essay “Is the state still the dominant actor in international security? If so, how does it maintain its dominance? If not, who are the successful competitors of the state?”

The research paper is based on rigorous academic research on a topic assigned in session
5. The assigned topic will be broadly formulated and there will be space for narrowing it down to suit your
specific interests. The paper is to be 3000-4000 words long (excluding literature and references). Typically, it
will be structured as academic papers usually are: introduction outlining the research question, relevance and
approach; theory / literature review and methodology section; empirical section; conclusion; references.
Harvard style of referencing is fine. Excellent papers will include both a strong theory section and a strong
empirical section. I will also accept theoretical / conceptual papers without extensive empirical sections but
empirical illustrations of theoretical arguments are welcome”Is the state still the dominant actor in international security? If so, how does it maintain its dominance? If not, who are the successful competitors of the state?”
Please include at least 10 references in your reference list – of these, at least 5 should be from the reading list.Modern society of sovereign states and its alternatives
Ruggie, J.G. (1993): “Territoriality and Beyond: Problematizing Modernity in
International Relations” in International Organization, 47(1): 139-174
Wendt, A (1992): “Anarchy is What States Make of It: The Social Construction of
Power Politics” in International Organization, 46(2): 391-425
Optional: Spruyt, H. (1994): “Institutional Selection in International Relations:
State Anarchy as Order” in International Organization, 48(4): 527-557
Week 3 (Feb 17) Security and alliances: a neorealist perspective
Walt, S. M. (1987): The Origins of Alliances. Ithaca, NY: Cornell UP, chs 1, 2, 8
Mearsheimer, J. (1994): “The False Promise of International Institutions” in
International Security 19(3): 5-49
Week 4 (Feb 24) Securitization and security communities: a constructivist perspective
Buzan, B., Waever,O. and de Wilde, J. (1998): Security: A new framework for
analysis. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, pp. 1-49
Adler, E. and Barnett, M. (1998, eds.): Security Communities. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, chs 1 and 2
Week 5 (Mar 3) Security and actorness
Allison, G. T. (1969): “Conceptual Models and the Cuban Missile Crisis” in American
Political Science Review, 63 (3), pp. 689-718
Putnam, R. (1998): ”Diplomacy and Domestic Politics: The Logic of Two-Level
Games”, International Organization, 42, pp. 427-460
Vershinin, A. (2021): “Feeding the bear: A closer look at Russian army logistics and
the fait accompli” in War on the Rocks, Nov 23, 2021
(https://warontherocks.com/2021/11/feeding-the-bear-a-closer-look-at-russian-
army-logistics/)
Optional:
Yarhi-Milo, K. (2023): “Why Smart Leaders Do Stupid Things: Is Foreign Policy
Rational?”, Foreign Affairs, Nov/Dec 2023
Week 6 (Mar 10) Identities, images and international security
Ringmar, E. (1996): Identity, Interest and Action: A Cultural Explanation of
Sweden’s Intervention in the Thirty Years War. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, pp. 1-91
Bátora, J. (2006): “Public Diplomacy Between Home and Abroad: Norway and
Canada” in The Hague Journal of Diplomacy, 1(1): 53-80
Week 7 (Mar 17) The US and global security: Four approaches to great power competition
Mead, W. R. (2002): Special Providence. American Foreign Policy and How it Changed
the World. New York: Routledge, chs 2-8
Fukuyama, F. (2022): “A Country of Their Own: Liberalism Needs the Nation” in
Foreign Affairs, May – June 2022
Sullivan, J. (2023): “The Sources of American Power: A Foreign Policy for a
Changed World”, Foreign Affairs, Nov/Dec 2023
Week 8 (Mar 24) The EU and global security: Between liberal practices and geopolitics
Garton Ash, T. (2023): “Postimperial Empire: How the War in Ukraine Is
Transforming Europe” in Foreign Affairs, May/June 2023
Bátora, J., Osland, K., Qehaja, F. and Stojanovic, S. (2021): “Spaces and Institutional
Logics in Post-Conflict Settings of Mitrovica”, Journal of Intervention and
Statebuilding, 15(1): 114-131
Borrell, J. (2023): “Europe In The Interregnum: Our Geopolitical Awakening After
Ukraine”, Geopolitique, 2023 (https://geopolitique.eu/en/articles/europe-in-the-
interregnum-our-geopolitical-awakening-after-ukraine/)
Optional:
Leonard, M. and Shapiro, J. (2020): “Sovereign Europe, dangerous world: Five
agendas to protect Europe’s capacity to act” European Council on Foreign
Relations, December 2020 (https://ecfr.eu/publication/sovereign-europe-
dangerous-world-five-agendas-to-protect-europes-capacity-to-act/)
Week 9 (Mar 31) Post-Westphalian security dynamics 1: The age of unpeace
Leonard, M. (2021): The Age of Unpeace: How Connectivity Causes Conflict. London:
Penguin
Week 10 (Apr 7) Post-Westphalian security dynamics 2: Private military companies
Singer, P. (2001): Corporate Warriors: The Rise of the Privatized Military Industry
and Its Ramifications for International Security” in International Security, 26(3):
186-220
Jones, S.G. et al (2021): Russia’s Corporate Soldiers: The Global Expansion of
Russia’s Private Military Companies. Washington, DC: CSIS (108 pages)
Optional:
Bátora, J. (2024): “Interstitial emergence of national defence entrepreneurial firms
and re-configuration of the state as a defence actor: the case of Sweden’s Vesper
Group”, European Security, 33 (1)
Week 11 (Apr 14) Post-Westphalian security dynamics 3: Cybersecurity and cyber-war
Maurer, T. (2018): Cyber Mercenaries: The State, Hackers and Power. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, pp. 1-68, 123-137
Greenberg, A. (2017): “How an entire nation became Russia’s test lab for
cyberwar“, Wired, June 20, 2017 (https://www.wired.com/story/russian-hackers-
attack-ukraine)
Williams, N. (2022): “Insights for marine (and beyond) force design from the Russo
– Ukrainian War” in War on the Rocks, March 31, 2022
(https://warontherocks.com/2022/03/insights-for-marine-and-beyond-force-
design-from-the-russo-ukrainian-war/)
Week 12 (Apr 25 –
make up class)
Post-Westphalian security dynamics 4: Regional defense integration clusters
Iso-Markku, T. et al (2018): A Stronger North? Nordic cooperation in foreign and
security policy in a new security environment. Helsinki: FIIA
Bátora, J. (2021): “Dynamics of Differentiated Integration in EU Defense:
Organizational Field Formation and Segmentation”, European Foreign Affairs
Review, Vol. 26(3): 63-86
Bildt, C. (2022): “NATO’s Nordic Expansion: Adding Finland and Sweden Will
Transform European Security”, Foreign Affairs, April 26, 2022
Ålander, M. (2023): “Incomplete Without Sweden: Finland’s NATO Accession and
the Future of ‘Nord-NATO’”, Lawfare, April 3, 2023
(https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/incomplete-without-sweden-finlands-
nato-accession-and-future-nord-nato)