The Four-stroke Cycle in Security Studies

The purpose of this article is to consider the future prospects for the discipline of security studies in the face of a rising agenda of global, as well as national and international security issues. The author argues that security studies has not found it easy to accommodate itself to a transforming world scene. In particular, it failed disappointingly the challenge posed by the revolutions of 1989–91 which it neither foresaw nor, subsequently, has explained with much insight. The reasons for this are a consequence of its constrained world view, framed by the values of Classical Realism. It remains in its essentials a discipline shaped by the shocks of the late 1940s, which engendered it. However, several groups of scholars have begun to respond to these deficiencies, and the article notes several heartening trends. The time is ripe to press forward, it is argued, and two areas where work is still relatively undeveloped are suggested. A focus upon understanding the phenomenon of stereotyping is proposed as an effective way to improve understanding of global culture. The transformation of political agency demands a new approach to power politics.     

Imperial versus National Discourse: The Case of Russia

Abstract. It is inaccurate and misleading to apply the term ‘nationalism’ to Russia prior to the present day. Both Tsarist and Soviet leaders sought to maintain an empire and not a nation‐state, and their national consciousness was imperial rather than national. The lack of Russian nationalism was crucial for Russian history since it explains the failure of both Tsarist Russia and the Soviet Union. Modern societies cannot be successfully constructed upon the basis of imperial thinking. The absence of Russian nationalism also has significance for nationalism theory. Russia possessed the social, political and cultural characteristics that have been adduced as ‘causes’ of nationalism by a wide variety of scholars, yet Russia failed to develop a nationalist movement. This suggests that what is crucial to modem nationalism is the appearance of a particularist, secular ideology, since the most notable aspect in which Russia differed from Europe was Russia's universalistic, religious and imperialist discourse of national identity.     

THE ORIGIN OF THE OAK RIDGES AND ORANGEVILLE MORAINES OF SOUTHERN ONTARIO

T he O rangeville and Oak Ridges moraines have long been considered the main Iandforms constructed during the initial deglaciation of southern Ontario. Recent mapping and stratigraphic studies indicate that they were deposited rather later than the initial phase of deglaciation. This note briefly describes some of these recent developments.