Security Management does not only concern physical safety, like protection against physical threats such as fire or natural disasters. It also concerns social safety. That's how much cohesion or polarization exists within a city or community. Do people connect with each other or is there a lot of separation between neighborhoods and a lot of loneliness? Threats against safety and security can originate from malicious intent like crime or terrorism, or without malicious intent like those caused by accidents or natural disasters. Also, safety and security does not only address objective aspects, for instance the likelihood of becoming a victim of crime or a traffic accident. It also addresses subjective aspects. How safe do people actually feel? In this MOOC, we mainly use the terms safety and security interchangeably, even though there are sometimes associated with different meanings. Security often refers to external threats such as natural, technological, or human made threats, as well as the implementation of measures against possible biological, chemical, and explosive actions. Human made threats refer to organized crime and terrorism, or threats that target the national serenity, such as external entrances or threats to critical infrastructures. Safety management often refers to ordinary human actions that could harm the ordinary public such as traffic or supply chain safety. But also, social cohesion and the legitimacy and stability of democratic institutions. These phenomenon intertwines, and a clear distinction is usually not needed from a management perspective like the one we use in this MOOC. Safety and security challenges increasingly cross domains, organizational and jurisdictional boundaries. Immigration, natural hazards, terrorism, serious and organized crime. Cybercrime, the extensive exchange of people and goods, the deep inter-dependency of critical infrastructures, and the exponential increase of complex information technologies are just a few examples. They all demand collaboration from stakeholders across sectors, regions, and levels of society to develop sustainable and practically meaningful solutions. In their Global Risk Report of 2019, the World Economic Forum lists environmental risks like extreme weather events, failing governments, and large-scale forced migration being the most impactful global risks with far-reaching consequences. Technology also plays a profound role in shaping the global risk landscape. Data fraud and the fear that the abuse of artificial intelligence for cyber attacks might pose risks to critical infrastructures rank high on the list of security concerns of many citizens worldwide. Such challenges demonstrate the need for a holistic and multi-agency approach in addressing cross-border links of the threats. However, current approaches in the area of safety and security remain typically discipline and domain-specific. Educational approaches are usually country-specific. And in the limited cases when International training is provided, it stays within one domain. European police officers are trained at regional or national police academies. IT experts and consultants receive their training within the IT sector. Corporate security officers and policy makers within their specific trajectories, like for example, management, law, or political sciences. Contributing to this situation are the gaps and disparities in international and organizational governance arrangements, along with discipline-specific views of risks, functions, and operations. Reacting to, and even more importantly, preventing security threats, demands fully integrated and collaborative solutions as no one agency, organization, or government can tackle these challenges on their own. Growing inter-dependencies of critical infrastructures and developments such as natural hazards have brought home the message that security management has definitely exceeded the local level. Yet, clear conceptualizations, structures, and mindsets for a truly international security system are still missing. Thus, taken together, there is no clear definition of international security management. It depends very much on the sector or the discipline that uses the term. Also, there are many calls that we need to have fresh and more integrated definitions of security management that bring the currently relatively isolated perspectives a bit more together.
