Regional co-development and security:: a comprehensive approach

Abstract

Concepts of security are no longer limited to the military form, but other potential, economic, ecological, social aspects are becoming included. Emphasis needs to be put on integration of all dimensions of security. Many environmental problems present threats to human health and welfare and hence to the well-being of nations. The environmental issues cannot be ignored in context of any comprehensive security concept, but environmental security should not be treated in isolation. Integration of sustainable development and regional security may address many of the current maritime issues. Such integration may best be handled jointly and at regional levels. With this in mind and the realization that there is now a clear awareness and understanding that issues such as poverty, underdevelopment, population growth, environmental quality and sustainable resource use, are interrelated and interdependent and must be dealt with as such, the paper aims to highlight some aspects of regional security and sustainable development issues with reference to the Mediterranean basin. The aim is to initiate a process to pursue integration of sustainable development and comprehensive regional security with focus on the Mediterranean. The approach is based on the concept of the Common Heritage of Mankind as proposed by Arvid Pardo in 1967. It has 4 dimensions: economic; ethical; environmental; peace and security. In dealing with the proposal of Arvid Pardo the United Nations General Assembly decided to split up the concept: the Conference on the Law of the Sea was to deal with the peaceful uses of oceans and sea-beds; the Conference on Disarmament with the security aspects, then considered as military. UNCED 92 maintained the separation in addressing only environment and development, with management also included. However, peace and security were not included. It is time now to include these elements, and also consider the enforcement issue. The paper aims at illustrating this need through some examples from the Mediterranean basin.