Conclusion

Abstract

Subjects of Security has argued that foreign policy shapes its own citizens and populations. This is an effect that can be understood as a form of disciplinary regulation that shapes domestic order and engenders processes of social control. Part I established a theoretical framework through which international relations (IR) scholars can better identify, conceptualise and analyse the disciplinary effects of foreign policy. This has involved engaging in a critique of current conceptualisations of IR as well as constructing a framework through which we can reconnect the flows of power and knowledge between the international and domestic realm. Part II demonstrated the primary argument through a number of case studies from Western liberal democratic states. The case studies were chosen to show that foreign policy operates as a form of discipline that shapes domestic order and engenders processes of social control. Subjects of Security has instances in which these processes are explicit and obvious, even to the most unobservant citizen travelling between cities or countries. It has equally highlighted instances that require an explicit conceptual framework that challenges us to search for the links, and to evaluate their consequences. This book has offered such a framework and demonstrated how it can be applied to both historical and contemporary examples.