Building a community of human destiny is a long-term objective of human society; it depends on the strong backing of three global practice platforms: the Global Security Initiative, the Global Development Initiative, and the “Belt and Road” Initiative. Therefore the global security initiative constitutes the meaning of building a Community of human destiny. From the realization logic of constructing a Community of human destiny, facing the “modernity risk picture” caused by the unprecedented changes in the past century, the stable development of the international community must first obtain a safe environment for the peaceful development of all countries in the world, and the global security initiative just systematically answers the important issues of “why and how to build a human security community,” which undoubtedly provides ideas and guidance for solving the global security dilemma and the practical security problems of all countries. As the global security initiative was announced, public opinion in many countries shifted toward it, and more than 80 countries and regional organizations expressed their appreciation and support. On February 21st, China officially released the Concept Document of the Global Security Initiative. This document explains the core concepts and principles of the Global Security Initiative, defines the key cooperation directions, platforms and mechanisms, and demonstrates China’s responsibility for maintaining world peace and its firm determination to protect global security and promote the building of a Community of human destiny.
The security risk picture faced by human beings under the hundred-year change of the world. Under the unprecedented change of the century, the world is showing unprecedented great development, change and adjustment. World multipolarization and economic globalization are developing in-depth, global destiny is closely related to solidarity, and the trend of times of peace, development, cooperation and win-win is becoming stronger. At the same time, changes in the world, times and history are unfolding in an unprecedented way. Traditional and non-traditional security risks are intertwined, the cold war mentality is constantly causing trouble, and the global security governance dilemma is hard to hide, which is constantly drawing a “modern risk picture.”
Firstly, traditional security risks and non-traditional security threats are intertwined and superimposed, and security risks are rising. At present, the geopolitical situation around the world is still very tense, regional turmoil and wars occur frequently, and the risk of nuclear proliferation continues to rise. In particular, some countries are trying to expand their military alliances to seek absolute security and coerce other countries to choose sides to create camp confrontation, which makes the world more turbulent. On the other hand, mankind has not completely walked out of the haze of the COVID-19 epidemic, and non-traditional security threats such as climate change, energy security, food security, environmental security, health and safety are constantly emerging, which has seriously hindered the global industrial chain and supply chain, and even intensified contradictions among some countries and societies, seriously affecting cooperation and development among countries in the world. At the same time, the ideology wrapped in the new round of scientific and technological revolution is quietly embedded in people’s production and life and has a deep connection with politics, economy, society, culture and other fields, imperceptibly changing the stable structure of various fields of the country and triggering national security risks.
Secondly, the “cold war mentality” has impacted world peace and security. Although more than 30 years have passed since the end of the Cold War, the “Cold War mentality” lurks in political circles in the United States and the West and has attempted to make a comeback in the hot war conflict between Russia and Ukraine. The core of the Cold War mentality is ideological opposition, emphasising the distinction between “self” and “other” in order to play the role of building consensus internally and consolidating alliances externally. Under the logic of the “Cold War mentality,” some countries are egocentric and beggar-thy-neighbor, sanctifying and universalizing their own values and constantly exporting their cultural values and ideologies to the outside world, pursuing hegemony in the name of democracy and unilateralism in the name of multilateralism, extending their “long arms” and frequently interfering in the internal affairs of other countries, thus triggering camp confrontation, hegemonism and power politics.
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Moreover, the dilemma of global security governance is hard to hide. The great changes in the past century have not only triggered major adjustments in the pattern of international interests and the international situation but also made it increasingly difficult for the international community to form a joint force in dealing with global and transnational security. In particular, under the blessing of the concept of “zero-sum thinking” and “absolute security,” Western countries, led by the United States, only care about their own interests and ignore the development of other countries, resulting in the continuous deterioration of the international security environment and making it increasingly difficult to reach a consensus on global security cooperation. Under these circumstances, the theme of the era of peace and development is facing unprecedented challenges. The world has once again entered a new period of turmoil and change, and global governance has fallen into serious difficulties, and the peace deficit, governance deficit, and security deficit have become increasingly serious. Whether the destiny of mankind is shared by the common good and suffering and interdependence has not only become a difficult problem that puzzles the world but also profoundly affects the choice of the future development path and the historical trend of developing countries.
Community of Shared Future for Mankind’s appearance logic and historical mirror. As human society enters a century of changing world, the security risks it faces are increasingly complex and diverse and exhibit highly diffuse and supranational in nature. Under such circumstances, the approach of relying solely on “one country, one force” to address impending and existing security risks is only “treating the head when it hurts and treating the foot when it hurts”, which is not a long-term solution, and due to the correlation, systemic and changing characteristics of risks, it is also difficult to deal with risks from the source. At the same time, the great changes in the world constantly remind us that security is not only the unilateral security of one country and one region but also the multilateral security of many countries and regions, and it is also the common security of human destiny. Therefore, the question of what kind of security concept the world needs and how countries can achieve common security has a question of the times for everyone.
“Mankind has only one planet, and all countries live in one world. In the face of the “risks of modernity” and the security dilemmas and anxieties that have emerged in the world, Chinese President Xi Jinping applied the cultural essence of “harmony and coexistence” and “harmony and coexistence” of China’s excellent traditional culture to the realistic practice of human security and development, and from the common interests of China and the world, he first proposed the concept of a community of shared human destiny and the great initiative of building a community of shared human destiny in a speech at the Moscow Institute of International Relations in 2013. He pointed out that “in this world, the interconnection and interdependence of countries have deepened to an unprecedented degree, and human beings live in the same global village, in the same space and time where history and reality meet, becoming more and more a community of destiny where you have me and I have you.” This important initiative not only reveals the objective law of the interdependence of all the countries of the world and the inextricable link between human destinies but also responds to the universal aspirations of all peoples for peace, development and cooperation and fully demonstrates the global sentiment and responsibility of a great leader. On several important international occasions, Chinese president Xi Jinping has repeatedly explained the concept of a “community of shared destiny” to the international community. In September 2015, Chinese President Xi Jinping attended the General Debate of the 70th Session of the United Nations General Assembly at the United Nations Headquarters in New York and delivered an important speech in which he first and systematically explained the scientific connotation of “Building a Community of human destiny.” In January 2017, Chinese President Xi Jinping attended a high-level conference on “Building a Community of Human Destiny Together” at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, and delivered a keynote speech elaborating on the motivation, vision and implementation path of the community of human destiny idea. In September 2020, Chinese President Xi Jinping once again emphasised the promotion of building a community of human destiny during an online meeting with the rotating presidency of the European Union. Similarly, the Party’s report to the 20th CPC National Congress gave clear instructions to promote the building of a community of shared destiny for mankind. “China has always adhered to the foreign policy objective of safeguarding world peace and promoting common development, and is committed to promoting the building of a community of shared destiny.”
As a major responsible country, China has not only said so but has also done so. Whether it’s fighting Covid-19, providing humanitarian aid for the Turkish earthquake, promoting global poverty reduction, or joining hands with other countries to combat climate change, China has always adhered to the overall situation of a community of human destiny, devoted itself to promoting harmonious coexistence among all countries in the world, and continuously fulfilled its commitment to building a community of human destiny with action and sincerity. At present, in the face of human security anxiety caused by changes in the world, times and history, Chinese President Xi Jinping once again puts forward the “Global Security Initiative” from the broad vision of maintaining international peace and security and promoting global development and prosperity, advocating the spirit of unity to adapt to the profoundly changed international situation, and addressing complex and interrelated security challenges with win-win thinking. The initiative contains the value concept, working ideas and mechanism path of national security governance with Chinese characteristics and provides important support for those countries that want to maintain social security and stability and their own independence.
China’s wisdom and vision promote the building of a community of human destiny. “The Global Security Initiative” advocates a new security path of dialogue rather than confrontation, partnership rather than alliance, and win-win rather than zero-sum, which not only conforms to the common aspirations of the people from all countries for peace, development, cooperation and security but also embodies the broadest international consensus and will truly promote and facilitate the realisation of a community of human destiny.
First of all, the Global Security Initiative provides internal support for building a community of human destiny by clarifying the principles and directions for solving security dilemmas. The Global Security Initiative is rooted in China’s excellent traditional culture that values peace and is derived from an independent foreign policy and practice of peace, which meets the expectations of all countries for strengthening global security cooperation. The initiative is guided by the concept of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, with respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries as the basic premise, adherence to the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations as the basic principle, emphasis on the legitimate security concerns of all countries as the important principle, the only way to resolve differences and disputes among countries is through dialogue and consultation in a peaceful way and the true meaning of maintaining security in traditional and non-traditional areas as a whole. The proposal of the “six persistences” not only clarifies the principle and directions for solving security dilemmas but also provides guidelines and a basic framework for solving the realistic security problems of various countries, as well as provides a basic follow-up for the international community to deal with traditional and non-traditional security problems. It will accompany the realization of the long-term goals of the community of human destiny on the basis of firmly promoting the realistic goals of the community of human destiny.
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Secondly, the Global Security Initiative has provided a powerful impetus to building a community of human destiny by clarifying key directions for cooperation in addressing security challenges. The concept paper of the Global Security Initiative lists 20 key directions for cooperation, advocates bilateral and multilateral security cooperation with countries and international and regional organizations around the world, and actively promotes the docking of security approaches and the integration of interests. The Initiative firmly supports the core role of the United Nations in security governance, strives to promote coordination and healthy interaction among major powers, and clearly advocates that all countries should help each other in the same boat, unite and cooperate to continuously deepen international cooperation in the fields of counter-terrorism, information security, biosecurity, artificial intelligence, outer space, public health security, food and energy security, transnational organised crime, climate change and supply chain industry, so as to work together to build a “human security community” free from fear and with universal security. The initiative transcends narrow, zero-sum thinking and systematically answers the great contemporary question of “why and how to build a community of human security,” in line with the open, inclusive, cooperative and win-win spirit of risk governance of the Community of Human Destiny initiative. Therefore, its profound connotation comes down in one continuous line with the building of the community of human destiny and it is concrete and deepening for promoting the building of the community of human destiny.
In addition, the Global Security Initiative provides an important guarantee for promoting the building of a community of human destiny by defining a platform and mechanism for cooperation in addressing security issues. The Global Security Initiative advocates “using the platforms of the United Nations General Assembly and relevant committees, the Security Council, relevant institutions and other relevant international and regional organizations to play the role of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, BRICS cooperation, Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia,” China and five Central Asian countries” and relevant mechanisms of East Asian cooperation, holding timely high-level activities of the Global Security Initiative, encouraging the creation of a global security forum, and building more platforms and mechanisms for international exchanges and cooperation around the security challenges in the fields of counter-terrorism, cyber, biology and emerging technologies, in order to build cooperation platforms and mechanisms for solving global security problems. The establishment and operation of the above-mentioned cooperation platform and mechanism will help to gather the consensus of the international community in responding to security challenges, strengthen and promote intergovernmental policy communication and dialogue and cooperation in the security field, and further unite the joint efforts of the international community in responding to security challenges, so as to jointly cope with the impact of “modernity risk” and “cold war mentality”， thus promoting world peace and tranquility.
“It is difficult for those who lift alone to rise, but it is easy for those who walk in the crowd to tend.” Chinese President Xi Jinping pointed out that “Facing complex international security threats, it is not possible to fight alone, and it is even more not possible to use force in a fanatical manner. Cooperative security, collective security and common security are the right choices to solve the problem”. The release of the Concept Document of Global Security Initiative not only provides the direction, guidance and cooperation framework for the international community to deal with global security challenges but also provides more systematic ideas and more feasible measures to solve the global security dilemma and promote the building of the community of human destiny, marking a new realm of building a community of human destiny.
About Author: The article is written by Fei Yang and Xinyi Du are Scholars at the Baize Institute for Strategic Studies, Southwest University of Political Science and Law, P. R. China; and Li Fa is an Associate Professor at the Business School, Honghe University.
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