Reframing Security: A Critical Examination of Theoretical Approaches to Terrorism, Marginalized Groups, and State Security

This essay will argue that critical theories provide a more convincing approach to security studies than problem-solving theories due to their stance on not accepting the state as the sole referent object. It will analyze realist, Queer, and feminist theorists’ approaches to terrorism, focusing in particular on their viewpoints regarding the terrorist organization The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and its impact on the security of marginalized groups.

Using these theoretical lenses, this essay will first discuss ISIL’s attack on the LGBTQ2A+ community, a marginalized group whose security is often excluded from the narrative of traditional global security studies. It will then discuss the systemic terror, abuse, and sexual exploitation that ISIL has forced onto innocent women and children. Relating both of these issues to notable events of international conflict, this essay will highlight why problem-solving theorists’ top-down approach often fails to secure both marginalized groups and state security in the long run.

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