Conclusion The Future of International Security Studies

Abstract

When framed in terms of anthropogenic threats, as in this volume, the problem of international security basically amounts to saving humanity from itself. If so, then this seems to be a never-ending struggle, for every major security problem discussed in this volume — from war to drug trafficking to climate change to infectious disease and beyond — continues to receive considerable attention by the world’s media and political elites on a regular basis. Even in a single day, the news headlines may be dominated by several simultaneous international security problems, such as a terrorist attack, a global economic crisis, alarming new data about global warming, and a flu pandemic. This range of coverage, on an average day, illustrates perfectly the single most important reason for framing international security studies as I have done in this volume: the problem of competing priorities. We live in a world of finite political and material resources, yet have an apparently endless list of international problems to manage. Under these circumstances, what topics truly deserve our attention as urgent international security concerns when the world’s policy agenda is already so crowded? And how does the international community typically determine and manage these priorities? Without a solid and realistic understanding of these questions, we can neither effectively analyze current competing security issues, nor confidently predict what types of issues are likely to become international security problems in the future.