Competing Models for World Order: The Nature of Security and Diplomacy in the 21st Century

Recent headlines from the crisis in Syria to the ongoing turbulence in the global economy re-enforce the general understanding among societies on both sides of the Atlantic that basic concepts of security and diplomacy are in fundamental transition. How Europe understands the United States, and how the US understands itself, is intricately connected to the tectonic shifts taking place in the norms, institutions, and interests shaping debates about how to define and pursue security and diplomacy in the coming decades.

This two-week summer school explores intensively the evolving cultures of security and diplomacy shaping contemporary transatlantic relations and their global context. A range of compelling issues from the crisis in Ukraine to the Great Recession to environmental politics are confronting societies with the need to re-evaluate how they define and pursue multiple forms of national and international security and diplomacy. Nowhere is this fundamental shift in the pursuit of security and diplomacy more evident than in the United States as the world’s leading power struggles with adapting to an increasingly multipolar world. American diplomacy and foreign policy during the Obama Presidency has in turn challenged Europe and the transatlantic alliance to adapt basic structures and priorities in security and diplomacy to the unfolding system of global security.

The summer school is structured by a multidisciplinary approach involving experts from political science, history, sociology, cultural studies and economics. It will involve integrating contemporary case studies that will be further enriched by exploring diverse international relations concepts (such as realism, liberalism, and constructivism). The resulting learning will produce substantial advanced training for graduate students interested in careers in public policy, international organizations, government agencies, higher education, and the international private sector. Special seminars such as the Dresden Seminar, the Weimar Seminar, and the Colditz Seminar will be built around in-depth explorations of special themes such as war and security (Dresden), politics and security (Weimar), and law and security (Colditz). Substantial empirical and conceptual learning will be integrated moreover with applied learning as teams of participants prepare policy proposals centered around the chosen real world case-studies.