Contemporary Security Issues: Exam Preparati on
Contents
2018.......................................................................................................................................................3
In your assessment, what is the most urgent security issue? Discuss with reference to at least two
security sectors..................................................................................................................................3
‘we have some bad, bad people in this country that have to go out. We're going to get them out.
We're going to secure the border’ (Donald Trump, 2016) With reference to this example, discuss
the relationship between migration and insecurity...........................................................................4
How does nuclear proliferation pose a security threat?....................................................................7
What is Human Security? Discuss with reference to at least two examples?..................................13
How does insurgency threaten society?..........................................................................................14
Did the 2011 intervention in Libya increase security in the UK?......................................................17
Is gender important for the study of security?................................................................................17
What are the limitations to a state’s capacity to provide security? Discuss with reference to two
security issues..................................................................................................................................19
2017.....................................................................................................................................................20
Compare and contrast two security issues......................................................................................20
Does migration bring insecurity?.....................................................................................................21
To what extent are nuclear weapons a security threat?..................................................................21
How does insurgency affect security? Discuss with reference to at least two security sectors.......21
How does environmental change constitute a security threat?......................................................21
Do humanitarian interventions increase security? Discuss with reference to at least one example.
.........................................................................................................................................................24
Are conflict and security gendered?................................................................................................25
Is the state the only provider of security? Discuss with reference to at least one specific security
issue.................................................................................................................................................25
2016.....................................................................................................................................................25
‘Security is an essentially contested concept’ Discuss with reference to at least one specific
security issue...................................................................................................................................25
When is a humanitarian intervention legitimate and when does it constitute a security threat?...26
Does North Korea constitute a security threat?..............................................................................26
What security sectors are affected by terrorism?............................................................................26
Is the environment an urgent security issue? Please refer to relevant examples............................26
‘We must control who comes to our country’ (Theresa May 2015). Discuss...................................26
Discuss the role of gender in conflict and security...........................................................................27
Define and discuss two emerging security issues............................................................................27
2015.....................................................................................................................................................27
, Contemporary Security Issues: Exam Preparati on
Why is security often considered an ‘essentially contested concept’?............................................27
When and how should military force be used for humanitarian ends?...........................................27
Why does the West worry about currently non-nuclear states acquiring nuclear capabilities? With
reference to EITHER Iran OR North Korea, discuss whether anything can be done to prevent this
from happening...............................................................................................................................27
Is the world entering a ‘new age of terrorism’?...............................................................................27
What lessons should the West learn from Afghanistan (2001-present) about counterinsurgency?
.........................................................................................................................................................29
‘Human security is normatively attractive but analytically weak’. Discuss......................................29
Why is urbanisation a security issue?..............................................................................................29
With reference to EITHER energy security OR cyber security, discuss why securing infrastructures
is both important and difficult.........................................................................................................29
2014.....................................................................................................................................................29
How did the end of the Cold War affect the ways policy-makers viewed security?........................29
Why might humanitarian intervention sometimes cause more harm than good?..........................29
Why should the world be concerned about horizontal nuclear proliferation?................................29
Discuss the relative merits of ‘containing’ and ‘defeating’ terrorism. Which is preferable and why?
.........................................................................................................................................................29
Why is insurgency a threat to regional and global stability? Answer with reference to ONE case
study of insurgency..........................................................................................................................31
Should human security be considered separately from the security of states?...............................32
What are the security issues arising from increased human migration?.........................................33
With reference to EITHER energy security OR cyber security, discuss why the security of
infrastructures is important.............................................................................................................33
2013.....................................................................................................................................................33
“More free but less stable.” What do you think of this assessment by President Clinton of the
post-Cold War World?.....................................................................................................................33
Is it possible to use force for humanitarian ends?...........................................................................33
Has the global threat of terrorism receded since 9/11?..................................................................33
Should the West worry about the rise of China?.............................................................................33
Which represents a greater threat to international security the Indo-Pakistan conflict or Iranian
possession of nuclear weapons?.....................................................................................................33
Which war better demonstrates America’s military prowess: the 1991 Gulf War or the 2003 Iraq
War?................................................................................................................................................33
Can the West win in Afghanistan?...................................................................................................33
How does contemporary conflict threaten human security?..........................................................33
, Contemporary Security Issues: Exam Preparati on
2018
In your assessment, what is the most urgent security issue? Discuss
with reference to at least two security sectors.
environmental degradation
affects all security sectors: personal, food: wars; economic, community, food: destruction of
agriculture and habitable land + migration
already killing people:
o environmental degradation as a threat to individuals: Although there is a case to be
made that military threats in the 21st century are as apparent as ever, and maybe
even greater than during the Cold War, proponents of extending the reach of
security beyond national and military parameters contend that they are not the only
threats that face states, people and the world as a whole. Indeed, they never have
been. Throughout history people have been killed by things other than soldiers and
weapons, and states have been weakened or destroyed by things other than military
conflict. Ozone depletion, climate change and pollution – alongside other non-
military issues like the AIDS crisis and international narcotics trade – come into this
category.
o interstate resource wars: Simple-scarcity conflicts are explained and predicted by
general structural theories. These are the interstate resource wars we intuitively
expect when states rationally calculate their interests in a situation where there is a
fixed or shrinking pie of natural resources. In general, group-identity conflicts often
arise from the large-scale movements of populations that can be caused, in part, by
environmental scarcity. As different ethnic and cultural groups are propelled
together under stressful circumstances, we often see intergroup hostility with a
strong identity dynamic. The likelihood of insurgency is greatest when multiple
pressures at different levels in society interact to boost grievance and opportunity
simultaneously. Environmental scarcity can change both variables by contributing to
economic hardship and dislocation, by increasing intergroup segmentation, and by
weakening institutions such as the state.
o subnational violence: This subnational violence is not as conspicuous or dramatic as
interstate resource wars, but nonetheless it has serious implications for the security
interests of both the developed and developing worlds. It can overwhelm the
management capacity of institutions in developing countries, contributing to
praetorianism or even widespread social disintegration, as we have seen in Haiti.127
Countries under high internal stress can fragment as their states become enfeebled
and peripheral regions are seized by renegade authorities and warlords.
Governments of countries as different as the Philippines and Peru have, at times,
lost control over outer territories; although both these cases are complicated,
environmental stress has certainly contributed to this weakening of control.
slow pace of climate change:
o First, extinction itself is not a singular process. According to Claire Colebrook, the
Anthropocene forces us to confront different types (or ‘senses’) of human
extinction: the fact that humans will become extinct, the fact that humans cause
other species’ extinctions, and finally the fact of self-extinction, where we are
destroying that which make us human. A second, related problem for IR, reflects a
, Contemporary Security Issues: Exam Preparati on
more practical concern: mass extinction – via its monumental and miniscule
temporal and spatial scales – is foreign to human agency. The timeframe of the
Anthropocene is indeed nothing more than a blink in geologic time, but trying to
construct a political response for a cumulative series of events over the course of a
century, let alone a millennia, is a tall task indeed. This difficulty is compounded by
the uncertainty, unpredictability, and the inequality of climate change.
o not as obvious of a threat -> will the international community react in time?
prioritizing climate change as a security issue:
o free riders
o tragedy of the commons
‘we have some bad, bad people in this country that have to go out.
We're going to get them out. We're going to secure the border’
(Donald Trump, 2016) With reference to this example, discuss the
relationship between migration and insecurity.
anti-migration sentiment: taking our jobs, after 9/11: links to terrorism and crime -> Brexit
and Trump -> globalization is increasing salience of topic -> will look at non-economic threats
of migrations
social cohesion
o international migration processes call into question the cultural basis of a state’s
identity and provide incentives for states to take up more liberal and expansive
national identities. The challenge that migration ºows pose to unitary conceptions of
national identity has deep historical roots and continues to provoke political debate.
Many states have historically incorporated national, ethnic, or racial criteria into
their migration policies; examples include racial restrictions on immigrants to the
United States during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the favoring of
ethnic Germans (or Aussiedler) by Germany in its post–World War II immigration
policy, the “White Australia” policies that deªned Australian migration policies for
much of the twentieth century, and the automatic right to immigrate to Israel that is
granted to Jews in the 1950 Law of Return.6
o The literature on diasporas points to how the emergence of transnational
organizational structures, such as diaspora organizations, creates identities and
political loyalties that challenge conventional notions of citizenship. Gabriel Sheffer,
for example, notes, “The establishment of diaspora organizations and participation
in those organizations can create the potential for dual authority, and consequently
also for dual or divided loyalties or ambiguous loyalty vis-àvis host countries.
Development of such fragmented loyalties often results in conflicts between
diasporas and their host societies and governments.”70 Members of diaspora
groups are sometimes actively involved in the politics of their “home state.” Prime
examples are the political activities of Jews in the diaspora directed toward politics
in Israel or of Armenians vis-à-vis Armenia.71 Migrants and their descendents thus
form contested constituencies that can be mobilized by a variety of actors.
undermining control of borders/ sovereignty
o The ability to control who has the right to cross the borders of a state is a key
dimension of what Stephen Krasner refers to as a state’s “interdependence
sovereignty.”39 States have interests in controlling their territorial borders for a
Contents
2018.......................................................................................................................................................3
In your assessment, what is the most urgent security issue? Discuss with reference to at least two
security sectors..................................................................................................................................3
‘we have some bad, bad people in this country that have to go out. We're going to get them out.
We're going to secure the border’ (Donald Trump, 2016) With reference to this example, discuss
the relationship between migration and insecurity...........................................................................4
How does nuclear proliferation pose a security threat?....................................................................7
What is Human Security? Discuss with reference to at least two examples?..................................13
How does insurgency threaten society?..........................................................................................14
Did the 2011 intervention in Libya increase security in the UK?......................................................17
Is gender important for the study of security?................................................................................17
What are the limitations to a state’s capacity to provide security? Discuss with reference to two
security issues..................................................................................................................................19
2017.....................................................................................................................................................20
Compare and contrast two security issues......................................................................................20
Does migration bring insecurity?.....................................................................................................21
To what extent are nuclear weapons a security threat?..................................................................21
How does insurgency affect security? Discuss with reference to at least two security sectors.......21
How does environmental change constitute a security threat?......................................................21
Do humanitarian interventions increase security? Discuss with reference to at least one example.
.........................................................................................................................................................24
Are conflict and security gendered?................................................................................................25
Is the state the only provider of security? Discuss with reference to at least one specific security
issue.................................................................................................................................................25
2016.....................................................................................................................................................25
‘Security is an essentially contested concept’ Discuss with reference to at least one specific
security issue...................................................................................................................................25
When is a humanitarian intervention legitimate and when does it constitute a security threat?...26
Does North Korea constitute a security threat?..............................................................................26
What security sectors are affected by terrorism?............................................................................26
Is the environment an urgent security issue? Please refer to relevant examples............................26
‘We must control who comes to our country’ (Theresa May 2015). Discuss...................................26
Discuss the role of gender in conflict and security...........................................................................27
Define and discuss two emerging security issues............................................................................27
2015.....................................................................................................................................................27
, Contemporary Security Issues: Exam Preparati on
Why is security often considered an ‘essentially contested concept’?............................................27
When and how should military force be used for humanitarian ends?...........................................27
Why does the West worry about currently non-nuclear states acquiring nuclear capabilities? With
reference to EITHER Iran OR North Korea, discuss whether anything can be done to prevent this
from happening...............................................................................................................................27
Is the world entering a ‘new age of terrorism’?...............................................................................27
What lessons should the West learn from Afghanistan (2001-present) about counterinsurgency?
.........................................................................................................................................................29
‘Human security is normatively attractive but analytically weak’. Discuss......................................29
Why is urbanisation a security issue?..............................................................................................29
With reference to EITHER energy security OR cyber security, discuss why securing infrastructures
is both important and difficult.........................................................................................................29
2014.....................................................................................................................................................29
How did the end of the Cold War affect the ways policy-makers viewed security?........................29
Why might humanitarian intervention sometimes cause more harm than good?..........................29
Why should the world be concerned about horizontal nuclear proliferation?................................29
Discuss the relative merits of ‘containing’ and ‘defeating’ terrorism. Which is preferable and why?
.........................................................................................................................................................29
Why is insurgency a threat to regional and global stability? Answer with reference to ONE case
study of insurgency..........................................................................................................................31
Should human security be considered separately from the security of states?...............................32
What are the security issues arising from increased human migration?.........................................33
With reference to EITHER energy security OR cyber security, discuss why the security of
infrastructures is important.............................................................................................................33
2013.....................................................................................................................................................33
“More free but less stable.” What do you think of this assessment by President Clinton of the
post-Cold War World?.....................................................................................................................33
Is it possible to use force for humanitarian ends?...........................................................................33
Has the global threat of terrorism receded since 9/11?..................................................................33
Should the West worry about the rise of China?.............................................................................33
Which represents a greater threat to international security the Indo-Pakistan conflict or Iranian
possession of nuclear weapons?.....................................................................................................33
Which war better demonstrates America’s military prowess: the 1991 Gulf War or the 2003 Iraq
War?................................................................................................................................................33
Can the West win in Afghanistan?...................................................................................................33
How does contemporary conflict threaten human security?..........................................................33
, Contemporary Security Issues: Exam Preparati on
2018
In your assessment, what is the most urgent security issue? Discuss
with reference to at least two security sectors.
environmental degradation
affects all security sectors: personal, food: wars; economic, community, food: destruction of
agriculture and habitable land + migration
already killing people:
o environmental degradation as a threat to individuals: Although there is a case to be
made that military threats in the 21st century are as apparent as ever, and maybe
even greater than during the Cold War, proponents of extending the reach of
security beyond national and military parameters contend that they are not the only
threats that face states, people and the world as a whole. Indeed, they never have
been. Throughout history people have been killed by things other than soldiers and
weapons, and states have been weakened or destroyed by things other than military
conflict. Ozone depletion, climate change and pollution – alongside other non-
military issues like the AIDS crisis and international narcotics trade – come into this
category.
o interstate resource wars: Simple-scarcity conflicts are explained and predicted by
general structural theories. These are the interstate resource wars we intuitively
expect when states rationally calculate their interests in a situation where there is a
fixed or shrinking pie of natural resources. In general, group-identity conflicts often
arise from the large-scale movements of populations that can be caused, in part, by
environmental scarcity. As different ethnic and cultural groups are propelled
together under stressful circumstances, we often see intergroup hostility with a
strong identity dynamic. The likelihood of insurgency is greatest when multiple
pressures at different levels in society interact to boost grievance and opportunity
simultaneously. Environmental scarcity can change both variables by contributing to
economic hardship and dislocation, by increasing intergroup segmentation, and by
weakening institutions such as the state.
o subnational violence: This subnational violence is not as conspicuous or dramatic as
interstate resource wars, but nonetheless it has serious implications for the security
interests of both the developed and developing worlds. It can overwhelm the
management capacity of institutions in developing countries, contributing to
praetorianism or even widespread social disintegration, as we have seen in Haiti.127
Countries under high internal stress can fragment as their states become enfeebled
and peripheral regions are seized by renegade authorities and warlords.
Governments of countries as different as the Philippines and Peru have, at times,
lost control over outer territories; although both these cases are complicated,
environmental stress has certainly contributed to this weakening of control.
slow pace of climate change:
o First, extinction itself is not a singular process. According to Claire Colebrook, the
Anthropocene forces us to confront different types (or ‘senses’) of human
extinction: the fact that humans will become extinct, the fact that humans cause
other species’ extinctions, and finally the fact of self-extinction, where we are
destroying that which make us human. A second, related problem for IR, reflects a
, Contemporary Security Issues: Exam Preparati on
more practical concern: mass extinction – via its monumental and miniscule
temporal and spatial scales – is foreign to human agency. The timeframe of the
Anthropocene is indeed nothing more than a blink in geologic time, but trying to
construct a political response for a cumulative series of events over the course of a
century, let alone a millennia, is a tall task indeed. This difficulty is compounded by
the uncertainty, unpredictability, and the inequality of climate change.
o not as obvious of a threat -> will the international community react in time?
prioritizing climate change as a security issue:
o free riders
o tragedy of the commons
‘we have some bad, bad people in this country that have to go out.
We're going to get them out. We're going to secure the border’
(Donald Trump, 2016) With reference to this example, discuss the
relationship between migration and insecurity.
anti-migration sentiment: taking our jobs, after 9/11: links to terrorism and crime -> Brexit
and Trump -> globalization is increasing salience of topic -> will look at non-economic threats
of migrations
social cohesion
o international migration processes call into question the cultural basis of a state’s
identity and provide incentives for states to take up more liberal and expansive
national identities. The challenge that migration ºows pose to unitary conceptions of
national identity has deep historical roots and continues to provoke political debate.
Many states have historically incorporated national, ethnic, or racial criteria into
their migration policies; examples include racial restrictions on immigrants to the
United States during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the favoring of
ethnic Germans (or Aussiedler) by Germany in its post–World War II immigration
policy, the “White Australia” policies that deªned Australian migration policies for
much of the twentieth century, and the automatic right to immigrate to Israel that is
granted to Jews in the 1950 Law of Return.6
o The literature on diasporas points to how the emergence of transnational
organizational structures, such as diaspora organizations, creates identities and
political loyalties that challenge conventional notions of citizenship. Gabriel Sheffer,
for example, notes, “The establishment of diaspora organizations and participation
in those organizations can create the potential for dual authority, and consequently
also for dual or divided loyalties or ambiguous loyalty vis-àvis host countries.
Development of such fragmented loyalties often results in conflicts between
diasporas and their host societies and governments.”70 Members of diaspora
groups are sometimes actively involved in the politics of their “home state.” Prime
examples are the political activities of Jews in the diaspora directed toward politics
in Israel or of Armenians vis-à-vis Armenia.71 Migrants and their descendents thus
form contested constituencies that can be mobilized by a variety of actors.
undermining control of borders/ sovereignty
o The ability to control who has the right to cross the borders of a state is a key
dimension of what Stephen Krasner refers to as a state’s “interdependence
sovereignty.”39 States have interests in controlling their territorial borders for a
