International Security

Overview

This course aims to introduce students to key themes and approaches in the study of international security. Although the course will familiarise students with orthodox thinking in the field of security studies, it pays particular attention to the perspectives of hitherto marginalised actors in the international system (Third World states, non-state actors, etc.) and to their interactions with hegemonic actors and structures. In addition it engages substantially with the agenda of 'critical security studies', which entails both a theoretical re-conceptualisation of what 'security' is and an empirical investigation of whether conventional security practices actually deliver.

The course focuses mainly on the post-Cold War period, but one of its central aims is to encourage students to historicise contemporary constructions of security and insecurity. It should be noted that this is not a course in 'strategic studies' – a field that is more narrowly concerned with the properties of particular weapons systems and their use and/or with the operational or tactical mechanics of particular wars. Instead, it aims to focus more broadly on the political, economic and social contexts in which force is used in international relations.