Military Alliances in the 21st century
Project description
Military alliances have played a central role in international relations throughout history, but their natures have experienced significant changes over time. Brett Ashley Leeds and Michaela Mattes (2007), for example, identify some distinct dynamics of alliance politics during the U.S.- Soviet Cold War, and Glenn Snyder (1997) also discussed the differences between alliance politics under multipolarity and bipolarity. In the wake of 9/11 terror attacks against the United States, Washington’s reliance on the coalition of the willing and its unilateral tendency led some to believe that military alliances were in decline, but the return of major power competition in recent years—and ironically, U.S. President Donald Trump’s anti-alliance rhetoric—has brought back attention to the importance of military alliances. If the past is any indication, military alliances will continue to shape international security and broader international relations. I am interested in all aspects of military alliances, for example the question of how similar or different current military alliances are to alliances of the past, and what explains the similarities and differences. With the Vrije Universiteit Brussel’s location near the headquarters of NATO, research on the Atlantic alliance will naturally benefit from the researcher’s time at VUB, but I welcome research on any military alliances.
About the research Group
Institute for European Studies
The Institute for European Studies (IES) at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) is an academic Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence and a policy think tank that focuses on the European Union in an international setting. The Institute advances academic education and research in various disciplines, and provides services to policy-makers, scholars, stakeholders and the general public.
The IES specifically explores EU institutions, policies and law within the context of globalization and global governance, including a focus on the EU in international affairs and institutions. The disciplines applied at the IES include law, social/political sciences, economics and communication sciences, and the Institute’s activities focus on the various ways in which institutions, law and politics intersect with each other in the EU, its member states and at the international level.
Academic work at the IES is organised in clusters, but is also pursued through horizontal activities cutting across them. Currently, there are the following five clusters:
- International Security
- Environment and sustainable development
- Migration, diversity and justice
- European economic governance
- Educational Development