This concise text presents a focused, well-rounded, and clear-eyed introduction to the concept of human security. Questioning the utility of traditional national-security frameworks in the post Cold War era, Paul Battersby and Joseph Siracusa argue that we must urgently reconsider the principle of state sovereignty in a global world where threats to humanity are beyond the capacity of any one nation to address through unilateral action. A welcome alternative to state-centric approaches to security, this balanced book will be a valuable supplement for courses in international and national security.