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Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa

ISSN: 1647-7251

Vol. 6, n.º 2 (November 2015-April 2016), pp. 61-73

THE SECURITY-DEVELOPMENT CONNECTION IN THE POST-2015

DEVELOPMENT AGENDA

Carolina Alves Pereira

pereira.carolinaalves@gmail.com

Degree in International Relations from the Faculty of Economics, University of Coimbra (2012)

Master's in Development Studies from ISCTE-IUL (2014).

Abstract:

This article1

analyses the influence that political constraints and technical issues have on the

connection between security and development, particularly in discussion on the post-2015

global development agenda. After theoretical grounding, an analysis is done to contextualise

the most influential elements. Following some discussion, the practicalities of the post-2015

agenda for development is exposed, contributing to the materialisation of the problems (and

opportunities) with the connection between security and development, as well as

perspectives on the inclusion of concrete goals that seek this connection in a future global

agenda.

Keywords:

development aid; security; security-development link; constraints; global agenda for the

post-2015 development.

How to cite this article

Pereira, Carolina Alves (2015). ‘The Security-Development Connection in the Post-2015

Development Agenda’ JANUS.NET e-journal of International Relations, Vol. 6, No. 2,

November 2015-April 2016. Consulted [online] at the date of last visit,

observare.ual.pt/janus.net/pt_vol6_n2_art05

1 Article based on the Master's dissertation of the author, ‘The Security-Development Connection in the

Post-2015 Development Agenda.’, defended in December 2014 [cf. PEREIRA, Carolina Alves - The

Security-Development Connection in the Post-2015 Development Agenda. Lisbon: ISCTE-IUL, 2014.

Masters dissertation. Available at www: < http://hdl.handle.net/10071/8827 >.]

JANUS.NET, e-journal of International Relations

ISSN: 1647-7251

Vol. 6, n.º 2 (November 2015-April 2016), pp. 61-73

The security-development connection in the post-2015 Development Agenda

Carolina Alves Pereira

THE SECURITY-DEVELOPMENT CONNECTION IN THE POST-2015

DEVELOPMENT AGENDA

Carolina Alves Pereira

Introduction

From the 1990s, multidimensionality has come to characterise the concept of

development. This combined with changes in world geopolitics at the end of the Cold

War and the important changes in the approach to the concept itself has meant that

security has to take place in discussions on development. Security is no longer

associated exclusively with the State or military matters; it relates to a much broader

field of analysis that includes concerns about the theme of human rights. Living

conditions of populations and their freedoms and rights have to be highlighted as key

prerequisites for the full development of societies, with insecurity elements being

considered obstacles to that condition (Fukuda-Parr, 2003: passim).

The current theoretical developments that defend the concept's multidimensionality, as

well as current critical Security Studies (particularly from the contributions of the

Schools of Copenhagen – like Barry Buzan, Ole Waever – and from Aberystwyth – Ken

Booth and Richard W. Jones), support the extension of the respective concepts2

Consequently, despite being a much debated topic, security tends to show very little

consistency in discussions about international development. The vast body of literature

reveals that there is indeed room to debate security and its consequences for

development, highlighting the security/insecurity duality that corresponds to

prevention/reaction dimensions – the preferred approach in the discourse. Security as

the absence of threats to collective well-being (based on prevention in view of the

likelihood of those threats), and insecurity when such threats exist, is evident and

constant. This is associated with a reactive dimension that is based on the action of

insecurity factors (Fukuda-Parr, 2007: 3; Denney, 2013ª: 4).

. In this

way, they favour greater convergence of areas that they involve. As a result, a vast

and interesting discussion has been generated, albeit with little consensus, raising

questions about the ‘securitisation of development’.

2 For example, Ken Booth argues that security itself ‘can only be achieved by people and groups if they do

not deprive others of it’ (Booth apud Diskaya, 2013). This immediately shows the rupture with the

traditional perspective that determined security as the exclusive responsibility of the State, as it puts the

individual at the centre of the discussion.

JANUS.NET, e-journal of International Relations

ISSN: 1647-7251

Vol. 6, n.º 2 (November 2015-April 2016), pp. 61-73

The security-development connection in the post-2015 Development Agenda

Carolina Alves Pereira

Security implies more than the simple absence of threats. It should, in fact, be

associated with the inability to guarantee the means and conditions necessary for the

pursuit of sustainable and lasting development policies. The absence of threats, the

availability of resources to meet the needs of all, equality, justice, stability, confidence

(in government institutions) and build strong, robust and capable societies, can all be

seen as security factors (Fitz-Gerald, 2004: 10).

Insecurity implies more than the absence of peace. From the perspective of

endogenous factors (internal factors that influence the events in a given territory),

insecurity is characterised by the prolonged existence of dangerous situations that

threaten the well-being and stability of societies. Conflicts, armed and physical

violence, discrimination, governmental and institutional breakdown, power struggles,

shortages of resources or economic hardship and corruption, black-market economies

and trafficking are factors that exist as threats, because they all fuel disputes and

situations of instability and insecurity (McCandless & Karbo 2011: passim).

The aforementioned duality works as an argument to link the fields of security and

development, which favours a consensus among theorists who work on it. The concepts

turn out to be inextricably linked since it is the combination of factors that matters

most. The impact of insecurity on low levels of development, however, is one that

brings great consensus.

Inherent political and technical constraints of the security-

development connection

The question of causality involving security and development encases the main issue of

the link between those concepts. This raises political reluctance and technical difficulties

that significantly influence decision-making when introducing a specific security

objective in the global development agenda.

The more approached constraints of political order often relate to overlapping interests,

benefits and privileges of actors in the international political agenda, particularly the

donors that hamper the harmonisation of security and development agendas.

According to Blunt et al. (2011: 176), the real needs of the least developed countries

are not yet satisfactorily covered by donor communities’ aid programmes since they are

more conditioned by the will and interests of donors, who are beneficiaries. The

economic financial, economic and monetary capability of countries decisively influences

the parameters of their aid programmes and, invariably, means an increase in

disparities between developed and developing regions (Blunt et al., 2011: 175-177).

This coupled with the existence and implementation of a single model of development

based on Western and neoliberal development patterns is often seen as a form of

interference in the internal affairs of countries, discrediting their authority and

legitimacy (Buur et al., 2007: 31).

The consequence of these focuses in aid programmes is reflected primarily in the

prevalence of the pursuit of donors’ own goals as well as economic and political

benefits. This is seldom done transparently, seeking to mask intentions and interests

and increase geopolitical advantages. This trend is associated with the paternalist

character and pretensions of Westernisation so often pointed to by donor countries, as

JANUS.NET, e-journal of International Relations

ISSN: 1647-7251

Vol. 6, n.º 2 (November 2015-April 2016), pp. 61-73

The security-development connection in the post-2015 Development Agenda

Carolina Alves Pereira

well as the prevalence of development models responsible for the handling and

usurpation of official development assistance (ODA) (Blunt et al., 2011: passim).

As a result, this eventual manipulation of programmes by power and political structure

often turns out to be responsible for further damaging already-weakened situations,

characterised by violent (or post-conflict) environments. Camouflaged securitisation

and militarisation through aid programmes, together with the effects that this may

have on the living conditions of receiver populations, is feared (Bonnel & Michailof

2012: passim).

This risk of misrepresentation and perversion that the concept can suffer, especially by

political actors, reflects its conceptual vulnerability. This is due to the fact that it is at

the mercy of needs, objectives, purposes and contexts of those who employ it or where

it are located. The misuse of the term, considering the possible inclusion of security in

the agenda as a way to legitimise the use of force under pretexts of ODA (humanitarian

interventions or the case of the fight against terrorism, for example), distorts the

nature of aid and contributes to the weak development of disadvantaged areas and

deepening external dependence (Bonnel & Michailof 2012: passim; Buur et al., 2007:

31; Cammack et al., 2006: passim). Maybe to circumvent these reluctances,

suggestions for the topic’s inclusion in the political development agenda will involve

security objectives in other areas, such as governance, justice and the rule of law

(Denney, 2013ª: 7-8).

In the context of ODA in situations of insecurity, it is therefore recognised that the

matter in question is the maintenance of a tricky balance between the interests and

expectations of donors and beneficiaries. However, the self-interest of some donors has

proven to be a real and difficult obstacle that is not restricted to isolated cases. In fact,

just as some donors manage their programmes according to their own benefit and

status, it is also true that some uphold more moderate actions. For example, rising

economies seem to engage in an aid system that is more orientated towards

cooperation and mutual assistance. In these cases, donors are faced with the difficult

task of managing their interests with those of others. On the one hand, the importance

of organising themselves as political actors and financiers remains, with duties that

require a firm stance and efficient results to justify their investment. On the other

hand, an actor has responsibilities in regards to the beneficiary’s expectation and the

need for support in economic terms, as well as training at a governmental and

institutional level (Driscoll & Evans, 2005: passim).

There is a need for political harmony in ODA, which is as important as complex. When

extended to contexts of violence and post-conflict that proliferate insecurity factors,

this aspect becomes paramount.

Another aspect is technical constraints, which are related primarily to measurability.

These include collecting data and creating viable monitoring systems to establish a

causal link between security/insecurity and development factors, as well as

standardisation (or generalisation) of policies and development programmes.

Measurability relates generally to the possibility of measurement based on indicators

and goals that set out the results of a given action in order to reveal its impact. This

definition also applies to the context of development and security. In these contexts,

measurability appears to be associated with the opportunity and ability to measure the

JANUS.NET, e-journal of International Relations

ISSN: 1647-7251

Vol. 6, n.º 2 (November 2015-April 2016), pp. 61-73

The security-development connection in the post-2015 Development Agenda

Carolina Alves Pereira

impact of security policies applied in development programmes, and is considered to be

a decisive factor in international aid in contexts of insecurity (Bush et al., 2013: 45).

When discussing security and development agendas in conjunction, measurability or

evaluation of impacts and results appears to be associated mainly with programmes of

Demobilization, Disarmament and Reintegration (DDR) or Reform of Security Systems

(RSS), as well as the tasks of peace-building and peacekeeping in post-conflict contexts

and to all that is inherent to them: number of victims, the number of displaced people,

the number of refugees, level of institutional and governmental performance,

proliferation of arms, arms trafficking, the existence of mines, etc.. Monitoring these

indicators allows one to evaluate the evolution of these programmes and missions, i.e.

missions dealing with insecurity factors that endanger the lives of citizens, their means

and resources, which are needed for daily activities. This corresponds with negative

effects on the affected territory’s development indices that take into consideration

mines, weapons, violence and fragility (Menkhaus, 2004: 3; Bush et al., 2013: passim).

Measurability tries to measure and evaluate the impact projects and programmes

initiated under these missions have on those cited indicators, when the mission agenda

is defined as a set of objectives with targets, indicators and assumptions. These

indicators guide the pursuit of goals and objectives, contributes to their achievement

and consequently enables the programme to reflect on the level of success after its

completion (Menkhaus, 2004: 4-6; Bush et al., 2013: passim).

According to Bush and Duggan (2013), the interaction between the context of the

conflict and the evaluation system consists of four parts: methods, logistics, politics

and ethics. These four strands interconnect and decisively influence the evaluation

process of results obtained from the policies applied through peace-building and

peacekeeping missions (Bush & Duggan, 2013: 8).

The interconnection between the mentioned aspects can put some limitations on

measurability (manifested in the obstacles to evaluators' work). In particular,

information restrictions, the action of external actors (those who require the evaluation,

whether political authorities or other) and the actual physical environment that, due to

insecurity, geographical formation or accessibility, impedes evaluators' access to a

situation. Weakness or lack of information can also prevent data collection, preventing

the formulation of results. These limitations ultimately put into question the reliability

of interpretation of a programme's true impact (Bush & Duggan, 2013: 9-11).

The first limitation to be studied involves those responsible for projects and the

proponents of the evaluation. It tries to condition access to documentation, allowing

evaluators to use only properly ‘filtered’ sites and information ‘of reference’. When

submitting results, conclusions sometimes do not coincide with reality (assess positively

when data indicate otherwise, for example). However, this encompasses problems

associated with the choice of assessment methods as the client requires the use of

dispersed and varied methodologies instead of others, endangering the soundness of

the evaluation (Bush & Duggan, 2013: 9-11).

Another concerns the typical complications of conflict and post-conflict situations, i.e.

when it is necessary to evaluate the impact of a programme in this context, the process

becomes more complicated compared to other situations. This is because these

environments have harmful characteristics, including instability, insecurity, corruption,

institutional and governmental breakdown, lack of resources, poor access to

JANUS.NET, e-journal of International Relations

ISSN: 1647-7251

Vol. 6, n.º 2 (November 2015-April 2016), pp. 61-73

The security-development connection in the post-2015 Development Agenda

Carolina Alves Pereira

information (the basis of the evaluation process and essential to the effectiveness of

measurability). These are essentially common elements of fragile states and places

where armed violence proliferate (Bush et al., 2013: passim).

Another issue is related with the obstacles to the evaluators when aggregating data,

studying results and the subsequent reporting on the executed programmes. If the

information collected is not reliable or consistent, the evaluation's work results become

weak and obsolete (Menkhaus, 2004: 6).

Despite difficulties, measurability remains one of the conditioning principles of acting

within the scope of development cooperation, particularly in regards to security issues.

In fact, a main argument associated with the measurability/evaluation claims that

including security in the international agenda through concrete and measurable topics

(such as the number of weapons, mines, the number of violent deaths, etc.)

contributes to regular interventions under the pretext of security and controls the

interference of political pretensions (Denney, 2013ª: 8). This seems to help to establish

a causal relationship between security and development, justifying the possible

introduction of goals and objectives associated with the theme.

The ability to evaluate a programme and present the respective impacts in the form of

concrete results is one of the key issues underlying donor initiatives, as seen in the

CAD reports, DAC Statistical Reporting Directives (OECD, 2010) and ‘Evaluating Peace-

building Activities in Settings of Conflict and Fragility: Improving Learning for Results’

(OECD, 2012c). Of course, the perspective of donors and their respective criteria has a

focus, i.e. donor countries of the OECD are considered to be beneficiaries under certain

criteria and have certain actions that can be incorporated in the context of ODA. This

means that the ODA programmes respond from the outset to the ability to measure

results (OECD, 2012c: passim).

The development of monitoring is an equally important technical constraint. To find and

formulate analytical indicators and ensure their viability, impartiality and reliability is a

real challenge. Indicators permit the pursuit of objectives so that they are consistent

with the work and success other aspects it is concerned with. Indicators are the most

specific data monitoring formulation (along with the objectives and goals) and refer to

the state of the achievement of goals. The purpose is for the agents responsible to

realise, through indicators (collected from reliable sources), the goals that are to be

met. This means that verifying the weakness of the indicators inevitably has

repercussions on the rest of the programme, putting into question the soundness of

conclusions drawn about the achievement of goals and consequently the achievement

of objectives (UN, 2013: 23-25).

Also, contextual negligence when formulating ODA projects or programmes, in relation

to the contexts in which they are inserted, is seen as a technical constraint (although

some political dimension here does exist) to the formal presence of the security theme

in the development agenda, especially by beneficiary countries. This underlines the

trend towards generalisation, so often associated with the Millennium Development

Goals (MDGs), based on the approach ‘one size fits all’, as well as the existence of

applicable categorisation (although susceptible to adaptation) in the various situations

of fragility and conflict or violence. This approach is harmful to the proper pursuit of

objectives, underestimating the realities to which the aid must fit (Bonnel & Michailof,

2012: passim).

JANUS.NET, e-journal of International Relations

ISSN: 1647-7251

Vol. 6, n.º 2 (November 2015-April 2016), pp. 61-73

The security-development connection in the post-2015 Development Agenda

Carolina Alves Pereira

As such, the recipients of assistance suggest greater attention to specifics and more

personalised approaches, since they consider this 'standardisation' of projects to be

detrimental to the pursuit of sustainable results. However, if the 'standardization' of

projects by the donor community devalues the specifics of a given context, the context

as a basis for those projects calls into question the feasibility of a global goal, i.e. it

becomes unaffordable to justify or manage a goal based on the context of each reality,

conflict, fragility or exposure to the use of armed violence (Bush & Duggan, 2013: 26).

Of course, neither the political constraints nor the technical constraints are isolated and

merge and influence each other. Politicians, marked by confidence in policy, by

investment, the maintenance of interests between donors and recipients and by the

balance between universality and context, mainly focus on the struggle between the

need to build universal objectives that significantly balance the various interests

involved, and enforce the specificities of the different contexts and realities in which

they apply. Already, the technical aspects end up being related to the collection,

processing and presentation of data and results as well as their evaluation. However,

interests and political wills inevitably affect the formulation of objectives and indicators

to be included in the agenda, in addition to being present in each stage of the

evaluation, because their definition through the methods chosen affect the formulation

and presentation of results. Fundamental questions arise such as ‘who asked for the

evaluation? What are the methodology's chosen criteria? What is the form for the

presentation of results? Which interests are served?’ (Bush & Duggan, 2013: 10).

Nevertheless, the ability to measure the impact of policy conditions the decisions of

States, which require knowledge about the application of funds that they attribute

(Bush & Duggan, 2013: passim).

It should also be noted that both political and technical constraints are susceptible to

fluctuation, depending on how they fit on the level of global political discussion, on the

level of development programmes and on the project level applied in specific contexts.

The macro level (global) predominates the difficulty of involving areas of security and

of development as well as the needs and interests of donors and beneficiaries

concerned with it. The median level (organisations, diplomatic initiatives, etc.) can be

seen largely as an obstacle related to the scope and the evaluation of results, which are

more technical (Bush & Duggan, 2013: passim).

Both technical and political constraints emphasise the importance of clarity in the

semantics used, because it is here that many of them result. It is essential to clearly

define the contours of development policies and their respective objectives and

indicators, as these will affect the verification of results. In turn, this verification will

facilitate policy confidence in the view of donors and receptivity as well as beneficiaries,

from which funding conditions will depend.

International discussion on security in the post-2015 era

The presented framework supports the practical discussion around the future of the

ODA. This discussion takes place primarily in the context of the MDGs. Their expiration

in 2015 means that the definition of goals and objectives that succeed them is urgent.

It is fundamental to reflect on the work done with the MDGs and use them as a starting

point for the creation of a new guiding international policy agenda for development. The

JANUS.NET, e-journal of International Relations

ISSN: 1647-7251

Vol. 6, n.º 2 (November 2015-April 2016), pp. 61-73

The security-development connection in the post-2015 Development Agenda

Carolina Alves Pereira

new policy must be able to combine a more updated, more flexible and assertive

character with a continuity that reflects the learning lifted from the work on the MDGs

(Aryeetei, et al., 2012). We could conclude that the work carried out so far would serve

to stimulate the decision-making of policy makers at the ODA level, and reflect more

concrete action, as well as being less influenced by the constraints mentioned above.

This is particularly important in terms of security issues, which at this point cement

concepts and transcend clashing interests, allowing the existence of an international

cooperation agenda that is workable and successful.

The Open Working Group (OWG)3 was established for this very reason. This working

group was chosen at the United Nations General Assembly (the Rio+20 Conference) in

January 2012 and was constituted of about 30 members (representatives of civil

society, the scientific community and the UN). Its main function was based on the

document ‘A New Global Partnership: Eradicate Poverty and Transform Economies

through Sustainable Development’ (2013) from the UN High-Level Panel4

In the OWG’s eighth session to discuss the SDGs in February 2014, the agenda

specifically included the topic ‘Conflict prevention, post-conflict peace-building and

promotion of durable peace, rule of law and governance’ (OWG, 2014). In this session,

groups representing various sectors intervened – namely civil society (such as the

Quaker United Nations Office, the International Peace Bureau and the Global Task

Force), donor countries (including South Korea, Germany, France and Switzerland, and

Australia, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands) and beneficiary countries (for

example, East Timor, Rwanda and Zambia)

to create the

potential proposals of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a successor to the

MDGs. After 13 sessions in July 2014, the OWG released a document where 17 goals

and respective indicators could come to constitute the SDGs. Among them, the 16th

goal (‘To promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide

access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all

levels’ (OWG, 2014b: 5)) encompasses the theme of peace, the importance of post-

conflict reconstruction and draws attention to the negative consequences of insecurity

factors in the development of States (OWG, 2014b: 2 and 18-19).

Interventions by the participants at that session initially showed the predominance of

contained political and technical dimensions. Indeed, these are conditioned by

questions related to the connection’s approach (should it be reactive or preventive;

consider insecurity factors or encourage factors of security); the approach to the

theme’s presence on the agenda (direct or mediated, depending on whether they

should insert a specific objective on security or assign it to other topics); the ability to

assess and measure impacts and results; and the existence of monitoring systems and

statistical data that help to measure these same results.

. This reflects the multiplicity of values,

perspectives and goals that must be managed in the debates on the future global

agenda for development (the macro level in this case).

3 References to the work of the Open Working Group and the analysed documents are available on the

official website https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/owg.html [last visit on 6th October 2015]

4 This panel was appointed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations to delineate the first outline of

the post-2015 development agenda.

5 The documents relating to the interventions are available on the official website at OWG

https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/topics/sdgs/group8 [last visit on 6th October 2015].

JANUS.NET, e-journal of International Relations

ISSN: 1647-7251

Vol. 6, n.º 2 (November 2015-April 2016), pp. 61-73

The security-development connection in the post-2015 Development Agenda

Carolina Alves Pereira

Thus, when discussing the security-development link, those items involved are seen as

fairly reasonable. By stating:

‘The UN High-Level Panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda

calls for a transformative shift to recognise peace and good

governance as core elements of wellbeing’ (IPB, 2014:1)

‘Inclusive, accountable and effective institutions are important

aspects of dealing with the past and preventing countries relapsing

into conflict or violence’ (Gerber, 2014: 2)

‘resilience and peace are central to eradicating poverty, and

achieving sustainable and inclusive development’ (Borges, 2014:

2),

civil society, recipients and donors are clearly cautious with regard to this connection in

the future development agenda through a concrete goal.

These references express a preference for a preventive and mediated approach that

means developing an objective that includes security issues, mostly from the

association of these issues to other subject areas, such as justice, law and good

governance, which include empowerment, ownership, efficiency, reliability and

capability. In fact, in the new agenda it is crucial to promote the construction of solid,

robust and capable societies, so as to progressively and effectively increase their

accountability and subsequent development of policies.

This approach must therefore be based on the definition of objectives, targets and

indicators that would favour a coherent evaluation of their outcomes. On the other

hand, there is considerable concern about the existence of the means and resources for

aggregating the necessary items in the evaluation (data collection and statistics,

existence/creation/improvement of monitoring systems), since most interventions

make reference to them, yet this is not verified in considerable numbers.

This is particularly noticeable in the discourse of donor countries where the importance

of measurability/evaluation, such as access to statistical data and the

existence/creation/improvement of monitoring systems, while legitimising assumptions

of including the issue of security in the post-2015 global agenda largely feature.

Statements like

‘What can be measured gets done’ (Gerber, 2014: 3);

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ISSN: 1647-7251

Vol. 6, n.º 2 (November 2015-April 2016), pp. 61-73

The security-development connection in the post-2015 Development Agenda

Carolina Alves Pereira

‘progress towards building peace and safe societies as well as rule

of law and governance should and can be measured’ (Gerber,

2014: 3);

‘We want to see goals and targets on governance and the rule of

law, peace, safety and justice for all’ (Australia et al., 2014: 3).

These show that the existence of statistical materials that can be used to measure the

results of aid flows is one of the conditioning principles for the criteria of ODA donors.

These seem to reflect more the technical aspects inherent to the inclusion of security

on the post-2015 agenda when discussed.

There is a clear merging of both dimensions: although discussion on the introduction of

a direct or mediated form of the theme is more affected by political issues, the

technical component of creating a goal always underlies it. In fact, many allusions to

the technical dimension are precisely directed to avoid the possibility of some political

constraints (security aims and objectives, for example) and, through that causality,

legitimise the possible presence of the security topic in the future agenda for

development. An example of this is the perspective of donors such as Australia, the

United Kingdom and the Netherlands, who claim that the assessment and monitoring

instruments favours convergence among agents of development:

‘Formulating tangible goals and targets will rally the international

community’ (Australia et al., 2014: 3).

Conclusions

Analysing the work of the OWG allows interesting reflections, particularly in relation to

existing theory about the connection between security and development, for example,

with regard to the security/insecurity duality. This serves its theoretical framework

which involves two types of approach (preventive/reactive) to the security-

development connection. The definition of these concepts has become essential to

understand the complexity of the studied connection. However, the very duality – part

of the political dimension associated with the connection – eventually shows one of the

main constraints of the security-development connection. Indeed, the fact that it

involves the above approaches, which vary according to the encouragement of the

pursuit of security factors or combating insecurity factors, reveals the conceptual

vulnerability associated with the field of security and, invariably, the issues revolving

around it. This vulnerability, which makes the concept subject to multiple

interpretations, permeable to interests and objectives of who apply them, will

significantly influence the decision-making by actors in the discussion of the SDGs.

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ISSN: 1647-7251

Vol. 6, n.º 2 (November 2015-April 2016), pp. 61-73

The security-development connection in the post-2015 Development Agenda

Carolina Alves Pereira

However, it appears that the opinions among literature and practical discussion (in this

case the OWG's 8th debate) differ in the degree of influence that associate each

dimension, but converge on the constraints/opportunities that are part of them. This

means that while some agree on the same opportunities and the same problems posed

to maintaining the security theme in the development agenda, they differ on the level

of impact that the dimensions in which they are embedded have on decision-making.

As a result, the theory emphasises technical aspects while the practical work of

designing the future agenda highlights the political dimension.

Finally, evaluation safeguards for political manipulation is a frequent arguments by the

most optimistic literature in regards to the convergence between security and

development, demonstrating the link between political issues and technical aspects.

From this viewpoint, the technical elements appear to contribute to a greater sense of

confidence in the security-development link (which is well structured), while monitoring

will serve to moderate the most ambitious political intentions. Despite this – and being

made important references through proposed goals and objectives on the part of actor

– the technical dimension including this type of concern does not appear to be so

prominent in practical work.

This finding therefore demonstrates that the political and technical dimension decisively

influence the maintenance of a security goal in the post-2015 development agenda, in

so far as they are necessary conditions to the process. These constraints will invariably

occur when debating the existence of a concrete objective about security in the future

global agenda for development.

The work of policy makers is undeniably more subjugated to political constraints,

something particularly evident in the constant concern to bring consistency and

coherence to the discussion and the topic itself. Effectively finding soundness in this

debate is crucial, since security turns out to be a theme among many others seeking

place in the future development agenda. In this way, only strong foundations and well-

founded arguments can contribute to the increased receptivity of political agendas to

the theme's presence in the discussion6

Despite this, as well as more responsibility given to the political dimension, the truth is

that in the concrete discussions the most strategic component is not highlighted

exponentially beyond the aforementioned concern for discourse consistency. Clear

Interests and political positions on the inclusion of security issues in the agenda are

ultimately not observed with clarity in the statements in question. The areas of security

and development thus remain connected with difficulties, especially in the context of

international cooperation for development. In this way, even when appearing in

debates, any presence of the theme in the global agenda for development remains

somewhat uncertain.

6 It is worth referring briefly to the debate on ‘human security’ and attempts to introduce the notion of the

international agenda. It was its conceptual vulnerability to political agendas which turned out to derail the

progress of discussions around the concept and its respective operationlisation. Universalism identified as

a feature of human security presupposed the possibility of multiple interpretations which could represent,

according to the less enthusiastic, any distortion and perversion of the concept. This could consequently

be more harmful than beneficial to the safety of people in discussions on human security were they not

much later on (Freitas, 2002).

JANUS.NET, e-journal of International Relations

ISSN: 1647-7251

Vol. 6, n.º 2 (November 2015-April 2016), pp. 61-73

The security-development connection in the post-2015 Development Agenda

Carolina Alves Pereira

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