Security is an essentially contested concept. This volume interprets the meaning of security as it is intelligible in relation to, and in the context of, other ideas that are central to contemporary international life such as: sovereignty; diplomacy; war; great powers and self-determination.

William Bain is Lecturer in International Relations Theory in the Department of International Politics at the University of Wales, UK.

1. Introduction 2. Security and Sovereignty: Beyond Hobbes but not as far as Kant 3. Reversing Rousseau: Ethics and Norms in Contemporary Wars 4. Great Powers and International Security 5. Security and Self-Determination 6. Empire and Security 7. Intervention: Beyond 'Dictatorial Inteference' 8. Globalization and Security 9. Ethnocultural Diversity as a Security Dilemma 10. Trusteeship as an Arrangement of Security