POLIS 2133 - Security, Justice and Rights

This course seeks to bring together two important areas in the study of international politics: global justice and security. Security is a core concern for states and individuals, but the pursuit of security, maybe especially in the international arena, raises a number of important and difficult questions both at the theoretical and empirical level. This course covers a number of approaches to the study of security in International Relations (e.g. realism, liberalism and feminism), it explores what we mean by security (whose security? And security from what?), it seeks to identify new issues on the global security agenda (e.g. human security, the environment) and to ask questions about what is permissible or desirable to do in the pursuit of security (can it ever be right to torture somebody? And if so, when? Who is a terrorist? Is there a trade off between rights and security? And between security and justice? And how do we go about answering these questions?). In exploring these theoretical issues and answering these questions about right and wrong we will also be learning about the dynamics of international politics and the realities of our globalised world.