The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), founded at the beginning of the Cold War, has existed as a security alliance between North America and Europe for over 70 years. Why did it not dissolve after the end of the East-West confrontation like the Warsaw Pact? How has it reacted to new developments in security policy? What is it good for today? Has it gained renewed importance in light of Russia's actions against Ukraine? The seminar will address the question of the Alliance's continued relevance due to its flexible adaptation to the new, more diffuse security landscape over the past 25 years. After a common definition of "security policy today" and a review of NATO's history during the Cold War, the seminar will address the individual aspects of NATO's transformation, critically examine NATO's new function, discuss its place in the web of security-related institutions, analyze its role in the Balkans, Afghanistan, and Libya, question its contribution to addressing "new" (partly non-military) threats, and consider its response to Russian foreign and security policy under Putin. close

Recommended for purchase Johannes Varwick, NATO in (Un-)Ordnung. Wie transatlantische Sicherheit neu verhandelt wird. Schwalbach: Umschau-Verlag 2017München: Beck 2008 (24,90 €) Further recommendations for an introduction into the subject Theo Sommer, Diese NATO hat ausgedient. Das Bündnis muss europäischer werden. Hamburg: Edition Körber-Stiftung 2012. Rob de Wijk, NATO on the Brink of the Millennium. The Battle for Consensus. London: Brassey’s 1997. Klaus Wittmann, Towards a new Strategic Concept for NATO. NATO Defense College, Rom, September 2009 (Forum Paper 10). Klaus Wittmann, The Road to NATO’s New Strategic Concept. In: Gustav Schmidt (Ed.), A History of NATO – The First 50 Years. Basingstoke, New York 2001. Bd. 3, S. 219-237. Klaus Wittmann, An Alliance for the 21st Century? Reviewing NATO’s new Strategic Concept. In: Latvian Transatlantic Organisation (LATO), The Riga Conference Papers. Riga 2011, p. 33-45. Klaus Wittmann, Europäische Verantwortung und «Europäische Armee». In: Fabian Forster, Sascha Vugrin, Leonard Wessendorf (Hrsg.), Das Zeitalter der Einsatzarmee. Herausforderungen für Recht und Ethik (Wissenschaft und Sicherheit. Bd. 8), Berlin: Berliner Wissenschafts-Verlag 2014, S. 194-209. Klaus Wittmann, Genscher und der NATO-Doppelbeschluss. In: Kerstin Brauckhoff/Irmgard Schwaetzer (Hrsg.), Hans- Dietrich Genschers Außenpolitik. Wiesbaden, Springer 2015, S. 141-163. close