This open access book offers the first thorough analysis of the role of civil defense in NATO security discourse and development over the years, pinpointing critical junctures and historical events. Its novel contribution is the analysis of NATO's adoption and implementation of resilience as policy, a strategic concept, and later as a new body, the resilience committee. It explores how resilience shapes the role of civil defense and becomes a natural part of national defense and international security, and provides new insights into the knowledge of this contested concept and its adaptability once it enters a security discourse.In terms of policy implications, one of the book's key contributions is its careful examination of the intricate roles ascribed by civil administration, civil society, market actors, and the broader populace. By explicitly addressing the social and political dynamics that have shaped NATO both historically and in the present day, it aims to ignite vital conversations around the implications of military alliances on democracy, accountability, and their influence over the internal political affairs of member states. This sheds light on the interconnectedness of these elements and encourages readers to critically reflect on the power structures at play and their far-reaching effects.
Oscar Larsson is Associate Professor in Political Science at the Swedish Defense University.
1. Introduction.- 2. A new interregnum? Hegemonic crisis and global insecurity.- 3. Ontological security dynamics and the evolution of European integration. The case of the Covid-19 pandemic.- 4. COVID-19: Transition from Slow Violence to Spectacular Violence.- 5. Pandemic politics and the Social Shield: a just securitisation approach to COVID-19.- 6. Making the Exceptional Normal: Biopolitical Care and Control in Post-Pandemic Migration Government in the Canary Islands.- 7. Between Solidarity and Diffuse Securitisation: Spain’s Development Cooperation and the Security–Development–Health Nexus During COVID-19.- 8.- ICTs and young people: perceptions of security and risk concerning the use of mobile devices in educational settings.- 9.- Desecuritisation and illiberal indignation in El Roto’s Covid-19 editorial cartoons.- 10. The pandemic, the state, and society. Performing state sovereignty during the first months of the pandemic in Spain and Italy.- 11. Spain and Argentina: same pandemic, similar policies, different outcomes.- 12. When Democracy is Tested: Covid-19, Security Challenges, and Institutional Legitimacy in Brazil and Portugal.- 13. Khakiwashing as a visual instrumentalization of Armed Forces during COVID-19: the cases of Bukele in El Salvador and Bolsonaro in Brazil.- 14. Conclusions: Planetary crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic and emancipatory security.