Further information
National (security) interests and the role of armed forces
Educational goals:
- to introduce concepts of referent object and its importance for security policy;
- to outline the role of armed forces in security of anarchic systém of the international relations;
- to inform about historical development of state and its stance as sovereign unit in the system of international relations;
- to define national interests and state interests, their division, articulation, and content.
Contents:
Securitization studies aims to understand "who securitizes (Securitizing actor), on what issues (threats), for whom (referent object), why, with what results, and not least, under what conditions. Traditional approaches to international security usually focus on state actors and their military capacities to protect national security. Human security, a concept that makes the principle referent object of security the individual, not the state.National security, defined as being linked to the state’s monopoly over use of force in a given territory and as a substrate of security that emphasizes the military and policing components of security.
Another important term for students is the national interests. The national interest, often referred to by the French expression raison d'État (English: reason of State), is a country's goals and ambitions whether economic, military, or cultural. The concept is an important one in international relations where pursuit of the national interest is the foundation of the realist school.
List of tasks for students:
To study the following information sources.
References and further reading:
Presentation (lecture):
National (security) interests and the role of armed forces
Compulsory readings:
1. NEWMAN, Edward. Critical human security studies. Review of International Studies [online]. 2010, vol. 36, issue 01, pp. 77-94 [cit. 2014-04-29]. DOI: 10.1017/S0260210509990519. Available from: http://www.journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S0260210509990519
2. COT INSTITUTE FOR SAFETY, Security and Crisis Management. Notions of Security Shifting Concepts and Perspectives [online]. 2007 [cit. 2014-04-29]. Available from: http://www.transnationalterrorism.eu/tekst/publications/Notions%20of%20Security.pdf