Research, ideas, and leadership for a more secure, peaceful world

Past Event
Seminar

NATO and the Projection of Partial Democracy: The Eastern Neighborhood, the Western Balkans, Afghanistan, and Libya

Open to the Public

NATO by its rise as a political actor since the end of the Cold War has emphasized democratization as an increasingly important soft power objective in its relations with third countries. The seminar explains NATO's democratic agenda focusing on two regions and two operations: (1) the 'halted' enlargement vis-à-vis Georgia and Ukraine; (2) the ongoing enlargement process in the Western Balkans; (3) the state-building effort and drawdown from Afghanistan; (4) the 2011 intervention in Libya in the context of the Arab Spring.

Please join us! Coffee and tea provided. Everyone is welcome, but admittance will be on a first come–first served basis.

Date: Time: - Location: Littauer Building - Belfer Center Library, Room 369
Lights hang in front of a NATO logo during the NATO Summit on Nov. 19, 2010 in Lisbon, Portugal. Britain and the U.S. sought an agreement to hand over responsibility for security in Afghanistan to local forces over the next 4 years.

About

NATO by its rise as a political actor since the end of the Cold War has emphasized democratization as an increasingly important soft power objective in its relations with third countries. The seminar explains NATO's democratic agenda focusing on two regions and two operations: (1) the 'halted' enlargement vis-à-vis Georgia and Ukraine; (2) the ongoing enlargement process in the Western Balkans; (3) the state-building effort and drawdown from Afghanistan; (4) the 2011 intervention in Libya in the context of the Arab Spring.

A rethinking of realist theory is necessary to break with the dominant liberalist or constructivist scholarship on democracy projection in general and NATO in particular. Advancing a three-leveled neoclassical realist model, democratization (y) is viewed as policy resulting from economic power transitions (x) as mediated through nations' predominant historical lessons (z). This sequence provides an adequate account for policy variance across time and space: democracy as power's junior partner is promoted as long as it is perceived to improve NATO's long-term geostrategic influence without having a negative short-term impact on national security and relative power. 

Please join us! Coffee and tea provided. Everyone is welcome, but admittance will be on a first come–first served basis.