About the Course
The field of security studies has widened significantly over the past 25 years, moving from purely military questions to other issues such as the environment or migration and from a systemic or state-level understanding to society and the individual (human security). The Diploma in International Security will introduce students to the main theories and approaches to security studies through different perspectives. The course explores the conceptual and empirical meaning of security through a number of key issues and topics, including the changing nature of war, the security implications of new technologies such as drones and cyber weapons, private security companies, counter-terrorism and risk. The program also covers other essential topics of security studies, including human insecurity, cybersecurity, terrorism. The goal is to explore what these developing areas of empirical security research mean for the concept of 'security, how different theoretical lenses help us to answer empirical research questions in different ways, how 'new' approaches to security relate to 'traditional' approaches and develop an appreciation of ongoing limitations and challenges in the field.
Your Instructor
Irfan Yar MA (IR&IA)
Irfan Yar is a Research Fellow and a member of the Advisory Board at the Global CT Institute. He holds two master’s degrees— an MA in International Relations and Areas Studies and an MA in International Affairs from Norman Paterson School of International Affairs (Carleton University, Ottawa). His area of research focus on insurgency, terrorism, Islamist extremism Afghanistan and South Asia. He has published in many national and international outlets, including The Hill Times, The National Post, The Toronto Sun, The Mint Epoch Times, The Diplomat Magazines, and elsewhere. He has previously worked with the Macdonald Laurier Institute, the Observer Research Foundation, and Carnegie India. He speaks English, Pashto, Persian, Urdu/Hindi and intermediate level German and Arabic.