Jul 2026· SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH AND EDUCATION IN THE AIR FORCE· Vol 27, pp. 68-83· 0 citations
Abstract
The concept of security culture has gained increasing prominence within
contemporary Security Studies, particularly in the context of hybrid threats, cognitive warfare,
and the growing emphasis on societal and national resilience. Despite its widespread use in both
academic and policy discourse, security culture remains conceptually ambiguous and
epistemologically under-defined, oscillating between a broad theoretical construct and a loosely
operationalised normative notion. This paper addresses this gap by advancing a systematic
epistemological clarification of the concept and by identifying the conditions under which it may
be transformed into a coherent analytical and operational category.
The study adopts a qualitative meta-theoretical approach, combining conceptual analysis,
systematic literature review, and comparative examination of adjacent constructs such as
strategic culture, political culture, and societal security. It demonstrates that the ambiguity
surrounding security culture stems from conceptual diffusion across paradigmatic boundaries, as
well as from the absence of clearly defined levels of abstraction and analytical criteria.
Building on these findings, the paper proposes a multidimensional framework encompassing
cognitive, normative, institutional, and behavioural dimensions, each associated with empirically
measurable indicators. This reconceptualisation contributes to strengthening the theoretical
coherence and methodological applicability of security culture as a key variable in analysing
contemporary security environments
The paper advances the central argument that cognitive resilience has emerged as a
distinct analytical and operational category within contemporary European Union security
studies. While related to psychological, societal, and informational resilience, cognitive resilience
is conceptualised here as a multidimensional capacity aimed at preserving the integrity,
adaptability, and coherence of cognitive processes under conditions of manipulation,
disinformation, and epistemic destabilisation.
Methodologically, the study employs a qualitative, theory-building research design,
combining conceptual analysis, systematic review of academic literature and EU strategic
documents, and theoretical meta-synthesis across security studies, cognitive warfare doctrine, and
cognitive psychology. This interdisciplinary approach enables the clarification of conceptual
boundaries and the integration of diverse theoretical perspectives into a coherent analytical
framework.
The findings demonstrate that cognitive resilience constitutes a necessary extension of the
resilience paradigm, addressing a critical gap in both academic literature and EU policy
frameworks. Existing approaches remain predominantly focused on regulating information flows
and mitigating external threats, while insufficiently addressing the internal cognitive mechanisms
that enable manipulation to be effective. In response, the paper proposes an operational definition
of cognitive resilience and identifies its core dimensions, cognitive filtering capacity,
interpretative coherence, adaptive flexibility, and epistemic trust, thus enabling future empirical
measurement and comparative research.
The study concludes that the integration of cognitive resilience fundamentally expands the
security paradigm, repositioning cognition as a central strategic domain and cognitive autonomy
as a key determinant of democratic stability. As such, cognitive resilience emerges not merely as a
complementary concept, but as a strategic capability essential for the EU’s capacity to withstand
and adapt to the challenges of contemporary cognitive warfare.
Ruslana Grosu, Catalina Popescu· SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH AND EDUC...· 0 citations
Sustainability has become a central concept in global policy agendas, corporate strategies, and civil society discourse. Yet, despite its ubiquity, the term often functions as a vague ideal, encompassing divergent-and at times conflicting-interests. This study addresses the critical gap in understanding how sustainability operates not merely as an environmental or developmental goal, but as a discursive construction that shapes political identities and power relations. Drawing on post-structuralist theory, particularly the works of Foucault, Derrida, Laclau, and Mouffe, the research investigates how sustainability functions as a hegemonic identity by marginalizing alternative narratives and securing broad ideological consensus. Employing critical discourse analysis, the study examines policy documents and public narratives from the European Union, the United Nations, and Turkey to trace how sustainability is articulated, institutionalized, and contested in different governance settings. The findings indicate that sustainability has evolved into an “empty signifier”-a flexible concept that unites diverse agendas under a common rhetorical umbrella. While this discursive openness facilitates global alignment, it also allows for co-optation, symbolic politics, and the suppression of transformative alternatives. Emerging critiques such as degrowth and climate justice movements reveal the fragility of this consensus and highlight growing resistance to technocratic and market-driven sustainability models. By situating sustainability within a broader field of ideological struggle, the study underscores its unstable and contested nature. Recognizing the discursive mechanisms that elevate sustainability to hegemonic status opens space for more pluralistic, democratic, and justice-oriented sustainability imaginaries. These insights carry important implications for rethinking policy frameworks and grassroots strategies in the face of ecological and political crises.
Elif Saracoğlu· Humanities and Social Scienc...· 0 citations
This paper aims to examine how the notion of the common good has evolved within the social sciences, with a particular focus on its application in business ethics and corporate social responsibility. Although scholars often cite the concept, they frequently use it ambiguously or without critical reflection. This study clarifies those shifts and positions the common good as a unifying ethical framework to confront contemporary business and societal challenges.
This paper analyzes 1,690 Web of Science documents (1960–2022) using citation mapping and co-word analysis. This method tracks intellectual structures, thematic clusters and research trends, providing a systematic view of how continuities and transformations shape the discourse on the common good.
This paper identifies three coherent foundational clusters: virtue ethics, Catholic Social Thought and procedural/institutional ethics. Newer interpretations display greater diversity but weaker integration. Six thematic clusters expose persistent tensions between moral agency and structural equity, universal principles and contextual adaptability and ethical imperatives and instrumental outcomes. Sustainability and digital ethics emerge as promising yet underexplored frontiers. Influential works drive much of the debate, but contributions remain uneven across regions and disciplines.
Because of the chosen methodology, the study may underrepresent Global South perspectives and oversimplify complex philosophical debates.
The findings encourage organizations to adopt ethical frameworks beyond environmental, social and governance compliance and urge policymakers to balance grassroots input with institutional accountability.
This paper pioneers bibliometric methods to trace the evolution of the common good, highlighting its coherence and fragmentation and advocating revitalization through interdisciplinary and non-Western perspectives.
J. Belso-Martínez, M. López-Sánchez, Alicia Mas-Tur et al.· International Journal of Eth...· 0 citations
In the realm of international relations, soft power stands out as one of the most frequently referenced yet conceptually vague terms. Subsequent to Nye's original formulation, its signification has been disseminated across a plethora of disciplines and policy debates, giving rise to analytical confusion. This article aims to improve conceptual accuracy by clarifying the core terminologies of soft power and presenting a framework that categorizes its main constituents. This study is methodologically based on a conceptual literature review and comparative textual analysis of key scholarly debates across international relations and political science are utilized in this research. Thus, contested terms can be systematically classified and mapped through this approach. The findings indicate a refined typology that distinguishes between sources, mechanisms, currencies, assets, tools, and outcomes. They also demonstrate the relational and process-based nature of soft power, showing that it relies on factors such as narratives, networks, emotional connections, and attractive qualities to generate influence. The conclusion suggests that soft power is best conceived as operating along a continuous spectrum where persuasion, coercion, and attraction intersect. It further emphasizes that conceptual precision is necessary not only for theoretical coherence but also for effective statecraft in a competitive global setting. The study enhances the explanatory usefulness of soft power by refining terminology and clarifying analytical boundaries. It also provides practical guidance for policymakers and scholars to assess and apply soft power systematically.
The article analyzes the interpretation of security in the context of periodic transformations: from conceptualization to contextualization (subordinating security to the needs of human protection). In the historical and philosophical dimension, these two trends of interpreting and positioning security have constantly varied and changed, depending on the demands of society or dominant ideological attitudes.Relevance of the topic. The problem of security has always remained relevant in the philosophical and worldview picture of the world. The ontological, axiological, and anthropological dimensions of security form a holistic understanding of this phenomenon at the individual, socio‑ institutional, and global‑ existential levels. At the same time, in the socio‑ cultural dimension, the security paradigm is fragmented, highlighting dominant characteristics. Cultural and historical experience indicates a constant change in the dominant component of security, which shifts depending on the realities of societal development.The scientic novelty of the research lies in positioning security within the socio‑ cultural dichotomy of stability and turbulence in societal development. The philosophical characteristics of security correlate with social and cultural dimensions, oїering a corresponding alternation in the priority of its essences (existential, anthropological, and value‑ based).The aim of the article is to highlight the philosophical interpretation of the balance between the existential and socio‑ practical dimensions of security. The tasks of the article involve conducting a philosophical analysis of the dichotomy between the functionality and conceptuality of security. The research methodology is based on a combination of dialectical and synergetic approaches, which help investigate the contradictions and alignments of the security dimension within the socio‑ philosophical paradigm.The results of the scienti̐c research indicate the dynamics of security positioning, which depends on the socio‑ cultural dichotomy of stability and turbulence in societal development. Philosophical characteristics of security synchronize with social ones, oїering a corresponding alternation in the priority of its existential essences with value‑ anthropological manifestations. The conceptuality of security dominates during periods of civilizational stability, when the worldview picture of the world becomes orderly, providing society with structured algorithms of development. The contextualization of security gains signi̐cance in times of instability and crisis, reducing it to a mechanism for ensuring order and balance in society. A promising direction for future research is the attempt to develop a synergetic model of security in a civilizational sense, providing it not only with targeted socio‑ practical characteristics but also with value‑ oriented meaning through philosophical understanding and interpretation.Conclusion. Thus, in the philosophical and worldview paradigm, security is traditionally established as a conscious and understandable conceptual model of protection. At the same time, the practically‑ oriented model of security determines its contextual impact in resolving contradictions of a socio‑ cultural nature.
I. Skakun· Current issues of social sci...· 0 citations
This paper examines the relationship between sovereignty and national
security by questioning the assumption that they depend on one another.
This paper aims to conceptualize secondary national security within
the broader theoretical framework of Security Studies associated
with the Copenhagen School and Stephen Krasner’s understanding of
sovereignty, and to apply this concept as an analytical framework in
a qualitative case study of Greenland. The analysis demonstrates that
national security can exist in the absence of full sovereignty through a
configuration in which security provision is externalized, while security
perception and the political articulation of security remain internalized.
Greenland illustrates how political entities lacking independent military
capabilities nevertheless develop autonomous security perceptions and
security priorities. The findings indicate that security perception and
provision can be institutionally separated yet politically interconnected.
The paper concludes that national security is not a fixed, inherent attribute of a sovereign state, but rather a variable, context-dependent
phenomenon. For this reason, the concept of secondary national security
provides a useful analytical framework for studying security practices
under conditions of limited statehood.
Dejan Vuletić· Politika nacionalne bezbedno...· 0 citations
