ABSTRACT
The nature of global security threats has changed, from the primacy of state-based challenges during the Cold War era, to the rise of transnational issues and non-state actor challengers of recent years. These transnational threats have been linked to such diverse sources as: environmental degradation, disease and migration, crime and terrorism,1 and their growing significance has spawned various efforts to describe and reconceptualize security in world politics.2 It can be generally agreed upon, though, that we have entered into an era, in which newly empowered forces – from individuals to associations or organizations of various levels of formality – have been released,3 not only in the realms of economic, social or political issues, but also in that of security. The result is an increasing gap between the practices and capacities of the non-state entities creating the transnational challenges and threats, and the practices and capacities of the state-based agents of response.
