Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-x24gv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-03T17:30:24.629Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Securitisation and Diego Garcia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 February 2013

Abstract

To advance the on-going debate on Securitisation Theory (ST), we argue that the important questions of audience and attention can be addressed through careful historical study. In an analysis of the securitising moves concerning the American military base on Diego Garcia, we are able to demonstrate that the Copenhagen and Paris Schools are not methodologically incompatible, and empirically that public attention for security issues has a tendency to dissipate without continual discursive investment.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © British International Studies Association 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 This work was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Council of Canada (410-10-0553).

2 Neal, Andrew, ‘Normalisation and Legislative Exceptionalism: Counterterrorist Lawmaking and the Changing Times of Security Emergencies’, International Political Sociology, 6:3 (2012), pp. 260–76CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Independently, Neal also uses the notion of entropy in his own analysis.

3 Vultee, Fred, ‘Securitization as a media frame: What happens when the media “speaks security”’, in Balzacq, Thierry (ed.), Securitization Theory; How security problems emerge and dissolve (London: Routledge, 2011), pp 7793Google Scholar.

4 We want to highlight a distinction between security measures and security moves. While measures refer to particular practices, a security move is the attempt to name an issue area a security issue that cannot be debated. Our thanks to a reviewer for this precision.

5 For a detailed narrative of the Chagos Islanders, see Jeffrey, Laura, ‘How a plantation became paradise: changing representations of the homeland among displaced Chagos Islanders’, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 13:4 (2007), pp. 951–68CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

6 Vultee, ‘Securitization as a Media Frame’, p. 78.

7 Stritzel, Holger, ‘Towards a Theory of Securitization: Copenhagen and Beyond’, European Journal of International Relations, 13:3 (2007), pp. 357–83CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Balzacq, Thierry, ‘The Policy Tools of Securitization: Information Exchange, EU Foreign and Interior Policies’, Journal of Common Market Studies, 46:1 (2008), pp. 75100CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Balzacq, Thierry, ‘The three faces of securitization: political agency, audience and context’, European Journal of International Relations, 11:2 (2005), pp. 171201CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Salter, Mark B., ‘Securitization and Desecuritization: Dramaturgical Analysis and the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority’, Journal of International Relations and Development, 11:4 (2008), pp. 321–49CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

8 We do not offer in this article a detailed reading of each decision in the media sector, for example why some stories are spiked and others promoted. This is an extremely interesting avenue for future research, but outside the scope of the current article.

9 McCombs, Maxwell and Zhu, Jhian-Hua, ‘Capacity, Diversity, and Volatility of the Public Agenda: Trends from 1954–1994’, Public Opinion Quarterly, 59:4 (1995), pp. 495523Google Scholar.

10 Zhu, Jhian-Hua, ‘Issue Competition and Attention Distraction: A Zero-Sum Theory of Agenda-Setting’, Journalism Quarterly, 69:4 (1992), pp. 825–36CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

11 Henry, Gary T. and Gordon, Craig S., ‘Tracking Issue Attention: Specificying the Dynamics of the Public Agenda’, Pubilc Opinion Quarterly, 65:2 (2001), pp. 157–77CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

12 Balzacq, Thierry, ‘Enquiries into methods: A new framework for securitization analysis’, in Balzacq, Thierry (ed.), Securitization Theory; How security problems emerge and dissolve (London: Routledge, 2011), p. 34Google Scholar.

13 Buzan, Barry, Wæver, Ole, and de Wilde, Jaap, Security: a new framework for analysis (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 1998)Google Scholar; Gad, Ulrik Pram and Lund Petersen, Karen, ‘Concepts of Politics in Securitization Studies’, Security Dialogue, 11:4–5 (2011), pp. 315–28Google Scholar.

14 Balzacq, Thierry (ed.), Securitization Theory: How security problems emerge and dissolve (London: Routledge, 2011)Google Scholar.

15 Barthwal-Datta, Monika, ‘Securitising Threats without the State: A case study of misgovernance as a security threat in Bangladesh’, Review of International Security, 35:2 (2009), pp. 277300Google Scholar; Wilkinson, Claire, ‘The Copenhagen School on Tour in Kyrgyzstan: Is Securitization Theory Useable Outside Europe?’, Security Dialogue, 38:1 (2007), pp. 525CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

16 The majority of legal challenges by the Chagos Islanders has occurred in Western capitals, Washington DC, and London, rather than the grassroots movements in Mauritius (Vine 2009).

17 McDonald, Matt, ‘Securitization and the Construction of Security’, European Journal of International Relations, 14:4 (2008), pp. 563–87CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

18 Buzan, Security, p. 23.

19 Hansen, Lene, ‘The Little Mermaid's Silent Security Dilemma and the Absence of Gender in the Copenhagen School’, Millennium, 29:2 (2000), pp. 289306CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Williams, Michael C., ‘Words, Images, Enemies: Securitization and International Politics’, International Studies Quarterly, 47:4 (2003), pp. 511–31CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

20 Balzacq, ‘Three faces of securitization’; Strizel, ‘Towards a Theory of Securitization’.

21 Salter, ‘Securitization and Desecuritization’; Balzacq, ‘The Policy Tools of Securitization’; Léonard, Sarah and Kaunert, Christian, ‘Reconceptualizing the audience in securitization theory’, in Balzacq, Thierry (ed.), Securitization Theory; How security problems emerge and dissolve (London: Routledge, 2011), pp. 5777Google Scholar.

22 Hansen, Lene, Security as Practice: Discourse Analysis and the Bosnian War (London: Routledge, 2006)Google Scholar; Huysmans, Jef, The Politics of Insecurity: Fear, migration and asylum in the EU (London: Routledge, 2006)Google Scholar.

23 Hansen, Security as Practice, p. 73.

24 Barthwal-Datta, ‘Securitising Threats without the State’; Watson, Scott, ‘“Framing” the Copenhagen School: Integrating the literature on threat construction’, Millennium: Journal of International Studies, 40:2 (2011), pp. 279301CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

25 Didier, Bogo and Guild, Elspeth, Controlling Frontiers: Free Movement into and within Europe (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2005)Google Scholar; Balzacq, ‘Policy Tools of Securitization’; Bonditti, Philippe, ‘From Territorial Space to Networks: A Foucaldian Approach to the Implementation of Biometry’, Alternatives: Global, Local, Political, 29:4 (2004), pp. 465–85CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Jeandesboz, Julien, ‘Labelling the “neighbourhood”: towards a genesis of the European neighbourhood policy’, Journal of International Relations and Development, 10:4 (2007), pp. 387416CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Neal, Andrew, ‘Securitization and Risk Management at the EU Border: The origins of FRONTEX’, Journal of Common Market Studies, 47:2 (2009), pp. 333–56CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Salter, ‘Securitization and Desecuritization’.

26 Bigo, Didier, ‘Security and Immigration: Towards a Critique of the Governmentality of Unease’, Alternatives, 27 (2002), pp. 6392CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Salter, Mark B., ‘The Practice Turn’, in Salter, Mark B. and Mutlu, Can E. (eds), Research Methods in Critical Security Studies (NY: Routledge, 2012), pp. 200–5Google Scholar.

27 Bourdieu, Pierre, Homo academicus, trans. Collier, P. (Cambridge: Polity Press, 1998), pp. 83–4Google Scholar.

28 Sand, Peter H., United States and Britain in Diego Garcia: The Future of a Controversial Base (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Vine, David, Island of Shame: The Secret History of the US Military Base on Diego Garcia (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2009)Google Scholar.

29 Vine, Island of Shame, p. 177.

30 Lynch, Timothy P., ‘Diego Garcia: Competing Claims to a Strategic Isle’, Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law, 16:1 (1984), p. 102Google Scholar.

31 Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Country Information (14 January 2010), Country Profile: British Indian Ocean Territory, available at: {http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/travel-advice-by-country/country-profile/asia-oceania/british-indian-ocean-territory?profile=all} accessed 2 July 2010.

32 Representative, British Indian Ocean Territory, Headquarters British Forces BIOT statement (24 October 2003), Tropical Times, available at: {http://www.zianet.com/tedmorris/dg/TropicTimes031024.pdf} accessed 2 July 2010.

33 Harkavy, Robert E., Bases Abroad: The Global Foreign Military Presence (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989)Google Scholar; Sand, United States and United Kingdom in Diego Garcia.

34 Gillem, Mark L., America Town: Building the Outposts of Empire (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota, 2007), p. 23Google Scholar.

35 United States Navy, General Information: CNIC Navy Support Facility Diego Garcia, available at: {https://www.cnic.navy.mil/DiegoGarcia/AboutCNIC/GeneralInformation/WelcomeAboard/GeneralInformation/index.htm}.

36 Dietram, Scheufele A., ‘Framing as a Theory of Media Effects’, Journal of Communication, 49:1 (1991), pp. 103–22Google Scholar.

37 Vultee, Fred, ‘Securitization: A New Approach to the framing of the “war on terror”’, Journalism Practice, 4:1 (2010), pp. 3347CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

38 Vine, Island of Shame, p. 41.

39 Lynch, ‘Diego Garcia’, p. 105.

40 Sand, United States, United Kingdom and Diego Garcia, p. 4.

41 Vine, Island of Shame, p. 7.

42 Sand, United States, United Kingdom and Diego Garcia, pp. 3–5.

43 Vine, Island of Shame, p. 80.

44 Robert H. Estabrook, ‘U.S., Britain Consider Indian Ocean Bases’, The Washington Post (29 August 1964), pp. A1, A6.

45 Foreign Service, ‘U.S., British Study Asia Base’, The Washington Post (11 October 1964), p. A19.

46 Robert H. Estabrook, ‘Labor Expected to Push Indian Ocean Base Plan’, The Washington Post (7 November 1964), p. A9.

47 Vine, Island of Shame, p. 82.

48 Balzacq, ‘The Policy Tools of Securitization’.

49 Salter, ‘Securitization and Desecuritization’.

50 Vine, Island of Shame, p. 78.

51 Sand, United States, United Kingdom and Diego Garcia, p. 18.

52 Ibid., p. 23.

53 Vince, Island of Shame, p. 112.

54 Ibid., pp. 19–24.

55 Berling, Trine Villumsen, ‘Science and Securitization: Objectivation, the authority of the speaker and the mobilization of scientific facts’, Security Dialogue, 42:4–5 (2011), pp. 385–97CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

56 Robert H. Estabrook, ‘England, U.S. Plan Bases in Indian Ocean’, The Washington Post (9 May 1965), p. A26.

57 J. G. Norris, ‘Joint Bases to Rise in Indian Ocean’, The Washington Post (11 November 1965), p. A10; S. S. Rosenfeld, ‘The Way an Ocean Becomes Strategic’, The Washington Post (11 December 1970), p. A30.

58 A. Lewis, ‘Indian Ocean Coral Isle Will Be U.S.-British Base’, New York Times (11 November 1965), p. 8;

59 H. W. Baldwin, ‘Region East of Suez Presents a Difficult Problem in Allied Defense’, New York Times (5 July 1966), p. 7.

60 L. M. Simons, ‘Life is “Austere” for Sailors on Strategic Diego Garcia’, The Washington Post (7 April 1977), p. A14.

61 D. A. Schmidt, ‘Plan for Base in Indian Ocean Being Reviewed by U.S.’, New York Times (28 November 1970), p. 2; S. S. Rosenfeld, ‘U.S. Policy at Sea in the Indian Ocean’, Washington Post (24 December 1971), p. A10.

62 Vine, Island of Shame, p. 104.

63 Rosenfeld, ‘U.S. Policy at Sea in the Indian Ocean’; M. Gotler, ‘Navy Extends Operations in Indian Ocean’, The Washington Post (7 January 1972), p. A1; anon., ‘What's Our Game in the Indian Ocean’, The Washington Post (9 January 1972), p. C6.

64 Vine, Island of Shame, p. 121.

65 Anonymous, ‘Congressional Reports.’, The Washington Post (20 May 1975), p. A2.

66 Vine, Island of Shame, p. 122.

67 R. Kessler, ‘ Missiles Facility Confirmed’, The Washington Post (7 July 1975), p. A5.

68 S. Rich, ‘Hill Approves U.S. Base on Diego Garcia’, The Washington Post (29 July 1975), p. A2.

69 David B. Ottaway, ‘Islanders Were Evicted for U.S. Base’, The Washington Post (9 September 1975), p. A1.

70 Buzan, Security, p. 29.

71 Neal, ‘Normalisation and Legislative Exceptionalism’.

72 Anon., ‘The Diego Garcians’, The Washington Post (11 September 1975), p. A22.

73 Vine, Island of Shame, p. 122.

74 Anonymous, ‘Diego Garcia Fund Disclosed in Report’, The Washington Post (25 January 1976), p. A8.

75 Simons, ‘Life is “Austere” for Sailors on Strategic Diego Garcia’; G. M. Neely, ‘The U.S. and Diego Garcia’, The Washington Post (27 January 1978), p. A22.

76 J. Mathews, ‘Sri Lanka Blasts U.S. Buildup Plan for Diego Garcia’, The Washington Post (17 August 1976), p. A4.

77 V. Zorza, ‘Carter's Indian Ocean Overture’, The Washington Post (18 May 1977), p. A15; M. Marder, ‘U.S. Downgrades Goal in Indian Ocean’, The Washington Post (23 June 1977), p. A17.

78 G. C. Wilson, ‘Carter's Military Plans face Tough Logistical Problems’, The Washington Post (24 January 1980), p. A14.

79 N. Tucker, ‘Islanders Sue U.S. Over Relocation’, The Washington Post (21 December 2001), p. A5.

80 D. Priest and B. Gellman, ‘U.S. Decries Abuse but Defends Interrogations; “Stress and Duress” Tactics Used on Terrorism Suspects Held in Secret Overseas Facilities’, The Washington Post (26 December 2002), p. A1; K. Sullivan, ‘U.S. Fueled “Rendition” Flights on British Soil; London Discloses Two Landings on Indian Ocean Atoll’, The Washington Post (22 February 2008), p. A16.

81 Vine, Island of Shame, p. 9.

82 Sand, United States, United Kingdom and Diego Garcia, pp. 46–7.

83 D. Campbell and R. Norton-Taylor, ‘US accused of holding terror suspects on prison’, The Guardian (2 June 2008), available at:{http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/02/usa.humanrights/print} accessed 2 July 2010.

84 Sand, United States, United Kingdom and Diego Garcia, p. 47. For a complete list of Parliamentary questions and answers, see Appendix III. Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales, Diego Garcia: Footprint of Freedom? (2003).

85 Anonymous, ‘UK apology over rendition flights’, BBC News (21 February 2008), available at: {http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7256587.stm} accessed 2 July 2010; Sullivan, ‘U.S. Fueled “Rendition” Flights on British Soil’.

86 M. Hayden, ‘CIA statement on renditions’, BBC News (21 February 2008), available at: {http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7257524.stm} accessed 4 July 2010.

87 Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, Council of Europe, Secret detentions and illegal transfers of detainees involving Council of Europe member states (Strasbourg: Council of Europe, 2007).

88 Grey, Stephen, Ghost Plane: The true story of the CIA rendition and torture program (New York: St. Martin's Press, 2006)Google Scholar; Paglen, Trevor, Blank Spots: The Dark Geography of the Pentagon's Secret World (New York: Dutton, 2009)Google Scholar.

89 A. Zagorin, ‘US Used UK Isle for Interrogations’, Time (31 July 2008), available at: {http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1828469,00.html} accessed 1 July 2010.

90 Reprieve, Ghost Detention on Diego Garcia (London: Reprieve, 2009)Google Scholar; David Vine, ‘Island of Injustice: The U.S. Has a Moral Duty to the People of Diego Garcia’, The Washington Post (2 January 2007), p. A17.

91 John Pilger, ‘Paradise cleansed: Our deportation of the people of Diego Garcia is a crime that cannot stand’, The Guardian (2 October 2004); John Pilger and C. Martin, (Directors), Stealing a Nation [Motion Picture] (Granada, 2007).

92 Tucker, ‘Islanders Sue U.S. Over Relocation’; M. Jordan, ‘Court Rules for Islanders Evicted in U.S. Base Deal’, The Washington Post (15 May 2007), p. A15.

93 Poole, T., ‘United Kingdom: The Royal Prerogative’, International Journal of Constitutional Law, 8:1 (2010), pp. 146–55CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

94 Vine, Island of Shame, p. 174.

95 Poole, ‘United Kingdom’, p. 154.

96 C. Philp, ‘Chagossians fight for a home in paradise’, The Times (6 March 2010).

97 ‘US Embassy Cables: Foreign Office does not regret evicting Chagos Islanders’, Guardian (2 December 2010), available at: {http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/207149} accessed 15 January 2012.

98 C. Philp and D. Kennedy, ‘Paradise dossier was doctored to keep deported families from their homes; Political pressure erased expert's view that islands could be repopulated’, The Time (22 April 2010).

99 Berling, ‘Science and Securitization’.

100 Poole, ‘United Kingdom’, p. 155.

101 Thrift suggests a kind of ‘social science fiction’ that merges journalistic and social science writings. Thrift, Nigel, ‘Lifeworld Inc – and what to do about it’, Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 29:1 (2011), pp. 526CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

102 Williams, ‘Words, Images, Enemies’.

103 Agamben, Giorgio, Homo Sacer: Sovereign power and bare life, trans. Heller-Roazen, D. (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1998)Google Scholar.

104 Butler, Judith, Precarious Life: The Powers of Mourning and Violence (London: Verso, 2004)Google Scholar.

105 Rajaram, Prem K., ‘Dystopic geographies of empire’, in Biswas, S. and Nair, S. (eds), International Relations and States of Exception: Margins, Peripheries and Excluded Bodies (London: Routledge, 2010), pp. 7194Google Scholar.