• to introduce students to the concept of human security and its role in security discourse today
• to examine, in theory and practice, the links between human security and development

To develop students'' ability to assess critically contemporary discourses on security. To give students a sufficient background in development theory to allow them situate and understand the origins and meaning of today''s human security approaches.

• The emergence of human security in the conditions of the post-Cold War era
• Identifying and distinguishing the different stands covered by the concept:
• Natural rights and rule of law
• Interventions in humanitarian crises
• Broader view of the economic, social and environmental origins of security

Human security and mainstream security discourse:

• Examining the differences between them
• Highlighting the contribution of human security to security studies
• Outlining debates about this contribution

Human security and development:

• Tracing the contributions of development thinking to understanding the roots of security
• Critically evaluating development theory through offering an overview of its evolution and principal debates

Limits of human security concept:

• Definitional problems
• Problems of application
• Problems of prescription

Proposing the concept of `vulnerability'':

• Defining and tracing the emergence of vulnerability
• Identifying the differences with human security
• Examining the practical policies to which each lead

Case studies:

Commission on Human Security: Human Security Now , UN Publications, 2003
Hampson, Fen Osler and Hay, John B.: `Human Security: A Review of the Scholarly Literature'', in The Human Security Bulletin , Vol. 1, No 2, 2002.
Hurrell, Andrew and Woods, Ngaire, eds: Inequality, Globalization, and World Politics , Oxford University Press, 2000.
Human Security Centre: Human Security Report , 2005
Kay, Cristobal, ed: Globalization, Competitiveness and Human Security , Frank Cass, 1997
Kirby, Peadar: Is Globalisation Good for Us? Introducing Vulnerability , Pluto Press, 2005
McSweeney, Bill: Security, Identity and Interests , Cambridge University Press, 1999
UNDP: Human Development Report 1994: Human Security , UNDP, 1994

MA in International Relations; MA in Globalisation
MA in International Security and Conflict Studies