Security Studies: A Reader

This reader is presented by Hughes (international politics and Japanese studies, U. of Warwick, UK) and Meng (politics, U. Malaysia Sabah) as "a comprehensive and sophisticated but user-friendly overview of the past, current and developing trends in Security Studies." The reader's 51 selections have been chosen in order to provide an understanding of theoretical and empirical debates in the Cold War period and after, an introduction to "past masters" and contemporary thinkers in the field, and examples of both theoretical and empirical research in the field. They have been thematically organized into sections concerned with the definition and scope of the field; the place of security studies within the theoretical constructs of classical realism and neorealism, liberalism and neoliberal institutionalism, and constructivism; specific traditional and nontraditional security issues, including nuclear weapons proliferation, the Revolution in Military Affairs, environmental degradation, migration, transnational crime, infectious diseases, and economic dislocation; structures, organizations, and actors and the frameworks in which they interact for determining global and regional security; and debates over the future shape of global security. Annotation c2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Christopher W. Hughes is Professor of International Politics and Japanese Studies, Department of Politics and International Studies, University of Warwick, UK.

Lai Yew Meng is Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations at the Centre for the Promotion of Knowledge and Language Learning (CPKLL), Universiti Malaysia Sabah.