E-Book Overview
This is an accessible new examination of what ‘security’ means today, contextualizing the term amongst other key ideas, such as the nation state, diplomacy, war and autonomy. By exploring the many differing conceptions of security, this study clearly explains how the idea of security in world affairs can be understood in relation to other ideas and points of view. It shows how, when standing alone, the word ‘security’ is meaningless, or just an empty term, when divorced from other ideas distinctive to international life. This essential new volume tackles the key questions in the debate: what norms of sovereignty relate to security? does security necessarily follow from the recognition of identity? what sort of obligations in respect of security attach to power? how far can a political arrangement of empire remedy human insecurity? can trusteeship provide security in a world of legally equal sovereign states? is security the guarantor of freedom? This book is an excellent resource for students and scholars of security studies and politics and international relations.
E-Book Content
The Empire of Security and the Safety of the People This new volume explores the meaning of security in relation to, and in the context of, ideas that are fundamental to both international and domestic political order. William Bain argues that the word ‘security’ is devoid of substantive content when divorced from ideas such as sovereignty, war, diplomacy, great power responsibility, self-determination, globalization, cultural diversity, intervention, and trusteeship. In other words, ‘security’ cannot be made to yield a real core or an intrinsic content because it discloses no essence that awaits discovery. This clear and accessible book draws on an impressive range of history, philosophy, and law to investigate these and other questions: • • • • • • How do norms of sovereignty inform an ethics of international security? Is security something that can be achieved through the recognition of identity? Are all states, great and small, of equal moral importance? Does the enjoyment of security demand cultural homogeneity? Is the body of international law that addresses questions of intervention still relevant in a post-11 September world? How might security be understood in light of wars that are fought in order to kill rather than to win? This book will be of particular interest to those conducting empirical and normative research on questions of security. It is also an excellent resource for students wanting to develop an understanding of security in contemporary world affairs. William Bain is a lecturer in International Relations Theory in the Department of International Politics at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, UK. Routledge advances in international relations and global politics 1 Foreign Policy and Discourse Analysis France, Britain and Europe Henrik Larsen 2 Agency, Structure and International Politics From ontology to empirical enquiry Gil Friedman and Harvey Starr 3 The Political Economy of Regional Co-operation in the Middle East Ali Carkoglu, Mine Eder and Kemal Kirisci 4 Peace Maintenance The evolution of international political authority Jarat Chopra 5 International Relations and Historical Sociology Breaking down boundaries Stephen Hobden 6 Equivalence in Comparative Politics Edited by Jan W. van Deth 7 The Politics of Central Banks Robert Elgie and Helen Thompson 8 Politics and Globalisation Knowledge, ethics and agency Martin Shaw 9 History and International Relations Thomas W. Smith 10 Idealism and Realism in International Relations Robert M. A. Crawford 11 National and International Conflicts, 1945–1995 New empirical and theoretical approaches Frank Pfetsch and Christoph Rohloff 12 Party Systems and Voter Alignments Revisited Edited by Lauri Karvonen and Stein Kuhnle 13 Ethics