CIAO DATE: 08/2011
August 2011
Centre for Non-Traditional Security (NTS) Studies
Understandings of what constitutes international security have been largely influenced by the historical experiences of the great powers. The failed attempts to prevent war in Europe from the 17th century onwards, and latterly the more successful (in its own terms) prevention of a third World War in the second half of the 20th century, did much to establish what was to be secured and how this security could best be achieved. The end of the Cold War has seen a shift away from states towards more people-centred understandings of security, leading to some previously neglected issues becoming part of the international security agenda. However, the move to address non-traditional security challenges tends to be limited to the causes of insecurity for people in the developed world. The causes of fear and want of millions in the developing world are left outside the discourses of IS, and consequently, these concerns are often marginalised when it comes to attempts to find new ways of ensuring international security. This paper argues that the differences between non-traditional security (NTS) and international security (IS) studies may be too fundamental for them to ever find a comfortable common ground; and it suggests that the sub-disciplines of regional/area studies and international political economy (IPE) may offer greater utility in moving forward the NTS discourse.
Resource link: (Not) Reconciling International Security (IS) with Non-traditional Security (NTS) Studies: Westphalia, the 'West' and the Long Shadow of 1944 [PDF] - 170K