Security Studies: An Introduction, 3rd edition, is the most comprehensive textbook available on the subject, providing students with an essential grounding in the debates, frameworks, and issues on the contemporary security agenda.

This new edition has been comprehensively revised and updated, with new chapters added on poststructuralism, postcolonialism, securitization, peace and violence, development, women, peace and security, cybersecurity, and outer space.

Divided into four parts, the text provides students with a detailed, accessible overview of the major theoretical approaches, key themes, and most significant issues within security studies.

Part 1 explores the main theoretical approaches from both traditional and critical standpoints

Part 2 explains the central concepts underpinning contemporary debates

Part 3 presents an overview of the institutional security architecture

Part 4 examines some of the key contemporary challenges to global security

Collecting these related strands into a single textbook creates a valuable teaching tool and a comprehensive, accessible learning resource for undergraduates and MA students.

Paul D. Williams is Associate Professor and Associate Director of the Security Policy Studies MA Program in the Elliott School of International Affairs at the George Washington University. Dr Williams is also a non-resident senior adviser at the International Peace Institute in New York. His most recent publications include Fighting for Peace in Somalia: A history and analysis of the African Union Mission (AMISOM), 2007–2017 (Oxford University Press, 2018); War and Conflict in Africa (Polity, 2nd edition, 2016); The Oxford Handbook of United Nations Peacekeeping Operations, edited with J. Koops, N. MacQueen, and T. Tardy (Oxford University Press, 2015); Providing Peacekeepers: The Politics, Challenges, and Future of United Nations Peacekeeping Contributions, edited with A.J. Bellamy (Oxford University Press, 2013); and Understanding Peacekeeping, with A.J. Bellamy (Polity, 2nd edition, 2010).

Matt McDonald is Reader in International Relations at the School of Political Science and International Studies at the University of Queensland. His most recent publications include Ethics and Global Security: A Cosmopolitan Approach, with Anthony Burke and Katrina Lee-Koo (Routledge, 2014) and Security, the Environment and Emancipation (Routledge, 2012). He is co-editor of the Australian Journal of Politics and History.