Turvallisuus ja ikuinen ydinaserauha — muutos uhka-kuvien hierarkiassa

Authors

• Alpo Rusi

Abstract

The 1980s have witnessed a major development in security research. This article discusses changes in security thinking beyond the Cold War system. The threat of major ecological problems in particular is changing the hierarchy of threat images. Although nuclear weapons created “nuclear peace”, ecological problems are creating destabilization, ecological refugees and even new disputes between the North and the South. There is a need to develop new models of security — although “in order to have peace one has to know war”. The increase in ecological interdependence is a fact which will have an impact on security thinking in the 1990s. The threat of an ecological catastrophe is superseding the threat of a nuclear catastrophe at the top of the hiearchy of threat images. International security interests must be better taken into account in national security strategies. This paper makes the argument that the developed nations should re—evaluate their development aid policies to better cope with ecological challenges