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52928717.Pdf To my loving parents, Orhan and Gönül Özgediz BILKENT UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE OF ECONOMICS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES SECURITY IN THE THIRD WORLD by GULDEN OZGEDIZ A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS Bilkent University January 2004 I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of International Relations. Asst. Prof Pınar Bilgin Supervisor I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of International Relations. Asst. Prof Paul Williams Examining Committee Member I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of International Relations. Examining Committee Member Approval of the Institute of Economics and Social Sciences Prof Dr. Kürşat Aydoğan Director ABSTRACT This thesis traces the development of thinking about security in the Third World from its Cold War past to its post-Cold War present. For this purpose, it examines three main approaches (traditional. Third World and critical) to the study of security in the Third World. It begins with a critical overview of political realism-based traditional (Cold War) approaches to security which treated Third World security problems as a mere extension of the superpower rivalry and shows how this served to marginalize the security concerns of Third World states and peoples. Next, it examines the contributions of Third World security scholars whose studies challenged the reductionist understanding. Western-centric character and military- focus of traditional approaches by theorizing security. Thirdly, the thesis examines the criticisms directed at Third World approaches by the students of critical security. Drawing upon the works of critical security scholars, the thesis argues that security should be conceptualized in a way that perceives the state as a means of security and gives primacy to the security needs of individuals and social groups. It concludes by imderlining the importance of recognizing specific historical, social and political conditions of different contexts while adopting a global perspective for the academic study of security in the Third World. ÖZET Bu tez, Soğuk Savaş döneminden günümüze Üçüncü Dünya’da güvenlik düşüncesinin gelişimini ele almaktadır. Bu amaçla. Üçüncü Dünya güvenliği konusunun çalışılmasında üç ana yaklaşımı (geleneksel. Üçüncü Dünya ve eleştirel) incelemektedir. Tez, siyasal realizm üzerine kurulu olan ve Üçüncü Dünya güvenlik sorunlanm süpergüç mücadelesinin yalmzca bir uzantısı olarak gören geleneksel (Soğuk Savaş) güvenlik yaklaşımlarına eleştirel bir genel bakışla başlamakta ve bu yaklaşımlarm Üçüncü Dünya devletlerinin ve insanlanmn güvenlik sorunlanm nasıl maıjinalize ettiğini göstermektedir. Ardından, geleneksel yaklaşımlarm indirgemeci anlayışını, Batı-merkezci yapısını ve askeri-odaklı karakterini sorgulayan Üçüncü Dünya güvenlik yaklaşımlanmn katkılarım incelemektedir. Tez, üçüncü olarak, güvenliği eleştirel bir bakış açısıyla ele alan akademisyenler tarafından Üçüncü Dünya güvenlik yaklaşımlanna yöneltilen eleştirileri incelemektedir. Eleştirel güvenlik akademisyenlerinin çalışmalanna dayanarak tez, güvenlik olgusunun, devleti yalmzca bir araç olarak algılayarak bireylerin ve sosyal gruplarm güvenlik gereksinimlerine öncelik veren bir anlayışla kavramsallaştmlması gerektiğini ileri sürmektedir. Tez, duruma özgü tarihsel, sosyal ve siyasal koşullara duyarlı olan, ancak bunun yamsıra küresel bir perspektif benimseyen yaklaşımlann Üçüncü Dünya’da güvenlik sorunun akademik olarak çalışılmasındaki öneminin altım çizerek sonuçlanmaktadır. IV ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis would not have been successfully completed without the support of some distinguished personalities. My deepest and special gratitude is reserved for Asst. Prof Pınar Bilgin, to whom I had the honour to serve as assistant for the past two years. The best advisor I could have wished for, Dr. Bilgin has tirelessly guided, supported and encouraged me in every step of writing this thesis and throughout my entire graduate study at Bilkent University. Her lectures and writings illuminated me beyond the confínes of this study. Without her wisdom, guidance and understanding, this thesis could never have been realized. I am grateful to Assoc. Prof. Ümit Cizre and Asst. Prof. Paul Williams for the time they have devoted to exeunining my thesis, and for their invaluable comments and suggestions. I would also like to thank the academic and administrative staff of the Department of International Relations for their help in making my graduate study experience a rich and rewarding one. My special thanks go to my dear friends Eylem Yılmaz, Z. Burcu Yavuz and Müge Çevik for their encouragement when it was most required. I owe more than I express to my family. I am deeply grateful to my father, Orhan Özgediz, for the unconditional support he gives in every aspect of my life, and to my mother. Gönül Özgediz, for being my light in times of darkness. I consider myself fortunate for having them as my parents. It is to them I dedicate this thesis. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT.................................................................................................................. iii ÖZET.............................................................................................................................. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS............................................................................................ v TABLE OF CONTENTS................................................................................................vi INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER I: TRADITIONAL SECURITY THINKING AND TRADITIONAL APPROACHES TO THIRD WORLD SECURITY 1.1 Introduction................................................................................. .............................7 1.2 Traditional Security Thinking and Cold War Politics............................................. 7 1.3 Traditional Approaches to Third World Security.................................................... 21 1.4 Conclusion................................................................................................................ 29 CHAPTER II: THIRD WORLD SECURITY SCHOOL 2.1 Introduction...............................................................................................................31 2.2 Neorealism and the Third World: Hierarchy vs. Anarchy, Unit vs. System........... 37 2.3 Weak State, the Insecurity Dilemma and Regime Security..................................... 45 2.4 The Relationship Between Internal and External Dimensions of Seeurity in the Third World and Regional (In)Security............................ .............................................57 2.5 Security Through State-Making and Nation-Building............................................. 64 2.6 Economic and Social Dimensions of Third World Security.................................... 71 2.7 Conclusion................................................................................................................ 78 CHAPTER III: CRITICS AND ALTERNATIVES 3.1 Introduction...............................................................................................................80 3.2 ‘Third World’as the Object of Study................................................................ ....... 82 3.3 Understanding of the State-Making Process.................................................... ........89 3.4 Conceptualization of Security.................................................................................. 95 3.5 Strong States, Reification of the Westphalian Order and Regional Security.......... 112 3.6 Conclusion................ ............................................................................................... 122 CONCLUSION...................................................... ........................................................ 127 BIBLIOGRAPHY.......................................................................................................... 134 INTRODUCTION Clearly, the vast bulk of the Third World remains veiy much mired in history, and will be a terrain of conflict for many years to come. But let us focus for the time being on the larger and more developed states of the world who after all account for the greater part of world politics.* This thesis emerged out of a discontent with the stereotypical characterization of the Third World^ as the ‘terrain of conflict’ without searching for the structures that underlie these visible manifestations. Conceptions of the Third World are mostly shaped by images of poverty, political violence, ethnic strife, domestic social conflicts, civil wars and ensuing humanitarian disasters. Third World regions are represented as areas of chaos and turmoil, and are portrayed as trouble-spots of world politics. These representations, generally organized around elements of ‘deficiency,’'^ continously refer to ‘absences’ of Third World histories and ‘failures’ of Third World states to replicate the Western experience.^ While Third World peoples and ' Francis Fukuyama, “The End o f History,” The National Interest 16 (1989) 15. ^ ‘Third World’ is an umbrella term used to depict
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