Security and Strategic Culture in Contemporary International Relations: Theory, Decision-Making, and Applied Case Studies - Adriana Macarel, Corneliu Preja

This volume offers a comprehensive academic perspective on security culture and strategic culture in contemporary international relations. By integrating theoretical frameworks, decision-making processes, and applied case studies, the book examines how security perceptions, institutional resilience, and strategic behavior are shaped within national and transnational contexts. Addressed primarily to students, graduate students, and researchers in security studies, international relations, and strategic studies, the volume also serves as a valuable reference for practitioners interested in understanding the cultural foundations of security and strategy.

When a crisis brakes, the same threat can trigger opposite reflexes: quiet coordination in one context, panic or denial in another. The difference is rarely a matter of technology alone. It lies in culture–learned expectations about danger, authority, and what “security” itself means. In this logic, the book traces how security culture and strategic culture are formed, normalized, and then activated under pressure, shaping leaders’ choices, institutional routines, and public consent–often without being explicitly named.

At the same time, the analysis remains grounded. Doctrine, cybersecurity culture, and the nuclear dimension are treated as connected arenas where trust and resilience are tested. The argument is then carried into practice through case studies on Romania and the European Union, where ideas confront constraints and small decisions accumulate. In the end, the book offers a compass for understanding why states respond differently to the same storm.