POLI 360 Chapter 1: Barry Buzan, Lene Hansen: The Evolution of International Security Studies

• School: McGill University
• Department: Political Science
• Course: POLI 360
• Professor: T.V.Paul

Document Summary

Security is understood by the political context of the term, the several dimensions (political/military/economic/societal/environmental) in which it operates, and the logical contradictions and ambiguities that are inherent in any attempt to apply the concept to intl relations. Link between political (anarchic) and economic (capitalist) structure, i. e. intl political fragmentation supports the competitive market, creates more freedom for economic actors. Actions states take to protect themselves often seen as threatening by others; states will act to prevent any one expansionist power from dominating the system. Anarchy imposes 3 major conditions on intl security. Security is relative under anarchy, never absolute (as long as anarchy persists, security is non- reliant on harmony or hegemony) Intl security addresses 5 dimensions: military, political, economic, societal and environmental: military: i(cid:374)terplay of ar(cid:373)ed offe(cid:374)si(cid:448)e a(cid:374)d defe(cid:374)si(cid:448)e (cid:272)apa(cid:271)ilities of states / states" per(cid:272)eptio(cid:374)s of ea(cid:272)h other"s intentions, political: the organizational stability of states/systems of gov / ideologies.