engleski

Security or human security? Civil-military relations in Battlestar Galactica

The text explores an emerging conceptual distinciton between national and human security showing how those conversations and real-world debates play out in the popular culture, precisely over the course of the Battlestar Galactica TV series, as well as how these discussions shed light on the recent political revolution in Egypt. The argument is that Battlestar Galactica is a strongly human security, rather than national security focused text, commited to the democratic control of the armed forces. It is claimed that the discourse on security is shifting, both in academic terms and as a policy, from the focus on national security, namely the practice and theory that tend to focus on how to use the defense establishment to protect the institutions of state from the outside threats, toward a framework of security that focuses on threats to individuals, including those threats emanating from their own governments. Politically, the concept of human security is closely associated with the policy domains of humanitarian intervention, arms control, and human rights, among all. Empirically, it also encompasses humanitarian affairs, health, conflict prevention and environmental security. Human security does not constitute a rejection of militaries and states, but rather tries to harness their power for the promotion of individual rights and freedoms. The structure of the argument elaborates the three dimensions of civil-military relations. First, we explain the epistemological referent of security. Second, we examine the tension between civilian and military authority. Third, by trying to figure out what is the role of military in any state of emergency, we examine the limits placed on this role especially in the light of current events related to the brutality of military personnel in dealing with "the enemy". However, against the dominant current which portrays military as an evil hand of the state, it is shown that military in fact might emerge as the champion of the rule of law, over the civilian leadership. It is concluded that the human security framework constitutes a lens to both reaffirm and problematize the conventional civil-military relations and promotes the concept of security sector reform where the military becomes a servant of individual security.

national security, human security, civil-military relations, democratic control, human rights, state

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