Reflections on “Security Threats in Contemporary World Politics”

Christopher A. PrebleEditor ’s note:In 2014, Cato releasedA Dangerous World? Threat Perception and U.S. National Security an edited volume of papers originally presented ata Cato conference the previous year. In each chapter, experts on international security assessed, and put in context, the supposed dangers to American security, from nuclear proliferation and a rising China, to terrorism and climate change.As part of ourProject on Threat Inflation, Cato will be republishing each chapter in an easily readable online format. Even six years after its publication, much of the book remains relevant. Policymakers and influencers continue to tout a dizzying range of threats, and Americans are still afraid. We invited each author to revisit their arguments and offer a few new observations in light of recent events.The first response comes from Brendan Rittenhouse Green, an assistant professor at the University of Cincinnati, and a recently namedCato adjunct scholar.——-Many world leaders today could tell you, earnestly and genuinely, that their country faces major security threats. Historically, such threats have been endemic to the international system, and they have tended to consume most of the time, attention, and social resources of national policymakers. Moreover, statesmen from the past and present alike could probably adopt a common definition of what a “security threat” is: the possibility of outside actors using large scale viol...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs