Loyola University Chicago

 

Amb. Sergio Balanzino

Course Description
This course will chart the changes in European security over the past half century. The first half will be mainly historical and will explore the most significant developments in East-West relations during the Cold War years, covering the essential features of the period such as the role of NATO, nuclear deterrence, arms control, and dètente. Students will be invited to consider carefully whether there was an alternative to the Cold War and why ultimately the Soviet imperium collapsed, without the military confrontation that was for so long feared.

The second half of the course will be devoted to the analysis of the more fluid and turbulent European security scene of today. Particular focus will be given to the collapse of Yugoslavia and the lessons that international organisations such as NATO, UN, OSCE, and EU have learned in trying to stop ethnic violence and build viable new democracies. Finally, the course will discuss new challenges such as the evolution of NATO - Russia relations and the launching of an European Defence Identity.

Course Structure
The course is based on class sessions consisting of lectures delivered by the instructor, as well as class discussions focusing on the topics under investigation and on current developments in European security. Class participation and attendance are of the utmost importance and carry significant weight in terms of the final grade. Students are expected to participate in ALL classes.

Course Requirements

1. 25% Mid-term exam (essay format)
2. 45% Final exam (essay format)
3. 30% Class participation

Required Readings

• Dean Acheson, Present at the Creation
• Sir Nicolas Henderson, NATO's Anxious Birth
• Lawrence Kaplan, The long entanglement
• Robert McGeehan, The German Rearmament Question
• Don Cook, Forging the Alliance
• Condeleeza Rice & Philip Zelokov, Germany unified and Europe transformed
• Michael Mandelbaum, The Dawning of Peace in Europe
• Richard Holbrooke, To End a War
• Ivo Daalder & Michael O'Hanlon, Winning Ugly: NATO's War in Kosovo
• William Showcross, Deliver us from evil
• Henry Kissinger, Diplomacy
• Wesley Clark, Waging modern war
• Tim Judah, Kosovo

Additional Readings
The course instructor can also assign readings on topical issues drawn from the media, periodical publications and journals, such as Foreign Affairs, International Herald Tribune, and Financial Times.

Syllabus

• The beginning of the cold war and the birth of NATO
• The German rearmament question
• The European Defence Community and the Warsaw Pact
• The Helsinki negotiations: the creation of CSCE
• The end of the cold war and the reunification of Germany
• Progressive adaptation of NATO to the new European reality: Partnership for Peace
• The crisis in Yugoslavia
• The Bosnian crisis
• NATO's enlargement and the Founding Act with Russia
• The Kosovo crisis
• The European Security and Defence Identity
• A further enlargment of NATO