Security and Strategic Studies within International Relations: Theoretical Delineation, Developmental Trajectories, and Contemporary Challenges

The article examines the evolving relationship between strategic and security studies within the broader framework of international relations. These subfields, originally intertwined during the Cold War, have undergone substantial theoretical and methodological differentiation in response to changing dynamics of global and regional security developments. The article identifies strategic studies as a subfield focused on how actors – primarily states – use military means to achieve political objectives, whereas security studies are understood as a broader, interdisciplinary field dealing with both military and non-military threats. Through historical-process, content and comparative analysis, the author traces conceptual shifts in the understanding of security, highlighting the growing relevance of hybrid threats, technological advances and renewed prominence of conventional warfare. The author argues for the complementary use of both strategic and security studies in contemporary research and policymaking, emp