Security Policy Corvinae – Book launch

On the 4th of October, 2019, the Institute of Foreign Affairs and Trade hosted the launch of the book entitled “Security Policy Corvinae” published by the Antall József Knowledge Centre. Two editors of the volume, Kinga Szálkai and Tamás Péter Baranyi and of its authors, István Tarrósy discussed the significance, peculiarities and the content of the book with the moderator, Máté Szalai.

Although many Hungarian security textbooks have been published in the past decades, the newly released work plays a niche role in the academic market according to its editors. Kinga Szálkai highlighted that traditional security approaches have recently been accompanied by new areas (e.g. asymmetrical or informal warfare), which made it timely to revisit traditional security strategies and publish a new comprehensive book. According to Tamás Baranyi, the main editorial principle was based on a problematising viewpoint, namely the simultaneous representation of traditional and novel approaches and the intent to raise awareness of the differences and debates taking place between them.  In addition, the project sought to involve the representatives and institutions of the relevant Hungarian research programs, either as authors or as proofreaders. Accordingly, almost thirty researchers of think tanks like the Antall József Knowledge Centre, the Institute for Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Corvinus Foreign Policy and Cultural Association, as well as the Security Policy College of Advanced Studies participated in the development of the book. Therefore, the final output, consisting on two volumes on almost 900 pages, represents the current state of knowledge obtained by the Hungarian security policy community.

In the roundtable discussion, participants discussed the topics appearing in several chapters of the volume. István Tarrósy highlighted that the role of the state is under the process of transformation, while the emergence of new actors and the rise of their importance in security policy makes it an imperative for governments to redefine their roles. All of the participants agreed on the transformation of the role of the state, but they do not count on its disappearance or radical devaluation. Authors of the different chapters, especially those reflecting on state fragility and the African region, soke to include interpretations different from the traditional Western viewpoint. Consequently, each chapter is characterized by the juxtaposition of universalist and cultural relativist aspects. Discussing two emerging fields of security studies of the 21st century, namely environmental security and migration, participants agreed that the public discourse is highly over-simplifying, a trap which the authors attempted to avoid.

In the case of Hungary’s particular security environment, participants underlined that globalization reached the country abruptly, and that the Hungarian academic and public discourse usually incorporates the Western prevailing paradigms belatedly. They also agreed that in the future, Hungary has to face new security threats besides the traditional ones, which can best be dealt with through consultation with experts.

At the end of the event, a Q&A session took place, in which the questions of the audience mostly focused on the links between global knowledge centres, the process of redefinition of the state, and the need to introduce system-critical theories.