The cycle of insecurity: reassessing the security dilemma as a conflict analysis tool
Citation:
Mitchell, D., The cycle of insecurity: reassessing the security dilemma as a conflict analysis tool, Peace and Conflict Studies, 26, 2, 2019, 1 - 25Download Item:
The Cycle of Insecurity PCS.pdf (Published (author's copy) - Peer Reviewed) 265.9Kb
Abstract:
This article critically reassesses one of the classic ideas in International Relations, the security
dilemma. It argues that the key insight of security dilemma theory has been obscured – by
reductionist debates on single causes of conflict, inconclusive applications, and definitional
disputes – and that the security dilemma’s enduring utility is as a model of the relational
dynamic inherent in all conflict, the cycle of insecurity. Through a reappraisal of the literature,
the article elucidates three essential dimensions of the cycle: an environment of structural
uncertainty; interdependent collective identities; and an escalating and self-perpetuating
dynamic. The power and validity of this threefold framework is then demonstrated by an
analysis of the conflict in Northern Ireland, a hitherto unexplored case study in the security
dilemma literature. The article shows how this construction of the security dilemma offers a
convincing, comprehensive and flexible conflict analysis tool which is of both scholarly and
practical utility.
Author's Homepage:
http://people.tcd.ie/damitcheDescription:
PUBLISHED
Author: Mitchell, David
Type of material:
Journal ArticleCollections:
Series/Report no:
Peace and Conflict Studies;26;
2;
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Full text availableKeywords:
Security dilemma, Northern Ireland, InsecurityLicences: