NS3720 European Security Institutions

Survey and analysis of the main international institutions dealing with European security: the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the European Union (EU), and the United Nations (UN). The survey includes selected challenges facing each organization, particularly NATO, and their relation to specific European countries and to U.S. foreign and defense policy. Prerequisites: None.

Lecture Hours

4

Lab Hours

0

Course Learning Outcomes

• Develop a deep understanding of the main international institutions dealing with European security: the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the European Union (EU) (particularly its Common Foreign Security Policy (CFSP) & Common Security and Defense Policy (CSDP)), the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the Council of Europe (CoE), and the United Nations (UN).
• Understand the origins, historical trajectories, and persistent dilemmas of the Atlantic and European security institutions, and how these might apply to current strategic environment.
• Identify the key characteristics and driving forces behind the key security institutions formed by Western adversaries and competitors in the European theater AOR, including the former Warsaw Treaty Organization (aka the Warsaw Pact), the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).
• Identify the key current challenges facing European security institutions, including great power competition with Russia and China, tackling unconventional and emerging threats, domestic political vulnerabilities, and budgets, interoperability and cost-sharing.