International Relations and Security Studies

Overview

This unit builds on International Politics by exploring conceptual and theoretical debates in international relations and security studies. With a focus on traditional and nontraditional security problems in global politics, this unit develops students' critical analysis by applying a range of theories and conceptual frameworks to understand complex security issues such as terrorism, environmental security, human security, new wars, and traditional state/territorial security.

Learning outcomes

Teaching methods

Swinburne Online

Assessment

Content

• Traditional security threats: analysing the approaches to state security and security in a world of sovereign, territorial states, and the concepts and theoretical ideas that construct the notion of 'security'
• Non‐traditional security threats, such as terrorism, migration and asylum, humanitarian intervention, environmental and resource insecurity
• New approaches to understanding the widening of the security agenda and new forms of insecurity
• Critically assessing the relevance and merits of specific approaches for understanding the concept of security, implications for policy and global politics