In international relations since the late 20th century, a regional power is a term used for a state that has power within a geographic region. States which wield unrivalled power and influence within a region of the world possess regional hegemony.
Reflectivism is a broad umbrella label, used primarily in International Relations theory, for a range of theoretical approaches which oppose rational-choice accounts of social phenomena and, perhaps, positivism more generally. The label was popularised by Robert Keohane in his presidential address to the International Studies Association in 1988. The address was entitled "International Institutions: Two Approaches", and contrasted two broad approaches to the study of international institutions. One was "rationalism", the other what Keohane referred to as "reflectivism". Rationalists — including realists, neo-realists, liberals, neo-liberals, and scholars using game-theoretic or expected-utility models — are theorists who adopt the broad theoretical and ontological commitments of rational-choice theory.
Securitization in international relations is the process of state actors transforming subjects into matters of "security": an extreme version of politicization that enables extraordinary means to be used in the name of security. Issues that become securitized do not necessarily represent issues that are essential to the objective survival of a state, but rather represent issues where someone was successful in constructing an issue into an existential problem.
The English School of international relations theory maintains that there is a 'society of states' at the international level, despite the condition of anarchy. The English school stands for the conviction that ideas, rather than simply material capabilities, shape the conduct of international politics, and therefore deserve analysis and critique. In this sense it is similar to constructivism, though the English School has its roots more in world history, international law and political theory, and is more open to normative approaches than is generally the case with constructivism.
The Copenhagen School is a term given to "schools" of theory originating in Copenhagen, Denmark. In at least four different scientific disciplines a theoretical approach originating in Copenhagen has been so influential that they have been dubbed "the Copenhagen School"
The Copenhagen School of security studies is a school of academic thought with its origins in international relations theorist Barry Buzan's book People, States and Fear: The National Security Problem in International Relations, first published in 1983. The Copenhagen School places particular emphasis on the non-military aspects of security, representing a shift away from traditional security studies. Theorists associated with the school include Barry Buzan, Ole Wæver and Jaap de Wilde. Many of the school's members worked at the Copenhagen Peace Research Institute. A prominent critic of the Copenhagen School is Bill McSweeney.
The Copenhagen Peace Research Institute (COPRI) was a Danish research institute established in 1985 by the Danish Parliament. Its aim was to support and strengthen multidisciplinary research on peace and security. Established as an independent institute, in 1996 it became a government research institute under the Ministry of Research and Information Technology. In January 2003, COPRI was merged into the Danish Institute for International Studies.
Thomas Diez is a German professor of Political Science and International Relations at the Institute for Political Science, University of Tübingen. He was formerly Professor of International Relations Theory in the Department of Political Science and International Studies at the University of Birmingham, where he was Head of Department from 2005-2008. Diez earned his PhD at the University of Mannheim. He was formerly a Research Fellow at the Copenhagen Peace Research Institute where he worked with Barry Buzan and Ole Waever. He studies international relations theory, European integration and conflict transformation and is best known for his contributions to the debate on the European Union's normative power. Books he has edited or co-edited include The EU and the Cyprus Conflict: Modern Conflict, Postmodern Union, European Integration Theory and The European Union and Border Conflicts, Cyprus: A Conflict at the Crossroads and An Introduction to International Relations Theory: Perspectives and Themes.
Jacobus Hubertus "Jaap" de Wilde is a Professor of International Relations and Security Studies at the University of Groningen since 2007. He headed the department of International Relations between 2008 and 2012. From 2001 to 2007 he was professor in European Security Studies at the Department of Political Sciences, VU University Amsterdam, and from 1995–2007 he was senior research fellow in European Studies and IR Theory at the Centre for European Studies (CES), University of Twente. From 1993–1995 he worked at the Copenhagen Peace Research Institute (COPRI).
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, military sciences, and criminology.
The Paris School is a school within the academic discipline security studies. The academic journal Cultures et Conflits is particularly associated with the school as is the academic Didier Bigo, Anastassia Tsoukala, Ayse Ceyhan and Elspeth Guild. The Paris School draw particular inspiration from the writings of the post-modernist Michel Foucault and Pierre Bourdieu.
Security: A New Framework for Analysis is a book by Barry Buzan, Ole Wæver and Jaap de Wilde. It is considered to be the leading text outlining the views of the Copenhagen School of Security Studies. The work addresses two important conceptual developments: Buzan's notion of sectoral analysis and Ole Wæver's concept of 'securitization'. The book argues for an intersubjective understanding of security and that our understanding of security should be widened to include issues such as environmental security and threats to identity.
Securitization is the financial practice of pooling various types of contractual debt such as residential mortgages, commercial mortgages, auto loans or credit card debt obligations and selling their related cash flows to third party investors as securities, which may be described as bonds, pass-through securities, or collateralized debt obligations (CDOs). Investors are repaid from the principal and interest cash flows collected from the underlying debt and redistributed through the capital structure of the new financing. Securities backed by mortgage receivables are called mortgage-backed securities (MBS), while those backed by other types of receivables are asset-backed securities (ABS).
Post-structural realism is the self-described position of Ole Waever, one of the leading figures in the Copenhagen School of security studies. The position incorporates elements of post-structuralism and political realism.
Regions and Powers: The Structure of International Security is a 2003 book by Barry Buzan and Ole Waever. The book discusses the Copenhagen School's approach to sectoral security.
Societal security is a concept developed by the Copenhagen School of security studies that refers to 'the ability of a society to persist in its essential character under changing conditions and possible or actual threats'.
The European Security Order Recast: Scenarios for the Post-Cold War Era was a 1990 international relations book by Barry Buzan, Morten Kelstrup, Pierre Lemaitre, Elzbieta Tromer and Ole Waever. The book focused on structural transformations in European security at the end of the Cold War and argues that concerns about traditional military security would decrease and that the issue of societal security would become more important in the future. The work is considered to be belong to the Copenhagen School of security studies.
Regional security complex theory (RSCT) is a theory of international relations developed by Barry Buzan and Ole Wæver and advanced in their 2003 work Regions and Powers: The Structure of International Security. Buzan and Wæver are perhaps best known as the key figures behind the influential Copenhagen School of security studies, in which the main principle is examining security as a social construct.
