Security Studies Glossary

The absence of a central governing authority above states in the international system, a foundational assumption in realist security theory.

Bilateral or multilateral agreements to limit, reduce, or regulate the development, production, stockpiling, or deployment of weapons.

Conflict between parties of unequal strength in which the weaker side uses unconventional tactics to offset the stronger side's advantages.

A distribution of power among states such that no single state is dominant, maintained through alliances, arms buildups, and diplomacy.

An arrangement in which states agree to respond collectively to aggression against any member, treating an attack on one as an attack on all.

The use of threats or limited force to persuade an adversary to change a course of action already underway, as opposed to deterrence which prevents action.

A theoretical approach arguing that key aspects of international relations are socially constructed through shared ideas, norms, and identities rather than material factors alone.

Military, political, economic, and social actions taken to defeat an insurgency and address its root causes.

State-sponsored or state-directed computer network operations intended to disrupt, deny, degrade, or destroy information systems or critical infrastructure of an adversary.

A strategy of preventing adversary action by maintaining the credible threat of unacceptable retaliation.

The deliberate use of economic instruments such as sanctions, embargoes, and financial pressure to achieve foreign policy and security goals.

A state that has lost the ability to maintain a monopoly on the legitimate use of force, enforce laws, or deliver basic public services across its territory.

A people-centered approach to security focusing on the protection and empowerment of individuals across economic, food, health, environmental, personal, community, and political dimensions.

A strategy combining conventional military force, irregular tactics, cyber operations, disinformation, and economic pressure to achieve objectives below the threshold of conventional war.

The collection, analysis, and dissemination of information relevant to national security decision-making, encompassing signals, human, geospatial, and open-source intelligence.

A doctrine in which two nuclear-armed adversaries each possess sufficient second-strike capability to inflict unacceptable damage on the other, making nuclear war irrational.

Policies and treaties aimed at preventing the spread of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons to additional states or non-state actors.

The deployment of international military and civilian personnel to conflict zones to monitor ceasefires, protect civilians, and support peace processes, typically under UN mandate.

A major international relations theory emphasizing state self-interest, power politics, and the anarchic nature of the international system as the primary drivers of security behavior.

A global political commitment adopted at the 2005 UN World Summit asserting that the international community must protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity when their own state fails to do so.

The process by which an issue is discursively constructed as an existential threat, legitimizing the use of extraordinary measures beyond normal political procedures.

A group of states among which war has become unthinkable due to shared values, trust, and dense social interactions. Concept developed by Karl Deutsch.

A situation where one state's defensive measures are perceived as offensive threats by others, triggering reciprocal buildups that reduce security for all.

The principle that each state has supreme authority within its territory and is not subject to external interference, a foundational concept in international relations that R2P seeks to qualify.

The deliberate use or threat of violence against civilians to achieve political, ideological, or religious objectives through fear and intimidation.