Contemporary Conflict and Security Issues:

1

• Contemporary Conflict and Security Issues
• Broadening the Focus

2
Nonmilitary Responses to Conflict

• Diplomacy, negotiation, mediation
• Economic sanctions
• Establishment of context of rules, norms,
  international organizations

3
International Security Studies

• Traditional Security Studies (TSS)
• War Peace, East/West conflict
• Soldiers diplomats (S. Hoffman, 1985)
• Treaties alliances
• National security, military forces, superpower
  arms race

4
International Security Studies

• Critical Security Studies (CSS)
• Regional ethnic conflicts
• Broadening the concept of security

5
Defining Security

• Freedom from danger
• Freedom from anxiety
• Freedom from fear

6
I. TSS the Definition of National Security

• The ability to protect the states territory, its
  autonomy and its borders from external threats
  (military, economic).
• Acquire military capabilities in order to protect
  national sovereignty

7
I. Traditional Security Studies

• Conventional military forces (armies, land mines,
  air forces, logistics)
• Non-conventional military forces WMD (nuclear,
  ballistic missiles, chemical and biological
  weapons)

8
I. Continuity and Change

• Change of military thinking strategy, 1991?2001
• Security dilemma, credibility of threats
• Arms race, proliferation security dilemma

9
I. Conflict, Security Strategy

• Central concepts deterrence, mutually assured
  destruction
• Nuclear strategy (offensive, defensive)
• First-strike capability
• Second-strike capability (MAD)

10
II. Conflict, Security Strategy

• Arms race as iterated Prisoners Dilemma
• Reciprocity (retaliation)

11
I. Post-Cold War Issues

• Role of States in nuclear proliferation
• Domestic production of nuclear weapons
• Importance for regional conflicts (Arab-Israeli
  conflict, India/Pakistan, N/S Korea, China
  Taiwan)

12
II. Post-Cold War Issues

• Role of non-State actors new dynamics
• Retaliation? No territory or cities to defend
• Nuclear terrorism?

13
Conflict Security

• Collective good problems
• Strategic choice size of military budgets
• Security regimes e.g. Ballistic Missile
  Technology Control regime

14
Controlling Proliferation

• 1925 Geneva Protocol (chemical weapons) 1992
  Chemical Weapons Convention
• 1972 Biological Weapons Convention
• Non-Proliferation Treaty, 1968
• Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, 1972
• Strategic Arms Limitation Treaties (SALT)
• SALT 1, 1972
• SALT 2, 1979
• Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START I, 1991
  START II, 1992)
• Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), 1996

15
II. Critical Security Studies

• Post-Cold War debate (Krause Williams, 1997)
• Alternative defense paradigms individual human
  beings rather than States or non-Western concepts
  of security (Ayoob, 1997)
• Concept of human security (Brausch, 2005)
• Freedom from want
• Freedom from hazard impact
• Freedom from fear

16
New Threats to National Security

• Drugs, energy (Romm, 1993)
• Environmental threats (since 1980s)
• Resource conflicts (Westing, 1986 Mathews, 1987)
• Food and water scarcity (Korany, Brynen Noble,
  1993)
• Extended security conflict over economic,
  geopolitical, environmental, territorial issues
  (Dalby, 1997)

17
Broadening the Concept of National Security

• No agreed general definition (Buzan, 1991)
• Threats to national security are actions that
  threaten to undermine severely the quality of
  life of a States inhabitants and that might
  significantly reduce political choices that are
  at the Governments disposal (Romm, 1993)

18
I. Environmental Security

• Protection of national resources
• Interdependence transnational environmental
  problems resource-based conflicts affect
  territorial integrity and political stability

19
II. Environment Security

• Study relationship between military, security
  affairs and the environment (Deudney Matthew,
  eds., 1999)
• Linking military activities to environmental
  degradation (e.g., Gulf Wars)
• Securitization of environmental problems
  (Buzan, Waever de Wilde, 1998)

20
Environment, Security Conflict

• Predictions for coming anarchy (Kaplan, 1994)
• Linking environmental change to international
  conflict (Homer-Dixon, 1991 1994)

21
Conflict Environmental Stress

• Environmental stress (Homer-Dixon, 1990s
• Deterministic analysis, e.g, water wars in Middle
  East
• US neo-Malthusian approach (1990s)

22
Environment, Security Conflict Conclusions

• Environmental problems as security
• concerns
• Can lead to political instability
• Impact on crisis but not in isolation from other
  variables