The Three Pillars of Sustainable National Security in a Transnational World

Dr. Nayef R.F. Al-Rodhan | Geneva Centre for Security Policy | September 2009

In today's transnational world, a sustainable national security policy cannot be achieved through national capabilities alone. Sustainable national security instead rests on three pillars: 1) a multi-sum security principle based on justice at all levels, multilateralism and multidimensionality (including human, environmental, national, transnational and transcultural/transcivilizational security); 2) symbiotic realism in international relations, whereby mutual cooperation among states results in non-conflictual absolute gains; and 3) transcivilizational synergy which results from mutual respect, multiculturalism, cosmopolitanism and cross-fertilization, and will lead to global justice, security and prosperity. This is essential reading for anyone interested in an innovative approach to the complex yet central subject of sustainable national security.

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