Security through Cooperation

Reviews / Votes

'In the wake of the Cold War international cooperation was announced to be the future of international politics, now many ask themselves does international cooperation have a future. If you look for a hopeful answer to this question, read this clear-sighted and well-argued book.'-- Ivan Krastev, Chair of the Centre for Liberal Strategies in Sofia and a Permanent Fellow at the IWM Institute of Human Sciences in Vienna

'For anyone seeking a volume on cooperation and security, Walter Kemp's superb new book Security Through Cooperation: To The Same End is an absolute must-read. The author does a masterful job of distilling all the major theories on the subject and placing them neatly in their historical contexts. While the book is scholarly in tone and very well-researched Kemp must be especially applauded for writing it in a style that is delightfully clean, where all the arguments are easy to follow.'--Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, University of Pennsylvania and former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

'International cooperation is often measured by simply our ability to avoid resorting to the use of bombs and bullets. But as this book powerfully demonstrates, the complex labyrinth of transnational issues we now confront means our security depends on a new era of diplomatic cooperation - not simply for the sake of cooperation, but because this is what our individual national interests and the planet now demand. Had we not mobilised the G20 a decade ago, the global economy would have fallen even further off the cliff. And had we not salvaged the Copenhagen Accord, the Paris Agreement would not have risen from the ashes."- Kevin Rudd, former Prime Minister of Australia

'Security Through Cooperation is essential reading for anyone unsatisfied with the desultory state of contemporary international relations. Walter Kemp's highly accessible, concisely expressed volume is packed with probing analysis and suffused with penetrating insights, illustrated with prescient examples and informed by extensive first-person experience. His treatment of leading-edge issues such as artificial intelligence, big data and the impact of technology more generally is particularly timely and relevant. The author sets out a planet in peril, staggering under the burden of a new threat set comprised of unconventional security challenges, ranging from climate change to pandemic disease, from cyber-crime to management of the global commons. In the face of this complex constellation of "wicked", transnational issues, Kemp makes a highly compelling case for diplomacy and is (quite rightly) convinced that a combination of negotiation, dialogue, science and understanding must displace coercion and the application of armed force as the international policy instrument of choice. The identification of shared interests, communication and cooperation are the most promising options for survival on our small, imperilled planet. If disastrous failures such as the ill-starred and costly interventions in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya are to be avoided in future, the world's political leadership would be well-advised to heed Kemp's sensible advice. Talk, don't fight: there are no military solutions.'- Daryl Copeland, author of Guerrilla Diplomacy

'Kemp's book is an excellent tool to get (re)acquainted with the concept of cooperative security, its benefits and drawbacks. The author benefits highly from his many years of practice in various international organizations, particularly within the OSCE, where he worked both for the High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM) and the Secretary-General. In particular, the HCNM has been a flagship of conflict prevention on the basis of cooperative security. Fortunately, however, the author draws lessons not only from the Eurasian experience, but also from examples all over the world. This results in a passionate plea to go back to the basics of cooperation with highly convincing arguments. The book, therefore, deserves a place on the desk of all practitioners and academics in the field of international relations.'--Arie Bloed, in The Security and Human Rights Monitor