A Multi-disciplinary Mosaic: Reflections on International Security and Global Cooperation

With contributions by Siddharth Mallavarapu, Lothar Brock, Bernd Lahno, Noemi Gal-Or, Sarah van Beurden, Morgan Brigg, Jan Aart Scholte, Steven Pierce, Abou Jeng, Peter Thiery, Hung-jen Wang, Herbert Wulf, Dong Wang, Jaroslava Gajdošová, Birgit Schwelling, Stephen Brown, Mario Schmidt, Isaline Bergamaschi, Christian Meyer, Mathieu Rousselin, Margret Thalwitz, Gianluca Grimalda, Jessica Schmidt, Marlies Ahlert, and David Chandler

‘International security’ is a catch-all phrase behind which lie hidden some very disparate assumptions and expectations. One thing on which all may perhaps agree, however, is that such security is only achievable in concert, through global collaboration. Opinions as to which measures of global rapprochement should be given priority vary according to the region and set of assumptions involved. This issue of ‘Global Dialogues’ brings together the reflections of a group of twenty-five scholars on the theme of international security and cooperation. Though they hail from five different continents and represent a wide range of disciplines, one thing these scholars have in common is time spent, in 2013, as Fellows of the Centre for Global Cooperation Research.
They were asked to give a brief outline of their thoughts on the topic proposed here. Often what they write reflects an aspect of their research at the Centre. It sometimes also challenges our preconceptions about the sorts of things that can be discussed under the general rubric of ‘international security’ and thus enriches debates that have perhaps become rather stale. Although written independently of one another, these ‘snapshots’ in some cases complement each other and draw differing strands together. They are therefore arranged here in groups of two or three, with the groups themselves being viewable as a single narrative.