HIV/AIDS & Human security

HIV/AIDS as a factor in Human Insecurity

Abstract: The HIV/AIDS pandemic is ripping away at our social, economic, political and personal security, greatly affecting not only our individual ‘human security’, but also the socio-political stability of countries, as the disease eats away our skills bases, our social networks, our national incomes, and our political stability. The HIV/AIDS pandemic is the first health issue not only to pose great human security risks, but also national security risks. It adversely affects all dimensions of human security, namely economic security, food security, personal security, community security, political security, and health security.

By: Henry Badenhorst

15 April 2010

Introduction

In January 2000, the United Nations’ (UN) Security Council debated the impact of AIDS on peace and security in Africa, and it was the first debate in the Council’s history that discussed a health issue as a threat to peace and security, at which debate the then UN secretary-general Kofi Annan told the Council: ‘The impact of AIDS in Africa was no less destructive than that of warfare itself. By overwhelming the continent’s health and social services, by creating millions of orphans, and by decimating health workers and teachers, AIDS is causing social and economic crises which in turn threaten political stability… In already unstable societies, this cocktail of disasters is a sure recipe for more conflict. And conflict, in turn, provides fertile ground for further infections’ (2000 UN press release, in Fourie & Schönteich. 2002:2). “HIV/AIDS is, cause and effect, initiator and beneficiary, of instability and conflict” (UNAIDS.2003:1). 

HIV/AIDS has become such a serious issue that the disease is specifically addressed in The Millennium Development Goals, where Goal 6 aims to Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases and the Target in this regard is to have halted and begun to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS by 2015, specifically: the reduced HIV prevalence among 15-24 year old pregnant women ; the increased Condom use rate of the contraceptive prevalence rate; and to have reduced the number of children orphaned by HIV/AIDS (Millennium Development Goals).

The HIV/AIDS pandemic is posing an ever-increasing threat to human security. The relationship between health and human security and health, and development is discussed, specifically the health problems that may affect human security and the need for governments to securitize health. The impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic on the different dimensions of human security as categorized by the 1994 UNDP Human Development Report are discussed separately. The impact of HIV/AIDS on the agricultural sector of highly affected countries, specifically Sub-Saharan Africa is discussed, with specific mention of the impact of HIV/AIDS on agricultural extension service organizations. The socio-economic consequences of HIV/AIDS with regards to Aids-related orphan crime and the possible emergence of AIDS-related national crises in Africa are explored. The prevalence of HIV/AIDS in South-Africa and its policy and human rights framework responses are looked at. HIV/AIDS among women and the gender bias they consequently face are mentioned. HIV/AIDS as a key concern of Human Rights is discussed.

The relationship between Health, Human Security and Development

The 1994 UNDP Human Development Report introduced a new concept of human security, which equates security with people rather than territories, with development rather than weapons. (UNAIDS.2003:1) Furthermore, the basic thrust of the 2003 report of the Commission on Human Security is human- centred, and while the concept of human security is not antagonistic towards the security of nation-states, it focuses on an individual in all of his/her human dimensions, beyond political boundaries (Chen. 2004:58). Human Security, furthermore, compliments and reinforces the twin concepts of human rights and human development (Chen. 2004:58). The commission adopted the following definition of human security, namely “any threat that challenged the security of an individual or people or population (Chen. 2004:58). 

Threats include war and conflict, and poverty and impoverishment and are highly interactive (Chen. 2004:59). Good health is “intrinsic” to human security, since human survival and good health are the core of “security” and since good health enables the full range of human functioning and permits human choice, freedom, and development (Chen. 2004:59). Although Human Security and Health are linked, they are not synonymous. While human security consisting of human survival, livelihoods, and dignity, is the vital core of human security, poor health consisting of illness, injury, disability, and death, are critical threats to human security (Chen. 2004:59). Furthermore, the linkage between health and development is clear in the statement made by the Commission that the attainment of health is not possible without peace and equitable development (Chen. 2004:60).

The most relevant clusters of health problems that threaten human security are: health crises during conflict and humanitarian emergencies; infectious diseases; and health problems due to poverty and inequity (Chen. 2004:59). These cluster of health problems are the most relevant to human security, since they meet the criteria of: 1. scale, in the sense that health problems affecting large numbers of people are considered higher priority; 2. urgency, referring to health problems that create emergencies such as an epidemic or war; 3. intensity, referring to the socio-economic impact of diseases; and 4. Externalities, referring to events that generate “spillover effects” onto other problems, such transmitted infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS (Chen. 2004:59-60). The commission established these criteria for prioritizing which health problems are linked to security as to avoid confusion as many considered health as too broad or vague (Chen. 2004:60).

Another issue of great importance, which was deliberated by the Commission, was the issue of “securitization” of health, which implies a higher political and budgetary prioritization of health in the state sector, as opposed to exclusive high defense and military prioritization to ensure state security (Chen. 2004:61). Many countries, specifically poorer developing countries do not rank health as a high priority in their budget spending to ensure human security, therefore one of the political purposes for labeling health a human security issue is to encourage governments to ensure adequate public expenditures for primary health care (Chen. 2004:61).

The question remains which health problems should be prioritized and therefore “securitized” by national governments. Chen believes there are three tiers of health problems that face increasing difficulty in political acceptance, namely: 1. health processes so tightly linked to military security that they are easily accepted by the security community, such as epidemics, the health of soldiers, the induction of illness among combatants and biological warfare and bioterrorism; 2. Health processes that are increasingly accepted as security threats, such as infectious disease epidemics, like HIV/AIDS of which the scale and intensity of devastation are so vast that it not only poses national threats to different governments but a global health security threat; and 3. Health conditions deserving of human security and prioritization, but which encounters the greatest resistance of acceptance as security threats, namely the set of health problems confronting the world’s poorest people, which includes preventable lethal childhood infections, preventable childhood malnutrition, preventable hazards to childbirth that kill many women, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Chen. 2004:61-62). 

Health problems among the poor must be seen as a huge human security failure, and not just a moral/humanitarian or development failure (Chen. 2004:62-63). Interdependence among different insecurities such as health, education, war, and poverty, exists and these dimensions of deprivation are the greatest human security threat. Therefore, health and development should constitute a central goal of human security (Chen. 2004:63).

The impact of HIV/AIDS on the different dimensions of Human Security

The impact of HIV/AIDS on Human Security globally is vast. The UNDP in its 1994 Human Development Report pioneered the concept of Human Security as a people-centric account of security that revolves around the needs of the individual rather than around the protection of states (Elbe. 2006:203). The Report categorized Human Security into six dimensions, namely Economic Security, Food Security, Personal Security, Community Security, Political Security and Health Security (Elbe. 2006:207-210).

Economic security can be defined as an assured basic income from productive and remunerative work or from a publicly financed safety net. Economic security is one of the most important components of human security affected by HIV/AIDS in the sense that the illness has a negative economic impact on all three levels, namely the individual, the family as well the national income or GDP (Elbe. 2006:207). In countries with an HIV prevalence rate of more than 20 percent, GDP can shrink annually by 1-2 percent and these countries can by estimation lose 20 percent of their GDP by 2020 (UN Security Council Report (2002), in Fourie & Schönteich. 2002: 4). The reasons for the decline in macro-economic output is the fact that the disease affects not only the very young and the old, but also the economically productive segments of the population including economic elites, such as doctors and lawyers (Elbe. 2006:207). 

Economists have identified several major areas of macro-economic vulnerability, which include: effects on the labor supply and productivity, remuneration cost increases, demand changes among households, higher government expenditure, as well as instances of severe risk exposure in key sectors of the economy (Fourie & Schönteich. 2002: 8). Direct and Indirect costs to businesses due to the incidence of HIV/AIDS among employees, include: higher contributions to employees’ pensions, as well as life, disability and medical benefits schemes; costs resulting from absenteeism and additional recruitment; and costs to train new personnel to replace sick or deceased personnel (Elbe. 2006:207). The economic impact for ordinary people at the household level outweighs the macro-economic impact by far. Households experience a twofold impact of a reduced earning capacity as well as a decrease in productivity, as persons are unable to work or are tied down to take care of affected family members (Elbe. 2006:207). Affected household furthermore carries the burden of funeral expenditures, legal costs and medical bills (Elbe. 2006:207). It’s often the absence of economic security that propels people into sex work for a living, and many end up in prison where they face a higher risk of infection (Fourie & Schönteich. 2002: 4).

Food security is another dimension of human security that is severely impacted by HIV/AIDS. Food security can be defined as “that all people at all times have both physical and economic access to basic food. This requires not just enough food to go round. It requires that people have ready access to food (Elbe. 2006:208). Even if food is physically available, people may still starve if they don’t have any economic right or entitlement to the food due to lacking the purchasing power (Elbe. 2006:208). Frankenberger and McCaston, (in van Liere 2002:4) furthermore state that it is difficult to discuss food security independently of wider livelihood and poverty considerations. “Household livelihood security is defined as adequate and sustainable access to income and resources to meet basic needs, including access to food, potable water, health facilities, educational opportunities, housing, time for community participation and social integration” (Frankenberger and McCaston, in van Liere. 2002: 4). All or most of these are indirectly threatened by the HIV/AIDS epidemic (van Liere.2002:4)

Another dimension of Human Security, impacted by HIV/AIDS, is Personal Security. HIV/AIDS infected people face abuse and violent attacks within society due to the stigma attached to the illness (Elbe. 2006:208). The violence can in worst case scenarios lead to the premature death of HIV infected people and in some cases, even people thought to have the disease (Elbe. 2006:208). Increased domestic violence has also been noted to increase in HIV infected households (Elbe. 2006:209).

HIV/AIDS has impacted Community Security, another dimension of Human Security in a dramatic way. The Human Development Report (in, Elbe. 2006:209) defines Community Security as “threats to the groups such as family and wider social communities-to which individuals belong and on which they rely for survival. The biggest impact of HIV/AIDS on Community Security has been the incidence of AIDS orphans (Elbe. 2006:209). Up to 14 million children have thus far (2006) been orphaned by HIV/AIDS, and apart from having to fend for themselves due to lack of family support, are furthermore more vulnerable to malnutrition, illness, abuse, and sexual exploitation, including having to exchange sexual services in return for money, shelter, food and protection (Elbe. 2006:209). 

However, the large number of anticipated AIDS orphans has led the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to conclude that Africa’s age-old social safety net for such children, in the form of deep-rooted kinship systems and extended-family networks, is unable to cope with the strain of AIDS and soaring numbers of orphans in the most affected countries, and stated: “capacity and resources are stretched to breaking point, and those providing the necessary care in many cases are already impoverished, often elderly and might themselves have depended financially and physically on the support of the very son or daughter who has died” (UNICEF, in Fourie & Schönteich. 2002:13). Banning and/or displacement of PLWHA’s (People living with HIV/AIDS), from their communities, due to discrimination practices fuelled by the stigma attached to HIV/AIDS, have a detrimental impact on them, since they become isolated from their social support networks and places of employment (Elbe. 2006:209).

The Political Security of countries with high HIV/AIDS infection rates is furthermore impacted, since the disease affects people indiscriminately, whether rural unskilled worker or economic urban elite. Political elites, the Police force and the military, representatives of the justice system, and government bureaucrats can all be affected at times when their skills are needed most (Elbe. 2006:209). Access to and distribution of life-prolonging medicines is an issue that can furthermore create political divisions within countries (Elbe. 2006:210).

The Health Security of countries is impacted by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Apart from AIDS-related mortality, the wider impact is twofold: first, it increases the number of people seeking health services, overstretching medical resources, denying patients with curable diseases access to healthcare, and leading to rising medical costs; and secondly, HIV/AIDS has a negative impact on the supply of medical services, due to doctors and nurses contracting the disease, leading to absenteeism, as well as the migration of medical professionals to developed countries where they have access to medicines to save lives (Elbe. 2006:210).

High degrees of socio-economic insecurity, social exclusion, and political instability provide the breeding ground in which AIDS thrives. Individuals who are living in these conditions, such as migrant workers, displaced people, refugees and ostracised minorities worldwide, face a much higher risk of infection. (Fourie & Schönteich. 2002: 4) In the past decade, HIV/AIDS has also emerged as a major threat in emergency settings and where humanitarian operations can place both relief workers and local populations at greater risk of infection HIV (Fourie & Schönteich. 2002: 4). There is an increased likelihood of sexual violence and prostitution among refugee populations and it broadens and accelerates the spread of HIV (Fourie & Schönteich. 2002:4). 

Mobile workers such as long-distance truck drivers have a higher probability of being HIV-infected than their communities of origin, as well as migrant laborers who are separated from their families for prolonged periods of time, are more prone to visit prostitutes or have multiple sexual partners, become HIV-positive, and then return to their primary sexual partners to spread the virus in those home communities (Fourie & Schönteich. 2002: 6).

The impact of HIV/AIDS on agriculture and rural areas

The agricultural sector in developing third world agrarian societies is the biggest economic sector in those countries generating GDP. Most third world people live off the land in subsistence agriculture. These societies are hit the hardest with HIV/AIDS infections, due to customary and traditional practices, as well as the lack of HIV/AIDS education. As over 70 percent of the population in sub-Saharan Africa consists of farmers and other rural occupations, engaged in agriculture, impact will first be felt in the agriculture sector (van Liere. 2002:2,4) Examples from Tanzania and Zimbabwe, tell the story of reduced crop production and shifts to less labour-intensive cropping systems (van Liere. 2002:2,4). The FAO has estimated that in the 27 most affected countries in Africa, 7 million agricultural workers have died from AIDS since 1985 and 16 million more deaths are likely in the next two decades. Several studies have shown a reduction in production and shifts in farming system (van Liere. 2002:2).

There is also a severe challenge to Agricultural Extension Services, in developing nations, particularly Sub-Saharan Africa. Due to the HIV/AIDS pandemic, which has decimated farming populations and rural areas, serious challenges now also exist for agricultural extensive services, who by their mandate and character deal with small scale farmers and traditional, mostly illiterate, rural households in providing them with technical advice on agricultural technologies, and advice on farm input supply, credit, marketing and farm management (Qamar. 2003:894).

The impact of HIV/AIDS on not only the farming and rural population, but also on the agricultural extension services, its agents and officials and their families, as well as their partner institutions are listed by Qamar and are briefly: extension service staff’s heightened risk of exposure to HIV infection, due to their frequent visits to the rural areas; some are already themselves suffering from HIV; the time, money and energy burden of taking care of their own HIV infected relatives and minor children; the pressure of attending an increasing amount of funerals at a financial cost and distracting them from farming activities; low morale, depression and economic worries among extension service workers, due to the loss of colleagues, and far heavier workloads; disruption in the extension service programmes due to staff absenteeism and death; the increasing costs for extension service organizations for the treatment of sick staff and their relatives, the funerals for dead staff, recruitment and training of new staff, and buying insurance coverage; administrative, strategic, policy and operational practices of all relevant organization going obsolete, due to drastic changes in social structures, including income levels, patterns of life and types of clientele; the negative implications for other organisation who are linked to extension services such as those who provide credit, technology packages, marketing facilities, land tenure and plant protection; new clientele, such as widows and orphans, applying for rural credit, requiring new criteria for applicants to qualify, but which does not exist straining extension service officers; the changing composition of clientele for extension services, to increasingly include the elderly, widowed, the young, orphans and physically weak; the increasing need of farmers to receive HIV/AIDS education, which the extension workers are unable to provide and the worsening supply of farm labour, food insecurity and poverty due to able bodied adults being lost and households being taken over by the elderly, the weak, and orphans, with limited earning (Qamar. 2003:894-900).

The socio-economic consequences of HIV/AIDS

The socio-economic impact of HIV/AIDS is particularly rife in Africa and specifically Sub-Saharan Africa. The pandemic has given rise to the possible emergence of AIDS-related national crises as well as a higher incidence of orphan related crime. Taking a pessimistic view of current trends in Africa, such as in Zimbabwe, De Waal foresees the emergence of AIDS-related national crises (ARNCs). The HIV/AIDS pandemic may afflict the future governance, peace, and security of African countries to such an extent, that ARNC’s (Aids Related National Crisis) may occur (De Waal. 2002:190-191). Each ARNC will manifest itself as a crisis of governance, corruption, armed conflict or social conflict, appearing to be a normal crisis (De Waal. 2002:192). This pandemic-induced crises manifests itself in a range of other social, economic and political pathologies, fastening itself onto the weak points of governance or socio-political relations that already occur in a given society, for example if a country is at war, the conduct of the armed forces, is likely to be an area in which the ARNC emerges (De Waal. 2002:192).

There are sufficient early warning systems of the full-scale development of national HIV/AIDS epidemics in Africa, according to de Waal (2002:193), but the problem is that countries do not know how to respond to ARNC’s. Conventional responses by neighboring African countries and the International community to ARNC’s, such as diplomatic dialogue, negotiations, conditionalities on aid, and even sanctions, will, according to De Waal (2002:193), not work. A further problem may be the unwillingness of key decision makers, to acknowledge the AIDS-related dimension to the problem (De Waal. 2002: 193). The HIV/AIDS pandemic cannot be prevented, but the effects can be mitigated (De Waal. 2002: 194). ARNC’s, on the other hand, are preventable, by means of early warning and preparedness and targeted interventions aimed at specific areas in which HIV/AIDS interacts with governance (De Waal. 2002: 194). De Waal argues that the prospect of ARNC’s should shape the governance agenda and the HIV/AIDS programming of individual African countries (De Waal. 2002: 194-195).

The socio-economic impact of HIV/AIDS is the most dramatic and visible in the staggering rise of children being orphaned due to HIV/AIDS. Aids-related orphaning specifically impact our socio-economic stability and security, in the area of crime. Growing up without a parent or parents, and badly supervised by relatives and welfare organizations, Southern Africa’s burgeoning orphan population will be at greater than average risk to engage in criminal activity (Fourie & Schönteich. 2002: 13-14). The many orphaned African children who will grow up under extreme levels of poverty will be sorely tempted, or even obliged for the sake of their physical survival, to commit a range of property related crimes. 

These crimes would include the theft of food and clothing by shoplifting and residential burglary, or the theft of other items that can be sold or traded for the necessities of life. Older orphans in their early teenage years might resort to mugging and robbery to make ends meet (Fourie & Schönteich. 2002: 13-14). A large influx of orphaned children into the urban slums surrounding many African cities will exacerbate socio-economic conditions, thereby creating a vibrant breeding ground for a variety of social ills such as crime. Moreover, the frequency of certain types of crime – such as gang-related crimes, vehicle thefts, robberies, and burglaries – is higher in cities than in rural areas, with the rate generally increasing according to city size (Fourie & Schönteich. 2002: 14).

Pharoah and Weiss (2005:800-801) argues that there are three main ways in which AIDS-related orphaning may lead to higher levels of crime and instability, namely: that the death of parents leave children scarred and marginalized in ways that predispose them to delinquency and criminal behavior; secondly that growing numbers of orphans provide a ready recruitment pool for organisations that violently oppose the status quo of the existing socio-political order in African countries; and lastly, that the demographic change brought about by the pandemic, especially the fact that young adults and adolescents are now over-represented, will create additional problems such as crime. Schönteich (in, Pharoah and Weiss. 2005:801) speculates that due to the disproportionate number of young men between the ages of 15 and 24 in highly affected countries, the incidence of crime, specifically violent crime and group-based aggression, will increase.

HIV/AIDS in South-Africa

HIV/AIDS has left a huge scar in the economic and social security of South Africa. South Africa has the highest number of people infected globally, estimated at around 5.3 million, including 220 000 children under the age of 15 years, in 2008 (UNAIDS 2009, in www.aids.org.za). South Africa ranks in the top five highest HIV prevalence countries in the world, with 17.5% of the population estimated to be infected (www.aids.org.za). The UNAIDS 2009 Global Report Epidemic Update estimated that in 2008, 310 000 people died from AIDS in South Africa (www.aids.org.za). South Africa is regarded as having the most severe HIV epidemic in the world (www.aids.org.za). It is estimated that by 2010, the South-African economy will be 22 percent smaller than it would have been without HIV/AIDS, amounting to a cost of US$ 17 billion (De Waal. 2002:191).

The policy and human rights response of South-Africa has been exemplary. The South African Human Rights Commission was the first national human rights body in the world to publicly endorse and adopt the International Guidelines on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights. Further, the Commission addressed HIV/AIDS as a human rights issue at its first national conference. One of the outcomes of the conference was a resolution stating that discrimination against PLWHA violated the South African constitution, which was made possible due to efforts by the AIDS Law Project/AIDS Legal Network, South Africa that held the government accountable for upholding its political commitment in implementing the Guidelines. (Program on International Health and Human Rights et al. 2004:9)

HIV/AIDS prevalence among women

Women make up the majority of those infected with HIV. Kristofferson (2000:597) argues that the economic, food, health, personal and political security of women, in particular, are at greater risk than those of men due to their physical, emotional and material differences and due to the existing social, economic and political inequalities between men and women. The vulnerability of women and the spread of HIV/AIDS among women are exacerbated by conflict and emergency situations and according to Kristofferson (2000:598) are the following factors enhancing the spread of HIV infections in emergency situations, namely: 1. Sexual violence, where rape is used as a weapon of war and women considered as bounty; 2. The breakdown in social structure and legal protection, leading to transitory sexual relationships involving a great many partners, and young people getting involved with sex and marriage at an early stage, due to the absence of leisure, education and employment opportunities; 3. The lack of Health infrastructure, limiting the access to condoms, preventing the treatment of STD’s, preventing the availability of mother-to-child transmission drugs, limiting the availability of trained medical staff, and excluding privacy and confidentiality as well as proper care and support for HIV infected people; 4. Women’s desire to meet their basic needs and create economic opportunities, accomplished through exchanging sex for food, shelter, resources, money, and protection; 5. The lack of education and skills training for women, increasing their dependency to get involved in risk behavior; and 6. The presence of military and peacekeeping forces with high rates of HIV infections, and who abuse their power to get what they want from refugees, women, and children.

HIV/AIDS and Human Rights

HIV/AIDS is a key concern in Human Rights and increasingly international law, obliging national laws and constitutions are being passed to ensure non-discrimination and legal rights for those infected with HIV. The first global AIDS strategy, developed in 1987, made it clear that Human rights are fundamental to any response to HIV/AIDS. Human Rights are “universal legal guarantees protecting individuals and groups against actions that interfere with fundamental freedoms and human dignity.” 

The promotion and protection of human rights empower individuals and communities to respond to HIV/AIDS, to reduce vulnerability to HIV infection and to lessen the adverse impact of HIV/AIDS on those affected. (Program on International Health and Human Rights et al. 2004:1). According to Resolution 49/1999 of the UN Commission on Human Rights is “Discrimination on the basis of HIV or AIDS status, actual or presumed, prohibited by existing international human rights standards…” (in UNDP-KSA. 2002:4). Another resolution, passed in April 2004, by the Commission on Human Rights recognizes that access to HIV treatment is fundamental to progressively achieving the right to health and calls on governments and international bodies to take specific steps to enable such access (Program on International Health and Human Rights et al. 2004:4)

Conclusion

The HIV/AIDS pandemic is ripping away at our social, economic, political and personal security, greatly affecting not only our individual ‘human security’, but also the socio-political stability of countries, as the disease eats away our skills bases, our social networks, our national incomes, and our political stability. The HIV/AIDS pandemic is the first health issue not only to pose great human security risks, but also national security risks. It adversely affects all dimensions of human security, namely economic security, food security, personal security, community security, political security, and health security. The disease has severe impacts on agrarian based developing countries where agriculture is the main source of GDP and subsistence income for the majority of the populations and where lack of proper HIV/AIDS education, leads to fatal decreases in agricultural output. Aids-related national crises in African countries may occur, but are preventable, by means of early warning and preparedness and targeted interventions aimed at specific areas in which HIV/AIDS interacts with governance. 

The socio-economic impact of HIV/AIDS is no more visible than the incidence of AIDS orphan related crime. The economic, food, health, personal and political security of women, in particular, are at greater risk than those of men due to their physical, emotional and material differences and due to the existing social, economic and political inequalities between men and women. 

South-Africa is the worst affected country in the world, but its HIV/AIDS-related human rights policies and laws, lessen the socio-economic impact on PLWHA’s, and ensure human security. The HIV/AIDS pandemic is growing worse, affecting the human security of millions of people worldwide especially Sub-Saharan Africa. I conclude with a quote from Fourie & Schönteich (2002: 17), “We are dying. Our economy is under threat. The enemy is attacking the elite in our society, but also the children, the elderly and the infirm. Using the urge at the core of what makes us human – the will to reproduce – it has already infiltrated our schools, houses, mines, governments, and churches. The threat to Southern Africa’s human security is such that those of us who are not infected, dying and dead are certainly equally affected by the disease. This state of affairs is partly the result of our historical legacy of poverty, creating a confluence of time and space that makes this continent the Armageddon of HIV/AIDS. And we are losing. Yet we are in denial. The Political Science community ignores the issue, and our governments ponder the causal link between HIV and AIDS whilst the latter is already affecting our food security, our livelihoods, and our sense of community.”

Bibliography

1. Aids Foundation South Africa .2005. HIV Prevalence in South-Africa. Available at:

http://www.aids.org.za/hiv.htm (accessed on 7/8/2010)

2. Chen, L.C, 2004. Health as human security priority for the 21st century, in Human Security and Development: a reader, compiled by L Cornwell. Pretoria: University of South-Africa.

3. De Waal, A. 2002. ‘AIDS-related national crises’ in Africa, in Human Security and Development: a reader, compiled by L Cornwell. Pretoria: University of South-Africa.

4. Elbe, S. 2006. HIV/AIDS: A human security challenge for the 21st century, in Human Security and Development: a reader, compiled by L Cornwell. Pretoria: University of South-Africa.

5. Fourie, P, Schönteich, M. 2002. DIE, THE BELOVED COUNTRIES: HUMAN SECURITY AND HIV/AIDS IN AFRICA. Available at: http://www.sarpn.org.za/documents/d0000177/P170_Security_HIVAIDS.pdf (accessed on 2/8/2010)

6. Kristofferson, U. 2000. HIV/AIDS as a human security issue: a gender perspective, in Human Security and Development: a reader, compiled by L Cornwell. Pretoria: University of South-Africa.

7. Pharoah, R & Weiss, T. 2005. AIDS, orphans, crime and instability. Exploring the linkages, in Human Security and Development: a reader, compiled by L Cornwell. Pretoria: University of South-Africa.

8. Qamar, M.K, 2003. Facing the challenge of an HIV/AIDS epidemic: agricultural extension services in sub-Saharan Africa, in Human Security and Development: a reader, compiled by L Cornwell. Pretoria: University of South-Africa.

9. Van Liere, M. 2002. HIV/AIDS and Food Security in Sub-Saharan Africa. Presentation at the 7th Annual ECOWAS Nutrition Forum. Available at: http://www.phishare.org/files/3027_AIDS_Food_Security_Paper_ECOWAS.pdf (accessed on 2/8/2010)
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- Soli Deo Gloria -

Neoliberalism, Globalisation & International Financial Institutions

Neoliberalism, globalization and the developmental efforts of International Financial Institutions (IMF & World Bank) have severely affected the economic security of nations and individuals: 

(a) Defining concepts: Globalization, Neoliberalism, and Human Security;

(b) International Financial Institutions-The IMF and World Bank: Background, Functions and Developmental efforts; 

(c) Globalization: Nature, Benefits, and relationship with conflict, violence, and crime; 

d) The failure of Neoliberalism and globalization and impact on Human security (Economic Security);

(e) The impact of globalization and neoliberalism on human security in Africa.

Abstract:

Since the end of the Cold War and fall of the Berlin Wall, capitalism through neoliberalism and globalization has spread like an infectious disease, giving the U.S.A. through “their” Bretton Woods established International Financial Institutions, namely the World Bank, The IMF and WTO, hegemonic free reign to impose their neoliberal policies of market liberalisation, deregulation and privatisation on the rest of the world, with severely negative effects on The Third World/ South/ Developing nations.

By: Henry Badenhorst

20 April 2010

Introduction

Since the end of the Cold War and fall of the Berlin Wall, capitalism through neoliberalism and globalization has spread like an infectious disease, giving the U.S.A. through “their” established International Financial Institutions, namely the World Bank, The IMF and WTO, hegemonic free reign to impose their neoliberal policies of market liberalisation, deregulation and privatisation on the rest of the world, with severely negative effects on The Third World/ South/ Developing nations, of which the most notable the erosion of the nation-state, consequent failure by the state to ensure economic security for its citizens, the state losing its legitimacy and consequent state collapse that leads to violence, conflict and crime. Globalization through neoliberal policies has widened the income and wealth fissure between the Industrialized North and Developing South instead of narrowing it, increasing human (economic) insecurity for most in the developing world. The concepts of neoliberalism and globalization will be conceptualized. 

The International Financial Institutions, specifically the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will be discussed in terms of their functions, background, and developmental efforts, specifically their Structural Adjustment Programs (SAP’s). The failure of neoliberal policies and the consequent impact on economic security will be explored in detail. Globalization, its dichotomous nature, its benefits for the wealthy segment in the industrialized world and its relationship with the collapse of the nation-state and consequent ensuing conflict, in establishing a ‘new world disorder’, receive attention. The impact of neoliberal policies and globalization on human security in Africa is the last point of discussion.

Conceptualizing Neoliberalism and Globalization

What are globalization and neoliberalism? “Globalization is usually defined as an increase in the volume of cross-border economic interactions and resource flows, producing a qualitative shift in the relations between national economies and between nation-states (Kotz.2000:8). According to the International Forum on Globalization (IFG) “Globalization is the present worldwide drive toward a globalized economic system dominated by supranational corporate trade and banking institutions that are not accountable to democratic processes or national governments“(www.genderandhealth.ca).

Neoliberalism is “the political view, arising in the 1960’s, that emphasizes the importance of economic growth and asserts that social justice is best maintained by minimal government interference and free market forces” (Encarta.2006) Neoliberalism is thus “characterised by the significance attached to private property, market relations and acquisitive individualism and was initially introduced to the developing world through the implementation of structural adjustment policies with their established practice of devaluation, increased producer prices, reduced wage bills, elimination of subsidies and privatisation of state-owned assets” (Willett.2001a:1157). According to Friedman (in Conteh-Morgan.2006:90-91), neoliberalism is the primary discourse of globalization and within neoliberalism, the emphasis is on a system of beliefs, ideas, and values, presented as the only credible economic and political system.

The idea of territorial security has overlooked the fact that for millions of people their greatest threats are not that of invasion, rather threats like disease, hunger, unemployment, crime, social conflict, political repression and environmental hazards (Willett.2001b:1175). This has led to a shift in the referent point of security from territoriality to one of human security (Willett.2001b:1175). The state in many developing countries has been eroded to the extent where it can no longer provide security to its citizens. This has led to a new notion of security which can capture the vulnerabilities of people and communities to the forces of change brought about by globalization and neoliberal policies, namely human security (Willett.2001a:1158). Human security is understood as ‘freedom from fear and freedom from threat and is concerned with economic security, food security, health security, community security and political security (Willett.2001b:1175). It embraces people’s right to have a certain quality of life and that anything that erodes that quality of life, erodes their basic right to security (Willett.2001a:1159). Human security is concerned with ‘structural violence that emanates from non-territorial security threats (Willett.2001a:1159).

International Financial Institutions: Background, Functions and Developmental efforts (SAP’s)

The spread of capitalism reinforces the sense of an emerging global civilization, defined by universal standards of economic and political organization and which is effusive with its own instruments in the form of the IMF, WTO and World Bank. These institutions promulgate the neoliberal discourse on globalization. They have considerable leverage and have incorporated most of the economies of developing countries and transition economies into their post-Cold War liberal order (Willett.2001a:1156).

According to the Bank Information Centre (www.bicusa.org), “The World Bank was originally established to support reconstruction in Europe after World War II but has since reframed its mission and expanded its operations both geographically and substantively. Today, the Bank's mission is to reduce poverty. It has over 184 member countries and provides over $24 billion annually for activities ranging from agriculture to trade policy, from health and education to energy and mining.” The International Monetary Fund (IMF) “is the international organization that oversees the global financial system by following the macroeconomic policies of its member countries, in particular, those with an impact on exchange rate and the balance of payments. It is an organization formed with a stated objective of stabilizing international exchange rates and facilitating development through the enforcement of liberalizing economic policies on other countries as a condition for loans, restructuring or aid. It also offers highly leveraged loans, mainly to poorer countries” (www.wikipedia.org)

At the end of the Cold War, Washington in a renewed zeal sought to implement neoliberal policies of market liberalization and deregulation (Willett.2001b:1168). A new ideology of ‘Liberal Internationalism’ sprang up that advocated the notion of ‘democratic peace’ which maintained that the global spread of capitalism would induce stability and peace (Willett.2001b:1168). These ideas coalesced within the World Bank and IMF to form the Washington Consensus, which in terms of the debate on the development strategies of transition economies of the former Soviet Union and the developing world (Willett.2001b:1168).

International Financial Institutions (Multi-lateral institutions), such as the IMF, World Bank, and WTO, in their interventions, emphasize the reduction of state power in economic management at the national and international level. State economic management is replaced by liberalized markets to improve output and productivity growth rates in the developed world and establish economic convergence between the North and the South. The developmental state model of the 1960’s and 1970’s is thereby being replaced by a neoliberal model of development (Willett.2001a:1157). Conteh-Morgan (2006:88) refers to economic globalization as a process which could be defined as the exercise of transnational hegemonic power, which is reflected in the decisions, actions or impositions of the World Bank, The IMF, and WTO.

The IMF, through structural adjustment programs, and the World Bank through development aid, applied macro-economic strategies, based on trade liberalization, which included the opening up of domestic markets to foreign investment and competition, the privatization of state assets and the deregulation of markets (Willett.2001b:1168). According to Conteh-Morgan (2006:88), Third World economies are being subjected to drastic regimes in order to structurally adjust them to the global market. These SAP’s adversely affect the economic security of marginalized people in developing countries. Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAP’s) enforced by IFI’s such as the World Bank and IMF, have a strategy of structural re-subordination of the South to the North and have dismantled the economic role of the state. It has in effect re-engineered a massive redistribution of financial resources from the South to the North (Willett.2001a:1158). The Bretton Woods Institutions (World Bank, IMF, and WTO) should take note of civil unrests, strikes, and protests against the effects of SAP’s that these programs not only exclude the poor but also contribute towards social unrest political instability (Willett.2001b:1171). The fact, however, is that the IMF and World Bank tend to remain distant towards their failed programmes (Willett.2001b:1171).

The IMF and World Bank, due to the East Asian crisis, had to rethink international development co-operation (Willett.2001a:1163). The IMF has undertaken two major evaluations of its lending operations to low-income countries (Willett.2001a:1163). The World Bank also undertook an in-depth evaluation of its experience with adjustment lending, seeking to implement a new development paradigm in its Comprehensive Development Framework that makes poverty reduction strategies the basis for concessional lending to low income countries through IDA (International Development Assistance) and debt relief to highly indebted poor countries (HIPC’s) (Willett.2001a:1163). The OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) also made proposals for improving development co-operation through principles of partnership and policy coherence (Willett.2001a:1163).

These IFI’s tend to furthermore serve the interests of the industrialized elites with the biggest voting power, especially the U.S.A, which uses these institutions to implement neoliberal policies to their benefit. According to Linden (2003:196), the U.S. with its 18 percent voting power in the IMF managed to promote its own policies within. Countries in the General assembly that would vote insufficiently pro-U.S.A stood the chance of facing difficulty in getting loans from the IMF. The U.S. also managed to pressure the IMF in changing its articles of association as to give the IMF greater power in forcing member countries to liberalize their current accounts and to allow foreign money in and out (Linden.2003:196-197). According to Linden (2003:197), the neoliberal policies of the U.S. was responsible for the South-East Asian market crash. The hegemonic power and undue influence within these IFI’s is illustrated in the fact that it has become the international economic doctor: “Irrespective of your economic ills, the neoliberal prescription would be good for you….and anyway you had no choice” (Linden.2003:197).

Globalization: Dichotomous nature, Benefits and its relationship with conflict

Globalization and its core policies such as deregulation, took on a natural quality as the right ordering of economics, right after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The new post-Cold War era has been characterized by this soft projection of U.S. power in a sustained policy push to finalize the unfinished business of the neoliberal projected, started after World War II (Linden.2003:190-191). According to Willett (2001a:1156), globalization has arrived as the harbinger to announce a radical new world order, which presages the demise of the nation-state, replaced by market liberalization and deregulation that shift the relationship between markets and the state, applied through multi-lateral organizations (IFI’s) and transnational corporations.

Kaplinsky (in Willett.2001a:1159) argues that the Achilles heel of globalization is economic insecurity and that mainly due to globalization’s dichotomous nature, in the sense that globalization has the power to simultaneously integrate and fragment whole economies and communities. This is apparent in the case of the end of the Cold War, where political and economic barriers were removed for global capitalism to spread, while at the same time leading to rising levels of economic and human insecurity (Willett.2001a:1159). Willett (2001a:1155) points out that the dichotomous nature of globalization has led to volatile and unstable global order due to exacerbated tensions between the centers of wealth and the broad swathes of society that remain marginalized and impoverished. “While globalization has enhanced the wealth of the already rich and powerful, it has simultaneously impoverished and marginalized many people and economies in the periphery of the global economy” (Willett.2001b:1167).

Gélinas (in Conteh-Morgan.2006:90) refers to globalization as a system as well as a process, which characterised by the transformation of the international political economy , from a regulated to a deregulated one in the spheres of trade, markets, finance, investment and politics, which results in the creation of one single global market, which encompasses health, education, money, work, and culture. Globalization according to the UNDP (1999:1), is more than the flow of money and commodities, it’s also a process whereby culture, technology, and governance are integrated, leading to people becoming connected everywhere in the world and being affected by events even in the far corners of the world. Globalization, furthermore, represents a widening and deepening of economic, political, social and cultural interdependence and interconnectedness according to Willett (2001a:1154).

Globalization is enhanced by human developments. Rapid global integration has been facilitated by technological developments in information, communications, and transportation (or ICT) systems, which have reduced previous time-space barriers (Willett.2001a:1154). Further integration was made possible by the former communist world coming into the capitalist fold due to the end of the Cold War and International Financial Institution (World Bank, The IMF, and WTO) policies of market liberalization and deregulation (Willett.2001a:1154). According to the UNDP (1999:1), globalisation, is different than what it was in the late 19th century, due to new developments, such as new markets where foreign exchange and capital markets are linked 24 hours a day with dealings at a distance in real time; new tools, such as internet links, cellular phones and media networks, new actors, such as the WTO that has authority over national governments, multi-national corporations with more economic power than many states; and new rules, such as multilateral agreements on trade, services and intellectual property, backed by strong enforcement.

Neoliberals believe that globalization is beneficial to development. De Long (1999:2) states that it leads to richer, more vibrant and tolerant world and that governments should not fight it, but instead embrace it. According to the UNDP (1999:2), globalisation is opening up many opportunities for millions of people around the world. Globalisation leads to increased trade, new technologies, foreign investments, expanding media and internet connections, that fuels economic growth and human advance, which in return offers enormous potential to eradicate poverty in the 21st century (UNDP.1999:2). “We have more wealth and technology and more commitment to global community than ever before” (UNDP.1999:2). Global markets, global technology, global ideas and global solidarity can enrich our lives and expand our choices (UNDP.1999:2). This growing interdependence calls for shared values and a share commitment towards human development for all (UNDP.1999:2). Willett points out that technological developments, such as instant information and rapid communication, the internet, improved air transportation and over the horizon weapon systems, have compressed the traditional barriers of time and space (Willett.2001a:1156). This so-called “New Economy” has become the carrier of a promise for stable and sustainable economic growth (Eanes.2009:61).

There is a relationship between globalisation established through neoliberal policies and the incidence of violence, conflict and crime. Willett (2001a:1160) argues that the failure of neoliberal policies to facilitate sustainable development, combined with debt crises, exacerbates poverty and economic marginalisation, closing off formal sector employment for large sections of the population. These factors, combined with state collapse and consequent rule of law due to the neoliberal policies of market liberalisation, deregulation and privatisation of state assets, have led to an environment conducive to the incubation and intensification of crime, violence and conflict as groups compete in a bid for survival (Willett. 2001a:1160). 

When governments fail to provide social welfare, health, education and security they not only lose their legitimacy in the eyes of their citizens, it also leads to violence (Willett.2001b1171). Kaldor and Luckham (in Willett.2001a:1160) points out that the weakening of the state has eroded its traditional monopoly of violence, which led to a growth in the sub-contracting out of military functions to private security firms and mercenaries, who are only accountable to their paymasters and who poses a serious threat to human security. The proliferation and diffusion of arms, especially small arms, not only intensifies violence but also increase levels of insecurity (Willett.2001a:1161).

Neoliberal policies lead to the widening gap between the haves and the have nots, inflicting structural violence, which leads to conflict within the state, but more so eventually it leads to the rejection of development and through post development sentiment it resists neoliberalism at the grassroots level as the Zapatista movement proves. Willett (2001b:1167) points out that one of the major structural causes of conflict is to be found in the failure of neoliberal policies that underpin the current phase of globalisation. Conflict theorists also point out that poverty, the unequal distribution of wealth and the failure to meet basic needs, constitute a source of structural violence that lies at the heart of many conflicts, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, where the spiral of poverty, indebtedness and conflict is most visible (Willett.200b:1171). “The deep cleavage between rich and poor and the effects of the neoliberal word order on the lives of millions of people in the global periphery (boundary), represent a deep form of structural violence that lies at the heart of the current global system” According to Rogers, the neoliberal economic system embodies a form of social injustice that has produced a ‘revolution of unfulfilled expectations’ reaching a climax (culminating)in the insurgencies and instability in Latin America, North-Africa and the Middle East. The Chiapas movement in Mexico is an example of resistance against neoliberalism (in Willett.2001a:1158).

Neoliberalism’s and Globalisation’s failure and impact on worldwide economic security

Globalisation has not been able to do what supporters of neoliberalism expected it to do. Globalisation did not achieve economic convergence as expected. Very few countries have actually reaped benefits from globalisation; instead, they are being faced with increased poverty, mass unemployment, social fragmentation and political instability (Willett.2001a:1155). The neoliberal policies of IFI’s and transnational corporations to enforce and strengthen globalization has not only failed with regards to state collapse and causing structural violence and conflict, but it also impacts people, communities and states negatively in the sense that it reverses growth instead of improving it. The Pearson Commission report, 30 years ago recognized the problem when it stated that “the widening gap between the developed and the developing countries has become the central problem of our times” (UNDP.1999:11). This statement has proved right over the last three decades, with the income gap doubling between the world’s richest fifth and its poorest fifth, to 74 to 1. Add to the gap, migration, environmental pressure, conflict, instability and other problems rooted in poverty and inequality, a true picture of the dilemma is created (UNDP.1999: 11).

What impacts our human security, more specifically our economic security? Kaplinsky mentions that the Achilles heel of globalization is economic security (Willett.2001a:1159). He explored the link between globalization and economic security and came to the conclusion that there is a link between growing levels of economic insecurity and the sustainability of globalization. He found that opening of markets, whilst allowing holders of scarce skills to benefit, the less skilled were marginalized, which increased economic insecurity for these larger sections of the population (Willett.2001a:1159).

Neoliberalism has furthermore impacted the functioning and legitimacy of individual states. Neoliberal policies of market liberalisation, deregulation and privatisation of state assets, have rolled back the role of the state on a spectrum of issues in such a serious manner as to subvert the capacity of the state to control and protect the internal life of society, which in turn has led to the contestation of state legitimacy, especially in regions where the state was already weak, and eventually to total state collapse, where state structure, authority, law and political order have fallen apart, for example, Sierra Leone (Willett.2001a:1160). Total state collapse in turn leads to fragmented societies, increased human insecurity and increased social unrest, violence, crime and armed conflict (Willett.2001a:1160). The International Forum on Globalisation points out that globalisation policies, not only increase poverty, but also that it contributes towards inequality between and within nations (Prabhakar.2003:304).

Although Neoliberal policies of trade liberalisation, deregulation and privatisation, to emphasise globalisation’s dichotomous nature again, led to a growth in world output and increased global volumes of trade and capital mobility, the evidence of greater weight suggests that globalisation leads to increased economic volatility, undermining the economic security of millions of people, widening the gap between the winners and losers, losers that represents 1.3 billion people in 89 developing countries, who are worse off now than 10-15 years ago (Willett.2001b:1168). While certain nations have been strengthened by the process of economic integration, the twin forces of globalisation, namely the ICT revolution and market liberalisation, has weakened many other (Willett.2001b:1171). This two sided, dichotomous characteristic of globalisation, which simultaneously includes and excludes, integrates and fragments the global community, is impacting people worldwide, either negatively or positively, depending on which side of the global fence you are. The elite in industrialised nations cannot complain with their increase in wealth, but for most in the developing world, this decrease in wealth and widening fissure, signals increased economic insecurity.

Not only states are transformed by neoliberal policies that enforce globalisation, other institutions are being transformed and are forced to make changes. Ghai (1997:1) points out that globalisation has contributed towards major changes to the role and responsibilities of a wide range of institutions, such as families, civil society institutions, business corporations, states and supranational organisations. He further points out that one of the important consequences of the changes associated with globalisation has been the increased insecurity at the level of the individual and family (Ghai.1997:1). 

Globalisation has also impacted the power relations among social groups and has greatly increased the power of business and financial groups that replace the collapsed state and may affect not only the stability, but also the economic security of citizens (Ghai.1997:7-9). He further mentions that it is the rapidity of change that enhances economic insecurity even more and , “when institutions and mechanisms in place to cushion security begin to crumble under the impact of the same forces, the effect is intensified” (Ghai.1997: 8-9). The social insecurity due to the effects of globalisation, also adversely affects individuals and families with regards to mental stress and strain, manifested in different forms of psychological and physical ailments, ranging from depression, heart attacks and strokes to suicide (Ghai.1997:10). The human, social, and economic costs insecurity are almost never taken into account by decision makers(Ghai.1997:10.

The impact of neoliberalism and globalisation on human (economic) security in Africa

Africa, specifically Sub-Saharan Africa, has been severely impacted by the consequences of neoliberal policies, such as market liberalisation, deregulation and privatisation of state assets, not taking Africa’s special needs into consideration. Africa’s explosive demographic situation, with high birth rates; excessive child death rates due to malnutrition and the AIDS epidemic, have led to the establishment of a program to halve extreme poverty by 2015, under the name “Millennium Development Goals”, by IFI’s like the World Bank, the IMF and the OECD, as well as the UN and other NGO’s (Eanes.2009:60) Eanes, however, thinks that these goals are too ambitious (Eanes.2009:6) The MDG’s are critiqued by many.

Amin (www.debtireland.org) critiqued each MDG and then outlined the ‘real goals’ of these processes in 5 points, which we might call ‘The Real Millennium Development Goals’, namely extreme privatization, aimed at opening new fields for the expansion of capital; the generalization of the private appropriation of agricultural land; the commercial opening within the context of maximum deregulation, the equally uncontrolled opening up of capital movement; and the fact that States are forbidden in principle from interfering in economic affairs. The MDG’s seem to enhance the neoliberal principles of globalisation, and the goal of halving extreme poverty, serve only as a mask to hide the IFI’s real intention.

According to Eanes (2009:62) has globalisation impacted African people and governments in the following way, namely: the fact that African economies has been integrated into the capitalist economy, has made “colonialism” provide a legal tool for the dependence of African economies on western economies; Privatization has intensified the integration of African countries in production and finance global systems, encouraging the flow of capital investment and attracting the ownership by foreign capital of former public-held companies; Africa became the dump place of a series of products ( literature, cinema or music) that have little to do with African people, obliterating African culture and leading to a Eurocentric vision of reality; Globalization has subverted the autonomy and self-determination of African peoples ( The burden of external debt of the developing countries in 1994 had already reached 2 trillion dollars, according to the World Bank. Mass poverty has caused citizens to be deprived of a meaningful existence); The lack of governmental incentives to local production, the subversion of local production by high imports, the exchange rate devaluation and the depletion of foreign reserves caused by marginalization and underdevelopment by development agents; The fact that it has not been easy for governments to ensure social protection, one of their core functions and the one that has helped many developed nations maintain social cohesion and domestic political support; and lastly, the damaged the natural environment of Africa. (The Niger Delta and the Ogoni people in particular, affected by oil exploration in the region, which has ravaged marine life and environment, has affected the supply of drinking water and caused a number of diseases)

An example being mentioned within the South-African context is the 300 000 Chinese working in the wholesale business, based in South-Africa (Matsamuto.2009:115). They have set up eight wholesale centres in Johannesburg with more than 2000 shops. During the Christmas season of 2007, they reportedly sold more than one billion US$ in merchandise. These businesses do not contribute towards the South-African economy. Goods are brought in from China and profits are sent back, so the capital does not rotate in South-Africa. Yet, the South-African government has done nothing to limit Chinese business activities, which has led to many small-scale business people in South-Africa losing their jobs due to this phenomenon (Matsamuto.2009:115). Market liberalisation and deregulation has thus led to unemployment in South-Africa.

Conclusion

Market liberalisation, deregulation and privatisation are neoliberal policies created and enforced by International Financial Institutions, which are in fact mere puppets of the U.S to strengthen globalisation, with the end result the growth of capitalism, which in turn benefits the already rich industrialised North, at the expense of the masses in the Third World, whose human, specifically economic, security is being adversely affected by the collapse of the state and consequent increases in conflict, violence and crime. The dichotomous nature of globalisation makes change very difficult, since there are a lot of people, especially the already rich and powerful who benefit from neoliberal policies. 

The IMF, World Bank, WTO and OECD, with structural adjustment programmes, development aid and established Millennium Development Goals, seem on the surface at least to address issues of poverty reduction and human security, but a lot of evidence points toward the fact these attempts further increase human insecurity worldwide. It seems the Developmental State model of the 1960’s and 1970’ had better results as the current neoliberal model of development, but reverting back to the old system, is a lot to ask, with the hegemonic US dictating everything.

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