Published on Feb 3, 2014
Mobility and the model: policy mobility and the becoming of Israeli homeland security
dominance
Rhys Machold
PhD Candidate, Global Governance
Balsillie School of International Affairs
Israel's dominant position within the homeland security (HLS) and counterterrorism field is now quite widely established in academic circles and beyond. Yet through what terms should we understand this apparent 'success'? How exactly have the Israelis managed to cement their leadership status and what might this achievement signify? As a number of scholars and activists have pointed out, Israeli firms are able to lay claim to 'battle-proven' expertise and real-world testing, thereby helping them to gain a competitive edge in a global marketplace as well as (re)produce and entrench the very dangers they claim to remedy. While existing accounts of Israel's HLS industry have made a number of critical contributions, however, they fail to readily address how Israeli HLS approaches have come to be understood as mobile and universal strategies to be applied worldwide. They also negate the extent to which policies, technologies and practices are transformed as they move geographically.
Drawing on recent fieldwork in Israel I develop a different perspective on how we might understand Israel's rise as an 'HLS capital'. I argue that Israeli claims to HLS leadership are realized through their encounters beyond Israel and in ways that stabilize their practices and technologies as global models. Building on insights from literature on policy mobility, I suggest that bound up with the development of an Israeli HLS 'model' is the constitution of an audience, which is central to giving these approaches their global appeal and respective political force. Through these interventions I seek to unsettle the apparent consensus that Israel's status as an HLS leader simply a testament to its already existing dominance within the global security marketplace. I also examine how Israel's controversial status is negotiated through these interactions.
dominance
Rhys Machold
PhD Candidate, Global Governance
Balsillie School of International Affairs
Israel's dominant position within the homeland security (HLS) and counterterrorism field is now quite widely established in academic circles and beyond. Yet through what terms should we understand this apparent 'success'? How exactly have the Israelis managed to cement their leadership status and what might this achievement signify? As a number of scholars and activists have pointed out, Israeli firms are able to lay claim to 'battle-proven' expertise and real-world testing, thereby helping them to gain a competitive edge in a global marketplace as well as (re)produce and entrench the very dangers they claim to remedy. While existing accounts of Israel's HLS industry have made a number of critical contributions, however, they fail to readily address how Israeli HLS approaches have come to be understood as mobile and universal strategies to be applied worldwide. They also negate the extent to which policies, technologies and practices are transformed as they move geographically.
Drawing on recent fieldwork in Israel I develop a different perspective on how we might understand Israel's rise as an 'HLS capital'. I argue that Israeli claims to HLS leadership are realized through their encounters beyond Israel and in ways that stabilize their practices and technologies as global models. Building on insights from literature on policy mobility, I suggest that bound up with the development of an Israeli HLS 'model' is the constitution of an audience, which is central to giving these approaches their global appeal and respective political force. Through these interventions I seek to unsettle the apparent consensus that Israel's status as an HLS leader simply a testament to its already existing dominance within the global security marketplace. I also examine how Israel's controversial status is negotiated through these interactions.
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