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41. NATO's Nuclear Weapons in Europe: Beyond "Yes" or "No"

Author:
Karl-Heinz Kamp
Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
NATO Defense College
Abstract:
"NATO is a nuclear alliance," stated US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at NATO's informal ministerial meeting in Tallinn in April 2010. NATO always was, but many had forgotten about this constituting element of the North Atlantic Alliance. Today, the nuclear question and the so-called "tactical" nuclear weapons (TNW), i.e. the US nuclear bombs stationed in five European member countries (Belgium, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Turkey) are back on the political agenda. Ignited by some European member governments, a debate on the pros and cons of the American nuclear presence in Europe has started. Some are in favor of a rapid withdrawal of these weapons from European soil and claim that the strategic rationale for these types of weapons, which are supposed to be used against Warsaw Pact forces, had long gone. Opponents of quick removal point out that a credible nuclear deterrence posture remains essential for NATO - not least to reassure most of the new NATO members who still harbor concerns with regard to a potentially aggressive Russia (which keeps an estimated number of 3,000 tactical nuclear weapons in its European part - about 10 to 15 times as many as NATO).
Topic:
Security, NATO, Arms Control and Proliferation, International Cooperation, and Nuclear Weapons
Political Geography:
United States, India, Germany, Belgium, Italy, and Netherlands

42. Correspondence: Debating British Decisionmaking toward Nazi Germany in the 1930s

Author:
Jack S. Levy, Evan Resnick, Andrew Barros, Talbot C. Imlay, and Norrin M. Ripsman
Publication Date:
07-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Security
Institution:
Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:
Andrew Barros, Talbot Imlay, and Evan Resnick reply to Norrin Ripsman and Jack Levy's Fall 2008 International Security article, "Wishful Thinking or Buying Time? The Logic of British Appeasement in the 1930s." For Academic Citation:"Correspondence: Debating British Decisionmaking toward Nazi Germany in the 1930s." International Security 34, no. 1 (Summer 2009): 173-198.
Topic:
Security
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Germany

43. Obama Must Lead at Financial Summit; or G-20 Could Become "G-19 + 1"

Author:
Douglas Rediker
Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
European Affairs
Institution:
The European Institute
Abstract:
Seeking a global response to the crisis, the U.S. assigns priority to coordinated stimulus. Germany, France and some other European nations emphasize better global financial regulation - perhaps partly to punish Wall Street but also to prevent a recurrence of abuses. Leadership now by Obama is needed on both issues because the world's confidence and trust in U.S.-style capitalism has been shaken.
Topic:
Security and United Nations
Political Geography:
United States, Europe, France, and Germany

44. Four Emerging Issues in Arms Control, Disarmament, and Nonproliferation: Opportunities for German Leadership

Author:
Nikolai Sokov, Dennis M. Gormley, Miles A. Pomper, Patricia M. Lewis, Lawrence Scheinman, Stephen Schwartz, and Leonard S. Spector
Publication Date:
06-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies
Abstract:
In late April 2009, the Policy Planning Staff of the Foreign Ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany requested that the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) undertake studies on four emerging issues in the fields of arms control, disarmament, and nonproliferation, to be completed by June 15, 2009. The four issues were: The need to address the interrelationship between nuclear and conventional arms reduction, if the United States wants to entice others to go along the path to Global Zero. The world after drastic nuclear arms reductions, including the fear of U.S. conventional superiority/global strike capabilities;  The need (and promising areas) to make (nuclear) arms control and disarmament a strong component of NATO's new strategic concept;  Missile Defense, also covering a possible threat from others than Iran and the need to bring missile defense into the NATO-Russia Council; and Substrategic nuclear weapons, with a description of a way to achieve mutual transparency, reduction, and elimination in Europe.
Topic:
Security, Arms Control and Proliferation, Nuclear Weapons, Treaties and Agreements, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, and Germany

45. Code of Conduct: Tool for Self-Regulation for Private Military and Security Companies

Author:
Nils Rosemann
Publication Date:
01-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
Abstract:
This study aims to illustrate patterns of behavioural rules derived from corporate obligations, and to deduce from these a draft Code of Conduct (CoC) for Private Military and Security Companies (PMSCs). The purpose of a Code of Conduct for Private Military and Security Companies is to oblige such companies to comply with international human rights standards and the norms of international humanitarian law (IHL), thus improving the protection of human rights. In addition to drawing up a CoC together with implementation and monitoring mechanisms, this study aims to list the requirements of the relevant industry on the one hand, as well as of the stakeholders in politics and civil society on the other. It will then compare the divergence between the two in order to assess the potential success of an initiative for the recognition of a CoC for Private Military and Security Companies. Finally, this study will draw up specific options of action and recommendations related to the process of adopting a CoC.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, Security, and Human Rights
Political Geography:
Germany

46. Misreading Berlin... in the Lead into the Iraq War

Author:
Simon Serfaty
Publication Date:
01-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
European Affairs
Institution:
The European Institute
Abstract:
Germans have developed a new mindset, especially about military force, and they are offended, not swayed, by attempts to play on their nation's guilt for World War II. How badly Bush and Blair blundered in misunderstanding this new Germany is described by Serfaty in this excerpt from his new book, Architects of Delusion.
Topic:
Security and War
Political Geography:
United States, Iraq, Europe, Germany, and Berlin

47. Transitional Justice als Weg zu Frieden und Sicherheit. Möglichkeiten und Grenzen, SFB-Governance [Working Paper No. 15]

Author:
Susanne Buckley-Zistel
Publication Date:
07-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Collaborative Research Center (SFB) 700
Abstract:
Transitional Justice refers to ways of dealing with the past of violent conflicts or dictatorships in order to promote the transition to peace and security in a divided society. Against the backdrop of the concept's increasing popularity the objective of the working paper is to investigate whether its norms and instruments do indeed contribute to improving the relationship between the parties to the conflict. Central to the analysis is the impact of its normative cornerstones justice and truth, both conceptionally and practically, and the paper illustrates that their influence on post-conflict societies is rather ambivalent and by no means inevitably promoting peace. Based on these sobering insights the working paper concludes with the appeal to consider Transitional Justice as a political concept and to maintain a critical stance towards its application.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Security, and Governance
Political Geography:
Germany

48. Access to Secret Police Files, Justice, and Vetting in East Germany since 1989

Author:
Gary Bruce
Publication Date:
03-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
German Politics and Society
Institution:
German Politics and Society Journal
Abstract:
In order to situate the current debate on whether the Federal Commission for the Files of the State Security Service of the former German Democratic Republic (the Stasi Archive) should cease to be an autonomous institution in the larger context, this article traces the history of the Stasi Archive and of the Stasi Files Law since 1989. Key to understanding the Stasi Archive and access to its files is the 1989 revolution which saw demonstrators demand access to information gathered by the secret police. Although the research quasimonopoly that the Stasi Archive enjoys would be ended by integration into the federal archives, file access for Stasi victims—the raison d'être of the archive—would be jeopardized. Calls for the dismantling of the Stasi archive are, therefore, premature. Some criticism can be directed at the vetting and trial process in East Germany since 1989, but it is important to remember that the Stasi Archive acted only in a support capacity for those activities.
Topic:
Security, Communism, Corruption, and Law
Political Geography:
Germany

49. Editorial

Author:
Cindy Strömer and Andrew Sullivan
Publication Date:
07-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:
Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:
The Strategic Studies Student Conference (S3C), is the largest student-organized The Strategic Studies Student Conference (S3C), is the largest student-organized conference for students across the country to participate in academic presentations. This year, the tenth anniversary of the conference, students from as far as Uzbekistan submitted over sixty paper proposals. The paper selection committee, consisting primarily of masters and PhD students from the Centre for Military and Strategic Studies, grouped the successful proposals into nine conference panels. The twenty-seven successful participants mostly came from the University of Calgary and other Canadian universities. The conference enjoyed the participation of international student delegates from Amsterdam University and Helmut Schmidt University in Germany. Panel topics were diverse and comprehensive including: "Countering Terror and Fostering Security", "Security Through Red and White Coloured Lenses: Canadian Perspectives and Issues", "Making Security Private and Profitable: and Private Military Companies", "Security Set in Eastern Europe", "Transformation and Evaluation for Security", "Fuelling the Debate: World-wide Energy Security", "Words, Pictures, and Beyond: Communicating Security", "Deciphering Security: Cryptography and Intelligence", and "Building Security: Roles and Responsibilities".
Topic:
Security
Political Geography:
Europe, Uzbekistan, and Germany

50. Western Integration vs. Reunification? Analyzing the Polls of the 1950s

Author:
Anja Kruke
Publication Date:
06-2007
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
German Politics and Society
Institution:
German Politics and Society Journal
Abstract:
From the beginning of the West German state, a lot of public opinion polling was done on the German question. The findings have been scrutinized carefully from the 1950s onward, but polls have always been taken at face value, as a mirror of society. In this analysis, polls are treated rather as an observation technique of empirical social research that composes a certain image of society and its public opinion. The entanglement of domestic and international politics is analyzed with respect to the use of surveys that were done around the two topics of Western integration and reunification that pinpoint the “functional entanglement” of domestic and international politics. The net of polling questions spun around these two terms constituted a complex setting for political actors. During the 1950s, surveys probed and ranked the fears and anxieties that characterized West Germans and helped to construct a certain kind of atmosphere that can be described as “Cold War angst.” These findings were taken as the basis for dealing with the dilemma of Germany caught between reunification and Western integration. The data and interpretations were converted into “security” as the overarching frame for international and domestic politics by the conservative government that lasted until the early 1960s.
Topic:
Security, Cold War, and Government
Political Geography:
Germany and West Germany