The End of Security?: Politics of Fear and Safety

Security: Theory and Policy

Abstract

During the past five decades, the most impressive intellectual achievements in international relations have been accomplished in the area of security studies. These include the studies of nuclear deterrence and arms control, alliances, crisis management, and the decision-making processes of major crises and wars. A galaxy of scholars, such as Bernard Brodie, Arnold Wolfers, John H. Herz, Henry A. Kissinger, Thomas C. Schelling, Hedley Bull, Alexander L. George, and Joseph S. Nye, Jr., have undertaken to deal with these security problems.
Yet, as the Cold War has ended, security concerns have faded out considerably. As a result, some believe that we have come to the end of the history of security and that, therefore, “security studies are dead.” Is this true?
Eleven articles, including mine, try to answer this question one way or another. In my article, I shall attempt to define the concept of security, which has remained ambiguous to the present time. Special attention is paid to the relationship between security and power based on the studies of Harold Lasswell and A. Wolfers. Second, I shall trace the formation of the security concept in tandem with the birth of the nation-state system. Third, I shall examine whether we should expand the security concept to include such issues as economic and environmental problems with the end of the Cold War.
Finally, I shall give some introductory remarks on the other ten articles in this volume. The first three articles deal with the concepts on the international system level: namely, security regime (Yamamoto), three global security frameworks (Inoguchi), and international anarchy (Ishida). The next three analyze renewed concerns over environmental issues (Ohta), human security (Kurusu), and total nuclear disarmament (Umemoto). The next two articles (Sakai and Nakanishi) focus on domestic debates on Japanese security policies. The last two articles (Fukushima and Ueta) analyze the role alliances play in stabilizing/destabilizing the international system. Most of these articles are suggesting that we should go beyond the traditional bounds of security studies. Interestingly, however, none of them propound the end of security.
Hopefully, this volume will provide a ground plan on which to locate redefined security concepts and policies in the years to come.