Saying that Security Studies is a sub-discipline of International Relations in fact does not tell us anything.
Security Studies reviews the security on the international arena and its players. Also, it includes world trends related to security, and causes that provoke them. Security Studies tries to determine why an international actor has a behavior, and this scope encompasses: High Politics, Central government debates, and pivotal to the priorities that they establish, what essentially is the security matter.
There is not a consensus on the world security categorization, and several definitions have been written by pundits and scholars. Though security definition is not only one, every security approach is linked to threats. Obviously, threats could endanger the international system.
No matter the set of threats, Security Studies has the need of “reference object” for establishing a delimited framework, and in the meantime to size the power in reference a specific threat. The Spanish translation makes a mistake, as it states the Security Studies concept as “estudios de seguridad”, misleading the final goal. Perhaps a better translation could be “estudios sobre la seguridad”. A study of Security (Spanish translation) is not Security Studies. First, a study of security is explicit on a specific matter or circumstance. Second, Security Studies are about revisions upon world security. As Security Studies is a complex subject, its grounds comprise from interstate wars till pandemic diseases, through weapons of mass destruction (WMD), terrorism, economic insecurity, social disruption, identity conflicts, environmental degradation, and much more.
Taking into consideration the aforementioned explanation, Security Studies requires deep knowledge and a broader expertise, otherwise, it would be hard to analyze why some states survived and others not. Establishing the causes of a fact relating to security matter also requires approaches on power as metaphysical punch in International Relations.
Alfredo Angulo Palma
