Abstract

The concept of security has been the subject of considerable debate in recent years, both in the theory of International Relations and in the «security strategies» of the main actors. On the one hand, many attempts have been made to broaden and deepen the scope of security. On the other hand, a subjective turn has led from the traditional emphasis on security as an object to the new concept of securitization. While addressing such a transformation, this article shifts its attention to two elements which are often overlooked: first, the paradoxical militarization which has followed the broadening of the agenda of security beyond its traditional focus on states and the military dimension; second, the geopolitical representations linked to the rhetoric of security, from the dual world of the Cold War to the new dualism of the Global War On Terror.