Great Expectations: Rising Power and the Elusive Pursuit of Absolute Security

Professor Caleb Pomeroy from the University of Toronto will give a presentation at the MIT Security Studies Program's Wednesday Seminar.

Summary: States pursue hegemony to achieve security. Does it work? Integrating psychological research on power with classical realist thought on security expectations, Professor Pomeroy will demonstrate in this seminar that rising power increases leaders' expectations of security. These heightened expectations of security make previously tolerable threats feel more existential. Despite material gains in security, the sense of power paradoxically makes leaders feel less secure. Historical evidence from the United States' nineteenth century rise to regional hegemony supports this expectation. Power is useful for many objectives. The sense of security is not one of them.