Introduction

International relations are based on the way different countries relate with one another

based on the pursuit of their individual countries’ interests and also collectively as a region,

continent or entirely as a globe or corporate body. Consequently, the concept of security

within international relations connotes a fluid and harmonious co-existence between and/or

within the different countries globally manifested by an absence of threats to the highest

degrees possible. According to McClelland & Pfaltzgraff (2020), international relations is the

“study of the relations of states with each other and with international organizations and

certain subnational entities”. Broadly speaking, international relations encompass pursuit of

policies and interests that define the relations between different States and organizations such

as the United Nations, NATO, World Bank, European Union and the African Union among

others. International relations is a political science domain that deals with international

relations.

Security has been broadly defined as the “perceived or actual ability to prepare, adapt

to, withstand and recover from dangers and crises caused by people’s deliberate, intentional

and malicious acts such as terrorism” (Jore, 2019). Furthermore, issues of security must deal

with all aspects of human behaviour that can impede and interfere with the peaceful

environments that are conducive for the harmonious undertaking of socio-cultural, political

and economic wellbeing and development of different States globally. This brings into the

fore issues like food security, water security, environmental and social security for different

people and nationalities for the common good of all mankind on earth.

Climate Change as a Threat Multiplier of Insecurity

According to the UN Secretary-General, the issue of climate change poses as a

multiplier agent of insecurity worldwide (Guterres, 2017). This is because many of the
existing challenges that threaten global security initiatives are anchored within its premises

such as water scarcity and food insecurity and violation of human rights are eminently

present with the climate change phenomenon. Security, therefore from the world overview,

must consider the environmental effects of human actions that have led to providing the seeds

of potential insecurity through climate change.

Anthropogenic factors include pollution, marine and forest destruction and marine

devastation are all linked to human activities like industrialization and unsustainable use of

natural resources (Trenberth, 2018). This is what has resulted in potential conflicts between

Egypt and countries that are on the sources of, and lie within the courses of the River Nile

tributaries in Africa where excessive water extraction upstream threatens the security of

Egypt (Swain, 2011). This example aptly demonstrates the role of climate change in defining

the direction of global international relations within the resultant effect of water scarcity. It

needs collaborative efforts for such tensions to be diffused and yield sustainable security for

the countries involved.

Changing Nature of Conflicts

For the world to have meaningful security, the changing nature of conflicts must be

addressed (Guterres, 2017), so that the resultant strategies used towards addressing previous

challenges are refined and adopted to address new challenges too, and where possible, new

approaches designed and implemented. This calls for understanding how global conflicts and

tensions develop and the new pathways that seem to be different from the past uncovered.

Security, therefore, is not just merely the absence of war and civil strife. Security entails

ensuring all those components that may lead to friction in society that hinders the

socioeconomic, economic, and cultural and wellbeing of a people are mitigated or totally

eliminated. For example the current outbreak of the global Covid-19 pandemic is a serious
concern for international security and global relations where China is perceived to have used

coronavirus to cause instability (Wang, 2020).

Approaches to Conflict Resolution for International Peace

The new paradigm shift that comes into clear perspective as advocated by the UN

Secretary-General is the need to be proactive in conflict prevention rather than conflict

resolution. Gutteres stated that “the changing nature of conflict means rethinking our

approaches- both how we work and how we work with others” (Guterres, 2017). He

advocated for a shift towards developing coherent approaches globally that is based on

coordinated and context-specific designs that will have positive and meaningful impacts on

global security. Consequently, this requires that a given challenge be evaluated and addressed

within the situational milieu in which it occurs so that appropriate actions that actually

resolve it are developed by all the international players something that makes the proposed

resolutions to be more accepted to every party involved. This leads to development of better

relations internationally that are congruent to the contexts of the players involved. This

allows the concept of international security to have meaning in relation to the notion of a

relatively better stability internationally and general peace which results in better living

conditions of people internationally.

Conclusion

The issue of security in international relations has different perspectives that have

varied dimension. From my interrogation of the available literature, I do not form any opinion

of competing views that are inherent within the discourse of security within the realm of

international relations. This is because security concerns remain the same but where one can

presume to have competing views is in the ways and approaches that are designed to counter

insecurity to ensure global security is attained. The strategies so employed emanate from
divergent opinions hence that is where competing views may be situated but the

conceptualization of security in international relations remains a matter of ensuring there is

harmonious co-existence between individual nations that promotes socioeconomic, cultural,

and political and wellbeing of individual States for the wellbeing of their individual citizens.

Therefore, the idea that there are competing views on the subject of security and international

relations has not been aptly supported by arguments discussed and in relation to what the UN

secretary stated in the meeting of “Addressing complex and contemporary challenges in

international peace and security” meeting held in Japan in 2017.

 References

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Emerging Complex Threats to International Peace [WWW Document]. Meetings,

Coverages and Press Releases-UN. URL

https://www.un.org/press/en/2017/sc13131.doc.htm (accessed 4.10.20).

Jore, S.H., 2019. The Conceptual and Scientific Demarcation of Security in Contrast to

Safety. Eur J Secur Res 4, 157–174. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41125-017-0021-9

McClelland, C.A., Pfaltzgraff, R., 2020. International Relations. Encyclopedia Britannica.

Swain, A., 2011. Challenges for water sharing in the Nile basin: changing geo-politics and

changing climate. Hydrological Sciences Journal 56, 687–702.

https://doi.org/10.1080/02626667.2011.577037

Trenberth, K.E., 2018. Climate change caused by human activities is happening and it already

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https://doi.org/10.1080/02646811.2018.1450895

Wang, V., 2020. China’s Coronavirus Battle Is Waning. Its Propaganda Fight Is Not. The

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