The forefront of security studies: issues, concepts, and methodologies

The situation surrounding international security has undergone significant transformations over the past decade. For example, the European refugee crisis in the summer of 2015 and the resulting rise of right wing and parties in Europe, the growing influence of populist parties around the world, the spread of COVID-19 from early 2020, Russia's invasion of Ukraine from March 2022, the Gaza War from October 2023, and the formation of the second Trump administration in the United States in January 2025, the "12-Day War" between Israel and Iran in June 2025, and U.S.-Israel attacks to Iran since the end of February 2026. These events have not only had a major impact on actual international security, but have also revitalized security studies. Securitization, which was proposed in the 1990s and discussion of which has continued to develop since then, has once again drawn attention. Securitization examines the transformation of various issues, including refugee issues and COVID-19, into security issues through analysis of politicians' discourse and institutional changes. Since the 2010s, populist politicians have risen to power around the world, and there have been an increasing number of examples of securitization. In relation to trends in populism, combining not only international relations but also comparative politics has become more important than ever in security studies. Furthermore, as the number of cases increases, problems with the securitization framework have become apparent. For example, the traditional framework cannot verify how audiences perceive politicians' discourse and actions, which is one of the core aspects of securitization analysis. There is ongoing discussion about how securitization can withstand empirical research. Also, border studies, which are establishing new fields, and ontological security, which explains that the essence of security policy is the defense and establishment of identity, are also becoming more prominent as the re-sovereignty of sovereign states intensifies. Research into economic security has also seen a surge in interest in recent years. Traditionally, as exemplified by the theory of interdependence advocated by liberalism, the economy was seen as a tool for strengthening ties and cooperation between sovereign states. However, in recent years, as can be seen in the actions of China and the United States, there has been a growing trend to use the economy as a tool for security policy. This Research Topic focuses on security studies within the field of political science, and in order to deepen understanding of recent changes in international security, it will undertake case studies with a particular focus on creating new concepts, introducing new methods, and reexamining existing concepts. Recent security studies have seen the development of concepts based on the idea of critical security, while quantitative methods, which are becoming more widespread in political science in general, are beginning to be introduced. Research combining critical security and quantitative methods, which has not previously been considered, is also very welcome. Topic editors: Kohei Imai, Shingo Hamanaka Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/78845/the-forefront-of-security-studies-issues-concepts-and-methodologies