The appearance and consolidation of a critical studies approach on international security fortified the claim that international security problems are not merely related to objective threats to states, but are in deep connection with the relationship between the individual and human emancipation. In those terms, a solid security condition is primarily preconditioned by human emancipation. However, in what conditions do international security and emancipation overlap? The present article intends to explore the question, a topic that is not tackled by the endogenous debate of critical security studies (CSS). An interesting path to be followed seems to be the dialogue between cosmopolitan critical theory and cosmopolitan liberal theory. This article argues that an intersection, or continuum, of these two theories would be possible if CSS focused on dimensions of political liberalism that have been neglected, especially to think about a transnational-based democracy and the possibilities of a transnationalized civil society.
Critical security studies; Critical theory; Liberal cosmopolitism; Transnational democracy