Barry Buzan Research Articles

Rethinking the low profile: The evolving stance of China’s strategic culture

In recent decades, the concept of strategic culture has emerged as the core focus of cultural approach theories to explain a state’s strategic behavior, given that existing theories have failed to convey deviations from the universal principles of rational state behavior. Relying on the conceptual framework of strategic culture, complemented by Barry Buzan’s “revisionist” approach, this article strives to fill the existing gap in the literature by presenting motives and evidence of revisionism in China’s culture-based conduct. By investigating China’s revisionist behavior vis-à-vis its strategic culture, we conclude that both are correlated. China’s territorial claims, its rapid military modernization, the launch of the Belt and Road Initiative, and its ambiguous alignment with Russia, emphasize the evolution of China’s strategic culture from a defensive to a more resolute stance.

The Role of the McMahon, Radcliffe and Durand Lines in Shaping Regional Security Complexes in South Asia: An Assessment

ABSTRACT An examination of the McMahon Line, Radcliffe Line and Durand Line highlights their role as agents shaping regional security complexes in South Asia. By unravelling the intricate interplay of historical and rising populist narratives, evolving power dynamics and intensifying state rivalries surrounding these colonial-era boundaries, a comprehensive analysis of their contemporary security implications is provided. Building on Barry Buzan and Ole Wæver’s renowned theoretical framework, it is possible to elucidate the complexities of these boundary disputes while also addressing the inherent challenges in empirically applying such a framework to the nuanced dynamics of South Asia. Overall, a case study analysis of the McMahon, Radcliffe and Durand Lines allows the gap between the conceptual construct of the regional security complex and the intricate realities of regional security to be bridged.

Fragile Lines: Climate-Security Nexus on Power Transmission Infrastructure

Pakistan ranks top ten countries worst hit by climatic changes, as climate-related events become habitual, these disruptions produce terrain facilitative to theft and vandalism, thereby complicating / intensifying existing challenges and trapping the system in vicious circle of clime-security nexus. This paper explores complicated relationship between climate and physical security within power transmission sector, a crucial lynchpin in energy system. By emphasizing on compounded vulnerabilities arising from climate-induced disruptions and accelerating security threats, the study aims unveiling its nexus in Pakistan Electric Transmission Networks. Employing Barry Buzan's “Five Sectors of Security” frame and triangulation approach, the study carried out detailed investigation of records, collected data physically and performed interviews of key stake holders to get practical insights into climate-security nexus. Findings reveal significant climate-security nexus damaging the power systems, wherein environmental stressors amplify physical security challenges, the complex statistical tests conducted on data set showed strong significant results also positive correlation between the two variables i.e. climatic impacts and physical security incidents on power transmission system, the study also revealed as to how positive feedback (virtuous cycle) and negative feedback (vicious cycle) operate in this nexus. Paper emphasizes and recommends critical need for visionary responses to these interlinked challenges and responses which are required for enhanced reliability / resilience of energy systems, thereby promoting socio-economic stability / sustainability by enhancing National Security posture and safeguarding effective economic balance of power in South Asia.

Post-Soviet Regional Security Complex Revisited: Is Central Asia Still A Subcomplex?

In this study, Central Asia is addressed within the framework of the Regional Security Complex Theory. In the Regional Security Complex theory developed by Barry Buzan and Ole Wæver, Central Asia is defined as a sub-complex that constitutes the Post-Soviet Regional Security Complex but claims that it can become a separate complex under certain conditions. Twenty years after their pioneering study, the continuities and changes in the region have necessitated an analysis of where the authors’ claim stands. Therefore, in this study, the areas that need to be revised in the original work and the transformations have been evaluated. The study emphasizes the importance of political security in the region’s transformation into a separate complex, but attempts to demonstrate that it cannot yet be considered a separate complex.

Maritime Piracy and its Implications on Security in the Gulf of Guinea

The purpose of the study is to determine how piracy poses security challenges in the Gulf of Guinea. Document analysis method was used to analyse literature related to piracy in the Gulf of Guinea. The theory employed is the securitization of pioneered by Barry Buzan, Ole Waever, and Jaap de Wilde (1990). Also, a retrospective cohort design is used for the study. The findings of the study revealed that the domestication of the Code of Conduct and other legal frameworks will ensure that national laws align with international maritime laws and provide a legal basis for addressing maritime crimes, including piracy. The proffered recommendation is that the government should actively engage pirates and other stakeholders in dialogue and contribute significant resources to ameliorate the environmental and economic damage caused by the oil industry.

Transversal Threats and Collateral Conflicts

Security, a cornerstone of international relations, is intertwined with states' defense and survival. Barry Buzan's work expands security's scope from military to societal dimensions, highlighting its multifaceted nature. Buzan's Regional Security Complex paradigm elucidates interactions among states within and beyond geographical boundaries. Societal security emerges as pivotal, safeguarding a state's identity and integrity. Transnational threats, exemplified by South and Central America's challenges, underscore interconnected security risks. Venezuela's crisis, Colombian violence, and Mexican drug trade intricately impact regional stability and global dynamics. Assessing security through various lenses reveals nuanced perspectives, from realist state-centric views to liberal individualism and constructivist social dynamics. Understanding these complexities is essential for addressing contemporary security challenges effectively. This abstract synthesizes key concepts in security studies, offering insights into evolving security paradigms and their implications for international relations.

The Gulf and its foreign policies

The nine states of the Persian Gulf and Arabian Peninsula – Iran, Iraq, Yemen and the six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) – are bound together in a regional system but not a security community. Four major conflicts in the region since 1980 have contributed to a volatile set of relationships which feed into perceptions of risk, threat and interest, and have shaped the conduct of foreign, defence and security policy-making accordingly. Other factors, such as revolutionary upheaval, sectarian politics and the roles of non-state actors as well as external powers, have added to an already combustible mix and made it harder to reach consensus on key issues of foreign policy. This article examines the foreign policy landscape in the Persian Gulf and Arabian Peninsula and assesses a range of factors which determine the context in which measures are framed, formulated and implemented. There are two major parts to this article. An opening section argues that the myriad connections among the nine states together constitute a definable sub-regional complex, to adapt the concept developed by Barry Buzan and Ole Waever, and as evidenced by the patterns of conflict in recent decades, albeit one based on an imbalance of conventional forms of power in which three larger states coexist alongside five smaller ones with Yemen separate yet intimately linked. This leads into a second section which explores the many interconnections which have provided the contextual backdrop to the conduct of foreign policy-making in regional states over the past four decades, and which continue to resonate today. The article focuses throughout on the linkages between domestic and foreign policy and between perceptions of interest at national and regional levels as guiding factors for policy-makers in each of the states involved.

EGE DENİZİNDEKİ MÜLTECİ SORUNU: BÖLGESEL GÜVENLİK KOMPLEKSİ BAĞLAMINDA BİR ANALİZ

The phenomenon of migration varies according to factors in many different dimensions, this study deals with irregular migration and the events that occur in this context. Turkey, due to its geopolitical position, is a transit country in the irregular migration issue, in comparison with neighboring countries, Turkey has become a transit country for migrants due to its relatively higher level of development compared to Middle Eastern countries located to its south and east, and its lower level of development compared to European countries. In this study, the results and reasons for Syrian refugee’s attempts to use Turkey as a transit country and cross to Greece over the Aegean Sea will be analyzed from the perspective of Barry Buzan’s ‘Regional Security Complex Theory. This study focuses on the problem of whether a regional security complex has emerged in the Balkans due to the migration movement resulting from the Syrian Civil War, using Buzan’s theory as a framework, between Turkey and Greece.

Turkey’s Role in South Caucasus

This paper will study Turkey’s influence in South Caucasus. The study applies Barry Buzan and Ole Waever’s Regional Security Complex Theorem (RSCT) to understand Turkey’s politics in the region since the end of the Cold War. The author of this paper shares the belief with the coiners of the RSCT that it is necessary to combine systemic, regional, national, and domestic factors to provide the most accurate description and prediction of potential developments in international politics. Importantly, it is crucial to wisely combine the age-old tenets of Realist theory with important constructivist concepts to better explain security. In this regard RSCT, in the humble opinion of the author, is the most complete theorem in the field of international relations to analyze the behavior of any particular state and/or dynamics of global and regional interaction among states. For the purposes of the research it is important to place Turkey correctly in the framework of Buzan and Waever’s theory and concepts - that is, classify Turkey correctly according to their taxonomy and fortunately, they help me with this. They have devoted important part of their work to insulator states such as Turkey. Turkey’s role as an insulator state is particularly interesting to me. To paint a comprehensive picture of the geopolitics in Caucasus the roles of the US, Russia and EU will be investigated from the perspective of RSCT. Again, the investigation will be detailed and hopefully, productive. Theoretical Framework: Following theories will be presented before the author suggests the goggles that should be fashioned for the purpose of this research: "Political realism theory", whose main subject is the state; The theory of "cooperative security" - Cohen's concept, which includes recognition of common threats by states and joint efforts on it; Complex theory of regional security - RSCT, which is also related to the Copenhagen school.

The US-China Semiconductor Power-Security Dilemma: Decoupling the Security and Power Struggles Through the Theory of Dr. Barry Buzan

Increasingly, both China and the US frame the secure domestic supply of semiconductors as a national security issue. Yet it is difficult to differentiate between the securitization of semiconductors as a national security vulnerability or as an arena for geopolitical competition. This article leverages Barry Buzan's theory of the power-security dilemma to provide a framework for deciphering and decoupling the two countries’ efforts to reduce their semiconductor supply-chain vulnerabilities and related power struggle. First, the US's and China's supply-chain vulnerabilities are explored as a security struggle, with special attention paid to their dependencies on Taiwan's semiconductor industry. Second, recent American efforts to restrict the flow of semiconductor technologies to China are explored as a power struggle. This article concludes by using Buzan's theory to draw conclusions about the origins and potential evolution of the US-China semiconductor power-security dilemma.

Romanian state policy regarding minorities and civil liberties after 1990. Security aspects

With its post-1989 policy on national minorities, Romania is considered by Western capitals a successful model. For more than 30 years, Romania has constantly harmonised its policies regarding the national minorities with the historical factor on the one hand, and with the provisions of the international organisations to which it has become a part on the other, cultivating historical and ethnic values within a well-defined framework, not only from a historical and cultural point of view, but also from a legal perspective. Currently, 20 national minorities are officially recognised in Romania, represented in parliament by 19 organisations. This article aims to highlight the generous legislation regarding national minorities in Romania and to launch a new approach, namely the security approach. The theoretical framework proposed for this article consists of two fundamental theories designed to support the placement of the field of national minorities in Romania within a security framework: the five dimensions of security theory, as presented in the seminal works of the Copenhagen school of thought, in particular in Barry Buzan's Peoples, states and fear (1991) and in Security. A new framework for analysis by Barry Buzan, Ole Waever and Jaap de Wilde (1998) and the theory of the triadic national minority-host state-motherland relationship by professor Rogers Brubaker (1996).

Региональная безопасность в Центральной Азии в условиях возвращения талибов к власти: вызовы и угрозы, сценарии развития

Introduction. The article focuses on reconstructing the major parameters of the complex of challenges and threats to post-Soviet Central Asia regional security that has emerged in the wake of or in direct connection with the radical change of the situation in Afghanistan after August 2021. These challenges and threats have developed across several functional and territorial dimensions and require a comprehensive analysis followed by the building of scenarios for their evolution. Methods and materials. The research relies on the regional security complex theory developed by Barry Buzan and Ole Waever. The methodological toolkit includes external indirect observation, political descriptive and historical genetic methods, scenario building. The research materials include official statements, news briefs, expert opinions, periodicals, academic papers. Analysis. The authors have analyzed the geostrategic, regional-strategic, regional-economic, and regional-societal dimensions of the challenges and threats to Central Asian regional security generated by the changes in Afghanistan and have built scenarios of their evolution. The major geostrategic challenge is the exacerbation of U.S. – Chinese contradictions centered on the influence of the Taliban factions. The key regional-strategic threat is the risk of the Afghan conflict spilling over into Tajikistan or Turkmenistan. The regional-economic challenges include the risks of blocking trans-Afghan transport, pipeline, and electricity transmission projects. The regional-societal risks consist of the dissemination of radical Islamist ideologies from Afghanistan throughout Central Asia. The two basic scenarios of the regional security evolution are inertia or a resumption of a full-scale civil war in Afghanistan. Results. The authors have worked out sets of recommendations for regional policymakers and the intergovernmental bodies whose functions include maintaining security and stability in Central Asia. Authors’ contribution. A.E. Dzhorobekova has developed the general concept of the article and organized the research. E.F. Troitskiy has focused on the analysis of threats and challenges to regional security. S.M. Yun has developed scenarios for regional security situations. A.G. Timoshenko has formulated the relevant recommendations.

INDIA'S CYBER WARFARE CAPABILITIES: REPERCUSSIONS FOR PAKISTAN'S NATIONAL SECURITY

Cyber warfare refers to a state's ability to penetrate another state's digital systems to cause disruption. Cyber warfare has emerged as the fifth operational warfighting domain. India has been strengthening its cyber warfare capabilities for a long time, which can seriously affect Pakistan. Considering the theoretical constructs of Barry Buzan and Ole Waever regarding the broader concept of security, this paper aims to highlight the possible threats and security challenges that India's cyberspace can pose to Pakistan's national security. The paper argues that India has acquired a robust cyberspace that can potentially cause financial damage, political instability, societal unrest, and radicalisation in Pakistan's society. Furthermore, strong cyberspace can also challenge nuclear deterrence between the two neighbours, thus threatening military security. The paper concludes with recommendations regarding what Pakistan can do to mitigate this growing cyber threat.
 
 
 Bibliography Entry
 Ashraf, Nageen and Dr. Saima Ashraf Kayani (2023) “India's Cyber Warfare Capabilities: Repercussions for Pakistan's National Security” NDU Journal. 37: 34-45.

Regional Security Complex and Threat Dynamics of the Sahelian States

The geographic area of the Sahel is of particular interest when examining regional security issues that have negatively affected political, economic and social interaction on the African continent for decades. The region has seen a massive upsurge in lethal violence, and militant groups continue to expand their activities southward, now threatening coastal West Africa. The paper examines the links between the growing dynamics of the Sahel and the security of Liptako-Gourma, composed of groups of contiguous states rooted in historical and geographical environments. The paper empirically applies the Barry Buzan and Ole Wæver’s “Regional Security Complex Theory” (RSCT) as a framework for studying the discourse of security threats and the dynamics of security challenges in the region. The application of RSCT theory makes a significant contribution to understanding these regional security issues in the Liptako-Gourma region. The complex links between threats demonstrate the likely impossibility of addressing these threats in isolation, and the need for a broader approach. The study interprets the current relationship between France and Mali in relation to Mali’s withdrawal from the G5 Sahel Force as hostile. The authors argue that the regional nature of the security threats strongly supports the claim that geographic proximity is a major contributor to security interactions. The paper also reveals that the individual security of each state cannot be separated from that of its neighbors. Therefore, it is suggested that mutual interests could contribute to a stronger regional security initiative that integrates the fight against a common threat such as terrorism.

Russian realism: defending ‘Derzhava’ in International Relations

In light of E. H. Carr's brutal dismissal of International Relations (IR) as ‘simply a study of the best way to run the world from positions of strength’ and Stanley Hoffman's damning 1977 article, ‘An American social science: International Relations’, the discipline has been embroiled in a series of somewhat defensive and introspective debates. Initially, the discussion centred on the value of IR theories, whereas more recent conversations have focused on whether western-centric assumptions underpin much of the (western) IR scholarship (see John M. Hobson's The Eurocentric conception of world politics, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012; reviewed in International Affairs 88: 5, September 2012, and Amitav Acharya and Barry Buzan's The making of global International Relations, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019; reviewed in International Affairs, 96: 4, July 2020). Given the growing interest in non-western IR contributions, and the current challenges to western hegemony, Andrei Tsygankov's Russian realism is a welcome addition to Routledge's series ‘Worlding beyond the West’.

Indonesia's Foreign Policy in Marine Defense Strategy in The Indo-Pacific

In the global interaction with the Indo-Pacific order which is dominated by dynamic contestation issues, the Indo-Pacific system stipulates that Indonesia created the Indo-Pacific concept to advance the habit of inclusivity for dialogue with regional settlements to create peace through building blocks in the region. The author formulates the formulation of the problem in the form of: the development of Indonesia's foreign policy in the strategy of inter-state resilience in the Indo-Pacific region. The purpose of this article is to discuss the Indo-Pacific Integration Project as Indonesia's foreign policy sustainability strategy and provide recommendations for implementation at various levels, including strategic, bilateral and practical levels. The author uses Barry Buzan's national security system and foreign policy theory, namely neo-realism, with the concept of national interest and foreign policy analysis. The role of the military is limited to the capabilities of defense institutions, threat assessment and security interactions. The writer analyzed the data qualitatively using descriptive method with secondary data. The writing analysis in this journal emphasizes the centralization of the Indonesian state as an important actor in influencing conceptions in the Indo-Pacific region. Indonesia's strategy is in the context of the Security Community, the formation of norms and identity in ASEAN is actually a modality that further strengthens values, identity and norms in ASEAN. Indonesia's idea is for ASEAN to have a more inclusive, open and respecting international law, namely the ASEAN Indo-Pacific Outlook (AOIP)

Climate Change, Security, and the International System: It’s Still the Same Old Story

Climate Change, Security, and the International System: It’s Still the Same Old Story

The complexity of (super)complexes: Pakistan, India and West Asia

Despite areas of synergy, international relations theory has typically considered South and West Asia as analytically distinct. Following the work of Barry Buzan, whose work on regional security complexes is formative in shaping the intellectual debate, the Gulf is considered a subregion of a larger Middle Eastern regional security complex, while South Asia is regarded as its own regional security complex. This article argues that the analytical distinction between these different (sub)regional security complexes has become blurred, reflecting the emergence of a supercomplex. We contend that strong patterns of amity, enmity and securitisation that link the two regional security complexes suggest a thinning boundary between them, with the potential for them to merge. We distinguish between a supercomplex and a merger using the concepts of amity, enmity and securitisation provided by regional security complex theory. We add the English School’s ideas of order, justice and regional society to enhance our understanding. We focus on three issues in which the two regions interact: the Abraham Accords; the Iran nuclear crisis, and Jammu and Kashmir. We argue that increasing relations between the two regional security complexes have resulted in a supercomplex, with powerful states in both regional security complexes seeking to project their power into the adjacent regional security complex. We further note the strengthening patterns of amity, enmity and securitisation connecting the two regions, leading to a thinning of the boundary separating South and West Asia. We contribute to the literature on regional security complex theory by clarifying the distinction between a supercomplex and a merger through the South-West Asian case.

Analyzing the Mutual Geopolitical and Security Complementarity of Iran and Turkey: Border, Energy, and Water

ABSTRACT In recent decades, particularly since 2002, relations between Iran and Turkey have been on the rise and generally expanding. The aim of this paper is to analyse and clarify the reasons for the sustainability of the two countries’ relations while undergoing intermittent eruptions of disputes over the years. In other words, the main question is: why have Iran and Turkey, with their political frictions, routinely embraced rapprochement and collaboration in recent decades? Accordingly, the hypothesis proposed is that a key reason for the ongoing cooperation between Tehran and Ankara in different fields, is the rationale of geopolitical complementarity engendering their security needs in broad meaning, particularly energy security and natural gas. Whilst the logic also applies to water security, both states attach greater importance to border security and energy. In short, their common geopolitical destiny over-rides individual state preferences. To examine this hypothesis, Barry Buzan’s theory based on a broad definition of security as well as regional security complex has been deployed through descriptive analytics.

Сек’юритизація історичної пам’яті під час російсько-української війни

The purpose of the research deals with the study of the historical politics of Ukraine during the war in the context of national security. Th e theoretical framework is based on the concept of securitization developed by the Copenhagen School (Barry Buzan, Ole Wæver) and the concept of Politics of Mnemonical Security (Maria Mälksoo). Th e research methodo- logy is based on the use of a transdisciplinary approach the principles of objectivity, historicism, systematicity, the use of methods of analysis and synthesis, generalization and systematization, comparative-historical, historical-typological and problematic-chronolo gical. Th e studies no- velty is that the article examines for the fi rst time the phenomenon of securitization of memory during the Russian-Ukrainian war against the background of the features of the landscape of memory in Eastern and Central Europe, analyzes the legislation, highlights the views of rep- resentatives of the Ukrainian authorities on the role of history in the war time. Conclusions. The securitization of historical memory in Ukraine began aft er Russia’s aggression in 2014 and serves as a means of ensuring the safety of the national historical narrative by delegitimizing or directly criminalizing Soviet and Russian narratives that are considered a threat to the state and society. Its main reason is the abuse of “historical arguments” by the Russian authorities, which include the denial of the existence of the Ukrainian people and the Ukrainian language, statements about Ukraine as a “failed state” and the Nazi state, the concepts of Russian world, Novorossiya, and the divided Russian people. Securitization is a forced and temporary wartime policy. In a democratic and pluralistic society, national memory cannot be formulated offi cially or regulated by bureaucracy. Aft er the war, historical memory must be desecuritized, deweapo- nized and returned to the realm of political participation and public debate.