Concepts and Theories of Security Studies

Security studies are an interdisciplinary field of scientific cooperation. It successfully combines studies and methods from the spheres of political, legal, technical and military sciences, as well as such in philosophy, psychology, sociology and economics, owing to the poly-semantic content of this notion; covering: basic human need, human rights and a key sphere of social system – itself functioning in a systemic framework. Also, it bears on state functions and basic characteristics of international relations and on organizational and personal development. Owing to the growing insecurity in the world today, under the conditions of globalization and growth of new threats and risks, research interest in security problems has gone into deeper details of late. As a result of this, the content of security has become enlarged; it could no longer be limited to military aspects or the maintenance of law and order. The very functions of national states have changed; they are now involved in rivalry relationships with a variety of subjects in activities keeping up national and international security. Keywords: polysemantic content, social system, security, law, order BOUZOV, V. (2010), On the Conception of Security (A Philosophical Approach) – in: Analele Universitatii din Oradea, Fascicula Sociologie-Asistenta Sociala-Filozofie [Annals of the University of Oradea, Installment Sociology-Social Work-Philosophy] N IX, pp.9-17;

Security studies have long enjoyed a privileged academic status within the International Relations discipline (IR), projected as the most promising subfield of IR. In this subfield, traditional accounts of security long dominated the field. However, since the 1990s the theoretical and conceptual tools of the traditional accounts have faced serious criticisms. Particularly since the late 1980s, there emerged a plethora of challenges to the traditional accounts of security ranging from the feminists to the con-structivist perspectives. These criticisms take on the rationalist, material and scientific security studies and challenge their various understandings. They also offer alternative analyses of security that signify the importance of ideas, culture and history along with material accounts. This paper will engage with two such alternative visions of security, namely the Third World security and constructivist security studies by largely focus-ing on the representative works of Ayoob and Wendt, respectively. After briefly describing the traditional realist formulation, the paper will assess the basic parameters, premises and challenges of these two alternatives and then provide some criticisms of these alternatives.

Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues, 2023

The prosperity and development of human civilization and the sustainable growth of individuals, social groups and states have never been more strongly dependent on national and international security than in today's dynamically changing and globally interconnected world. For this reason, security research plays a significant role in the development of human society as a whole, especially in these turbulent and changing times, characterized by the global and regional security environment crisis and by increasing tensions in international relations. What does this development and its perception mean for one of the primary functions of the modern state, which is to ensure its security and the safety of its citizens, and what is the impact on research in this area? Following this, the development of the methodology of political science in the context of the development of the very concept of security is the subject of the presented discussion, a study in which, using appropriate methods of applied scientific research, we rely primarily on security science theory and theory of international relations. The methodology presented by us is based on a heuristic approach in research in political science (international relations). At the same time, it represents an analysis, synthesis and comparison of possible starting points processed in theoretical studies and practical constructs of authors who reflect the concept of security from the system theories' point of view. At the same time, the study's authors aim to open a discussion on new hypotheses and possible scenarios for the future development of political and security science.

International Relations theories

Security in an Interconnected World, 2020

The classical view of security as relating to nation states and the protection of their territory still lies at the heart of thinking about national and international security. Defence in the sense of national defence is a key task of the nation state and for centuries the sovereignty of states has formed the basis of the international legal order. Today, however, security encompasses more than protecting the state's territory against military aggression by another state, as is illustrated in Fig. 2.1. With globalisation and the emergence of new economic powers, for example, the relationship between economic and military security has become a far more prominent issue. In an interconnected world, flow security-safeguarding global flows of goods and services, infrastructural hubs and systems-is of the utmost importance. In a world of transnational connections, protecting national territory against hostile armies is not enough. Moreover, since the 1980s, and to an even greater extent since the end of the Cold War, there has been a significant increase in concern for human rights and for economic and social development (human security). After all, physical violence is partially explained by the structural violence as a result of disadvantaged social circumstances. National and international security are therefore linked to the security of the society and the individual. The security of the nation state is not a goal in itself, but is for the benefit of the society. Particularly since 11 September 2001, the blurring of the boundaries between internal and external security has also entered the debate about security policy 1 with the realisation that non-state actors such as Al Qaida and Da'esh have come to form part of the landscape of security and insecurity. The sovereignty of states over their

Naçao e Defesa, 1998

International Studies Review, 2003