Summary of the reading materials for the course (2024) Security: Actors, Institutions and
Constellations. INCLUDES notes from (Total: 98 pages):
● See * Summary List * on page 1.
● Does *NOT* include Damien Van Puyvelde & Fernando Tabarez Rienzi’s working paper (2024) “The
rise of open-source intelligence”.
Security: Actors, Institutions and Constellations Notes on Readings
Table of Contents
* Summary List * 1
“Technology and Global Affairs” 2
“The Oxford Handbook of International Security” 5
1 The Future of Security Studies (Gheciu & Wohlforth) 5
2 Security and “Security Studies”: Conceptual Evolution and Historical Transformation (Krause & Williams)7
“Science, technology, security: Towards critical collaboration” 11
“Fear, helplessness, pain, anger: The narrated emotions of intimate femicide perpetrators in Latin America”
15
“Police officers’ definitions and understandings of intimate partner violence in New Brunswick, Canada” 18
“Explanatory Theories of Intimate Partner Homicide Perpetration: A Systematic Review” 21
“The Routledge International Handbook on Femicide and Feminicide” 27
49 Male Perpetrators’ Accounts Of Intimate Femicide - A Global Systematic Review (D.P. Evans et al.) 27
“Rehabilitating the Terrorists?: Challenges in Assessing the Effectiveness of De-radicalization Programs” 30
“Understanding deradicalization: Methods, tools and programs for countering violent extremism” 35
1 Introduction 35
2 Methods, sources, state of the art 36
“Distinguishing Children From ISIS-Affiliated Families in Iraq and Their Unique Barriers for Rehabilitation and
Reintegration” 41
“XCEPT Briefing Note: The status of Iraqi children of ISIS-affiliated families outside of Jeddah 1 rehabilitation
center” 45
“European Union Enlargement and Geopolitical Power in the Face of War” 46
“How the EU–Ukraine Association Agreement and its Consequences Necessitated Adaptation and Drove
Innovation in the EU” 49
“(Not) Coming of age? Unpacking the European Union’s quest for strategic autonomy in security and
defence” 53
“Organizing for Crisis Management: Building Governance Capacity and Legitimacy” 57
“Taming Deep Uncertainty: The Potential of Pragmatist Principles for Understanding and Improving Strategic
Crisis Management” 62
“From High-Reliability Organizations to High Reliability Networks: The Dynamics of Network Governance in
the Face of Emergency” 65
“Introducing a Fragmentation Perspective on Coordination in Crisis Management” 69
“Escaping from American intelligence: culture, ethnocentrism and the Anglosphere” 73
“Grey is the new black: covert action and implausible deniability” 77
“Are Intelligence Failures Still Inevitable?” 80
“Weaponized Interdependence: How Global Economic Networks Shape State Coercion” 84
“Infrastructural Geopolitics” 87
“How not to sanction” 90
“OFAC, Famine, and the Sanctioning of Afghanistan: A Catastrophic Policy Success” 94
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* Summary List *
These notes include a summary of each of the following readings:
● Abraham P. Buunk & Mark van Vugt’s book (2021) “Applying Social Psychology: From Problems to Solutions (3rd
Edition)”.
● Stefan Fritsch’s article (2011) “Technology and Global Affairs”.
● Alexandra Gheciu & William C. Wohlforth’s textbook (2018) “The Oxford Handbook of International Security”,
chapters 1 (Alexandra Gheciu & William C. Wohlforth) & 2 (Keith Krause & Michael Williams).
● Sam Weiss Evans, Matthias Leese & Dagmar Rychnovská’s article (2021) “Science, technology, security: Towards
critical collaboration”.
● Martín Hernán Di Marco & Sveinung Sandberg’s article (2024) “Fear, helplessness, pain, anger: The narrated
emotions of intimate femicide perpetrators in Latin America”.
● Carmen Gill, Mary Ann Campbell & Dale Ballucci’s article (2021) “Police officers’ definitions and understandings of
intimate partner violence in New Brunswick, Canada”.
● Laurie M. Graham, Rebecca J. Macy, Cynthia F. Rizo & Sandra L. Martin’s article (2022) “Explanatory Theories of
Intimate Partner Homicide Perpetration: A Systematic Review”.
● Myrna Dawson & Saide Mobayed Vega’s textbook (1st Edition - 2023) “The Routledge International Handbook on
Femicide and Feminicide”, chapter 49 (Dabney P. Evans, Martín Hernán Di Marco, Subasri Narasimhan, Melanie E.
Maino Vieytes, Autumn Curran, & Mia S. White).
● John Horgan & Kurt Braddock’s article (2010) “Rehabilitating the Terrorists?: Challenges in Assessing the
Effectiveness of De-radicalization Programs”.
● Daniel Koehler’s textbook (2016) “Understanding deradicalization: Methods, tools and programs for countering
violent extremism”, chapters 1 & 2.
● Joana Cook’s article (2023) “Distinguishing Children From ISIS-Affiliated Families in Iraq and Their Unique Barriers
for Rehabilitation and Reintegration”.
● ICSR Team’s briefing note (2024) “XCEPT Briefing Note: The status of Iraqi children of ISIS-affiliated families
outside of Jeddah 1 rehabilitation center”.
● Nadiia Koval & Milada Anna Vachudova’s article (2024) “European Union Enlargement and Geopolitical Power in
the Face of War”.
● Antoaneta Dimitrova & Rilka Dragneva’s article (2022) “How the EU–Ukraine Association Agreement and its
Consequences Necessitated Adaptation and Drove Innovation in the EU”.
● Eva Michaels & Monika Sus’ article (2024) “(Not) Coming of age? Unpacking the European Union’s quest for
strategic autonomy in security and defence”.
● Tom Christensen, Lise H. Rykkja & Per Lægreid’s article (2016) “Organizing for Crisis Management: Building
Governance Capacity and Legitimacy”.
● Chris Ansell & Arjen Boin’s article (2019) “Taming Deep Uncertainty: The Potential of Pragmatist Principles for
Understanding and Improving Strategic Crisis Management”.
● Olivier Berthod, Michael Grothe-Hammer, Gordon Müller-Seitz, Jörg Raab & Jörg Sydow’s article (2017) “From
High-Reliability Organizations to High Reliability Networks: The Dynamics of Network Governance in the Face of
Emergency”.
● Jeroen Wolbers, Kees Boersma & Peter Groenewegen’s article (2018) “Introducing a Fragmentation Perspective
on Coordination in Crisis Management”.
● Richard J. Aldrich & John Kasuku’s article (2012) “Escaping from American intelligence: culture, ethnocentrism and
the Anglosphere”.
● Rory Cormac & Richard J. Aldrich’s article (2018) “Grey is the new black: covert action and implausible deniability”.
● James J. Wirtz’s article (2024) “Are Intelligence Failures Still Inevitable?”.
● Henry Farrell & Abraham L. Newman’s article (2019) “Weaponized Interdependence: How Global Economic
Networks Shape State Coercion”.
● Marieke de Goede & Carola Westermeier’s article (2022) “Infrastructural Geopolitics”.
● Daniel W. Drezner’s article (2022) “How not to sanction”.
● J. Matthew Hoye’s article (2024) “OFAC, Famine, and the Sanctioning of Afghanistan: A Catastrophic Policy
Success”.
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“Technology and Global Affairs”
Technology has continuously shaped the global system’s structure, actors, & their interactions.
HOWEVER, theories of International Relations (IR) & International Political Economy (IPE), have
performed little to theoretically conceptualise technology as a powerful factor within explanations
of change in global affairs.
➔ MAIN ARGUMENT = to develop a better understanding of transformation in global affairs,
technology:
◆ Has to be integrated more systematically into the theoretical discussions of IR/IPE.
◆ Should be understood as a highly political & integral core component of the global
system that shapes global affairs.
➔ Need for an interdisciplinary approach that systematically incorporates insights of Science &
Technology Studies (S&TS).
◆ It is possible to conceptualise technology as an endogenous & political factor that is
deeply embedded into the global system.
Technology (Brooks):
Accumulation of knowledge &
artefacts for the realisation of
human purposes in a
specifiable & reproducible way.
It encompasses both material
artefacts (tools, technique &
technological know-how) &
“soft” aspects (e.g.
technology-related norms &
ethics).
➔ To introduce technology into global affairs more effectively, it seems necessary to develop a
more nuanced understanding of technology & its relationship with society.
S&TS: Perspectives on Technology & Politics
Science & Technology Studies (S&TS): A highly interdisciplinary research field that has experienced
remarkable growth in recent decades. As it examines science & technology, its findids/debates have
repercussions for almost every understanding of the modern world. 2 major perspectives:
1. Technological Determinism = treats technology as an autonomous entity with its own unique
rationality (building on a meta-narrative), seeing its efficacy as a driving force of history (i.e.
an independent agent of change.
➔ Worry about technology’s proliferation into practically every sphere of life, which
has dramatically increased society’s overall dependence on technology.
➔ Technology seen as a “generator of new problems” (can NEVER be value-neutral).
➔ Social actors, no matter how aware or how carefully they plan, CANNOT anticipate
every effect resulting from the practical application of technology.
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2. Social Constructivism = treats technology as a social construction that interacts with other
social forces. Technology is NOT distinct from any other social phenomena. It is part of our
social reality & only gains meaning when described & interpreted in social terms.
➔ Rejects any separation of technology & society.
➔ Technological evolution results from the interconnected political, social or economic
interests, norms or identities.
3. Middle ground (Hughes) = combines both major approaches, while adding a time-sensitive
perspective. A technological system can be both a cause & an effect (i.e. it can shape or be
shaped by society). As they grow more complex, systems tend to be more shaping of society
& less shaped by it.
➔ Weaknesses of the major approaches:
I. By avoiding a detailed analysis of innovation processes, determinists
underestimate:
● Sociopolitical influences in the early stages of new technological
developments.
● Society’s ability to address the challenges posed by increasing
proliferation of technology.
II. Social constructivists tend to focus on the early stages of technological
evolution (invention, establishment, stabilisation, & distribution) & neglect
their long-term consequences.
Combining Technology & IR ⁄ IPE: A Systems Approach
Hughes’ perspective offers a viable avenue to
integrate technology & global affairs without
neglecting social agency nor technological path
dependencies.
To investigate the relationship between
technology & system, there is a need to
examine:
1. Innovation: The development of new technologies & their improvement in different
institutions.
2. Diffusion: The transfer of technologies domestically or across borders by emulation, theft,
mobility of ideas, or physical transfer & the actors that enable those transfers.
Technology & Change in Theories of IR & IPE
Different perspectives on how major theories of IR/IPE have dealt with technology & change in
global affairs:
