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Regular version of the site

International Security

2020/2021
Academic Year
ENG
Instruction in English
7
ECTS credits
Course type:
Compulsory course
When:
4 year, 3, 4 module

Instructors

Course Syllabus

Abstract

Security in international relations is a subject which provides insights and understanding of order and stability both within and between states. Many students when they approach this course think that security is only concerned with states and their armed forces. A common misunderstanding is to equate security with defense. But the security agenda is much broader than this and now includes questions of force and military preparedness problems and policies to do with human and minority rights, migration, poverty, the environment and other societal issues. Following on from this wider agenda, security in international relations is increasingly concerned not only with the safety of states but also of the peoples within them. What students take away from this course is an understanding of security as a core value of human life and an awareness that security policies will vary depending upon how one answers the key questions: security in (or of) what; security from what; and security by what means.
Learning Objectives

Learning Objectives

  • introduce students to the central concepts in security studies;
  • develop comparative skills of analysis of differing security policies in practice;
  • promote critical engagement with the security policy literature;
  • enable students to display this engagement by developing your ability to present, substantiate and defend complex argument.
Expected Learning Outcomes

Expected Learning Outcomes

  • Be able to demonstrate a critical understanding of the issues involved in security policy decision making;
  • Be able to demonstrate an understanding of the contexts, pressures and constraints with which security policymakers have to deal;
  • Be able to demonstrate an ability to engage in comparative analysis of security policy without losing a sense of historical context
Course Contents

Course Contents

  • The idea of security
  • The state as a security arrangement
  • National security: current issues and contemporary application
  • International society as a security arrangement
  • International security: current issues and contemporary application
  • Human security as an alternative to national and international security
  • Human security: current issues and contemporary application
  • Security paradigms in conflict: the problem of intervention
Assessment Elements

Assessment Elements

  • non-blocking Seminar activity
  • non-blocking MOCK exam
  • non-blocking Final Exam
    Your exam will be held online. You should submit a paper via Google-Forms in 3-hours period. All further details will be send to you directly by the professor.
  • non-blocking Seminar activity
  • non-blocking MOCK exam
  • non-blocking Final Exam
    Your exam will be held online. You should submit a paper via Google-Forms in 3-hours period. All further details will be send to you directly by the professor.
Interim Assessment

Interim Assessment

  • Interim assessment (4 module)
    0.25 * Final Exam + 0.25 * MOCK exam + 0.5 * Seminar activity
Bibliography

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

  • Bain, W. (2006). The Empire of Security and the Safety of the People. London: Routledge. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=171259
  • Buzan, B. (2007). People, States and Fear : An Agenda for International Security Studies in the Post-Cold War Era (Vol. Second edition). Colchester, England: ECPR Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1468309
  • Hough, P. (2018). Understanding Global Security (Vol. 4th edition). New York, NY: Routledge. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1743300
  • People, states & fear: An agenda for international security studies in the post-Cold War era. Introducción y capítulo 10. (2017). Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.F56ABBFB

Recommended Additional Bibliography

  • Bain, W. (2003). Between Anarchy and Society : Trusteeship and the Obligations of Power. Oxford: OUP Oxford. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=257796
  • Bull, H. (2012). The Anarchical Society : A Study of Order in World Politics (Vol. 4th ed). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1523322
  • Heupel, M. V. (DE-588)13042790X, (DE-576)171965523, aut. (2018). International organisations and human rights : what direct authority needs for its legitimation / Monika Heupel (Junior Professor for International and European Politics, Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg), Gisela Hirschmann (Assistant Professor of International Relations, Leiden University), and Michael Zürn (Professor, Director of the Research Unit Global Governance, WZB Berlin Social Science Center). Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edswao&AN=edswao.506094812
  • Jackson, R. H. (2003). The Global Covenant : Human Conduct in a World of States. Oxford: OUP Oxford. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=267249
  • Robert H. JACKSON. (2009). “Los estados fallidos y la tutela internacional” en The Global Covenant. Human conduct in a World of States, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2000. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.33344C7E