Seeking Security in an Insecure World

by Dan Caldwell, Robert E. Williams Jr.

This comprehensive yet concise introduction to international security explores the constantly changing conditions that lead to an insecure world. During the Cold War, the Soviet-American nuclear rivalry generated insecurity. Since then, state-based nuclear threats have diminished while the threat of non-state actors wielding weapons of mass destruction has increased. A global surge in mass-casualty terrorism, persistent and costly intrastate wars, and environmental threats have reshaped our thinking about security threats and how best to respond to them.

Now in a thoroughly updated edition, the text considers today's security agenda, including the threat posed by the spread of infectious disease, drug trafficking and competition for petroleum, ethnic rebellions, transnational criminal and terrorist organizations, and wars in cyberspace and on the ground against elusive individuals and shadowy organizations rather than states. The authors show, in other words, how the quest for security has become far more salient than it was during the euphoric days of the post-Cold War period and far more complicated than it was during the Cold War as threats are increasingly transnational, interconnected, and stateless.

Seeking Security in an Insecure World offers a broad overview of both traditional and "new" conceptions of security. With clear and lively prose, compelling examples, and solid scholarship, it engages both students of international relations and general readers who wish to gain a better understanding of what security means today and how it can best be achieved.

Genres: Politics

330 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[mono · Rating 3 out of 5]

α - Caught my eye in the library.

Ω - Only deals with security through the perspective of the US government. Quite shallow in content and analysis. I think the "additional references" as sources of information to popular movies was silly.

The information given seems solid - which is why I don't want to be too hard on the text, as it is a textbook. As a consequence the book is a bit drab and dry.

There are a couple omissions that are perhaps too recent to be included that I wanted to bring up. The first is the rising cost of medical care - that, if it continues, by 2040 will usurp the entire GDP of the US. The second is the intelligence community's leaks - the Shadow Broker's leaks earlier this year would've been to recent, but I would think Snowden or even something older like Watergate warrant at least a footnote.

[Steve Rouse · Rating 5 out of 5]

This should be the agenda for discussion of foreign policy issues.

In every recent Presidential election season, dialogue and discussion about candidates and parties often focused on trivia rather than honestly addressing serious issues. As we are well into the 2012 election season, this book should set the agenda for discussion, dialogue, and debate on foreign policy topics. Caldwell and Williams clearly lay out the various sources of threat and insecurity facing our world and specifically facing America. However, the book never drops to the level of fear-mongering of inducing helpless dread. Instead, interwoven in the discussions of realistic concerns are level-headed analyses of the policy approaches that have been used and could be used to address the challenges that we face.

[Susy · Rating 2 out of 5]

An excellent presentation of the 21st century security issues, but it read like a textbook (which it was. . .my daughter's) and is slightly dated. On the latter point, many of the issues of security presented are still very relevant today and even more interesting given the Arab Spring. Glad I read it, but it was a tough read.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you want to have a good basic understanding of the security concerns of the 21st century this the book to read. Covers just about everything you'd want to know without getting too technical or jargonistic.