Inclusion of Human Security Approach to National Security Calculus: A Case Study of Pakistan

Abstract

Security has been and continues to be the most significant area of study in international politics for times to come. However, the context in which security was once defined has changed over time. Thus, it puts the states in a dilemma of adopting a new security paradigm by updating their structure or keeping them intact with the conventional one. Thispaperexamines the significance of the inclusion of human security in the national security calculus in Pakistan. The qualitative research method has been used and data has been collected through primary and secondary sources comprising of semistructured interviews conducted from the experts and analysis of the literature obtained from the concerned institutions. The interviews highlight that Pakistan adopts thenational security policy to primarily because of the Indian threat andalso due to the military involvement in politics. It has also been discussed that presently, Pakistan faces a survival threat, not by an armed conflict but due to diseases and declining economic indicators. So Pakistan still sticks towards the state-centric approach even at the cost of human development. The paperalso recommends adopting comprehensive security as a new approach, viable for a state like Pakistan, which involves the inclusion of human security in the national security calculus.