Human Security in Practice: Canadian and Japanese Experiences DAVID BOSOLD/ SASCHA WERTHES I t is nowadays the consensus among scholars and politicians that the demise of the Communist regimes in Eastern Europe and the end of bipolarity have significantly changed the ways in which foreign and secu­rity policy are conducted. New types of violent conflict – mostly labeled »ethnic« or»intrastate« – have arisen and terrorism is threatening the lib­eral-democratic way of life. Furthermore, growing interdependence among states and societies due to economic globalization and environ­mental degradation have stimulated a reformulation of existing policies. This has been especially true of national security policies, even before the 9/11 terrorist attacks. National approaches to development assistance and the renewed focus of democratic states on fostering democratization and the promotion of human rights in unstable regions of the world are just three examples. In addition, the post-Cold War optimism concerning a peace dividend and a new world order has not been fulfilled. Interdepen­dence or, more accurately, mutual dependence in the sphere of security policy is nowadays broadly accepted, even though degrees of vulnerabil­ity and sensitivity vary. Thus, new approaches to maintaining interna­tional order and security have been developed in the last decade. Already in the 1970s and 1980s new concepts of security emerged, such as cooperative security, comprehensive security, and environmental secu­rity, most prominently promoted by the Brandt, Palme, and Brundtland Commissions and their respective reports. 1 Over the last decade a new notion has emerged, to receive world-wide attention:»human security.« However, what is meant by»human security« or what represents a hu­man security policy is mostly unclear. This may come as no surprise given the fact that a commonly accepted definition(for academic purposes) or even a commonly accepted understanding of human security(for practi­cal or political purposes) has yet to be worked out. The concept has been 1. Peter Stoett, Human and Global Security. An Exploration of Terms (Toronto: Univer­sity of Toronto Press, 1999), pp. 17–28. 84 Bosold/ Werthes, Human Security in Practice ipg 1/2005