Human Security Report 2005
Encyclopedia
The Human Security Report 2005 is a report outlining declining world trends of global violence from the early 1990s to 2003. The study reported major worldwide declines in the number of armed conflicts
, genocide
s, military coups
and international crises, as well as in the number of battle-related deaths per armed conflict.
Three years in the making and launched in 2005, the report was produced at the Human Security Centre at the Liu Institute for Global Issues
at the University of British Columbia
by Human Security Report Project
(HSRP) which moved in May 2007 to join Simon Fraser University
's School for International Studies.
The Human Security Report covers similar ground to the long-running Peace and Conflict series.
According to the 2005 Report, the world saw a shift in global security after the end of the Cold War
with a 40% decrease in the number of armed conflicts being waged around the world since the early 1990s, and an 80% decrease of genocides between 1998 and 2001 – the latter notwithstanding the atrocities that took place in the Balkans
and Rwanda
in the last decade.
Some critics have questioned the relevance of this data noting that conflict and violence are still significant obstacles for human development, worldwide security and sustainable peace. For example, a recent UN Human Development Report
agrees that the number of conflicts has declined in the last decade, but claims that the wars of the past 15 years have exterminated a larger number of human lives. The Human Security Report argues that there is no evidence to support such a contention. The Report claims that the average number of battle-related deaths per conflict has declined from some 38,000 in 1950 to less than 500 in 2007. Individual fatality tolls may well be inaccurate; the trends, however, are indisputable. There are no accurate data on the (much larger) number of people who die from war – exacerbated disease and malnutrition, but the Report argues that there are good reasons for believing that these have declined as well.
Since the 2005 Report appeared, the data on armed conflict trends, which comes from Uppsala University
's Conflict Data Program indicates that there has been a 25% increase in the overall number of conflicts in which a government is one of the warring parties, but that the number of high-intensity conflicts (those generating 1,000 or more battle deaths in a year) have continued to decline and are now some 68% lower than at the end of the Cold War.
Some critics have argued that there was too much focus on battle-related 'direct' deaths in the Report, however an entire section discusses the large number of 'indirect' deaths caused by war-exacerbated malnutrition and disease. In some cases the Report says, the ratio of indirect to direct deaths is higher than 10:1. Indirect deaths – the hidden cost of war – is one of the two main themes of the 2009/10 Report.
The Report argues that conflict-driven disease and malnutrition are greater threats to human security than bombs and bullets. But it also argues that indirect deaths have declined over the past 15 years along with battle-related deaths.
Indirect deaths are driven by the intensity and scope of political violence. The 2009/2010 Report argues that since humanitarian assistance has increased on a per capita basis and since recent peacetime health interventions – primarily immunization – reduce death tolls in wartime, it is highly likely that indirect deaths from war-exacerbated disease and malnutrition have declined to a greater degree than "direct" deaths from violent injuries.
War
War is a state of organized, armed, and often prolonged conflict carried on between states, nations, or other parties typified by extreme aggression, social disruption, and usually high mortality. War should be understood as an actual, intentional and widespread armed conflict between political...
, genocide
Genocide
Genocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...
s, military coups
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
and international crises, as well as in the number of battle-related deaths per armed conflict.
Three years in the making and launched in 2005, the report was produced at the Human Security Centre at the Liu Institute for Global Issues
Liu Institute for Global Issues
The Liu Institute for Global Issues is an organization devoted to research at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. Named after Dr. Jieh Jow Liou, the Liu Institute conducts and facilitates research on global issues, mobilizing knowledge into solutions and policy...
at the University of British Columbia
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia is a public research university. UBC’s two main campuses are situated in Vancouver and in Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley...
by Human Security Report Project
Human Security Report Project
The Human Security Report Project is a Peace and Conflict Studies research group. Based at Canada's Simon Fraser University's School for International Studies at Harbour Centre in Vancouver, British Columbia It was formerly based at the University of British Columbia's Liu Institute for Global...
(HSRP) which moved in May 2007 to join Simon Fraser University
Simon Fraser University
Simon Fraser University is a Canadian public research university in British Columbia with its main campus on Burnaby Mountain in Burnaby, and satellite campuses in Vancouver and Surrey. The main campus in Burnaby, located from downtown Vancouver, was established in 1965 and has more than 34,000...
's School for International Studies.
The Human Security Report covers similar ground to the long-running Peace and Conflict series.
According to the 2005 Report, the world saw a shift in global security after the end of the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
with a 40% decrease in the number of armed conflicts being waged around the world since the early 1990s, and an 80% decrease of genocides between 1998 and 2001 – the latter notwithstanding the atrocities that took place in the Balkans
Yugoslav wars
The Yugoslav Wars were a series of wars, fought throughout the former Yugoslavia between 1991 and 1995. The wars were complex: characterized by bitter ethnic conflicts among the peoples of the former Yugoslavia, mostly between Serbs on the one side and Croats and Bosniaks on the other; but also...
and Rwanda
Rwandan Genocide
The Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass murder of an estimated 800,000 people in the small East African nation of Rwanda. Over the course of approximately 100 days through mid-July, over 500,000 people were killed, according to a Human Rights Watch estimate...
in the last decade.
Some critics have questioned the relevance of this data noting that conflict and violence are still significant obstacles for human development, worldwide security and sustainable peace. For example, a recent UN Human Development Report
Human Development Report
The Human Development Report is an annual milestone publication by the Human Development Report Office of the United Nations Development Programme .-History:...
agrees that the number of conflicts has declined in the last decade, but claims that the wars of the past 15 years have exterminated a larger number of human lives. The Human Security Report argues that there is no evidence to support such a contention. The Report claims that the average number of battle-related deaths per conflict has declined from some 38,000 in 1950 to less than 500 in 2007. Individual fatality tolls may well be inaccurate; the trends, however, are indisputable. There are no accurate data on the (much larger) number of people who die from war – exacerbated disease and malnutrition, but the Report argues that there are good reasons for believing that these have declined as well.
Since the 2005 Report appeared, the data on armed conflict trends, which comes from Uppsala University
Uppsala University
Uppsala University is a research university in Uppsala, Sweden, and is the oldest university in Scandinavia, founded in 1477. It consistently ranks among the best universities in Northern Europe in international rankings and is generally considered one of the most prestigious institutions of...
's Conflict Data Program indicates that there has been a 25% increase in the overall number of conflicts in which a government is one of the warring parties, but that the number of high-intensity conflicts (those generating 1,000 or more battle deaths in a year) have continued to decline and are now some 68% lower than at the end of the Cold War.
Some critics have argued that there was too much focus on battle-related 'direct' deaths in the Report, however an entire section discusses the large number of 'indirect' deaths caused by war-exacerbated malnutrition and disease. In some cases the Report says, the ratio of indirect to direct deaths is higher than 10:1. Indirect deaths – the hidden cost of war – is one of the two main themes of the 2009/10 Report.
The Report argues that conflict-driven disease and malnutrition are greater threats to human security than bombs and bullets. But it also argues that indirect deaths have declined over the past 15 years along with battle-related deaths.
Indirect deaths are driven by the intensity and scope of political violence. The 2009/2010 Report argues that since humanitarian assistance has increased on a per capita basis and since recent peacetime health interventions – primarily immunization – reduce death tolls in wartime, it is highly likely that indirect deaths from war-exacerbated disease and malnutrition have declined to a greater degree than "direct" deaths from violent injuries.