Through an in-depth study of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), this module covers issues of significance to the practice and interpretation of international politics and international relations.
NATO is the most sophisticated contemporary example of institutionalised security cooperation. Knowledge of its history, organisation and purpose is essential to an understanding to some fundamental questions of security practice: Why do states cooperate? What are the conditions in which such cooperation becomes possible? What are the limits of that cooperation? What are the normative and institutional boundaries which constrain states (and thus a state-centric interpretation of international politics)?
The module examines NATO’s history, organisation and purpose. It applies normative and theoretical frames to case-issues in NATO’s political development including: the end of the Cold War, the interventions in Kosovo and Afghanistan, the 2003 Iraq crisis, and the 2014 Crimea crisis. The module poses the question in conclusion of ‘whither NATO’ through an examination of the foreign policy of the Trump administration.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the module students should be able to:
Apply theoretical and normative frames to the history and political practice of NATO
Situate NATO in the context of international and regional security practices
Identify and evaluate key episodes in NATO’s historical development
Assess the prospects for NATO’s ongoing development
Assessment: 2,500 word written assignment (75%); Individual 5-minute presentation (delivered in person using PPT) followed by 5-minute Q&A (25%)
Reassessment: Resubmission of the failed element or elements: e.g. one written assignment (on a different topic); one individual presentation (on a different topic)
