The Challenges of Central European Security: Critical Insights
The Challenges of Central European Security: Critical Insights
Author(s): Tamás Csíki, Jan Daniel, Ľubomír Lupták, Diāna Potjomkina, Richard Turcsányi, Václav Walach
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences, Politics, History, Social Sciences, Sociology, Political history, Government/Political systems, International relations/trade, Security and defense, Studies in violence and power, Peace and Conflict Studies
Published by: Masarykova univerzita nakladatelství
Keywords: Central European Security Challenges; Internal and External Threats; USA; Roma minorities; Hungary;
Summary/Abstract: This book employs various theories of contemporary security studies to explore some of the most important and most common security issues in Central Europe at this time. Individual chapters of the book adhere mainly to European branches of critical and constructivist security studies,through which they look at some of the salient topics of Central European security politics. The distinction between internal and external security issues is employed throughout the book for analytical purposes. Under this framework, alliance building, security guarantees, “special relationships,” the relational politics of identity, and relations with major powers – documented in the book on the case of Latvia’s relations with United States – are examples of external security issues. Various pressing domestic security challenges, illustrated on the case of Hungarian far-right movements and their activities towards the Roma minority, are examples of internal security issues.
- E-ISBN-13: 978-80-210-7772-0
- Page Count: 111
- Publication Year: 2015
- Language: English
Central European Security Challenges: Internal and External Threats to the Region through the Lenses of Contemporary Security Theories
Central European Security Challenges: Internal and External Threats to the Region through the Lenses of Contemporary Security Theories
(Central European Security Challenges: Internal and External Threats to the Region through the Lenses of Contemporary Security Theories)
- Author(s):Richard Turcsányi, Jan Daniel
- Language:English
- Subject(s):International relations/trade, Security and defense, Peace and Conflict Studies
- Page Range:1-14
- No. of Pages:14
- Keywords:Central European Security Challenges; Internal and External Threats;
- Summary/Abstract:It would be awkward to observe an emotional discussion between Greeks and Spaniards on the meaning of “Southern Europe” or between Dutch and French on the borders of “Western Europe,” Yet the borders and meaning of “Central Europe” have been extremely attractive topics for many intellectuals – and not just from the region itself (see e.g. Sinnhuber 1954; Ash 2001; Drulák – Šabič 2012). Conceptual uncertainties are present on an even larger scale with the second crucial concept of this book – security – which is widely described as essentially “contested” and has brought endless discussions in the fields of security studies, international relations, and political science (see among many others Baldwin 1997; Huysmans 1998; Wolfers 1952).
Fully Appreciated with Time? The Role of the United States of America in Latvia’s Security Discourse
Fully Appreciated with Time? The Role of the United States of America in Latvia’s Security Discourse
(Fully Appreciated with Time? The Role of the United States of America in Latvia’s Security Discourse)
- Author(s):Diāna Potjomkina
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Political history, International relations/trade, Security and defense, Peace and Conflict Studies
- Page Range:15-31
- No. of Pages:17
- Keywords:USA; Constructivism; Post-structuralism; Latvia; Security policy;
- Summary/Abstract:What has been the role of the United States of America in Latvia’s security discourse? According to the official, and academic, interpretation, it is first and foremost a “strategic partnership,” a highly trustworthy guarantee of Latvia’s national independence. However, a more in-depth analysis allows us to deconstruct this concept of partnership and to elucidate alternatives, showing the broad spectrum of discourses and sub-discourses which underlie Latvian-American relations. This article shows how the narrow, “traditionally” military-strategic concept of security relations with the US has been defended and contested by different official and non-official actors in Latvia, and what changes (if any) have appeared over the years.
Securitizing the Roma of Hungary
Securitizing the Roma of Hungary
(Securitizing the Roma of Hungary)
- Author(s):Tamás Csíki
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Security and defense, Studies in violence and power, Inter-Ethnic Relations, Ethnic Minorities Studies
- Page Range:32-51
- No. of Pages:20
- Keywords:Ethnic minorities; Roma; Hungary;
- Summary/Abstract:The intensifying right-wing extremism – through popular movements, political parties, and paramilitary organizations – seen in Central Europe has been subject to a great deal of increased scrutiny in recent years (Abbas et al. 2011, Langenbacher and Schellenberg 2011, Schiedel 2011, Goodwin et al. 2012, Mammone et al. 2012, Mareš 2012, Melzer and Serafin 2013). Within this wider framework of analysis, which also includes the examination of nationalist, populist, anti-Semitic, and anti-immigration elements, extremist anti-Roma tendencies and practices in Central Europe have also become more and more studied. However, comparative studies in a systematic manner that could locate and identify such practices, and also explain the logic of similar events and tendencies in Central European countries, are still sorely missing. Some analyses have already highlighted repeated cases of violence and examples of attempts at securitizing the relations of Roma (minority) and non-Roma (majority) communities (Political Capital 2010:56–61, ERRC 2012 a, Bodnárová and Vicenová 2013).
Security! How Do You Study It? An Introduction into Critical Methodologies and Research Methods
Security! How Do You Study It? An Introduction into Critical Methodologies and Research Methods
(Security! How Do You Study It? An Introduction into Critical Methodologies and Research Methods)
- Author(s):Václav Walach, Ľubomír Lupták
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Security and defense, Methodology and research technology
- Page Range:52-72
- No. of Pages:21
- Keywords:Security; Methodologies and Research Methods; critical security studies;
- Summary/Abstract:It has been over fifteen years since Jef Huysmans (1998) posed the question essential for every student of security: “Security! What do you mean?” Several theoretical orientations have crystallized in response, confirming Huysmans’s observation that the “exploration of the meaning of security is the security studies agenda itself” (1998: 223). There were few analyses dividing critical security studies into schools of thought (Wæver 2004; Taureck 2006) as well as a synthesis attempting to “go beyond the artificial boundaries in order to combine a variety of critical approaches under a common framework without, nonetheless, reducing one approach to another” (C.A.S.E. Collective 2006: 451). And no matter how many new security issues are identified (Burgess 2010), the meaning of security remains contested, as distinctive and mutually exclusive logics of security are theorized.
Reference
Reference
(Reference)
- Author(s):Author Not Specified
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Editorial
- Page Range:73-99
- No. of Pages:27
Index
Index
(Index)
- Author(s):Author Not Specified
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Editorial
- Page Range:100-101
- No. of Pages:2