Why is "security" such a controversial concept? The foreign, military and economic policies of states, the intersections of these policies in areas of change or controversy, and the overall structure of the relationships they create, are all analyzed in terms of aspirations to achieve national and/or international security. Security is most commonly associated with reducing threats to the values ​​we hold dear (Williams; 2008). However, this is an undesirably vague definition and reflects the inherent nature of security as an “essentially contested concept” (Gallie; 1962). Security in the modern context has many key concepts associated with it: uncertainty, war, terrorism, genocide and mass killing, ethnic conflict, coercion, human security, poverty, environmental damage, health and, of course, the traditional notion of military security. Such concepts necessarily generate unresolvable debates about their meaning and application because, as Richard Little points out, "they contain an ideological element that makes empirical evidence irrelevant as a means of resolving the controversy." In this essay I will therefore try to explore the various contested concepts of security and explain how and why this contestation arose. Until the emergence of economic and environmental concerns in the 1970s, the concept of security was rarely addressed in terms other than political interests. of particular actors, and until the late 1980s the discussion still had a strong military emphasis. Arnold Wolfers, in his 1962 article, called security an “ambiguous symbol” – at one point arguing that it “may have no precise meaning” – reflecting the multidimensional complexity of the concept. It exists today… half of the document… influence on domestic affairs that can be achieved by invoking it, it offers space for power maximization strategies for political and military elites. Works CitedBROWN, Michael (eds.): The International Dimensions of International Conflict (MIT Press; 1996)BUZAN, Barry: People, States & Fear: An Agenda for International Security Studies in the Post-Cold War Era (Harvester Wheatshef; 1991) HOFFMAN, Bruce: Inside Terrorism (Indigo; 1998) HOUGH, Peter: Understanding Global Security: Routledge; 2004) KATZENSTEIN, Peter (ed.): The Culture of National Security – Normals and Identity in World Politics (Columbia; 1996) KOLODZIEJ, Edward: Security and International Relations (Cambridge; 2005) NOLAN, Janne: Global Engagement – ​​​​Cooperation and Security in the 21st Century (Brookings Institution; 1994) WILLIAMS, Paul: Security Studies: An Introduction (Routledge; 2008)