ABSTRACT
Many of the contemporary threats facing the major powers are global in origin and consequence. Neither terrorism, naturally occurring pandemics, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction nor the degradation of the environment respect national boundaries. These kinds of threats, which resist either national or regional solutions, have emerged as crucial concerns for the public and elites in the G8 countries and China; they are also of concern for others, including the European Union member states and other regional powers such as India, Indonesia, or Brazil. The relative saliency of the new security agenda as well as the immediacy of the traditional one varies across national boundaries, owing in large part to the national sense of (in)vulnerability to those threats and the evolution of the state towards a late or post-Westphalian identity (Sperling 2003 and 2007).
