Security is the deepest and most abiding issue in politics. At its heart is the question: How can people live a decent and worthwhile existence, free from threats, intimidation and violence?' The search for security is therefore linked to the pursuit of order; and for the establishment of relative peace and stability amongst individuals and groups with different needs and interests. These concerns are commonly thought to resolved in the domestic realm by the existence of a sovereign state, a body capable of imposing its will on all the groups and institutions within its borders. Nevertheless, domestic security raises important issues, particularly about the roles of the institutions of the 'coercive state'; the police and the military. However, the issue of security is often considered to be especially pressing in international politics because the international realm, unlike the domestic realm, is anarchical, and therefore threatening and unstable by its nature. There has been fierce theoretical debate about whether this implies that international conflict and war are inevitable features of world affairs, and about the extent to which states are able to keep war at bay through cooperation. These debates have become increasingly pressing due to the advent of new challenges to international security, such as the rise of transnational terrorism and the proliferation of nuclear weapons. Finally, growing interest in the concept of 'human security' has shifted attention from the security of the state to the security of the individual, and, in the process, widened the notion of security to include, for instance, economic security, food security and personal security. Realists advance a power politics model of world affairs in which security is primarily understood in terms of 'national security' and war is kept in check by the balance of power. The liberal belief in interdependence and balance in world affairs inclines them to place their faith in 'collective security', while critical theorists have either emphasized the extent to which state interactions are mediated by beliefs, values and assumptions, or exposed masculinist biases in the conventional realist paradigm.

1. SECURITY:
DOMESTIC AND
INTERNATIONAL

2. • The inside/outside distinction has become more difficult
to sustain. State borders have become more porous in a
globalized age.
• For some, 9/11 marked the point at which security
ceased to be a national or international issue but instead
became a global issue.
• The blurring of the national/international divide has
widened the opportunities for governments to frame
security issues in ways that are politically or ideologically
advantageous.
Security beyond boundaries

3. • The military is a very particular kind of political institution.
• It enjoys a virtual monopoly of weaponry and has substantial
coercive power.
• Its character is shaped by a range of internal and external factors,
including the nature of the broader political system and the political
culture.
• Military force can be a decisive factor in domestic politics.
• In cases where political legitimacy has collapsed, the military can
become the sole prop of a regime.
The military and domestic politics

4. • Realists advance a power politics model of world affairs
in which security is primarily understood in terms of
‘national security’ and war is kept in check by the
balance of power.
• Liberal theorists believe in interdependence and balance
in world affairs inclines them to place their faith in
‘collective security’
• Critical theorists have either emphasized the extent to
which state interactions are mediated by beliefs, values
and assumptions, or exposed masculinist biases in the
conventional realist paradigm.
Approaches to
international politics

5. • The unity and coherence of nation states has been compromised in
recent decades.
• Although the growth of the state’s social and economic
responsibilities fuelled political centralization, during the 1960s and
1970s countervailing forces emerged, particularly through the
tendency to define identity in terms of culture or ethnicity.
• The process through which political authority has been ‘pulled down’
within the state has been complemented by a tendency for political
authority also to be ‘sucked up’ beyond the state, especially through
the creation, or strengthening, of regional organizations.
New security challenges

6. • A shift from viewing security as essentially an attribute of a state to
viewing it as a matter for the individual.
• Takes account not only of the extent to which threats posed by
armed conflict have changed and, in some senses, intensified but
also the degree to which modern armed conflict is entangled with
issues of poverty and underdevelopment.
• Growing concern about human security has, at times, encouraged
states to take a more interventionist stance. However human
security may create false expectations about the international
community’s capacity to banish violence and insecurity.
Human security

7. • A shift from viewing security as essentially an attribute of a state to
viewing it as a matter for the individual.
• Takes account not only of the extent to which threats posed by
armed conflict have changed and, in some senses, intensified but
also the degree to which modern armed conflict is entangled with
issues of poverty and underdevelopment.
• Growing concern about human security has, at times, encouraged
states to take a more interventionist stance. However human
security may create false expectations about the international
community’s capacity to banish violence and insecurity.
Human security