Comprehensive Security and Some Implemental Limits

Abstract

The changing security environment has led to the development of comprehensive security approaches, strategies and policies. The 'Holistic approach' has become an academic and practical mantra. This paper argues, however, that comprehensive security approaches face serious obstacles to their practical implementation. The critical evaluation of several examples confirms that the implementation phase is a weakness of comprehensive approaches and that a truly comprehensive and holistic approach seems to be beyond the implemental capacities of our security systems. Multi-sectoral and multi-level comprehensive approaches become less comprehensive when implemented in practice or even cannot be implemented due to existing narrow perceptions of security or narrow and short-term interests. The trans-sectoral second-, third-and fourth-order effects of proposed security measures are hardly considered or not considered at all. There is no consensus on what exactly comprehensive means, while prioritisation of some areas in the national security policy leads to de-prioritisation of other areas and new vulnerabilities, inter-organisational and cross-sectoral cooperation faces serious limits, threat, risk and vulnerability assessments are not really comprehensive, etc. This paper finishes with recommendations on what to do about these serious limits on the implementation of comprehensive security.

Interorganizational and International Cooperation and Coordination in Providing Security: Current Practice and Lessons Learned

“…The critical evaluation of several examples confirmed that the implementation phase is a weakness of comprehensive approaches and that a truly comprehensive and holistic approach seems to be beyond the implemental capacities of our security systems. 23 Such conclusions on the difficulties on the one hand and the need for interorganizational cooperation on the other represent a huge motivation for further work in this field and also a motivation for working on this special journal issue.…”