In recent years, many countries in the world have the problem of security such as domestic terrorism, transnational terrorism, political protest, religion segregation and so on. Therefore, it became something that every country could not ignore as an international problem. “Security studies may be defined as the study of threat, use and control of military force” (Walt and Stephen, 1991). On the other hand, “The study of security in the global context is a sub-discipline of the wider subject usually still referred to as International Relations” (Hough, 2008). This essay will talk about the developments of the security studies and the meanings of different types of security, the national security problem in International Relations.
Security studies are paired together with nuclear weapon and the cold war. Security studies developed rapidly during the cold war. The end of the cold war is the most important event in International politics. There are three things have obviously changed after the end of the cold war. Firstly, military power has declined in importance because the military threats are less than before. Secondly, the way people think about International Relations and national security. It created from the changed circumstances of the post-cold war world. Thirdly, there is a need of a broader perspective of national security, including domestic problems on the national security. The study of national security has been widely spread during the Cold war than it had been before. If the security studies has been created before the First and Second World Wars period of time, the prevention of war might be able to have more efficient. Collective security were the most important ways to promote international peace and security. Therefore tended to emphasize international law and encourage the organization rather than military force. The study of military force as an instrument of statecraft for promoting national security tended to be neglected. All of this changed with the start of the World War two when the National Security became a central concern of International Relations. Although the national security was treated within the broader framework of international relations and foreign policy, the security of the nation was ignored with national security problems continually at the center of public and governmental interest. It is impossible to let the civilians less interest after the World War Two period of time. On the other hand, it is the most exciting period of time in the entire history of the security studies. A lot of courses about the international politics and foreign policy were added to the college in this period of time. Security was not viewed as the primary goal of all states but rather as one of the relative importance of which varied from one state to another and from one historical context to another. Security was viewed as a goal to be pursued by both non-military and military techniques. Awareness of the security often led to emphasis on caution and prudence with respect to military policy and attention was devoted to the relationship between national security and domestic affairs, such as the economy, civil liberties, and democratic political processes of statecraft.