Diffusion of Norms and Cultures in International Security Governance

Abstract

Security Studies, traditionally concerned with states, power and material factors, are increasingly analysing how ideational factors influence both the processes and outcomes of Security Governance. But how is the influence of ideational factors on behaviour, decision-making or other outputs to be understood and explained? This panel takes stock of current debates about the diffusion of ideas, norms and culture in the international security governance. The panel is concerned with how ideational factors diffuse through practices, patterns of interactions, and principles of security governance. Norm diffusion intends the transfer and spread of defined norms, specific institutions, or broader ideas from one actor in the system to another. Similarly, cultures are likely to influence states’ or military behaviour, and the evolution of specific frames, doctrines, and patterns of interaction. While it is well established that norms and cultures can explain or help understand an ‘outcome’, the modalities, mechanisms, and application of ideational diffusion are still unclear and deeply contested in the field. The panel seeks papers that respond to questions such as: Where do ideas of security governance come from? Whose ideas matter? Which mechanisms determine their acceptance, rejection, contestation or localisation? How does culture translate into behaviour? How can one empirically trace these processes? The panel seeks to cover a broad set of empirical, methodological and theoretical issues, with the aim of sharpening the debates on how norms, cultures and ideas diffuse through practices such as peacekeeping, statebuilding, security cooperation, and military behaviour.

Title	Details
Homeland Security Governance and Policy Diffusion: International Institutions in Multilateral Counter-Terrorist Cooperation	View Paper Details
Norm Diffusion Theories and Changing Peacekeeping Norms in Southeast Asia	View Paper Details
Memory and Culture: Determinant of Primary Group Cohesion in the Italian Mountaineering Troops in Afghanistan	View Paper Details