Beyond Strategy: Critical Thinking and the New Security Studies

One day I found myself in a meeting with a group of students from Lebanon. We talked mostly about Lebanon in the aftermath of its extended wars. One of the women in the group lived in southern Lebanon, in an area still occupied by Israel and called ‘the Security Zone’.1 Seeing an opportunity, I asked her what she meant when she called the place in which she lived the Security Zone. Patiently she explained that it provided security for Israel by maintaining a space between the Israeli border and areas Israel did not control and could thus be used as staging areas for Hamas attacks on Israel — although she also pointed out that Hamas continued to operate in the security zone and there was nothing Israel could do about it. What about her security, I asked. Did she feel secure in the ‘security zone’. She smiled and shook her head.