THE UNCERTAINTIES AND CHALLENGES AHEAD :A SOUTHERN PERSPECTIVE, Ömür ORHUN

Abstract

Ambassador Ömür Orhun is Director General for International Security Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey. European security issues were relatively straightforward till the end of the bipolar world in the 1980s. Even the definition of Europe was quite easy as the continent was divided into two rival and opposing camps. Since 1990, we gradually moved from the concept of simple security as perceived in a bipolar world to one of extended or multidirectional security. This new concept of extended security has to do with the additional and mostly non-military aspects of security. It also involves the acknowledgement that security embraces more complex notions and dimensions. In particular, challenges of an economic character that affect security have started to attract increasing attention. In Europe, pressures arising from demands related to human rights and environmental standards began to carry a similar weight to military challenges. In short, we have learned the lesson that security in the narrow military sense is not fully adequate any more.