Security in a Globalized World. Understanding the Paradigm Shift of Contending Dynamics

Seminar paper from the year 2014 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Topic: Peace and Conflict Studies, Security, grade: A, language: English, abstract: To what extent has security moved from a more individualistic concern to one of commonality for sates within the international community? Has the idea of security transcended that of the seemingly anarchic conceptualization of ‘security as military prowess’? Are there new threats to global security? For years, the issue of national security has been one of humanity’s greatest concerns. So much so, that the prevailing modern day rhetoric seems to be focalized on that which German scholar John Hertz (1951) calls ‘the security dilemma’. The succession of time, however, has allowed for the redefinition of the concept of ‘security’ as applied to sovereign states within the International community. This argumentation seeks to explore the evolution of the understanding of security over the course of time, as well as some of the new threats which make the concept a contemporary issue of International relations.