Analyzing the Paradigm Shift in United Nations Collective Security in the 21st Century

The United Nations was formed in 1945 primarily to promote and maintain international peace and security. The inspirational statement “to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war” was aimed towards ensuring that the horrors of the world wars were never repeated. Seventy-six years later, we all appreciate the fact that major security threats facing mankind now and, in the years, ahead are beyond aggressive wars. These threats include poverty, infectious diseases, environmental degradation, violence within the state, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and terrorism, among others. These threats emanate from state and non-state actors posing grave dangers to state and human security. It was in recognition of these realities that the then UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan announced in November 2003 the creation of the High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges Omission to examine the main threats to international peace and security in the 21st Century as well as to recommend measures to cater for the emerging issues which constitute threats to the state and human security. The recommendations of the panel constitute ideas sealed toward a new security consensus within the purview of the United Nations. This paper is an attempt to critically analyse these new issues. The paper unit's submission argues that what is needed today is a concerted effort towards building a new security consensus between traditional allies that are feared, between states in the global North and global South and among people moved in mistrust across a wide cultural divide. The impost of the new consensus is clear: we all share responsibility for each other’s security.