Learning outcomes

The students are expected to acquire:

- Knowledge of relevant discussions and debates on security studies.

- Explore and assess major theoretical approaches to the study of security challenges as well as several core conceptual areas of study in the field.

- Critical understanding of several important empirical cases of new military and non-military threats to security.

The course is designed to provide students with both a solid academic grounding in the relevant theories, and cases, as well as knowledge and skills that will have practical value.

Content

The on-going wave of globalisation has changed the character of threats to human, national and international security. The present security discourse stands in major contrast to the traditional realist understanding of security that prevailed during the Cold War. The aim of this course is to familiarise students with the emerging theories and themes in security studies. The course is divided into two sections. The first part introduces students to the core issues of new military threats to security. This so-called 'hard' security discussion, which dominated the twentieth century, is also back in a new package in the post 9/11 world. Transnational issues like organised crime, arms proliferation, and particularly terrorism have risen to the top of the peace and security agenda. The second part of the course explores those so-called 'soft' security issues that have emerged since the end of Cold War. After the fall of the Berlin Wall and with the shifting of international political environment, a new broader concept of security began to gain acceptance, which includes socio-economic-environmental challenges (e.g. population growth, environmental scarcity, spread of infectious diseases, and migration etc.). The course examines the causes of both military and non-military threats, with a focus on practical measures to address them.

Instruction

Lectures and seminars

Assessment

The examination of the course will be twofold: (1) active participation during the seminars and, most importantly, (2) a final written essay.

There will be two opportunities for examination on each course.

Course level in relation to degree requirements

This course provides sophisticated insights into both traditional and emergent perspectives on security studies. The course helps to expose the students to a comprehensive overview of the new security discussion, establishing the case for the broader agenda. In additional to theory, a number of empirical studies of new military and non-military threats to security are presented and analysed. This course also helps the students to explore the causes of new military and non-military challenges to security with a focus on preventable causes. Course readings cover important theoretical and empirical topics. More specifically, each student is expected to:

Knowledge and Understanding

- in an independent and critical manner identify and argue what the most central questions, both academically and politically, are within the field of 'Peace and Security' and how they are related to other phenomena in society;

- independently identify research problems and relevant policy-related issues within the field of 'Peace and Security';

Skills and Capacities

- critically and correctly present research reviews and independent assignments, both oral and written, within the field of 'Peace and Security';

- based on good scientific knowledge and methodological skills gather, analyse and draw conclusions from a complex set of material, that has both theoretical and practical relevance for the field of 'Peace and Security';

- independently demarcate, design and, within a given timeframe, carry out a research assignment within the field of 'Peace and Security';

Ability to Evaluate and Assess

- evaluate other students' research assignments and presentations concerning 'Peace and Security', in a wider theoretical and practical perspective;

- see connections, interactions, and the interdependence between security and development and other aspects of society.