SECURITY AS AN INDEPENDENT SCIENTIFIC DISCIPLINE - A contribution to a comprehensive security study to meet the requirements of the contemporary globalized world

A contribution to a comprehensive security study to meet the requirements of the contemporary globalized world

  • Orhan Dragaš International Security Institute

Abstract

327.56::351.88 351.74/.75

 

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37458/ssj.1.1.9

  Review Paper

The study of security, in all its aspects, traditionally faces a number of problems, from terminology and meaning to the definition and the corpus of knowledge. Only when we resolve these problems can we deliver a successful formulation of security science as an independent discipline. The “Security concept” is often subject to more scrutiny than the general ambit of security science, which would interpret this concept within its own framework.  There remains a lack of any unique and comprehensive definition of the Security concept, which tends to be viewed as an interaction with the security object.  We, attempt to define it through two questions: Security for whom? And Security based on which values?

The international reality at the beginning of the 21st century presented a challenge to the academic sector to redefine the dominant existing principles of the security concept.  This meant the need for the state to move aside as the long-standing predominant security controller and thus for academics to observe security as a general prerequisite for the functioning of any system, be it a state, database, business, environment or citizen, etc.

The field of ​​security is still dominantly studied within the context of some other academic discipline, principally social sciences, such as sociology and criminology.  However, there is a growing need to study security in the context of technological sciences, bearing in mind the increasing significance of security of information systems, databases, and so on. Research has shown that the security field already has sufficient categories (fields) that would constitute its unique “corpus of knowledge”, as an important prerequisite for qualifying security as an independent science.

We also suggest that this corpus of knowledge can be extended to other disciplines to make security studies yet more comprehensive, and also demonstrate elasticity to adapt, as an independent scientific discipline, to the demands of change and new times. This need has been particularly pronounced in the decades that followed the Cold War, in the period of dynamic economic, political, and technological globalization, where the security of individuals, social groups, business, and institutional systems, has become a dominant aspect in the functioning of modern society. In that sense, the establishment of security science as an independent discipline is necessary not only for the development of a theoretical model but also because of its wide practical application in modern, globalized world.

References

Baldwin, D.A. (1997). The Concept of Security. Review of International Studies. 23.

Brooks D.J. (2009). What is Security: Definition through knowledge categorization, Security Journal.

Buzan, B, Hansen L. (2009). The Evolution of International Security Studies. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

Buzan, B. (2007). People, States & Fear, Colchester, ECPR.

Criminology with Security, Retrieved March, 20, 2020, www.salford.ac.uk

English Oxford Living Dictionaries. Retrieved March, 20, 2020. www.oxforddictionaries.com

Gill M. (2012). Foreword for: Smith C.L., Brooks D.J. (2012). Security Science: The Theory and Practice of Security.

Identity Fraud. (2018). Fraud Enters a New Era of Complexity. Javelin Strategy and Research.

Interpol: Global Cybercrime Strategy, February 2017.

ISACA: State of Cyber Security Study, 2017.

Kaleta, P. (2017). Germany rejects creating European intelligence agency. Politico.

Lippmann, W. (1943).US Foreign Policy: Shield of the Republic.

Pres. Barack Obama: Statement by the President, Fairmont Hotel, San Jose, California, June 07, 2013. Retrieved March, 22, 2020. from: obamawhitehouse.archive.gov

Shiva, M. (2016). Americans feel the tensions between privacy and security concerns. Pew Research Centre.

Smith C, Brooks, D. (2012). Security Science: The Theory and Practise of Security.

Stampnitzky, L. (2015). Sociology: Security and insecurities in Security – Dialogue across disciplines. Cambridge University Press.

Walt, S.M. (1991). The Renaissance of Security Studies. International Studies Quarterly.

Published
2020-07-31