Lecture 1: What is global security?

Question 1

Definition: Security (Wolfers)

Answer 1

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

Question 2

Why is security a contested concept? 4 questions

Answer 2

Which values need protection?
What counts as a threat to values?
Is security absolute?
According to who?

Question 3

Narrow vs. broad definition of security

Answer 3

Narrow: Survival (freedom from life-determining threats)

Broad: Survival-plus (freedom to have life choices)

Question 4

What needs to be made secure? Traditional vs. alternative

Answer 4

Traditional: The state, national interest (of whom?)

Could also be individuals, ethnic groups, society as a whole, the environment, the planet

Not necessarily independent of each other

Question 5

Buzan’s 5 key dimensions of security

Answer 5

1. Military (offensive/defensive capabilities and consequences)
2. Political (state stability, systems of government)
3. Economic (resources, welfare)
4. Social sustainability (maintenance of traditions and customs)
5. Environmental sustainability (maintenance of local and planetary biosphere)

Question 6

Perception of security depends on

Answer 6

Priorities which can be socially constructed and evolve over time

Question 7

At beginning of 2023, there are increasing perceptions of these 2

Answer 7

1. Political polarization within countries
2. Threats to democracy, within countries and internationally

Question 8

Matrix of security: Security for states, source of security threat is military

Answer 8

National security (conventional realist approach)

Question 9

Matrix of security: security for states, source of security threat is military and/or nonmilitary

Answer 9

Redefined security (environmental and economic security)

Question 10

Matrix of security: security for societies/groups/individuals, source of security threat is military

Answer 10

Intrastate security (civil war, ethnic conflict, democide)

Question 11

Matrix of security: security for societies/groups/individuals, source of security threat is military and/or nonmilitary

Answer 11

Human security (environmental and economic threats to the survival of societies)

Question 12

How do people feel about UN solving security problems?

Answer 12

Decreasing positivity in some countries, increasing in others; highest positivity in young people

Question 13

Is there a way to achieve absolute/perfect security? 3 points

Answer 13

There are always trade-offs - in order to achieve security, you must trade off something else

Achieveing perfect security can create security problems (security dilemma)

Society values other than security such as justice, free economic systems etc.

Question 14

6 points about the Golden Age of Security Studies

Answer 14

1. 1950-1960
2. Heavy focus on military development
3. Influenced by WW1 and 2 to develop long-term strategy to avoid war as well as focus on civilian contributions
4. National interest first (security rather than welfare)
5. Focus on nuclear revolution and terms related to it: deterrence, containment, coercion, escalation, arms control
6. Belief in deductive, rational thinking, but hypothetical research

Question 15

6 points about the end of the Golden Age of Security Studies

Answer 15

1. 1960-1970
2. Discovering limits to traditional approaches (only military focus, assumption of perfect information and rational calculations)
3. Public disinterest in national security because of Vietnam War
4. Focus on international political economy
5. Oil price shocks in 1970s important for security
6. Peripheral war, insurgencies, massive civil wars

Question 16

3 (possible) Changes in the field of security studies after the end of the cold war

Answer 16

1. Civil wars turned into “new wars” defined by civilian targets, criminalization of violence, identity-based wars (instead of ideology)
2. Question of whether international wars has turned into hybrid wars or grey-zone warfare?
3. Strong disagreement among researchers on whether there has actually been a change in civil and international wars

Question 17

Changes to the field of securit studies after 9/11?

Answer 17

1. Greater international interventionism?
2. Conflicts are more complex and multi-layered?
3. Growth in multi-party conflicts?
4. Possible challenges to post-Cold War unipolar balance of power?

Question 18

6 Different approaches and what they focus on

Answer 18

1. Realism: military security, deterrence
2. Liberalism: institutions, intra-state war
3. Constructivism: national interests, identities, culture
4. Critical security studies: borders, migration, surveillance
5. Feminism: gender in war and peace
6. Post-colonial studies: development, economic security, regional security

Question 19

Problem-solving theory vs. critical theory

Answer 19

Problem-solving theory takes the world as it finds it (social and power relationships, institutions is framework for action)

Critical theory calls institutions and social/power relations into question

Question 20

Main argument of reading: After the return to theory: the past, present and future of security studies - Waever and Buzan

Answer 20

Post-Cold War era has seen renewed focus on theoretical development and a move away from traditional security concerns towards globalization, human security, and environmental challenges. Field needs to keep developing new theoretical frameworks and engage with diverse perspectives