1. Middle Powers, Securitisation and Gendering of Foreign Policy.
- Author
-
Bergman Rosamond, Annika and Moore, Thomas
- Subjects
- *
INTERNATIONAL security , *POLITICAL violence , *INTERNATIONAL relations - Abstract
Recent debates about international security have overwhelmingly focussed on how the content of security needs to be widened to account for the location of security in non-military settings (Weaver et al, 1998; Paris, 2001; Newman, 2001; Dunne and Wheeler, 2004). Human security has frequently been the focal point of such âsecuritisationâ debates. For many commentators, this involves a shift in the âreferent objectâ of security away from the state to individuals and, in so doing, challenges the centrality of deeply embedded âstatistâ conceptions of political violence. This paper seeks to add to this debate by offering a critique of the manner in which security is commonly operationalised by foreign policy actors within so called âmiddle powersâ with particular emphasis being placed upon Australia and Sweden. The two countries have considerable economic and military clout and their self identities are those of âgood international citizensâ (GIC) or so called âforces for goodâ. However, as the paper will demonstrate, their conceptions of what this means in the security field vary a great deal. A key argument developed here is that Middle powers should not be regarded as inherently benign forces for good, but as actors which both enable and disable certain normative agendas within the international security structure. Paying attention to the gendering of security policy within these states allows for a critical evaluation of the way in which âsoft securityâ functions as a highly strategic narrative of foreign policy actors. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2008