War on weapons of mass destruction and terrorism: The right track for human security?

Despite the September 11 incident and the proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), the United States should consider investing more resources in consolidating its alliances and security network rather than focusing all its energy on the WMD pursuers and terrorists per se. Advancing its existing grand strategy of promoting democracy and the market economy, the United States may need to draw more support from its major security partners to be better prepared against the multi‐spectrum conflicts. America's predominant “hard power” may put the threats of WMD and terrorism to sleep temporarily, but these threats cannot be fundamentally cured unless approached by “soft power.” The current threats on global security should be handled through a human security rationale upon which all major powers can agree and be willing to support America's leading role.

Keywords:

• Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)
• terrorism
• democracy
• market economy
• global security
• human security