ABSTRACT
The first edition of Losing Control, written during the period up to March 2000, argued that the Western security paradigm was, in essence, that international security could best be maintained by the continuation of a globalised liberal market economy, supported by a range of institutional and security organisations. The paradigm recognised the increasing volatility and unpredictability of a global security system in which the near-certainties of the Cold War confrontation had been replaced by a ‘violent peace’, with conflicts continuing across most regions of the world. Even so, it was thought that military postures were adequate to handle this uncertain world and that Western society would continue to benefit from its dominance of the international economic and financial systems.
