Military Security in Europe until the end of the Cold War – Prof. Serhat Güvenç

Military Security in Europe: The Cold War (1948-1991)

Serhat Güvenç, Ph.D.

Kadir Has University




This module focuses on military threats Europe had to endure during the Cold War. It covers mechanisms, institutions and alliances devised to tackle the most serious source of threat, the Soviet Union, which dominated eastern part of the continent ideologically and militarily.

The module begins with a discussion on the European origins of the Cold War, including the Polish and Eastern European problems, the East-West tension in and over Germany and finally the situation in the Eastern Mediterranean. In this context, NATO figured prominently as the main military security provider in Western Europe, particularly after the failure of attempts to erect European military security structures such as the European Defense Community and the Western European Union. Finally, changing role of nuclear weapons in NATO strategy is also discussed.




READINGS:

Duchin, Brian R., “The ‘Agonizing Reappraisal’: Eisenhower, Dulles and the European Defense Community,“ Diplomatic History 16/2, (April 1992): 201-221.

Hauser, Beatrice and Kristan Stoddart, “Difficult Europeans: NATO and Tactical/non-Strategic Nuclear Weapons in the Cold War,” Diplomacy and the Statecraft 28/3, (2017): 454-476.

Kaplan, Fred, “JFK’s First Strike Plan,” The Atlantic Monthly, (September 2001): 81-86.

Kaplan, Lawrence, NATO and its Commentators: the First Five Years,” International Organization 8/4, (1954): 447-467.

Leites, Nathan and Christian de la Malene, “Paris from EDC to WEU,” World Politics 9/2, (January 1957): 193-219.

Maloney, Sean M. “Berlin Contingency Planning: A Prelude to Flexible Response, The Journal of Strategic Studies 25/1 (March 2002): 99134.

Miller, David, The Cold War: A Military History, (London: John Murry, 1998).

Smith, Mark, NATO Enlargement during the Cold War: Strategy and System in the Western Alliance, (New York: Palgrave, 2000).

Welles, Jr., Sameul F., “Nuclear Weapons and European Security during the Cold War,” Diplomatic History 16/2, (April 1992): 278-286.

VIDEOS

The Cold War and Nuclear Weapons: Role of Nuclear Weapons- 1953-1962, Stanford CISAC – Security Matters, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hL_doth5kU




The Formation of NATO and the Warsaw Pact – History Channel, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1El1GVQVdc




Frontline/TIME: The Defense of Europe (1988), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PucaA4kxmBs