Whither NATO: Chronicle of a Death Foretold?

Gastvortrag von Dario Battistella, Vortragssaal UB Stadtmitte (EG rechts)

“NATO’s days are not numbered, but its years are. … Once the new Germany finds its feet, it will no more want to be constrained by the US acting through NATO”. Two decades and a half after having been asserted, is Kenneth Waltz’ prediction about to come true? Not necessarily because of Angela Merkel, reluctantly acknowledging that “the times in which we could rely fully on others … are somewhat over”, but maybe because of Donald Trump considering NATO to be “obsolete”? To give a tentative answer to this question, this presentation will first tackle the issue of NATO’s nature – is it a mere alliance or a security community? –, then put forward a neo-classical realist analysis of the system- and individual-level variables likely to shape NATO’s future evolution.

Prof. Dario Battistella ist Politikwissenschaftler und Spezialist der Theorien der Internationalen Beziehungen. Er forscht und lehrt am Sciences Po Bordeaux. Von ihm erschienen u.a. „Un monde unidimensionnel“ (2015, 2. Auflage), „Théories des relations internationales“ (2015, 5. Auflage) sowie Paix et guerres au 21e siècle (2011).