ABOUT THE ECPR STANDING GROUP ON SECURITY ISSUES

Security issues have long been a key area of interest to scholars of political science and international relations. Interest in security studies has broadened and intensified since the events of September 11, 2001, the commencement of a US led “global war on terrorism”, and the recalibration of national interests in light of these developments. At the same time, the European security environment and European security institutions are being transformed, with the development of a European Common Foreign and Security Policy, the expansion of NATO, and shifts in the transatlantic alliance.

The approach to the study of security that we seek to facilitate in creating a new Standing Group takes a broad view of security issues, in which “security” is conceived of as ranging from traditional state-centric security issues, to new transnational security threats, to broader issues of human security. As such, a multi-disciplinary focus is necessary for the analysis of the full range of security issues, and for the formulation of a comprehensive approach to the study of both the challenges to, and the sources of, security and stability. Our focus includes, but is not limited to, the following security challenges, their sources, and dynamics, as well as the responses to them by states, international and regional organizations, groups, individuals, and actors in civil society:
• Terrorism and Non-State Political Violence
• Internal Conflict and Civil War
• Ethnic/Self-Determination Conflicts
• State Failure and State Collapse
• Peacekeeping, Peacebuilding and Post-conflict Reconstruction
• Arms Proliferation and Weapons of Mass Destruction
• Evolution of Security Institutions
• ‘Rogue States’
• Environmental and other Resource-Related Conflict and Risks
• Organized Crime
• Migration, Border Issues and Border Control
• Human Security

Aims
• To create a forum of dialogue on security issues
• To ensure productive and sustained engagement among scholars from different disciplinary backgrounds, methodological persuasions, and approaches to the study of security
• To advance the study of security issues theoretically and methodologically
• To engage with the policy community at relevant international, European and national levels in ways that makes scholarly research policy relevant and creates opportunities for policy debates to be more academically informed

We seek to achieve this by
• Inviting scholars and practitioners in the field of security studies to join the group and give it substance, direction and credibility
• Holding regular conferences and other gatherings of scholars and policy makers within the framework of ECPR and beyond
• Encouraging collaboration among scholars and with policy makers on specific projects
• Facilitating scholarly outputs in the form of book reviews, journal articles, as well as contributions to edited volumes, and the production of high-quality research monographs in the context of the group’s own book series (to be created)
• Providing a framework for mentoring younger scholars and graduate students
• Facilitating communication among scholars in the field of security studies via an electronic list server