ABSTRACT
Although quite contentious throughout, development has always been intended as a tool to grant security, either national or international. The chapter traces the trajectory of the troubling link between development and security. It starts with the colonial times when development was meant to protect the empire from domestic upheavals. It moves to the Cold War when allocating foreign aid to development projects served the purpose of securing Cold War alliances. It then covers the post-Cold War years, when development became more comprehensive to embrace human security. Lastly, it dwells on the “development-security nexus,” where security worries include the threat of a borderline South fomenting instability through conflict, criminal activities, and terrorism. It argues that although security – of the nation, the State, the individual, the ethnic group, or the environment – has been a crucial concern for development policies from the outset, development has systematically and paradoxically worsened the security balance rather than making it better.
