Conceptual Reflections on Security The concept of security has entered the realm of consideration in numer­ous scientific disciplines, some before, and others after the need arose to develop specialized security studies that focus precisely on this phenome­non. As a result, sociological, legal, political science, anthropological, and many other perspectives on security can be examined. For this reason, it is important for disciplines to communicate with each other, and the relative disciplinary isolation of security experts and theorists shifts the debates and discussions about security toward multidisciplinary security studies. Traditionally, security has been regarded within the fields of strategy and power. After World War II, under the guise of strategic studies focused on defending the state’s territory through military and material strength, it ap­peared difficult to think about security in any other terms within security studies. The traditional approach to security today can be characterized as a narrow or limited understanding, privileging a specific interpretation of security. Such an approach has its limitations or consequences, which can be described as an attempt to make the concept precise and suitable, but at the expense of context; to represent a predominantly linear, unidirectional relationship between the subject and object of security; and to hinder dis­cussion about the limited role of the state and its capacity to create security (Hoogensen, 2012:6). It was precisely this decontextualized negative per­ception of security that dominated throughout the 20th century, especially during the Cold War. However, in the last two decades of the 20th century, there emerged signif­icant challenges to a new vision of security and safety analysis. Besides the recognized need to expand the analytical and methodological scope of se­curity studies, the domain of analysis also broadened to include questions of identity, human security, environmental security, and a range of other issues, creating a diverse and resonant field of intellectual and political debate. Contemporary theoretical approaches indicate that security is not solely required due to fear(the desire to attain freedom from fear) or the use of force against impending threats. Instead, approaches emphasizing positive security interpret security using an epistemology of enabling cre­ating secure spaces, building capacities and capabilities, and enabling or “producing” security through trust. The end of the Cold War also led to an evolution in security relations, as theorists and analysts developed a more constructivist approach that would 40 NATIONAL SECURITY CULTURES- A VIEW FROM THE BALKANS