HC1: International Security
Global security, Association:
- States sitting at the tables negotiating and preventing global crisis. mutual
corporation.
- UN: peacekeepers, blue helmets. Helping in armed conflict all over the world.
- Consequences of war: refugees, poverty, new conflict in a different place (how
refugees can spread a conflict across borders).
- Climate change, supranational
- Epidemics, supranational and regional
WHAT IS INTERNATIONAL SECURITY
‘Security, in an objective sense, measures the absence of threats to acquired values, in a
subjective sense, the absence of fear that such values will be attacked’. (Arnold Wolfers)
Meaning: there are values that a state prioritizes, some define this as survival and others
as having a dignifying life. The first has a narrow understanding of security: security is
military. The second has a broader definition: having a good life, with enough food,
economic security.
What values need protection, and who decides?
- Protection of borders or protection of market?
What counts as a threat to these values?
- When can these values are not protected.
Is security absolute?
- When do we reach absolute security, is this possible?
‘Security studies may be defined as the study of the threat, use and control of military force’
(Stephen Walt) narrow definition.
‘Security means the absence of threats, emancipation is the freeing of people, from those
physical and human constraints which stop them from carrying out what they would freely
choose to do. Security and emancipation are two sides of the same coin. Emancipation, not
power order produces true security.’ (Kenneth Booth). broader definition.
Not just pure survival, but also a good life. It matters how we live. Do you have access to
health care or school?
Contested concept: the concept creates disputes about its proper use. Different people have
different use of it.
“Security is a powerful political tool in claiming attention for priority items in the
competition for government attention.” (Barry Buzan). when you speak of security you
make a certain claim that an issue is more important than another one.
,WHOSE SECURITY ARE WE TALKING ABOUT?
Referent object: what is it that needs to be secured?
- State, national interest only this at first
- Individual, ethnic group, society, the environment, the planet
The security of the state is not independent of the individual, and the other way around.
WHAT COUNTS AS A SECURITY ISSUE?
- Global climate change
- Spread of infectious diseases
- Terrorism
- Cyberattacks
- Spread of a nuclear weapon
- Global poverty
- Condition of the global economy
- Long-standing conflict between countries of ethnic groups
- Large numbers of people moving from one country to another
Military and non-military threats.
Differences between countries.
The past shapes what we see as a security issue and how big that security is. For example:
there has been more terrorism in France, so France sees terrorism now as a bigger security
threat.
Differences defer also based on who you support in elections. When you vote for the
political right, you are more concerned about people moving. When you vote for the political
left, you are probably more concerned with climate change.
Time and place.
Change in threats
- Traditionally preference given to external rather than internal threats. External
threats are military threats from other states. Internal states are things like poverty,
economic decline, state failure.
- Traditionally focus on extreme threats and measures (war and invasions). But
diversity of approaches in security studies criticized realist approach to the study of
security (have people access to food, because of climate change).
Shift from military security to another type of non-military security.
Types of threats: broader perspective
- Military offensive/defensive
- Political stability of states
- Economic resources and welfare
- Sustainability of societal traditions and customs
- Maintenance of the local and planetary biosphere
matrix on powerpoint: military vs nonmilitary as source. Security for states or individual:
- National security: conventional realist approach to security studies. Security with
military.
- Redefined security: environmental, economic security
- Intrastate security: civil war, ethnic conflict
, - Human security: environmental and economic threats to the survival of societies.
HOW CAN SECURITY BE ACHIEVED?
‘There’s no such thing as absolute security. Life is about living with risks and threats’ (Paul
Williams, author of the textbook).
‘The search for perfect security… defeats its own ends. Playing for safety is the most
dangerous way to live’ (Hobbes).
there is always a trade off. If you prioritize your national security you may put in danger
other values like liberty, justice and freedom. So absolute security can’t be reached.
SECURITY STUDIES AS A FIELD OF STUDY
The Golden Age, 1950-1960
- Experience of the two world wars: security should not be left to the generals but is
also a civilian matter.
- Civilian contributions to security strategy
- Long-term strategy to avoid war.
- The national interest was determent by security rather than war.
- Nuclear revolution: research on deterrence, containment, coercion, escalation, arms
control.
- Belief in deductive, rational thinking
‘In IR scholarship, a policy of deterrence generally refers to threats of military retaliation
directed by the leaders of one country to the leaders of another in an attempt to prevent the
other country form resorting to the threat or use of military force in pursuit of its foreign
policy goals.’ (Huth)
“Nuclear war spurred theorizing because it was inherently more theoretical than empirical:
none had ever occurred” (Richard Bets). it never occurred.
End of the golden age, 1960-1970
- Limits to traditional approaches illustrated by the Vietnam War. A big country was
not able in a smaller country. Not a classic war with a frontline. This could not be
anticipated by the theorists.
- Limited view of politics.
- Assumes perfect information.
- Public disinterest in national security: critique of Vietnam War security studies
becomes unfashionable
- Focus on international political economy.
Renaissance, 1970-1990
- New data: more systematic use of historical analysis, more access to archives
- New methods: structured-focused case comparisons, more diverse social scientific
approaches to explain historic events
, - New realities: end of Cold War détente: Iranian and Nicaraguan revolution, Soviet
interventions in African states and Afghanistan.
H2: anarchy, uncertainty and war
‘As China challenges America’s predominance misunderstandings about each other’s actions
and intentions could lead them into a deadly trap fist identified by the ancient Greek
historian Thucydides. As he explained, ‘It was the rise of Athens and the fear that this
instilled in Sparta that made war inevitable.’ The past 500 years have seen 16 cases in which
a rising power threatened to displace a ruling one. Twelve of these ended in war.’ (Graham
Allison).
competition between a rising and declining power was likely to lead to war. This could
also be the case between China and America.
Anarchy, uncertainty and distributions of power are key features that lead to conflict.
Anarchy: no world government or institutions.
Uncertainty: source of misunderstanding.
Distributions of power: misconceptions about the intentions of the other one.
EXISTENTIAL FEATURES OF THE INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM?
Anarchy
Anarchy is the absence of government. The lack of a common superior. The relations
between states are horizontal, there is now superior that regulates the relations between
states.
Anarchy does not mean chaos? No, despite anarchy states make contract with each other
and rules between them.
Anarchy means constant war? it is an exception. States can try to prevent going to war
with each other.
Consequences of anarchy:
- A system of fear of being attacked and losing power. There is no one to protect you.
- Uncertainty and mistrust in the international system. You do not really know if the
other state will attack you.
- The self-help predicament of the state in international affairs. There is no other
power to help a state.
Uncertainty
The quality of not know beyond doubt.
An existential condition inherent to all human relations.
Cannot be avoided but how it is perceived, understood and what it results in can vary
significantly.
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