBB. 2001. Japanese Diplomatic Blue Book. 2001. Chapter 1. http://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/other/bluebook/2001/chap1-g.html. (4 December 2006). 6. Katsumata, Hiro. 2006. Why does Japan downplay human rights in Southeast Asia International Relations of the Asia Pacific Vol. 6 No. 2. Oxford University Press and the Japan Association of International Relations 2006. 7. McRae, Robert Grant. Hubert, Don. 2005. Human Security and the New Diplomacy: Protecting People, Promoting Peace. Montreal. McGill-Queen's University Press. 8. Sato, Shoji. 2004. "Human Security". The 292nd UN Lecture Series by United Nations Association. United Nations Association. http://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/human_secu/lecture0403.pdf. Downloaded 04 December 2006. 9. UNDP. 1994. United Nations Development Program, Human Development Report, 1994, http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/1994/en/. http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/1994/en/pdf/hdr_1994_ch2.pdf. (4 December 2006). Bibliography Books 1. Japanese Diplomatic Blue Book.Chapter 1. http://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/other/bluebook/2001/chap1-g.html. (4 December 2006). 2. McRae, Robert Grant. Hubert, Don. Human Security and the New Diplomacy: Protecting People, Promoting Peace. Montreal. McGill-Queen's University Press. Journals 3. Edstrom, Bert. "Japan's Foreign Policy and Human Security," Japan Forum: The International Journal of Japanese Studies, 15 (June 2003), 209-25. 4. Henk, Dan. Human Security: Relevance and Implications. Parameters. Summer 2005. http://www.carlisle.army.mil/USAWC/Parameters/05summer/henk.pdf. 5. Katsumata, Hiro. "Why does Japan downplay human rights in Southeast Asia" International Relations of the Asia Pacific Vol. 6 No. 2. Oxford University Press and the Japan Association of International Relations 2006. Web Sites 6. http://www.jfir.or.jp 7. http://www.stanford-jc.or.jp 8. http://hdr.undp.org 9. http://www.mofa.go.jp Read More