ABSTRACT
It is a cliché that in 1989 the paradigm that explained international relations collapsed; it is also true. Policy makers have since tried to come to grips with the “post-Cold War world”, but to little avail. Unlike the set and fixed Cold War world, the post-Cold War era is defined by its fluidity. We live in a society that changes beneath our feet; ours is a world that, as Bauman notes, “cannot stand still”.1 The defining hallmark of world politics today is constant uncertainty. Uncertainty in international relations is dangerous and the wish to quell uncertainty drives the actions of every president and prime minister in the western world. And yet, the West still attempts to provide security as conceptualized in the Cold War era. It is a futile task. Global politics is no longer exclusively linked to the balance of power, to deterrence. The defining concept in international security today is not that of the threat. International affairs today is about the management of risks – the management of the uncertainty that keeps the western world awake at night.
