Baylis,, Smith and

d Owens: T
The Globa
alization of World Pol itics 6e
Re
evision guiide
Chapterr 15: Intern
national and global security

Se
ecurity is a contested
d concept.

The meaning
g of securitty has been
n broadene
ed to include politicaal, economiic,
soccietal, and environme
ental, as w
well as milittary, aspec
cts.

Difffering argu
uments exist about th
he tension between national
n
annd internatiional
seccurity.

Diffferent view
ws have als
so emerge
ed about th
he significa
ance of glo balization for the
future of interrnational security.

Re
ealists and neo-realists emphassize the pe
erennial pro
oblem of innsecurity.

e essential source of conflict

The securityy dilemma is seen byy some writters as the
bettween stattes.

Ne
eo realists reject
r
the significanc
s
ce of international institutions in helping many
m
to
ach
hieve peacce and sec
curity.

Co
ontemporarry politician
ns and aca
ademics, however, who
w write unnder the la
abel of
libe
eral instituttionalism or
o neo-liberralism, see
e institution
ns as an im
mportant mechanism
m
forr achieving international securitty.

beral institu
utionalists accept
a
ma
any of the assumption
a
ns of realissm about th
he
Lib
con
ntinuing im
mportance of
o military power in in
nternationa
al relationss but argue
e that
insstitutions ca
an provide a framewo
ork for coo
operation th
hat can heelp to mitiga
ate the
dangers of se
ecurity com
mpetition b
between sta
ates.

Co
onstructivisst thinkers base their ideas on tw
wo main assumptionns: (1) that the
fun
ndamental structures of international polittics are soc
cially consttructed; an
nd (2) that
cha
anging the
e way we th
hink about internation
nal relation
ns can helpp to bring about
a
gre
eater intern
national se
ecurity.

Oxford Universityy Press, 2014.

Baylis,, Smith and

d Owens: T
The Globa
alization of World Pol itics 6e
Re
evision guiide

So
ome constructivist thin
nkers acce
ept many of
o the assumptions off neo realis
sm, but
the
ey reject th
he view tha
at structure
e consists only of ma
aterial capaabilities. They stress
the
e importancce of socia
al structure
e, defined in terms of shared knnowledge and
a
pra
actices as well
w as ma
aterial capa
abilities.

Criitical securrity theoristts argue th

hat most ap
pproaches put too m uch empha
asis on
the
e state.

Feminist writers argue that gende

er tends to be left outt of the lite rature on
inte
ernational security, despite
d
the impact of war on wo
omen.

elief among
g poststruccturalist wrriters that th
he nature oof internatiional
There is a be
politics can be
b changed
d by alterin
ng the way we think and
a talk abbout security.

So
ome writerss see globa
alization an
nd geopolittics as con
ntradictory concepts, while
oth
her writers argue therre is no op
pposition be
etween the
em.

Tra
aditional id
deas about geopoliticcs stem from the writings of peoople like Ha
arold
Ma
ackinder an
nd Nicholas Spykma n.

s of both co
oncepts give rise to alternative
a
views abo
out how
Diffferent interpretations
wo
orld order can
c be achieved.

In practice, global
g
politics exhibitss the effectts of both.

Oxford Universityy Press, 2014.