Understanding the public security discourse - an attempt by the Evocs project

The present paper will introduce the methodology and the results of the FP7 EvoCS-project ('The Evolving Concept of Security: A critical evaluation across four dimensions'). In order to do this, the paper will give a brief overview of the EvoCS project and its methodology and a short introduction to the concept of strategic cultures. The section on 'The Public Security Discourse in Four European NATO Countries' will present the results of the first stage of the research process in EvoCS for countries which are relevant in the framework of NATO and the historical trajectory of the security discourse in these countries. Also, the results are compared to the results of a comprehensive study on the strategic culture of European countries. Finally, the section on 'conclusions' will sum up the discussions, compare them with results on strategic cultures and give a possible outlook to the two questions asked in the context of this year's conference.