CGSS organized first session of the online internship program for students

 

ISLAMABAD, JAN 2021: On 25th January 2021 the First Session of the Online Internship Program, “The Contemporary Non-Traditional Security Challenges” organized by Center for Global & Strategic Studies (CGSS), Islamabad was held.

The internship aims to provide an opportunity for students to understand the contemporary global non-traditional challenges, gauge the existing potential, build resilience and find the solutions to mitigate the daunting impacts of these transnational issues.

The session was commenced with the welcome remarks of Mr. Khalid Taimur Akram, Executive Director, CGSS. He welcomed the interns and explained the concept behind the online internship. He also briefly described the dynamics of the program and its benefits for students.

The theme for the first session was, "Concept Building: Understanding National Security and Environment" and the speaker for this session was Prof. Dr. Iram Khalid, Chairperson, Department of Political Science, University of the Punjab, Lahore.

Dr. Iram presented a detailed presentation on the concept and highlighted that the evolving debate of national security is the bottom line for every nation-state. Moreover, National security as a concept emerged after the outbreak of the Cold war, as before, only defense was considered to be the primary idea of state security.

Defining the concept of national security, she shared that Buzan believes individuals values are and should be the prime referent by which the state is judged, the national security is a holistic approach that cannot be judged at the unit level, it is determined at the point of the individuals.

Describing the elements of National Security, Dr. Iram highlighted Military, political, economic, diplomacy, Media, and many other elements, Discussing the concept of Environment and Securitization she discussed that hydro-political issues can be simply categorized in the environmental sector, though the spilling over of the diverse issues from other sectors make it intricate. She highlighted that threats to environmental security possess three basic relations with human activities including, threats to the natural environment, the threat to humans from the environment, and threats to natural structures of biosphere and systems.

Dr. Iram also shed light on constructive suggestions and stated that we must reduce the exposure, impact, and vulnerability to hazards and build resilience. Furthermore, developing policy-relevant strategies to resolve the environmental crisis is also important.

The session was moderated by Ms. Laraib Fatima Hassan, Communication & Coordination Manager, CGSS.

It is noteworthy that students from all across Pakistan are enrolled in this Online Internship Program. This program will prove to be a milestone for the students of International Relations & related fields to understand the contemporary dynamics of Non-Traditional Security Threats.

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COURTESY cgss.com.pk

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