Global security

Abstract

A clearer and consensual understanding of “global security” is fundamental to constructing a world that works better for all humans and for nature in general. The term is conceptualized in relation to existential and emancipatory global threats. These are examined in the context of the present era of world history, with particular attention being drawn to the paradoxes of proximity caused by the speed and density of global interconnectedness, and to the impending world-historical crisis (the “Great Reckoning”) resulting from the tension between long-established structures and the changing realities of life across the globe. A new global “securityscape” is taking shape, characterized by the tension between the urgency of developing an effective “global domestic security politics” and the continuing power of statist rationality.