A lot has been written about the concept of "security". Seldom, however, has this debate been presented as comprehensively as in “Globalization and Environmental Challenges. Reconceptualizing Security in the 21st Century”, written by an international group of authors led by Hans Günter Brauch.



The book brings together a wide spectrum of views on different dimensions of security. The central argument of the book is that security is a product of the interaction between environment, development and peace. The overall aim is thereby to reconceptualise security in a way that fits the challenges of globalizations and global environmental change. Its target audience is thereby the informed reader, yet requires no specialized or in-depth knowledge of the subjects discussed.



Although the book comprises 75 chapters covering over 900 pages, the publishers have to a large extent managed to avoid overlaps between individual contributions. A Euro-Atlantic perspective, however, dominates the assessment of international institutions and organizations in this context. The role of the EU, NATO and OSCE is emphasized, while important organizations such as ASEAN and AU or even international financial institutions such as the World Bank have been neglected.



Nevertheless, from a regional perspective, the publication represents a refreshing change. On the one hand, it conceptualizes security from a variety of philosophical and religious viewpoints. On the other hand, it deals with the specific challenges many individual regions will face in the upcoming decades. In several instances the authors themselves come from these regions, thereby lending the chapters a high degree of authenticity. The publication does not offer specialists in the field any fundamentally new insights; its tremendous value lies in the multiplicity of perspectives. It is therefore useful as a comprehensive reference work that is sensitive to the complexity of the topics under discussion. (Achim Maas)



Hans Günter Brauch et al. (ed.) 2008: Globalization and Environmental Challenges. Reconceptualising Security for the 21st Century. Berlin und Heidelberg: Springer.



The other titles of the Hexagon Series on Human and Environmental Security and Peace are listed at http://www.springer.com/series/8090

Published in: ECC-Newsletter, October 2008