Open AccessA better foundation for national security? The ethics of national risk assessments in the Nordic region
Author(s) -
Kristoffer Lidén
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
cooperation and conflict
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.224
H-Index - 40
eISSN - 1460-3691
pISSN - 0010-8367
DOI - 10.1177/00108367211068877
Subject(s) - politics , foundation (evidence) , political science , public administration , technocracy , national security , scope (computer science) , state (computer science) , political economy , law , sociology , algorithm , computer science , programming language
Aiming at analysing all major security risks to a country, comprehensive National Risk Assessments (NRAs) can be used as a foundation for national security policies. Doing so manifests a modernist dream of securing societies through the anticipatory governance of risks. Yet, this dream resembles a nightmare of undemocratic state control in the name of security. Based on a critique of the politics of NRAs, this article offers a theoretical framework for evaluating their scientific and political credentials. Drawing on political theory of technocratic expert rule, ethical criteria of epistemic reliability and political representation are introduced to the debate. These criteria are then applied to an analysis of the NRAs of Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Iceland. I argue that although these NRAs are convincing correctives to the risk perceptions of politicians and civil society, they are insufficiently reliable and representative for defining the scope and priorities of national security policies at large.