This course is a part of the Monterey Model course and will introduce the concept of human security, its development and real-world applications, and implications for international policy through illustrative case examples.

The concept of "human security" was first introduced in the 1994 Human Development Report by the United Nations Development Program. It has since attracted growing attention in the academic and policy communities around the world. The concept has also become part of official policy, particularly in Japan and Canada. In contrast to the traditional concept of "national security" with its focus on the security of the state against military threats, "human security" emphasizes the protection of individual citizens’ security not only from war and other forms of physical violence but also from threats of a political, economic, social, cultural, and environmental nature. At the most fundamental level, “human security” has two components, human development and human dignity/human rights.