Securitization Process Research Articles

Between monitoring and surveillance: Geographies of emerging drone technologies in contemporary conservation

Conservation has employed technologies for monitoring and visual capture since its inception in the nineteenth century. Since then, the capacities of conservation technologies have developed considerably, affording a wide range of data relating to ecological change and biodiversity loss. However, new technologies introduce fresh ethical and political issues into environmental protection, especially as they can be used – deliberately or accidentally – to collect information about human activities. This potential is important, given that many areas of biodiversity protection are also areas of longstanding conflict. We focus here on the political and ethical implications surrounding drones, which collect photographic and video footage that can include images of humans. We review approaches to technology, visuality, and surveillance across and beyond environmental geography over the last two decades, teasing out conceptual approaches that support a nuanced and critical analysis of conservation drones. Our analysis focuses on the ways that conservation drones alter (i) processes of decision-making, (ii) dynamics of fearmongering and control, (iii) processes of securitisation in protected areas, (iv) the production and circulation of (racial) stereotypes, and (v) the practices and outcomes of data justice. We unpack these themes through three case studies from our own fieldwork, clarifying the range of intentional and non-intentional political outcomes that emerge, and ethical themes that will be vital to explore further in the future.

Discovering ‘Referent Object(s)’ and ‘Existential Threat(s)’ in the Public Speeches of the USA Presidents Bush and Obama (2001-2017): A Securitization Theory Perspective

This research examines the War on Terror policies by the selected public speeches of the two former Presidents of the USA, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, with the object of discovering the referent object(s) and existential threat(s) – the two significant aspects of securitization theory. The process of securitization of Muslim communities, which expanded in parallel with the war on terror policy followed by the Bush and Obama administrations in the USA after September 11, has also been examined. The study claims that the concepts of referent objects and existential threats had realized through discursive political practices of the Presidents. The study finds that President Bush mobilized public opinion against different people, groups, terrorist organizations, and nations by securitizing them. In contrast, President Obama securitized some terrorist groups while seeking to desecuritize a previously securitized but less serious issue.

Security and Securitization as Topics in Sustainability and Tourism Research

There are many published bibliometric works in the literature on the broadly understood topics of tourism, sustainability, and security (STS). Most of these studies present an indexed approach, showing the impact of works, journals, spatial diversity, and the most frequently published or cited authors. The research and analysis undertaken in our work had a different goal: they were an attempt to answer questions about the degree of interest of researchers in the issue of STS, the dynamics of research devoted to the topics of STS, and internal differentiation in the broadly understood concept of security/danger in STS research. Data from the Web of Science journal database were used for the analysis. To determine the number of articles devoted to the topics of security, tourism, and sustainability, several combined keywords and simple statistical analyses were used. In the last 10, and especially 5 years (2019–2023), in each of the three topic groups, there has been an exponential increase in publications in journals indexed in the WoS database. In the sustainability category, risk and security received the most responses; in the tourism, COVID-19, and risk category; and in the tourism, sustainability, risk, and COVID-19 category. The use of keywords indicated thematic diversity in the field of security in each of the examined categories. The greatest interest among STS researchers was in studies related to the “COVID-19” threat. The results of the analysis allowed us to conclude there is an ongoing process of securitization in tourism research.

When securitisation fails and succeeds at the same time: the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and functional actors in the US

ABSTRACT This article explores how the 2015 Iran nuclear deal ended up being hailed as both a dangerous historic blunder and a significant peace initiative, despite both sides relying on the same securitisation discourse (Balzacq, T. (2010). Securitization theory: How security problems emerge and dissolve. Routledge). It aims to understand how a diplomatic resolution to the Iranian threat gained acceptance, despite years of confrontational US approaches. The central argument posits that functional actors undermined the securitising actor's authority to define the course of action. Traditional pro-Israel entities were challenged by other pro-Israel actors, notably J Street, which contested the notion that rejecting the deal was common sense for Israel's interests. This, in turn, influenced certain lawmakers’ perspectives. Overall, the paper redirects attention from the securitisation process to the overlooked contestation over the securitising actor's status and its implications for the audience and outcomes of securitisation.

President Jokowi’s Securitization in Countering Terrorism

Terrorist actions that occurred in Indonesia have caused many people to die and be injured and infrastructure was destroyed. The purpose of this study is to analyze President Jokowi’s policies in dealing with terrorism in Indonesia. This article applies the securitization approach. The securitizing movement allows actors to violate normal political rules and take extraordinary actions in dealing with threats to the object of reference encountered in the securitization process. Terrorism is an existential threat to a state that has been securitized by the Indonesian government. Securitization is a process where an issue that was initially considered as an ordinary political issue is raised to become a security issue that requires special handling. This article focuses on Jokowi’s policy, which analyzes Jokowi’s rhetoric by urging lawmakers to speed up the revision of anti-terrorism law no.15/2003 for being inadequate to face contemporary challenges. This securitization process is a form of President Jokowi’s awareness that terrorism is a threat. The novelty in this research is Jokowi’s policy analysis in combat terrorism based on securitization theory.

Banditry in Kerio Valley, Elgeyo-Marakwet County, Kenya: Blessings in Disguise, Masked Media Coverage, and State Securitization

In the Kenyan environment, banditry is prevalent among the pastoral communities, impacting on peace and security sustainability. Conflict-displaced victims are associated with positive effects of the conflicts. The focus of this research was on un-intended effects of Kerio Valley conflicts in Elgeyo-Marakwet County, Kenya, an ecosystem where mainstream media failed to highlight social impacts of banditry in the facade of consistent securitization by government. The study was grounded on the role of realist theory of forced migration. The study identified two active frames in Kerio Valley conflict: the expansionist narrative and the traditional livestock balancing cultural activity. The study participants involved 43 respondents stratified selected from the locals, elders, women, and the youth and 17 conflict-displaced victims identified using snowball technique. Expert opinions from 11 Key informants purposively selected from religious organizations, CBOs, NGOs, media sector, and national provincial administration conversant with conflict management, took part in the study. Data collection used questionnaire, key informant interviews and field observations. A descriptive research design was used to determine what blessings in disguise were evident, how media was masked and how the conflict had been framed to create securitization effect. The study findings reveal that the expansionist narrative is linked with masked media theory and blessings in disguise outcome. Therefore, this article is designed to address blessings in disguise, masked media and the securitization processes in Kerio Valley. Respondents at 100% said that conflict-displaced victims settled and lived a rosy life, engaging in various civic activities as they integrated and fully assume new roles in society without media and government attention to their plight. The study concluded that banditry in Kerio Valley, despite causing reverse development, opened new fronts to refocus on peacebuilding programmes. The Study recommended that government should protect and preserve human rights principles of conflict-displaced victims through peacebuilding to identify and recognize resilient efforts to support.

Moving towards technological sovereignty: a new global trend and the Russian specifics

This paper investigates the global trend of the early 2020s, characterized by securitization of industrial strategies and the course towards technological self-sufficiency/sovereignty (the TS course) in both developed and developing countries, accompanied by geopolitical fragmentation of the world economy. We first identify typical features of the process of securitization of industrial policy in the context of its historical models’ evolution, then consider parameters of the TS course, including motives, objectives, tools, and risks, in Western nations (EU and USA) and in leading BRICS members (China, India, Brazil). It is shown that Western countries strive for product and technological independence from China while aiming for global leadership in the field of semiconductor (USA) or green (EU) technologies. Conversely, China aims for a central role in the global economy, prioritizing technological independence from the West. In India and Brazil, the TS course is shaped by structural economic challenges and the risks of growth slowdown. Against this background, we proceed to examine Russia’s TS course, analyzing its rationale, design of TS projects, as well as limitations and risks posed by sanctions. Then we highlight distinctions between Russia’s TS course and its foreign analogues, as well as reveal risks of Russia’s increasing technological dependence on China. The conclusion suggests that achieving TS, driven by security imperatives, may present a more formidable challenge than anticipated by governments across different types of countries.

Instrumentalisation of fear and securitisation of “Eastern Borders Route”: the case of Poland-Belarus “border crisis”

ABSTRACT This paper offers a case study of the dynamic of securitisation of asylum seekers and migrants in Poland since 2015. It uses a unique case of the external actor – the Belarussian government – not merely threatening to escalate the pre-existing situation but actively constructing it by creating new migration flows and forcibly pushing asylum-seekers and migrants into the EU. By reconstructing the discourse and practice of the securitising actor and the intervention of the external actor, the paper shows that the pre-existing securitisation of asylum seekers and migrants in Poland was instrumentalised by the external actor, which led to the further development and intensification of the securitising policies and practices and their justifications. The analysis contributes to our understanding of the securitisation process in the moment of the context change as triggered by an exogenous factor – an intervention by the external actor.

The securitization of immigration in Poland. Social and political contexts

Currently, immigration issues occupy an important place in the debate on the future of Europe. One of the central themes of this debate is the issue of security. In spite of the functioning of supranational integration structures, individual states still remain a fundamental factor in shaping migration. In many cases, the issue of immigration is subjected to the process of securitization, framing immigration as a threat. It is the speech act that is important in this respect, being a kind of securitizing tool. Since 2015, one can notice elements indicating that the process of securitization of immigration has been present in Poland, too, which, among other things, is a consequence of the change of the ruling party, the immigration crisis that has taken place in Europe, and the migration situation on Poland’s eastern border. The article presents the factors that influence the process of immigration securitization. Additionally, it includes numerous statements from Polish politicians securitizing the problem of immigrants as well as the results of social surveys on attitudes towards immigration. The analysis of the collected material leads to the conclusion that the securitisation of immigration in Poland is not a completed process and that this process concerns a geographically defined group of immigrants.

Constructing cybersecurity discourse via deconstructing legislation

Abstract Based on a self-built corpus of Chinese cybersecurity legislation, this study explores the construction of China’s official cybersecurity discourse via deconstructing cybersecurity legislation from the perspective of system theory. Analysis focusing on the internal features of the discourse obtains the themes, actors, and legal relations in China’s cybersecurity legislation. Among four pairs of legal relations, system theory provides an explanation for the tension between public-private legal relationship and private-private legal relationship, that is, whether the legislative system chooses to delegate network operators with administrative function depends on how the system perceives the nature of cybersecurity issues and integrate new issues into securitization process. Furthermore, the external features of legislation discourse reveal the changes in the number of all levels of cybersecurity legislation. It is found that the coupling resonance of the political system and the legal system promotes the development of relevant legislation, and facilitates the self-development legislation system to transfer from diversified legislation to unified legislation.

Legitimisation of Foreign Direct Investment Screening Among Business Actors: The Danish Case

There has been a conspicuous shift in the European Union’s perception of economic interdependence and open markets, manifested in a mushrooming number of screening policies aimed at verifying foreign direct investments raising national security concerns. The introduction of these policies can be viewed as a market constraint that might negatively affect business operations, so it is puzzling that some European business actors did not actively resist their adoption, despite having wide lobbying opportunities in Europe. I explore this puzzle using the case of Denmark by drawing on theories of securitisation and preference formation under uncertainty. I argue that business actors established their policy preferences in the context of uncertainty and the gradual increase in security framing by the European and local political elites. Exposed to these increasing security discourses across different levels and networks, businesses adjusted their policy preferences, balancing between different identities. The flexibility inherent in a multilevel and evolving securitisation process led to the legitimisation of investment screening policies among interest groups and mitigated their resistance to the imposition of market constraints on security grounds.

‘Chống dịch như chống giặc’ (‘Fighting the pandemic like fighting the invader’): Audience agency and historical resources in Vietnam’s early securitisation of Covid-19

Abstract Vietnam’s initial response to Covid-19 was conspicuous for various reasons, including how its attempt at securitisation drew deeply from historical narratives, symbols, and traditions specific to the Vietnamese experience, as well as how the securitisation project was not simply top-down and state-driven but also featured ground-up participation where the public was mobilised to participate in and actively reiterate securitisation practices. This richly textured empirical case study of the workings of Vietnamese society and politics represents an invitation to explore key debates surrounding securitisation theory. Reflecting on the empirical material of the case, this paper builds on scholarship seeking to highlight the shortcomings of the Copenhagen School’s model of securitisation and from there further explore securitisation theory and its limits. It takes aim at how the audience and its agency is conceptualised in the theory and develops the notions of ‘historical resources’ and ‘activation architecture’ to more adequately explain the processes of securitisation.

Political audience and non-linear securitisation: Revisiting Israel–Iran relations and the making of the 1979 Islamic Revolution

AbstractThe 1979 Islamic Revolution was a tectonic change that influenced the geopolitics of the Middle East to this day. This article highlights the necessity of re-examining the events of 1979 from a securitisation perspective. Through an investigation of Ayatollah Khomeini's pivotal role, I challenge the methodological nationalism often found in the study of Israel–Iran relations. Despite his unconventional position in security matters, Khomeini played a crucial role in the securitisation of the 1979 revolution. Drawing on Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs archives, secondary sources, elite interviews, and Khomeini's theological speeches, this article re-examines the intricate stages of securitisation and counter-securitisation spanning 16 years. Khomeini effectively mobilized the political audience (Iranian people) to support the revolution, aiming to overthrow the Shah and remove Israel’s presence from Iran. I argue that a non-linear securitisation process was employed, characterised by Khomeini's ability to establish informal authority among the opposition. This process ultimately led to him gaining legitimacy from the Iranian people and culminated in the successful securitisation act of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Algorithmic extremism? The securitization of artificial intelligence (AI) and its impact on radicalism, polarization and political violence

Artificial intelligence is often framed as a tool to be used to counter violent extremism. This paper seeks to make a contribution to scholarship on the use of AI by considering the other side of the debate: how AI and algorithms themselves can and are being used to radicalize, polarize, and spread racism and political instability. The central argument of the paper is that AI and algorithms are not just tools deployed by national security agencies to prevent malicious activity online, but contributors to polarization, radicalism and political violence. Further to this, securitization processes have been instrumental in how AI has been designed, used and to the harmful otucomes that it has generated. The paper begins with an analysis of the connections between AI, polarization, radicalism and political violence. Drawing on the ‘Copenhagen School’ of International Relations theory, it then moves on to an empirical assessment of how AI has been securitized throughout its history, and in media and popular culture depictions, and by exploring a number of modern examples of AI having polarizing, radicalizing effects that have contributed to political violence. The third section of the article examines AI technology itself, arguing that problems exist in the design of AI, the data that it relies on, how it is used, and in its outcomes and impacts. The final section draws conclusions and policy implications, arguing that a reconceptualisation of AI-enabled security is necessary that is more attuned to the human, social and psychological impacts of the technology.

The Algerian Way: The Cycle of Securitization as a Response to COVID-19

Abstract In the MENA region, Algeria was one of the countries with the highest cases of COVID-19. However, like other transformative events in its recent history, the regime has resorted to a process of securitization that has allowed for the Algerian government to exploit the pandemic as a national security threat. This article drew on the concept of securitization to examine the Algerian response to the current COVID-19 pandemic. The paper will commence with an analysis of Algeria’s securitization approaches to the Dark Decade and the Arab Spring. The paper will then argue that the Algerian process of securitization is a cyclic response utilized to reinforce the state’s legitimacy and secure the regime’s power. The paper will finally examine the implications of Algeria’s securitization approach to COVID-19 on the Hirak movement, the regime, and the public.

Securitization in Moreh town of Manipur State, India and the impact of the Myanmar political conflict

The border of Moreh town is a major security concern for the Manipur State of India due to its location whereby it shares the border with neighboring Myanmar and the diverse population characteristics. Furthermore, the conflict in Myanmar following a military coup in 2021 heightened regional tensions. It impacted people in the nation and neighboring countries as a result of mass migration fleeing political and economic difficulties. The objective of this article is to examine the security policy-making process and its components in Moreh town, as well as the impact of Myanmar's political crisis on human security, using Securitization Theory as a framework. This study employs qualitative research methodology, primarily relying on secondary documents. According to the findings of this study, the government, both federal and state, is the primary securitizing actor in Moreh town, with other non-actors in dual process of securitization, prioritizing illegal migration as a case study. While insurgencies and other cross-border crimes are also important security issues in the area. As a result of border restrictions and limitations, these issues could have an impact on both national and human security.

IS “UNTRUSTWORTHY” THE NEW “THREATENING”? CHINA’S SOCIAL CREDIT SYSTEM THROUGH THE PRISM OF SECURITIZATION

China’s Social Credit System (SCS) has been portrayed in much Western media coverage as an instrument for full-scale social control that collects and analyses behavioural data on an unprecedented scale. This perception has been countered by scholars who argue that the SCS should be seen more as a tool focused on strengthening law enforcement. This article argues that the development and operations of the SCS should be understood as a long-term process of “securitisation”, intended to counter a crisis of trust in Chinese society. By introducing this “trust” discourse, the SCS creates an environment that justifies the need to employ extraordinary measures against breakers of social trust, measures that include reputational sanctions and joint punishments. Whether this securitisation process will succeed in efficiently curtailing untrustworthy behaviours in the social, political and economic spheres remains uncertain. It might be hampered by Chinese society’s limited knowledge of the SCS, as well as by the limited impact of the SCS on people’s lives. Alternatively, the introduction of measures that are too intrusive might trigger public disapproval. While ongoing local trials primarily involve schemes to reward “good” behaviour, since 2021 punitive measures targeted at trust-breakers have been standardised at the central government level. This article is based on an analysis of Chinese-language documents and its primary focus is on these centrally-designed SCS sanctions. It adds to the existing literature not only by proposing a new perspective through which the SCS may be perceived but also by discussing the measures targeted at individuals, the shape of which has been moulded by the recent standardisation activities.

Securitisation in the Mediterranean: an ethical analysis of the EUNAVFOR MED SOPHIA operation using the prism of Floyd’s Just Securitisation Theory (JST)

ABSTRACT In May 2015, the EU decided to launch a common military response against immigrant traffickers and smugglers known as the European Union Naval Force Mediterranean (EUNAVFOR MED)—and Operation SOPHIA. Its aim was to dispose of smugglers' vessels and other smuggling assets while still in Libyan territorial waters. Although this specific aim had never materialized, leading to the operation's termination in March 2020, the original decision had led to a securitisation process in the Mediterranean in the form of an increasing deployment of militarized bordering practices and techniques under the umbrella of Operation EUVAVFOR MED. The present paper presents a normative analysis of EUNAVFOR MED through the prism of Floyd's Just Securitisation Theory (JST). It focuses on the just initiation of securitisation, which is the first element of JST and a parallel to JWT's ius ad bellum that contains five conditions: Just Reason for Securitisation; Morally Justifiable Referent Objects; Right Intention; Macro Proportionality, and Reasonable Chances of Success. The paper concludes these conditions were not all met in all three phases of EUVAVFORMED and highlights the complexity of normatively assessing the securitisation of migrants' smugglers in the context of this European maritime military operation.

Touristic security: not a ‘win-win’ global security practice

ABSTRACT Touristic security – the practice of securing tourists to sustain tourism – has become a highly pertinent and powerful global security practice. Many organisations, governments, industry stakeholders, consultants, and scholars claim touristic security to be a ‘win-win’ security practice supportive of global sustainable development for all. But is this true? This paper interrogates this claim in two steps. First, it sets out an international political sociology inspired approach to theorising security as a global practice shaped by and shaping of the continued coloniality of power, and, second, it uses this approach to select, connect, and analyse diverse critical studies of tourism for the emergence, enactment, and consequences of touristic security in the Global South. Put together, the critical studies of tourism analysed suggest that touristic security is a neoliberal security practice that centres international – often white Western – tourists’ fears and vulnerabilities, and, following, that it is (re)producing the coloniality of inequalities, insecurities, and immobilities. Far from a ‘win-win’ security practice, then, critical studies of tourism imply that touristic security is feeding into an endless process of (in)securitisation that is antithetical to global sustainable development.

“They’re Just Watching You All the Time”: The Surveillance Web of Prison Needle Exchange

In 2018, the federal prison authority in Canada began implementing Prison Needle Exchange Programs (PNEPs) at select institutions. Despite longstanding and successful models of prison-based syringe distribution internationally, Canada’s correctional service introduced a highly restrictive security-based approach, placing prisoners who access the program into a surveillance web that implicates diverse actors and relies on methods such as bio-surveillance and security risk assessments. We examine these and other surveillant functions of the PNEP through the first-hand experiences of thirty former prisoners who were incarcerated at one of the prisons with such a program. These experiences point to how the surveillance web is constituted by multiple lines of sight and flows of information across health and security fields. It is further comprised of risk management practices and discretionary punishment carried out by correctional officers as well as the targeting and social sorting of people who use drugs. Former prisoner narratives also demonstrate how the PNEP is reflective of emerging forms of exclusion and processes of securitization that operate through the identification, management, and containment of specific groups. As a whole, the PNEP model implemented in Canada, and the practices that undergird it, target people who use drugs for increased surveillance, resulting in extremely low rates of program enrollment despite pervasive drug use in prison, and undermining access to an essential health care service to which prisoners are entitled. The study findings point to novel forms of carceral surveillance that enmesh observational, technological, and bureaucratic practices, and demonstrate how prisoner health and therapeutic objectives can be subsumed by securitarian logics.