The Stanley Foundation and the Stimson Center have released the latest
report in their Beyond Boundaries series with a specific focus on
Southeast Asia, Beyond Boundaries in Southeast Asia: Dual-Benefit
Capacity Building to Bridge the Security/Development Divide.
Southeast
Asia has witnessed an average economic growth rate of more than 5
percent per year over the past decade. As a result of their economic and
political advances, countries in the region have made significant
strides in terms of national economic development. Southeast Asians
today enjoy greater access to education, clean water, and health
services than ever before. Moreover, in just 20 years, the region has
halved the proportion of people living on less than a $1.25 per day.
Yet
despite this remarkable progress, current and emerging obstacles
threaten to prevent the region from fully capitalizing upon its
potential. Notably, the region faces growing energy shortfalls, maritime
security challenges including piracy, and the trafficking in humans,
drugs, and small arms. Each of these problems threaten to undermine the
economic gains witnessed over the past quarter century. Moreover, these
perils not only affect the most vulnerable communities and peoples of
the region, but together they can overwhelm legitimate state structures
and disrupt the flow of goods upon which the region has come to depend.
To
begin ameliorating these interconnected challenges, we must aim to
build the human, legal, technical, and financial capacity necessary to
guard against them. To that end, this conference report proposes an
innovative approach that seeks to better leverage existing resources,
identify new streams of assistance, and bridge the security/development
divide. Two proven platforms for this dual-benefit approach are
presented: UN Security Council Resolution 1373 (counterterrorism) and UN
Security Council Resolution 1540 (nonproliferation).
Developing
an international security strategy based on mutual self-interest, rather
than simply imposing legal mandates, will build near-term trust and
yield long-term buy-in from partner states, thus ensuring
sustainability. This, in turn, will strengthen the counterterrorism and
nonproliferation regimes.
In this report, Brian Finlay, senior
associate and director of Stimson’s Managing Across Boundaries (MAB)
program, and coauthors Johan Bergenas, research analyst and deputy
director, and Esha Mufti, research assistant, provide targeted
recommendations building a holistic approach that bridges hard and
softer security objectives with development needs worldwide.
http://www.stanleyfoundation.org/publications/report/SEArpt1012.pdf