To compete and thrive in the 21st century, democracies, and the United States in particular, must develop new national security and economic strategies that address the geopolitics of information. In the 20th century, market capitalist democracies geared infrastructure, energy, trade, and even social policy to protect and advance that era’s key source of power—manufacturing. In this century, democracies must better account for information geopolitics across all dimensions of domestic policy and national strategy.
The appearance of supranational union in the 1950s was the outcome of a contested attempt to remake the states system in Europe following the cataclysm of the Second World War. The project of Six yielded five major efforts at institutionalization in the lead up to the 1957 Rome attainment. Some, like the Coal and Steel Community, resulted in major triumphs of integration; others, such as the Defense Community, were sensational failures. This seminar will assess how and why integration progressed even as it failed so spectacularly, drawing insights for the resolution of today's European crisis.
Please join us! Coffee and tea provided. Everyone is welcome, but admittance will be on a first come–first served basis.