War and Security

Question 1

What is security - Gallie

Answer 1

“essentially contested concept”, different meaning in different contexts to different people

Question 2

why is the definition of security so complicated

Answer 2

• reliance on the idea of “values” which are also contested
• different priorities within sub-disciplines
• historical control of the concept by realists, with a focus on military force

Question 3

whats an example of contested definitions

Answer 3

January 6th march on the capital, was it a protest, terrorism, a coup etc

Question 4

what is a useful definition when trying to define security- Buzan in Hughes and Meng

Answer 4

the pursuit of freedom from threat

Question 5

what are the six “threats without boundaries” identified by the UN

Answer 5

• economic and social threats
• inter-state conflict
• internal conflict, including civil war and genocide
• nuclear, radiological, chemical and biological weapons
• terrorism
• transnational organised crime

Question 6

what is human security - UN general assembly resolution 2012

Answer 6

an approach to assist member states in identifying and addressing widespread and cross cutting challenges to the survival, livelihood and dignity of their people

Question 7

What is the securitisation theory

Answer 7

issues can be securities based on speech acts from those in power, elevating problems from the level of ‘security threat’ which can legitimise the taking of extraordinary action

Question 8

How does Hedley Bull define war as

Answer 8

organised violence carried on by political units against each other

Question 9

how do the correlates of war project define war

Answer 9

• sustain combat
• organised armed forces
• 1,000+ battlefield fatalities in 12 months

Question 10

what are the types of armed conflict

Answer 10

• interstate, between two or more states
• extra-systemic, between at least one state and non-state actors outside of the states territory
• intrastate, the state and non-state actors
• internationalised intra state, between the state and non-state actors who have the support of another state

Question 11

what are the categories of war between states

Answer 11

• general war, involves many or all of the most powerstates
• hegemonic war, determines which states will have prominent global influence
• total war, which belligerent states mobilise all available resources and target civilians
• limited war, smaller in which states avoid all out fights
• militarised interstate dispute, an instance in which a state threatens or uses limited force against another state

Question 12

what are the changes in war overtime

Answer 12

driven by changing political systems and the advent of new technologies, which has seen the rise in intrastate wars

Question 13

what are the two causes of war

Answer 13

• immediate causes
• underlying causes

Question 14

what are the immediate causes of war

Answer 14

disagreement or conflict of interest that causes a state to consider using force

Question 15

what are the underlying causes of war

Answer 15

circumstances that make the chances of escalation to violence lower or higher

Question 16

what are the two approaches to conflict

Answer 16

confrontation and engagement

Question 17

what is confrontation

Answer 17

• emphasis on deterrence, military threat and economic sanctions
• diplomacy somewhat peripheral or supplemental
• fails to take perspective into account

Question 18

what is engagement

Answer 18

• emphasis on dialogue, conversation, integration
• diplomacy on many levels: formal talks between government, informal relations between people and communities
• building relationships and considering a range of view points

Question 19

How did nuclear weapons change the nature of war

Answer 19

it was no longer possible to “win” a war in the traditional sense (Jarvis 1989), importance of first strike capabilities

Question 20

what is the diplomacy of violence (Schelling 1966)

Answer 20

difference between diplomacy and force depends on the relationship between parties

Question 21

what are the two revolutions of nuclear weapons

Answer 21

technical and political

Question 22

what is the technical revolution

Answer 22

new destructive power showing increased capabilities

Question 23

what is the political revolution

Answer 23

old systems and patterns called into question, increasing appetite to change these to reflect new era

Question 24

what is the nature of conflict in the 21st century

Answer 24

-interstate wars on the decline, intrastate wars increasing in frequency (Melander, Pettersson and Themner)
- challenges assumptions about war that have previously dominated the discipline