American: The Safety Of The Other Path And Dynamics Research

This dissertation attempts to answer two fundamental questions:How is a process of securitization accomplished? Why does it happen? The research focuses on the United States. The Copenhagen School has made a breakthrough in security studies by providing a social constructivism approach——the theory of securitizaion. It has two key concepts:"speech-act" has shown that speaking of security in itself can create a security issue; the "inter-subjectivity" of security means that securitization is a process of constructing shared perceptions on threats. As an effort to make a further step on the development of securitization, the dissertation attempts to probe into the path and causes of securitization with the thought of Copenhagen School as the theoretical basis. After the expounding of the path and causes of securitization theoretically, the cases study will test two core hypotheses. Hypothesis I:the statements about security may not necessarily be facts and an agenda can be securitized through the path of securitization; hypothesis Ⅱ:the relation of the initiator of securitization and threat agent is the determinant of securitization.The relation of the initiator, the vehicle and the audience reveals the path of securitization——how the process is accomplished. The securitization as a social constructivist process tends to be a kind of social mobilization for certain political purposes. Pointing out a threat does not automatically lead to the realization of securitization, which needs a vehicle——the media to distribute the information. It is proposed that a successful path of securitization include:(1) the initialization of securitization:with the power of discourse or social resources the securitization’s initiator start securitization by saying a reference object is under some threat;(2) as the vehicle of securitization, the media distribute the motion of securitization and convince the audience by agenda-setting and framing;(3) the perceptions of the securitization’s audience are shaped by the rhetoric of the initiator and distributor and thus the securitization is accomplished.The relation of the initiator and the threat agent reveals why the "other" is securitized. The logic is that the security is a kind of relationship because of its "inter-subjectivity", therefore the security depends on the mutual trust, while the mutual trust depends on the perceptions of the identity on the "other’and vice versa. The relation of initiators and threat agents depend upon the former’s perceptions of the identity of the latter, and the perceptions determine the degrees of trust. High degree of trust means security; while low degree of trust would cause insecurity and the "other" would be perceived as a threat and hence be securitized. The combination of the types of identity and the three dimensions of identity (temporal, spatial and ethical) is proposed as a framework for thorough analyses of identity. Considering the non-traditional security, cultural variable like ideology and structural variable of the international system and applying this framework to the analysis of America’s perceptions of the "other" to find out the origins of its mistrust and the causes of security, the research focuses on the identity perceptions of three kinds of threat agents:Islamic countries (terrorism), countries of non homogeneity and rising powers (with the last two focused on China). Applying the framework of path and causes of securitization to two case studies——the merge and acquisition between CNOOC and UNICAL and that of DPW and P&O. the two hypotheses are tested and verified.