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The Cycle Of Insecurity: Reassessing The Security Dilemma As A Conflict Analysis Tool, David Mitchell
The Cycle Of Insecurity: Reassessing The Security Dilemma As A Conflict Analysis Tool, David Mitchell
Peace and Conflict Studies
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 …
Capturing The Flag: The Struggle For National Identity In Nonviolent Revolutions, Landon E. Hancock, Anuj Gurung
Capturing The Flag: The Struggle For National Identity In Nonviolent Revolutions, Landon E. Hancock, Anuj Gurung
Peace and Conflict Studies
One goal of nonviolent resistance movements is to legitimize themselves in opposition to governments by undermining the latter’s leadership. We argue nonviolent groups that can ‘own’ the national identity are more likely to succeed, as they can assert the legitimacy of their vision for the state, and persuade other sectors of society to support their cause. Our argument is supported by the Arab Spring uprisings, where those resistance movements that were able to identify and claim ownership over a homogeneous national identity were more successful in pressing their claims. We view national identity as a component of symbolic power in …