Traditional approaches to security in IR
Petr Ocelík
ESS419 International Relations Theory and Energy Security
8th October 2015
Outline
• Traditional approaches to security in International Relations.
• Strategic and market approaches to energy security.
The concept of security
• What is security?
• Whose security we are talking about?
• What counts as a security issue?
• How can security be achieved?
Williams 2008: 5
Related concepts
• Referent object: an entity which is to be secured.
• Security actor: relates to referent object in order to secure or
threaten the referent object.
• Threat: a source of existing or potential damage or destruction of
referent object.
• Risk: a likelihood that a particular threat is realized.
• Impact: given by extent of a threat and importance of a referent
object.
Impact-risk matrix
Traditional approaches
• Embedded (mainly) within Realist tradition.
Referent object National state
Security actor National state
Threat Military conflict
Values Territorial integrity
Political sovereignty
Measures Military build-up
Balancing
Realist tradition
• Hans Morgenthau: “National security must be defined as integrity of
the national territory and its institutions.” (1960: 563) ... “The survival
of a political unit, such as a nation, and its identity.” (1952a: 973)
• Walter Lippmann: “A nation is secure to the extent to which it is not
in danger of having to sacrifice core values, if it wishes to avoid war,
and is able, if challenged, to maintain them by victory in such a war.”
(1943: 51)
• Arnold Wolfers: “Security, in an objective sense, measures the
absence of threats to acquired values, in a subjective sense, the
absence of fear that such values will be attacked.” (1962: 149)
Realist tradition
• Stephen Walt: security studies are “the study of the threat use and
control of military force.” (Lynn-Jones 1991)
• Kenneth Waltz: “In anarchy, security is highest end. Only if survival is
assured can states safely seek such other goals ... The first concern of
states is not to maximize power but to maintain their positions in the
system.” (1979: 126)
• International security: competition for power among states,
understood in terms of military capabilities.
Traditional approaches
• Liberal tradition with different accents.
Referent object National state
(Individual)
Security actor National state
Threat Military conflict
Economic recession
Values Territorial integrity
Economic prosperity
Measures Collective security institutions
Economic integration
Democratization
Liberal tradition
• Ludwig von Mises: “Classical liberalism ... aims at a general recognition
of the idea of economic freedom. If all peoples become liberal and
conceive that economic freedom best serves their own interests, national
sovereignty will no longer engender conflict and war. What is needed to
make peace durable is neither international treaties ... and organizations
like the defunct League of Nations or its successor, the United Nations. If
the principle of the market economy is universally accepted, such
makeshifts are unnecessary...” (1949: 686)
• International security: by-product of a unrestricted commercial activities
among states and individuals.
Liberal tradition
• Olof Palme: “International security must rest on a commitment to
joint survival rather than on the threat of mutual destruction.” (1982:
ix)
• Security regime: international subsystem governed by principles and
norms accepted by all members of the regime regarding restrain on
state’s behavior. (Ben-Yehuda & Sandler 2002: 7)
• International security: coordination among states to pursue common
interests, understood in terms of political, economic, and military
capabilities.
Realist vs. liberal tradition
Based on Williams 2008: 42
Realism Liberalism
Structure of the international
system
Material, static, anarchic self-help
system
Social, dynamic, governance
without government
Conceptions of security Accumulation of power Economic and institutional
integration
Strategies Military deterrence
Military alliances
Democratization
Rule of law
Scope Military issues only Multiple issue areas
Internal power structure Distribution of power Interdependence
Decision-making Legitimized by power dominance Democratically legitimized
Energy security: strategic approach
“War, war never changes.”
• State-centrism: state as a key actor.
• The main goal is survival.
• State interactions governed by balance of power mechanism.
• Energy commodities are considered as a source of power.
• Energy comm. might be causes and means of conflict.
• Limited amount of energy comm.: zero sum game.
• Emphasis on relative gains.
 Militarization of energy issues (logic of war, Ciuta 2010)
Energy security: market approach
“It’s the economy, stupid!”
• Weakened state-centrism: plurality of actors (int. organizations, firms)
• The main goal is subsistence.
• Actors’ interactions governed by market mechanism.
• Energy commodities are considered as a source of wealth.
• Unlimited amount of energy comm.: non-zero sum game.
• Emphasis on absolute gains.
 Economization of energy issues (logic of subsistence, Ciuta 2010)
Energy security within geopolitics-markets
dichotomy
Strategic Market
Relative/absolute gains Relative: limited (scarce) resources Absolute: unlimited resources
Nature of the “game” Zero sum: limited (scarce) resources Non-zero sum: unlimited resources
Cooperation mode Bilateral relationships Multilateral relationships
International regimes
State-market relationship State controls the market Autonomy of the market
Perception of energy commodities Strategic commodities Common market commodities
Based on Osička 2012