Description
The state-as-person assumption is far from commonly accepted in the field of Ontological Security Studies (OSS), in that scholars either deeply engage with it or fully discard the state as the level of analysis. This paper takes the as-if assumption seriously and argues that it is essential for state-level theory building in OSS, by demarcating ontological from physical security concerns. Yet, somewhat counterintuitively, nowhere is this more visible than in ‘hostage diplomacy’: Diverting from the old population/territory/authority state definition, I argue that political hostages, being held abroad, embody the Westphalian nation state more than any abstract state-body idea ever could. The physical threat to the lives of individuals activates state-level ontological security demands exactly because it (threatens to) violate the very construct of a whole, intact nation state. By critically dissecting this in a post-Westphalian context, the paper brings levels of analysis (individual and state) into dialogue within the OSS field. With the case study of Israeli hostages since October 7, the paper deals with implicit and explicit consequences of statehood, further complicating questions of state borders and occupation of the Gaza Strip as well the role of individual lives within the (state level) Self- Other identity formations.
