Welcome to ISSS

Welcome to the International Security Studies Section of the ISA.  The ISSS is dedicated to enhancing knowledge and understanding about a wide range of international security issues including war and peace, military effectiveness, civil-military relations, alliances and security institutions, terrorism, intervention, peacekeeping, and the political economy of violence, among others.  It welcomes a wide range of methodologies, disciplines and subject matter and seeks to encourage and recognize exceptional scholarship on security issues.

Activities

Conferences and Events of Interest: 

Joint ISAC and ISSS Vail Conference, October 23-25, 2008

Theme:  Globalization and Security:  American Foreign Policy and the New Administration

The International Security Studies Section of the ISA and the International Security and Arms Control Section of the APSA will  once again hold their joint annual conference in Vail, Colorado, October
23-25, 2008.

The deadline for papers and panels is August 15th. Every effort will be made to accommodate all timely proposals; late proposals will be accepted selectively on a space-available basis. In order to capture the
excellent conference rate of $109/night at the 4-star Vail Cascade Resort you must book your hotel room by September 23rd.  The conference fee of $195 includes four meals and a reception; that rate will also go up after September 23rd.

You can download a copy of the Proposal Submission Form at www.du.edu/gsis/iglos/conference.

Send proposals to:
Conference on Globalization & Security
Attn: Regina Nockerts
University of Denver (GSIS)
2201 S. Gaylord Street
Denver CO 80208
foreignpolicyconference@du.edu

This year's program chairs are David Goldfischer, Peg Sanders, and Greg Moser of the University of Denver, Brent Talbot of the US Air Force Academy, Jim Smith of the Air Force Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), and Jana Everett of the University of Colorado-Denver and the Denver Council on Foreign Relations (DCFR). Co-sponsor organizations include INSS, the University of Denver (the Graduate School of International Studies (GSIS) and the Institute on Globalization and Security (IGLOS)), the Inter-University Seminar (IUS, Rocky Mountain Region), and the DCFR. Administrative and logistical details are being handled by GSIS, particularly Paul Viotti, David Goldfischer, and Regina Nockerts. You will soon be able to find more details on the conference at their dedicated web page, www.du.edu/gsis/iglos/conference.

Awards

2008 Award Recipients:

ISSS Distinguished Scholar - Professor Richard Rosecrance

ISSS Best Book - David A. Welch, Painful Choices: A Theory of Foreign Policy Change, (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2005)

There will be no award for ISSS Best Graduate Student Paper in 2008

Call for Nominations: Distinguished Scholar Award

The International Security Studies Section (ISSS) calls for nominations for the Distinguished Scholar Award to be presented at the 2009 ISA Conference in New York.

The Distinguished Scholar Award is given for life achievement in International Security Studies. Typically nominees will have made major contributions to scholarship in the field both via their own research
and writing and their mentorship of others.

Nominations should be accompanied by a short letter of justification and the nominee's CV. Nominations should be received no later than 15 June 2008.

Please send nominations and attached materials to the Chair of the Committee: James H. Lebovic, Department of Political Science, The George Washington University, Washington, D.C. 20052 or (preferably) by email: lebovic@gwu.edu.

AWARD DESCRIPTIONS

Distinguished Scholar in International Security Studies

The Distinguished Scholar Award is given for life achievement in International Security Studies.  Typically nominees will have made major contributions to scholarship in the field both via their own research and writing and their mentorship of others.

Best Book in International Security Studies

The ISSS Annual Best Book Award recognizes the book on any aspect of security studies that excels in originality, significance, and rigour.

Best Graduate Student Paper in International Security Studies

This award is made to the best paper presented on any aspect of international security, or on a panel sponsored by the ISSS, at the annual convention of the International Studies Association.

 

Committees

ISA Program Chair/Committee
Theo Farrell (theo.farrell@googlemail.com)

Distinguished Scholar Selection Committee
T.V. Paul (t.paul@mcgill.ca)

Best Graduate Student Paper Selection Committee
Gale Mattox (mattox@usna.edu) 

Best Book Selection Committee
Chair: Patricia Weitsman (weitsman@ohio.edu)
Chris Demchak (demchak@u.arizona.edu)
William Wohlforth

ISSS Council Nominating Committee (TBA)

Charter

CHARTER OF THE INTERNATIONAL SECURITY STUDIES SECTION

Article I.        Name

This section shall be known as the “International Security Studies Section” of the International Studies Association.

Article II.        Purpose

Within the context of international studies, the ISSS seeks to encourage the study of strategies and policies for utilizing, organizing, and controlling military forces; the study of the behavior of military forces; and the study of the effects of such behavior on other institutions and systems.

Article III.       Membership

1.  Every ISA member who signifies a desire to belong and meets whatever additional requirements may be established by the Section or its Council may be enrolled as a member of ISSS.

2.  In addition to privileges as ISA members, ISSS members will be entitled to whatever privileges may be established by the Section or its Council.  These additional privileges will include the right to vote for Council members by a mail ballot, to vote on amendments to the ISSS Charter, and to attend Council meetings as observers.

Article IV.       ISSS Governing Council

1.  The governing body of the ISSS shall be the section Governing Council.

2.  The Council shall be increased to 12 members by 1999 to include the chair and other officers.  Membership to the Council shall be for three-year terms, staggered so that four members will be elected each year.

3.  The Council will meet annually during ISA conventions and at such other times as the chair may designate.  All ISSS members have the right to attend and speak at Council meetings, but not to vote.

4.  The Council shall elect its own chair, vice-chair, and secretary-treasurer, who will be the officers of the Section and will serve two-year terms in those posts.  The Council will appoint standing and ad hoc committees for the Section including a nominating committee, and it will name representative or liaison officers, as appropriate, for the ISA Assembly, and the various standing committees of the Association.  Non-members of the Council may serve on any of its committees.

5.  At least one member of the Governing Council must be from outside North America and at least one member should be a graduate student who has not formally been awarded the degree for which she/he is a candidate at the time of election.

Article V.        Chair

1.  The Chair will remain a member of the Council ex-officio should his/her term as chair extend beyond his/her term as an elected member of the Council.

2.  The Chair will preside over Council meetings, and may call such special Council meetings as she/he deems appropriate.

Article VI.       Nominations and Elections

1.  A nominating committee, chosen by the Council, will present a list of candidates for election to vacant positions on the Council in time for a mail ballot election to occur prior to the Annual ISA Convention, enabling the newly elected members to take part in the subsequent Council meetings.

2.  The chair will propose members of the next nominating committee to the Council.  They should include at least one former chair, at least one Council member, and at least one non-Council member.

3.  The nominating committee will be instructed to prepare a broadly representative slate of nominees, including the various relevant academic disciplines, specialists on different parts of the world, from a variety of types of institutions, including a diversity of methodologies, age levels, and geographic locations.

4.  The Nominating Committee will, if possible, offer at least two candidates for each vacancy.

5.  Any written nomination received by the Chair from ten or more ISSS members at least 135 days before the ISA annual meeting shall also be placed on the ballot.

6.  The nominating committee shall mail ballots at least 120 days prior to the ISA annual meeting.

7.  Ballots must be received by the Chair or his/her designated representative no later than 95 days prior to the annual ISA meeting in order to be valid.

Article VII.     Meetings

1.  There will be a business meeting of the ISSS at the annual ISA conference, and such other ISSS programs and meetings as the ISSS Council may determine.

2.  The Chair or his/her designated representative will preside over all business meetings and programs of ISSS.

Article VIII.    Administration

1.  The Chair of the ISSS shall be responsible for the administration of the Section’s affairs, subject to the rules and regulations of the ISA and the Section.

2.  The Section may solicit funds from external sources, but may use the names of, or commit, the ISA only after consultation and agreement with its officers.

3.  The ISSS Council may also establish supplementary dues for members of the Section, subject to limitations set by the ISA.

Article IX.  Amendments

1.  Amendments to the ISSS Charter may be proposed by the ISSS Council, to be submitted to the total ISSS membership by a mail ballot; such proposed amendments will be adopted if endorsed by a two-thirds majority of members who return ballots within six weeks of the mailing date.

2.  Amendments to the Charter may be submitted by any member, and if approved by a majority of ISSS members present and voting at the annual business meeting of the Section, shall be submitted to the total ISSS membership by mail ballot.   If endorsed by a two-thirds majority of members who return ballots within six weeks of the mailing date, such amendments will be adopted.

Article X.        Effectuation

1.  This Charter took effect upon approval of a majority vote of those present and voting at the International Security Studies Section (then SOMS) business meeting at the ISA 1971 annual conference and approval of ISA Governing Council, as amended at the Annual Meeting September 1988, at the ISSS business meeting at the April 1996 annual conference and by 1996 membership ballot.

Listserv

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News

The Latest Section News:

  • Award Announcements:
    The International Security Studies Section of the International Studies Association will make two awards at its ISA Annual Convention reception:

    The ISSS Distinguished Scholar Award goes to Professor Richard Rosecrance of Harvard University. The committee, composed of T.V. Paul (Chair), Karen Adams and Risa Brooks, commend Professor Rosecrance for his impressive set of scholarly works spanning over 50 years as well as his mentoring of many scholars who have become leaders in their field.

    The inaugural winner of the ISSS Best Book Award goes to David A. Welch 's Painful Choices: A Theory of Foreign Policy Change, Princeton University Press, 2005. The award was for the best book published in the year 2005 or 2006. It was very competitive, with 111 books submitted to the committee, composed of Patricia Weitsman (Chair), Chris Demchak, and William Wohlforth.

  • Proposal for new BISA Working Group on Insurgencies and Small Wars

    Dear colleagues,

    As the current events in Iraq and Afghanistan demonstrate, insurgencies pose a severe threat to international security, with the ability to undermine the political will of great powers and frustrate the technological and personnel resources of regular armies. As asymmetric conflict comes to define warfare in the early twenty-first century, a new BISA Working Group on Insurgencies and Small Wars is proposed to act as a focal point for scholars working in this area.

    The aim of this group would be to draw together researchers and practioners working on the broad issues surrounding counter-insurgency in order to stimulate new research ideas, encourage dialogue and a sharing of knowledge on one of the most important, and arguably mis-understood, facet of contemporary conflict.

    The new working group would undertake a range of activities, including research workshops, specialist seminars and, in particular, organise panels for BISA and other major/relevant international conferences, especially the ISA.

    The interests of the proposed group aim to cover the wide range of issues surrounding insurgencies and small wars, including historical scholarship, policy-relevant debates, and comparative doctrinal and strategic studies.

    If you are interested in affliation with this proposed group then please reply to a.p.mumford@gmail.com A mailing list of members would then be established, and submissions welcomed in time for BISA 2007 annual conference deadlines. It is also hoped that an inaugral workshop could take place in the summer. Please do pass this email on to any colleagues working in this area if they are not currently on the BISA list. A healthy response can then ensure the group can receive official recognition from BISA.

    I look forward to hearing from many of you soon.

    Best wishes,

    Andrew Mumford
    Department of Politics
    University of Sheffield
    a.p.mumford@gmail.com

Officers

Theo Farrell, Chair
Farrell5
March 2008-2010

Department of War Studies
King's College London
Strand
London WC2R 2LS
Tel: +44 (0)20 7848 1192
Fax: +44 (0)20 7848 2026
Email: theo.farrell@kcl.ac.uk

Deborah Avant, Past Chair
Department of Political Science
3151 Social Science Plaza
University of California, Irvine
Irvine, CA 92697-5100
Telephone: 949-824-1072
Facsimile: 949-824-8762 
E-Mail: Deborah.Avant@gmail.com

Secretary: Gunhild Hoogensen
University of Tromso
E-Mail: gunhildh@sv.uit.no

Governing Council Members:

Theo Farrell, Chair

Through 2008: Andrew Dorman, Chris Demchak, Cindy Jebb, Rueben Brigety

Through 2009: Gunhild Hoogensen, Suzanne Nielsen, Jay Parker, Patricia Weitsman

Through 2010: Karen Adams, Risa Brooks, Theo Farrell and Nina Tannenwald

Join ISSS

Any member of the ISA who shares the purposes of the ISSS may become a member upon payment of dues ($5 per year; $1 per year for students). ISA members may easily add  section membership by logging in to their account on MyISA.

Don't forget to renew your membership on a yearly basis!

Members are entitled to attend annual business meetings, vote, nominate candidates for and hold office, receive newsletters and other publications produced by the section, and participate in all activities and projects sponsored by the section.

Members are encouraged to participate in section projects, serve on committees, and help recruit new members. Tell your friends about us!


Last Update: 17 April 2008