Dr. Tobias Gibson Publishes Definitive Textbook on Issues Impacting International Security Today

Dr. Tobias T. Gibson has done it again: In November, the professor of political science and security studies published a scholarly textbook along with former Westminster Professor Kurt W. Jefferson. The two joined forces to coedit International Security Studies and Technology, which is a definitive text on a variety of issues impacting international security today.

Gibson and Jefferson previously coedited Contextualizing Security: A Reader in 2022.

Published by Edward Elgar Publishing, the new book is receiving praise from a number of scholars, including Andrew Roberts, famed Winston Churchill biographer and coauthor of Conflict: The Evolution of Warfare from 1945 to Ukraine.

Roberts writes, “As the world moves into a higher gear in the clash between autocracy and democracy, the profound thought found in these chapters which explain clearly the role that technology will play in deciding the outcome could not be more vital.”

Westminster recently caught up with Gibson to learn the ins and outs of his recent project. The interview is found below.

You’ve been busy writing a lot of books recently, particularly with Dr. Jefferson. What inspired this particular project?

After our first book together, Kurt and I realized that we really wanted to update and look to the future of security through technology. We presented a discussion of our first book at a conference in Nashville, became inspired, and by the end of the conference, we had a model of the book.

Who do you anticipate will find this book useful? Will it be used in college classrooms throughout the country? 

Scholars, students, and practitioners should find this book to be useful and of interest. I know that several academic libraries have already ordered the book. I certainly hope that many classes will use it.

How long did this project take, and when did you find time to work on it? 

The book came together in less than two years. It is edited, so we didn’t have to write every chapter, although we do have chapters in the book. The time spent was reaching out to scholars I already knew, attending conferences and seeing interesting works in process, and reading professional journals and newsletters, etc., to find top-tier authors who were doing cutting-edge work.

In your own words, please summarize for readers what they will encounter in International Security Studies and Technology.

This is a collection of highly regarded scholars, each with a unique perspective on the impacts of technology on United States national security in the near future. The wisdom within illustrates that the future is not decided, and that technology — and its use — will play a major role in the security of the U.S. going forward.

International Security Studies and Technology can be purchased from Amazon and other online book sellers.