Scribd
Upload
107 views

Security

Security Studies is an academic discipline that studies organized violence, military conflict, and national security. It is a sub-field of International Relations that unites various disciplines like international relations, communications, geography, criminology, and military studies. The goal of Security Studies is to analyze threats to national and international security, develop socio-political security concepts, compare security systems, and ensure security for countries and citizens. It primarily focuses on the threat, use, and control of military force.

Uploaded by

Hossein Salaar
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
107 views

Security

Security Studies is an academic discipline that studies organized violence, military conflict, and national security. It is a sub-field of International Relations that unites various disciplines like international relations, communications, geography, criminology, and military studies. The goal of Security Studies is to analyze threats to national and international security, develop socio-political security concepts, compare security systems, and ensure security for countries and citizens. It primarily focuses on the threat, use, and control of military force.

Uploaded by

Hossein Salaar
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 5

Explain security studies as an academic discipline in IR.

Security Studies, also known as International Security Studies (IIS), is a sub-field within the
wider discipline of International Relations that studies organized violence, military conflict and
national security

Security Studies is an academic discipline which unites international relations, communications,


geography, criminology and military studies. It focuses on the security of all citizens of the country,
the protection of their labor and livelihoods, as well as the sovereignty of the state, territorial
integrity and the possibility of defense in the event of hostilities.

The aims of Security Studies are analysis of threats to national and international security, the
development of socio-political concepts of security, a comparative analysis of security systems and
methods for ensuring the security for a country and its citizens.

The boundaries of this intellectual field are flexible and any attempts to draw and define the
precise field of study are arbitrary. However, the basic aim of Security Studies is simple to
define. It is simply the phenomena of war.

As security studies assert that conflict between governments is always possible and that the use
of force has far reaching consequences for states and societies. Thus, Security Studies can
basically be characterized as ‘the study of the threat, use and control of military force.

As with IR, this sub-field of study is primarily a Western subject—mostly conducted in North
America, Europe, and Australia, with all of the associated Western-centrisms.

Since the end of World War II, four central questions have guided debates in the field of Security
Studies.

1. Whether to elevate the state to the status of ‘referent object?


2. Whether to include both internal and external threats?
3. Should security be expanded beyond the military sector and the use of force?
4. Is security irrevocably linked to a dynamic of risks, dangers, and urgency?

Five forces play central role in evolution of security studies


 Great power politics
 Technology
 Events and developments
 Academic debates within the discipline
 Institutionalization
Four S of security
 State
 Strategy
 Science
 Status Quo

Conceptualization of security

Conceptualization of security is based on the three traditions of the


INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS theories:
A. Realistic Tradition (National Security): basis for the state-centric concept of
security, where security means the security of my state and all other states
mean threat.
B. Revolutionary Tradition (Human Security): basis for the individual and
global security – security of human being and security of world community.
C. Rationalist Tradition (International Security): position in-between realistic and
revolutionary tradition – security is the state responsibility and comes from the
relations among state (relational security). States create framework of relations as
the source of conflicts or source for the security cooperation and regimes

Two prevalent philosophies in Security studies


Traditional security:
This approach focuses on Accumulation of power i.e Security. In context of this
philosophy security is thought of as a commodity/ material factor. It focuses on the
acquisition of Wealth, Weapons, army , territory.
Non-Traditional Security:
The actual concern of security is that justice must prevail. To insure the provisions of
human rights. The actors in international relations must work together in harmony to
alleviate threats to cherished values. In 1983 a book, People, States and Fear by Barry
Buzan challenged the traditional framework of security, arguing: is security only for
state? What about humans?
In his 2nd addition in 1991 he theorized five major sectors
 Military security
 Political Security
 Economic security
 Societal security
 Environmental security
The theory and ideas gave birth to a new lense within the discipline, known as non-traditional
security.
2. Describe the historical growth of Security Studies in Global World Politics.
Security studies emerged in International Relations debates following the end of World War II,
notably in the 1950s, with the onset of the Cold War between the Eastern and Western blocs.
Security was closely linked to the military aspect, as most countries aimed to maximize their
military strength in order to ensure their security and survival against all intended threats.
Security evolved as a unifying notion for an increasingly diverse range of research programs.
Security is about establishing anything that requires protection: a nation, a state, an individual, an
ethnic group, the environment, or the planet itself. The evolution of security in world politics is
gradual. Numerous events, thoughts and literary works contributed to the growth of security
studies as a subject.

The Cold War: The Dominance of Realism


The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the
United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern
Bloc. Since the beginning of the Cold War realist approaches to security have dominated
Security Studies. Practical considerations of imminent risk focused the attention of security
experts and decision makers on physical survival threats. Interstate conflict was a focal point of
energy, particularly the East-West rivalry and the US-Soviet nuclear balance. These concerns
were later expanded to the developing countries as part of the superpower struggle. According to
the realist perspective, as Europe was the central objective, the East-West conflict was simply a
continuation of millennia of state competition for regional and global control.

The Post Cold War: Traditionalists vs. Wideners-Deepeners


The end of the Cold War initiated debates within Security Studies, where demand to redefine its
central concept of security became inevitable. . As a result, several academics reconsidered what
is, and what should be, included within this concept. Wideners emphasized on economic,
societal, political, and environmental risks. The peaceful end of the Cold War, the increase in
intra-state conflict, flow of immigrants toward west, the deteriorating environment, and the
escalation of the HIV/AIDS epidemic all indicated that traditionalism was incapable of meeting
the post-Cold War challenges. Wideners and deepeners contended that the 1990s lacked a
defining military event or defining Great Power conflict around which the traditional idea of
security revolve. Wideners focused on expanding the idea of security beyond the military,
emphasizing both internal and transnational concerns, and allowing for a modification of the
Realist logic of international security.

The western entanglement in West Asia


West Asia is a synonymous to Middle-East, a term which Asians prefer to use.

You might also like