International Security Studies

International mostly means something (a company, language, or organization) involving more than a single country. The term international as a word means involvement of, interaction between or encompassing more than one nation, or generally beyond national boundaries. For example, international law, which is applied by more than one country and usually everywhere on Earth, and international language which is a language spoken by residents of more than one country.

Security is freedom from, or resilience against, potential harm (or other unwanted coercive change) from external forces. Beneficiaries (technically referents) of security may be persons and social groups, objects and institutions, ecosystems, and any other entity or phenomenon vulnerable to unwanted change by its environment.

Security studies, also known as International security studies, is traditionally held to be an academic sub-field of the wider discipline of international relations. The field rapidly developed within International Relations during the Cold War, and examples from the era can be considered to include the academic works of mid-20th century Realist political scientists such as Thomas Schelling and Henry Kissinger, whose works focused primarily on nuclear deterrence. While the field is mostly contained within Political Science and Public Policy programs, it is increasingly common to take an interdisciplinary approach that incorporates knowledge from the fields of History, Geography (stressing classical geopolitics), military sciences, and criminology.