The twentieth century saw the emergence of the security state, and the state remains perhaps the primary institution through which security-related practices are given meaning and shape. Work in this stream focuses on the question of the state, security and the international system. It will include a focus on the role of powerful states in the international order, with a particular (though not exclusive) focus on the US, on geo-politics and on the question of development and the post-colonial state. There are many diverse arenas of state practice which are increasingly being shaped in relation to security concerns, and there is a need to understand these processes: how security issues are influencing the provision of international aid for example, or how they are shaping priorities in global health funding. There is also a need to consider the impact back of international security practices upon the domestic activities of states: the inadequate response by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to Hurricane Katrina, for example, was in part related to the privatisation model adopted by the US Department of Homeland Securities, diverting resources away from natural disaster management into counter-terrorism activity.

Staff in this area

Curtis, Dodge, Fagan, Kiely, Mabee, Owens, Reid-Henry, Saraswati, Saull