Germans, Greeks, and Genealogies Reconciling the Old and New in the History of International Security

Abstract

This paper considers the genealogical inheritance of the term ‘security’ within the context of International Relations theory (IR), and uses historical and classical textual analysis to critique the validity of that assumed genealogy. Much existing IR literature operates under the assumption that ‘security’ as a politically relevant term is either timeless (a ‘classical’ view), or a result of US policy in the 1940s (a ‘modern’ view); obviously these positions are contradictory, at least on the surface. The paper attempts to resolve this contradiction through the use of an interdisciplinary approach. It first does this by using textual analysis, political science and history to critique the historical and political genealogies influential in said disciplines on their own terms; of central issue is the assumption of continuity in the language of Thucydides and Hobbes. Secondly, the paper offers an alternative genealogy that better informs both the ‘classical’ and ‘modern’ claims, one that draws from the political pamphlets of the English Civil War. Lastly, the paper uses historical analysis of continental political mores in the early 20^th century to demonstrate the value of this new genealogy to the IR discipline.

Keywords: International Security, Genealogy of Security, Thucydides, Thomas Hobbes, International Relations Theory