POLI 283 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Security Dilemma, Hard Power, Steven Pinker
17 May 2016
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Document Summary
It can be personal protection against hunger, or national threats against states (terrorism). In fact, security could be for anyone and against anything. Traditional definition of security refers to national security, which consists of military hard power. However, the definition is growing and now individual and global security are starting to matter. New examples of security issues is climate change (global) and personal safety of liberties (individual). Realists argue that providing one"s own security is the most important responsibility. The international system is zero-sum, so offensively increasing your own security takes away security from others. Liberals do not believe that it is zero-sum and that state interests are not limited to survival. This creates options for ensuring security, including relations-building and interdependence. Constructivists understand security as securitization, in which a threat exists only when respected leader names it as a threat (which is subjective, as opposed to an objective threat which exists regardless of interpretation).
