Security Studies

Security is freedom from, or resilience against, potential harm (or other unwanted coercive change) from external forces. Beneficiaries (technically referents) of security may be persons and social groups, objects and institutions, ecosystems, and any other entity or phenomenon vulnerable to unwanted change by its environment.

Security studies, also known as International security studies, is traditionally held to be an academic sub-field of the wider discipline of international relations. The field rapidly developed within International Relations during the Cold War, and examples from the era can be considered to include the academic works of mid-20th century Realist political scientists such as Thomas Schelling and Henry Kissinger, whose works focused primarily on nuclear deterrence. While the field is mostly contained within Political Science and Public Policy programs, it is increasingly common to take an interdisciplinary approach that incorporates knowledge from the fields of History, Geography (stressing classical geopolitics), military sciences, and criminology.