STV2230 ¨C International Security Policy

Course content

This course aims to introduce the students to security policy and strategic thinking and to give a thorough familiarity with the key concepts within this field. It combines theory and case studies and also covers the main actors and institutions in security governance (NATO, UN, US).?

The course opens with a theoretical focus on the scope of security studies and on approaches to its study.?

The scope then narrows to military security issues (security and defense proper), discussing the two types of conflicts, conventional and asymmetric.?

It seeks to ¡®streamline¡¯ a theoretically focused approach to the empirical material, revisiting theory towards the end of the course.?

It also has a case on African conflicts and one on Norwegian security policy.?

Learning outcome

Knowledge

The students will:

• become acquainted with international security and defence policy in empirical terms
• become acquainted with the concept of strategy and strategic studies, as well as with theories of the study of security policy
• become acquainted with the current debates in this field of scholarship

Skills

The students will:

• be able to analyse problems of security in international politics strategically
• be able to apply theories of security policy to empirical issues
• be able to understand the dynamics of current inter-state rivalry as well as global threats and risks
• be able to structure academ