Barry Buzan and Lene Hansen offer the first intellectual history of the development of International Security Studies (ISS). They provide an unparalleled survey of the literature, show how and why ISS evolved, and give an authoritative account of debates on all the main topics within ISS since 1945.

Introduction; 1. Defining International Security Studies; 2. The key questions in International Security Studies: the state, politics and epistemology; 3. The driving forces behind the evolution of International Security Studies; 4. Strategic studies, deterrence and the Cold War; 5. The Cold War challenge to national security; 6. International Security Studies post-Cold War: the traditionalists; 7. Widening and deepening security; 8. Responding to 9/11: a return to national security?; 9. Conclusions.

'A rich text drawing on an extraordinarily wide range of materials to answer key questions in the debate on international security in the contemporary academic world: what should be part of International Security Studies, what should not, and why? This is a volume that will provoke enormous debate wherever international security is researched and taught, and is sure to become a keynote contribution to the literature.' Stuart Croft, Professor of International Security, Warwick University'The Evolution of International Security Studies takes an amazing intellectual journey around the rich, variegated and sometimes surprising stories about security that IR - all of it! - tells. An astonishing achievement.' Christine Sylvester, Lancaster University'The Evolution of International Security Studies is more than a comprehensive survey of a vast and contentious body of thought; it is also a lucid and insightful analysis of the forces that have shaped the field and the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches. Buzan and Hansen are scrupulously fair-minded and their book is a model of clear and elegant exposition. It will be of enormous value to students and of considerable interest to established scholars as well.' Stephen M. Walt, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University'In this important new contribution to International Security Studies (ISS), Barry Buzan and Lene Hansen provide the field's first disciplinary history. ... a thoroughly comprehensive, unerringly balanced and sophisticatedly argued account of ISS that is essential reading for newcomers and old hands alike.' International Affairs'... a scholarly inquiry ... A key merit of this excellent book is its ambition to leave no corner of the vast field of security studies unexplored ... the book provides a well-structured description of the evolving priorities of security studies ...' Survival