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Enthält Rezensionen u.a. von: Dallaire, Roméo: Shake hands with the devil: the failure of humanity in Rwanda - Toronto: Random House Canada, 2003 - 584 S

Human security is a concept that challenges the traditional notion of national security by placing the 'human' as the central referent of security instead of the 'state.' It is a concept that encompasses health and well-being of people and prioritizes their fundamental freedoms and basic livelihoods by shielding them from acute socioeconomic threats, vulnerabilities and stress. The epicenter of "health security" is located at the intersection of several academic fields or disciplines which do not necessarily share a common theoretical approach. Diverse players in the "health security" domain include practitioners in such fields as security studies, foreign policy, international relations, development theory, environmental politics and the practices of the United Nations system and other multilateral bodies like the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). Improvements in health are not only dependent on continued commitments to enhance the availability of healthcare and to strengthen disease prevention systems; they are very much enhanced by that intersection between global security and global health. What is emerging is global health diplomacy paradigm that calls for strengthening of core capacities in the public health and foreign policy arenas aimed at advancing human security through the strengthening of global health diplomacy practices. Human security in its broadest sense embraces far more than the absence of violence and conflict. It encompasses human rights, good governance, access to education and health care, and ensuring that each individual has opportunities and devices to fulfill his or her potential. Every step in this direction is a step towards reducing poverty, achieving growth and preventing conflict. Freedom from want, freedom from fear and the freedom of future generations to inherit a natural environment – these are the interrelated building blocks of human- and therefore national security.

The political, social, economic, and security implications of health-related issues such as emerging infectious diseases or the epidemic of Non Communicable Diseases offer a rare opportunity for professionals in foreign policy and international relations to engage with the health arena and at the same time for global health experts to enter into and intersect with the domain of diplomacy. The aim of this review is to understand and explore the concepts of global health diplomacy (GHD), health security, and human security. For this narrative review, a literature search was done in PubMed, Scopus, and EBSCO for the "global health diplomacy," "health security," and "human security," and full-texts were reviewed. The recent outbreaks of Ebola in West Africa and Zika in South America are pertinent examples of the nature of the human security crisis and the imminent and severe threat posed to human life across the globe as a result of these epidemics. The Commission on Human Security defines human security as the protection of the vital core of all human lives from critical and pervasive threats. We highlight the ways in which health has now become an issue of national security/global concern and also how GHD can aid in the development of new bilateral or multilateral agreements to safeguard the health and security of people in our globalized world. The paper provides a prospective about, and overview of, health and human security that essentially emphasizes the growing interlinkages between global health, diplomacy, and foreign policy.