ABSTRACT

This chapter provides background with respect to the approach to conceptual analysis to be used, the neglect of conceptual analysis by the field of security studies, and the possibility that conceptual analysis is futile with respect to concepts like security that are alleged to be 'essentially contested'. It describes a series of conceptual specifications that facilitate analysis of security policy. The chapter discusses the implications of these specifications for determining the value of security, for the theory of neorealism, and for the 'new thinking' about security. Security is valued by individuals, families, states, and other actors. Security, however, is not the only thing they value: and the pursuit of security necessitates the sacrifice of other values. It is therefore necessary to ask how important is security relative to other values. Three ways of answering this question: the prime value approach, the core value approach, and the marginal value approach.