Re-thinking “The Security Dilemma”: A New Perspective in Security Studies

Abstract

This article will discuss the concept of “security dilemma”, which was conceptualized sixty years ago, but has been enriched and recently re-thought, in three periods. In the first period, the concept was formulated based on the security understanding dominating the Cold War era. The second period is the one during which the concept was enriched in conjunction with emerging problems in world politics and the broadened security understanding in the discipline of International Relations. In the last period, the concept was completely re-thought and fed by new ideas. Among these new ideas, the concept of “trust” was offered as a way of transcending security dilemmas. The re-generated version of “security dilemma” presents a new perspective to understand, study, and re-think what security and insecurity mean in world politics.

Keywords

Security Dilemma, Logics of Insecurity, Trust, Fear, Order.

Citation

Bilgiç, Ali, “Re-thinking “The Security Dilemma”: A New Perspective in Security Studies”, International Relations, Volume 8, Issue 29 (Spring 2011), pp. 123-142.

Affiliations

• Ali Bilgiç, Dr., Bilkent University, International Relations