The complexity of security dimensions: a comparison of the North-West and South-East European regions

Prone to multiple interpretations, ‘security’ is becoming a multiple and hence, nebulous concept. Security can be associated with national security and the State’s military power; notions of the individual safety; or human values and fundamental rights issues. This is clearly demonstrated in Europe with various member states using various concepts of security, making them event and space specific. Using two case study regions, this paper demonstrates the increasing complexity of the concept of security, as prominent security discourses and their impacts and consequences fall across more than one category of security dimensions. A large number of actors involved in, and affected by, security issues makes it harder to identify security dimensions. The political, economic, environmental and other security dimensions are interconnected and form a complex system of inter- and intra- dependent networks. Understanding these complexities will aid policy makers in formulating measures that influence an evolving European concept of security.