Nature of Future Threats and Challenges

Thank you for this wonderful opportunity to address this meeting. What are the principal threats and challenges to peace and security in today’s world? An immediate response would be: all that makes lives and livelihood of individual citizens in each of our countries untenable and unfulfilled. Especially in Asia, these challenges are many and loom large in our everyday concerns. From food and water availability, to health and education, and a host of others including the absence of a voice or participation in governance. Conditions that degrade life and rob an individual, the opportunity and sometimes even hope of a positive future are threats that we need to address.

Yet, the dastardly terrorist strikes of 9/11 and the nature of global response to them, rudely brought home to the world that inter-state conflicts have not gone away and the international community’s response to them have introduced new questions. Conflicts continue today and have instead acquired new forms, new weapons and new means of mobilization to wreak havoc and destruction. In an increasingly globalized world, the distinction between inter-state and intra-state conflict has diminished. Our national problems have now become internationalized. The challenge to the international community is to find an option that safeguards state sovereignty, yet allows positive international intervention.  

Hard core security is back again high on the global agenda and will remain a major challenge to world security. How does one list and then prioritise these threats? Let me just list four:-

First, terrorism is and will remain the core issue in today’s world and for many years in the future. We will need to address both the causes and consequences of this phenomenon and develop better ways to deal with them.

Second, weapons of mass destruction, their proliferation and possible access to these weapons by terrorists will remain the principal concern. A new global non-proliferation agenda needs to be crafted that is equitable, non-discriminate and time bound and that truly eliminates these horrendous weapons of war.

Next, collapse of states and even communities that are plagued by internal instabilities will remain a major challenge and concern, both because of the likelihood of massive human rights violations within as well as becoming breeding ground for terrorism abroad.

Last, the proliferation of conventional arms and small arms and light weapons that kill and maim enormous numbers must feature high on any agenda. What must be the mix of civil society activism and governmental and international action to counter them?

Need for Collective Actions to Cope with Challenges

Madame Chairperson,

In today’s world, globalisation has eroded very substantially boundaries between minds or the physical barriers that divide people. New attempts to erect new fences will not suffice. Threats and challenges can no longer be kept away from one’s shores. Whether it is terrorists, or SARS or mad cow disease, they jump borders at will. Hence response to international crisis or issues of conflict, whatever their form or cause, can no longer be restricted merely to one or a few nations, the so-called adhoc coalitions. All major issues that face the world and new challenges that emerge, will require resolute, well considered, collective action by a significant consensus among the world’s nations. 

Yet, today we see too often unilateralism, arbitrariness, selective engagement and reluctance to respond, even to issues of massive humanitarian catastrophes. As we meet now at a time of the Tenth Anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, it is time to reflect seriously where we went wrong and what needs to be done.

There are no easy answers to facilitate collective action or provide clear directions. I suspect we still have a lot to learn. States are guided by their national interests and a concept of global or world interests is still at an early stage of evolution.  Even on issues of global warming and climate change there is neither an effective agreement nor sound compliance.

In this context, may I suggest or perhaps reemphasise three issues:-

Notwithstanding many failings, give regional and sub-regional organizations more space in dealing with regional problems. More deliberation is required and consensus alludes us on its modalities, but our attempts should clearly be in this direction. I strongly urge that efforts of non-governmental organisations, particularly in non-traditional security issues need to be recognized and encouraged. The UN role has indeed been path breaking and it could provide the lead. We recognize some of the limitations of the Security Council in responding to challenges and the difficulties involved in its restructuring. Can we perhaps consider empowering the General Assembly, in certain specific areas of collective action to respond more immediately perhaps on humanitarian issues?