SAGE Journal Articles

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Journal Article 1: Collins, A. (2004). State-induced security dilemma: Maintaining the tragedy. Cooperation and Conflict, 39(1), 27-44. doi:10.1177/0010836704040833

Summary: This article explores the concept of the security dilemma in the special circumstance of a state that is intentionally acting aggressively (based on Jack Snyder’s conception of an imperialist dilemma). In doing so, the article describes the evolution of the concept of the security dilemma.

Questions to Consider

  1. What is the spiral model and why is it important to the concept of the security dilemma?

  2. How is it that two states without malign intent may enter into a security dilemma? Based on this reading, do you agree that Snyder’s imperialist dilemma can be considered a security dilemma?

  3. How can states escape the state-induced security dilemma?

 

Journal Article 2: Glasius, M. (2008). Human security from paradigm shift to operationalization: Job description for a human security worker. Security Dialogue, 39(1), 31-54. doi:10.1177/0967010607086822

Summary: This article discusses the importance of the term and concept of human security, including how it has dramatically shifted the focus from state security to human rights. It questions, however, how the concept has been used in practice by policy makers. It then proposes a way to use human security as a guide for an array of policies.

Questions to Consider

  1. How is the concept of human security a break with past conceptions of state security?

  2. The article suggests that the concept of human security is “at the heart of … several paradigm shifts.” What does this mean?

  3. How would a policy driven by human security concerns look different than one driven by traditional notions of security?

 

Journal Article 3: Kessler, O., & Daase, C. (2008). From insecurity to uncertainty: Risk and the paradox of security politics. Alternatives, 33(2), 211-232. doi:10.1177/030437540803300206

Summary: This article argues that traditional security dilemmas have given way to more unstructured uncertainty. These security paradoxes are the result of a shift in the nature of threats states face; no longer do states confront static enemies, but rather they face uncertain threats such as terrorism that redefine security concerns.

Questions to Consider

  1. In what way has uncertainty changed since the end of the Cold War?

  2. What differentiates a security paradox from a security dilemma?

  3. Does the rise of threats such as ISIS, a terrorist group with territorial ambition, support or contradict the article’s central claim?

 

Journal Article 4: Mitzen, J. (2006). Ontological security in world politics: State identity and the security dilemma. European Journal of International Relations, 12(3), 341-370. doi:10.1177/1354066106067346

Summary: This article examines the security dilemma through a constructivist lens (see Chapter 3). The article suggests that states seek to be secure in their self-identity. That is, states wish to be secure in who they are. This may include being locked into conflictual relationships, or it could be an identity in coordination with others.

Questions to Consider

  1. This article suggests that some states may not be interested in escaping security dilemmas. In this telling, a state may find comfort in its identity relative to others. How does the article use the Cold War as an example of this?

  2. This argument does not mean that a state’s identify must be defined by conflict; can you identify any states who may find their identity in a non-conflictual relationship?

  3. Are you persuaded by the argument of the article? Are states more comfortable in a conflictual situation they understand than a less conflictual relationship that is not well-defined?

 

Journal Article 5: Wheeler, N. J. (2014). Interview with Robert Jervis. International Relations, 28(4), 479-504. doi:10.1177/0047117814555138

Summary: This article is an interview with Robert Jervis, one of the most prominent international relations theorists in the last 50 years. The interview covers his views on contemporary international relations, international relations theory, and foreign policy, among other topics.

Questions to Consider

  1. Is the concept of the security dilemma still applicable in today’s world?

  2. Do you agree with Jervis that nuclear weapons are in a different category that we do not sufficiently understand and explore in contemporary theory?

  3. Jervis argues that international relations scholarship does not have a great deal of impact on practice. Do you think this is correct? Should international relations scholarship impact policy?