My view of Security

In my original essay, I weighed human security over the security of the state. I believed that it is important for the people to be secure in order for the state to be secure.

When examining security, my belief is solidified in some of the things that we have learned this semester in class. When learning about the Ebola outbreak, this proved to me that security was individual and not state. Ebola crossed state boundaries, largely because of the incompetence and inability of the government. The governments in West Africa substantially contributed to the spread and outbreak of Ebola, and did little to stop it in the early stages. This meant that it exploded and spread almost internationally. Those who were at the largest risk were the people. Ebola did not necessarily threaten the government, but rather those who lived in poverty and densely populated areas.

Personal security also deals out emancipation, because it makes all people equal and does not discriminate. This can be seen in the case of human trafficking and sex trafficking. Individuals, largely females, are kidnapped and forced into labor against their will. They are taken from their homes and are shuffled around the world into fields such as sex work, personal servants, and in factories to make products. This is directly related to human security and emphasizes why it is so important. If individuals cannot be protected from being kidnapped how can they be protected at all? Without individuals and humans, there is no state and government. If their government does not protect those inside of their state, how can it be legitimate?

All of this also plays into Ontological security. Ontological security deals with the mental stability of people based on their surroundings. Without order, Ontological security is seriously threatened. Human security plays into ontological security because human security presents order. If people worry about being infected by Ebola or being turned into a sex slave, they have no Ontological security. Ontological security is important to the stability of a state, and if the people are not secured there is no Ontological security which means that the state is in danger. Therefore, human security leads to state security making it more important in my belief