People, States, and Fear: An Agenda for International Security Studies in the Post-Cold War Era

barry buzan

The second edition of this book takes as its main theme the question of how states and societies pursue freedom from threat in an environment in which competitive relations are inescapable across the political, economic, military, societal and environmental landscapes. Throughout, attention is focused on the interplay of threats and vulnerabilities, policies of overemphasizing one or the other, and the existence of the types of contradictions which are endemic to ideas about security. The author argues that the concept of security is a useful way of approaching the study of international relations and that ideas about security can help frame an analysis of power and peace. The new edition has been revised and updated and takes a more positive, post-1989 tone. More emphasis is placed on the economic, societal and environmental aspects of security. The chapters on threat, the international political system and economic security have been rewritten and there is a new chapter on regional security. The book also includes new sections on developments in security concepts during the 1980s and on international society. An expanded discussion of the theory of the state and of weak and strong states is included.

Genres international relationspoliticspolitical sciencenonfictionhistoryphilosophy

393 pages, Paperback

First published January 1,1983

This edition

Format: 393 pages, Paperback
Published: January 1, 1991 by Lynne Rienner Pub
ISBN: 9781555872823
ASIN: 1555872824
Language: English

About the author

barry buzan

Barry Buzan is Emeritus Professor of International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science (formerly Montague Burton Professor), and honorary professor at Copenhagen and Jilin Universities. In 1998 he was elected a Fellow of the British Academy. He has written, co-authored or edited over twenty books, written or co-authored more than one hundred and thirty articles and chapters, and lectured, broadcast or presented papers in over twenty countries. Among his books are: People, States and Fear: The National Security Problem in International Relations (1983, revised 2nd edition 1991); The Logic of Anarchy: Neorealism to Structural Realism (1993, with Charles Jones and Richard Little); Security: A New Framework for Analysis (1998, with Ole Wæver and Jaap de Wilde); International Systems in World History: Remaking the Study of International Relations (2000, with Richard Little); Regions and Powers: The Structure of International Security (2003, with Ole Wæver); From International to World Society? English School Theory and the Social Structure of Globalisation (2004); The Evolution of International Security Studies (2009, with Lene Hansen) and Non-Western International Relations Theory (2010, co-edited with Amitav Acharya). Work in progress includes The Global Transformation: The 19th Century and the Making of Modern International Relations (2013, with George Lawson).