The use of numbers has been remarkably effective at pressing global claims. While research has documented the historical processes through which numbers gained such prominence, and has examined the political and ethical consequences of this omnipresence, very little is known regarding the specific ways in which numbers create the outcomes that sustain governance. This article proposes to close that gap. Building on the literature that acknowledges that numbers not only describe things but also have profound impacts on things themselves, this article offers an integrated account of the working dynamics of numbers in the governance of security. To do so, the article identifies three distinct but connected vectors of power through which numbers shape security governance: persuasion, (de)politicisation, and standardisation. These insights are exemplified through the prism of different empirical examples, the variety of which aims to display the advantages of the approach we propose.

中文翻译：

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全球安全治理中的数字

数字的使用在推动全球索赔方面非常有效。虽然研究记录了数字如此突出的历史过程，并研究了这种无所不在的政治和道德后果，但对于数字创造维持治理的结果的具体方式知之甚少。本文建议缩小这一差距。基于承认数字不仅描述事物而且对事物本身产生深远影响的文献，本文对数字在安全治理中的工作动态进行了综合说明。为此，本文确定了数字塑造安全治理的三个不同但相互关联的权力向量：说服、（去）政治化和标准化。