New Global Dangers

Changing Dimensions of International Security

Overview

Despite growing concerns after September 11, 2001, over the global terrorist threat and the spread of weapons of mass destruction, international security no longer hinges only on arms control and the prevention of war. Nonmilitary concerns, including emerging infectious diseases, environmental degradation, demographic trends, and humanitarian catastrophes, also represent significant threats to global stability. In this book, leading analysts offer an overview of critical security dangers facing the world today.

The book looks first at the relationship between weapons and security, discussing such aspects of proliferation as "nuclear entrepreneurship" in Russia and the threat of biological warfare. It then examines nonmilitary security concerns, including resource scarcity, migration, HIV/AIDS in Africa, and why humanitarian assistance sometimes does more harm than good. Finally, it looks at the role of transnational actors, including terrorist groups, nongovernmental organizations, and the privatized military industry.

Michael E. Brown is Director of the Security Studies Program and the Center for Peace and Security Studies, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University.

Owen R. Coté, Jr., is Associate Director of the Security Studies Program at MIT and is editor of International Security.

Sean M. Lynn-Jones is a Research Associate at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs (BCSIA) at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, and is editor of International Security.

Steven E. Miller is editor-in-chief of International Security and Director of the International Security Program of BCSIA.

Praise for New Global Dangers:

“International Security has been remarkably consistent in demonstrating that academic excellence does not have to come at the expense of policy relevance. New Global Dangers confirms this essential quality, with cool and informed analysis on the most pressing issues of current policy.”

—Sir Lawrence Freedman, Professor of War Studies and Vice Principal (Research), King’s College London

“International Security has been the leader in scholarship on world politics after 9/11, as this collection shows. The topics covered are both varied and important, moving from traditional issues of nuclear weapons to new concerns such as terrorism to the less familiar areas of migration, AIDS, and sex ratios, and the treatments are uniformly excellent.  Useful in courses, this book can also be read with benefit by members of the interested public.”

—Robert Jervis, Adlai E. Stevenson Professor of International Politics, Columbia University

“Few texts are as comprehensive in exploring the major challenges confronting the international arena today. From terrorism and the threats posed by biological and chemical weapons to the growing issues of migration and HIV/AIDS to the rise of the privatized military industry, New Global Dangers is thought-provoking and a must read for experts as well as students.”

—Gale A. Mattox, Professor and Chair of the Political Science Department, United States Naval Academy