A recent United Nations High-Level Panel identified five categories of threats that we face: 1. Poverty, Infectious Disease, and Environmental Degradation; 2. Armed Conflict - both within and among states; 3. Organized Crime; 4. Terrorism; and 5. Weapons of Mass Destruction. These are all 'threats without borders' - where traditional notions of national security have become obsolete. We cannot respond to these threats by building more walls, developing bigger weapons, or dispatching more troops. Quite to the contrary. By their very nature, these security threats require primarily multinational cooperation.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- ElBaradei lists modern global threats like poverty and disease that ignore borders and argues they require multinational cooperation instead of traditional military defenses.
- In plain terms
- Modern threats cross borders and cannot be stopped by walls or armies; they need countries working together.
- What can you take from it?
- Solve borderless threats through international cooperation.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Why do nations prefer building walls over building alliances?
- How can we convince leaders to share resources instead of stockpiling weapons?
Another view
Sovereignty concerns often hinder the deep cooperation needed for these threats.
More from Mohamed ElBaradei
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