To urge the international community in the new
millennium to take action on the needs of individuals
and communities around the world—in other words,
to ensure human security for all—a second infl uential
report was published in 2003 by the Commission on
Human Security, co-chaired by Sadako Ogata and
Amartya Sen.3 The refi ned defi nition of human security
in this report advocated “protecting individuals’ and
communities’ freedom from fear, freedom from
want, and freedom to live in dignity.” The report also
highlighted ten immediate areas requiring concerted
action by the international community, with access to
basic health services identifi ed as one priority.
In parallel with the UN’s growing interest in
human security, Japan has been one of the strongest
proponents of the concept. As the generation of
Japanese whose pacifi sm is based on the devastation
they experienced fi rst-hand during World War II is
nearly gone, Japan needs to develop a new motivation
for pacifi sm. At the same time, Japan is trying to
secure its position in an ever-changing world and
fi nding that human security off ers a framework for a
future-oriented pragmatic pacifi sm. The evolution of
human security into a pillar of Japanese foreign policy
thus refl ects the country’s quest to solidify its position
as a global civilian power.
This focus is prompting Japan to expand the pool
of actors who are involved in policy making, as is
happening around the world. First we saw the common
framework transition from bilateral to multilateral
diplomacy, and now the framework is being further
expanded to include non-governmental organisations
and other civil-society networks.4 This framework allows
us to view the community not only as the endpoint of
top-down policy making, but also as the starting point
for a bottom-up approach to decision making.