Negotiating Security: New Goals, Changed Process

Abstract

The concept of national security and the process by which it is negotiated has changed. No longer is security synonymous only with the physical well-being of the state; it is now associated with achieving safety from transboundary threats related to the environment, the economy, human rights, and access to food and resources, for example. This transformation of security from a primarily traditional military dimension to a multidimensional range of interests is accompanied by changes in the way these issues are negotiated among states. This article offers a framework and propositions that can help explain the differences. This thematic issue of International Negotiation on non-traditional security negotiation provides detailed cases and analyses that demonstrate and contrast how the negotiation process performs in resource, economic, food, and military security talks.