Human security can be recognized only through its absence. This is one of the oft-quoted observations. How so, is the major concern this week. As a mental exercise, we will reconstruct a profile of a few selected countries by using data available in the following documents, and highlights the epistemological problems associated with the macro (aggregate) data in identifying specific issues.

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 2012

Human Insecurity: the Need for Micro Perspectives in International Relations

The purpose of this course is to help students advance along the lines of their specific interests in the policy issues of International Relations. These issues include, among others, conflict-resolution, regional cooperation, poverty-reduction, and environmental protection. Equally important for students, however, is the establishment of firm theoretical footings. As in many other policy-related fields of inquiry, theories in International Relations are not context-free. The constraints of time often dictate theory formulation as they profoundly influence the theorists’ normative commitments. Given these, the course consists of three major components. 1) A firm historical background, a common prerequisite for all issue-specific perspectives. 2) Critical examinations of selected empirical and normative theories. 3) Examinations of specific policy issues in light of normative perspectives. The course fuses these three major components into a narrative flow moving from “High Politics” to “Low Politics.” Along the way, the course discusses a new framework for defining policy issues in need of solution, Human Security.

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INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 2012