Towards the 21st Century: A New Global Security Agenda?
This paper sets out to identify some of the global sources of insecurity and their implications for national security policy formulation
In November 1989 the Berlin Wall crumbled, heralding the demise of Soviet-style communism in Eastern Europe. Scholars like Francis Fukuyama and John Lewis Gaddis1 were quick to announce the start of a new golden era which saw the end of brutality, the global triumph of Western liberal democracy and economic prosperity. In the same vein, President George Bush boldly announced his vision of a New World Order. Soon after Bush made this announcement, Los Angeles erupted into racial riots and Bush lost the presidency. Far from heralding a new global era of peace and prosperity, the end of the Cold War has ushered in a world wracked by conflict. Released from the straitjacket of bipolarity, international politics is on a turbulent trajectory.
This paper sets out to identify some of the global sources of insecurity and their implications for national security policy formulation. While the discussion revolves around the global security agenda, in many instances this also forms the backdrop for the discussion of Southern African security and its implications for the South African National Defence Force. The reader is forewarned that the article is more tentative than conclusive, hoping to raise more questions than to provide answers and in so doing to act as a catalyst for debate.
There are eight important areas in coming to grips with the post- Cold War period. These are listed below, but not in any specific order of priority. It should be borne in mind that although the paper is presented in neat sections, they are merely for reasons of exposition, as issues overlap and are closely related to one another. These eight clusters also have an important binding point in that they present grave threats to national and regional security, and ultimately to global security.
Author
Hussein Solomon, Senior Researcher, Institute for Defence Policy
