Andrew T Wolff | Dickinson College (original) (raw)

Papers by Andrew T Wolff

This article investigates the connection between invitations to intervene and the creation of leg... more This article investigates the connection between invitations to intervene and the creation of legitimacy for European Union (EU) and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) operations. By tracking the incidence and source of pleas for an intervention, this study finds that invitations are associated with most EU and NATO interventions, and identifies three different types of invitations – true, collaborative, and rigged – which denote greater or lesser degrees of demand for Western security services. This variability in demand for Western security services signalled by the three types of invitations impacts the level of legitimacy associated with an EU or NATO operation: true invitations confer the greatest amount of legitimacy, collaborative invitations generate weaker legitimacy, and rigged invitations create low levels of legitimacy. Moreover, both organizations have, at times, coerced external political actors into offering an invitation to intervene in order to manufacture stronger legitimacy for their interventionist designs. Ultimately, because invitations play such a large role in prompting EU and NATO interventions, international relations scholars and political leaders should carefully consider their quality and influence on the decision-making process when determining the initial legitimacy for an interventionist operation.

This article discusses the state of European security-themed coursework in American higher educat... more This article discusses the state of European security-themed coursework in American higher education institutions. Using a class catalogue search of leading European studies programmes, it finds that European security classes are infrequently taught, and a majority of these programmes do not offer any instruction focusing on this topic. European studies programmes can benefit from adding European security-themed classes to their curriculum. These classes correct curricular imbalance in the discipline, counters the discipline’s inherent EU-centredness, broadens students’ understanding of European governance and potentially attracts new students. At the instructional level, many challenges face professors teaching European security classes – students’ lack of knowledge of Europe and European affairs, a dearth of comprehensive textbooks, and the rapidly evolving nature of the topic – but these challenges can be overcome with careful planning and pedagogy. Ultimately, European studies as an academic discipline in the U.S. can be enriched by incorporating European security into its curriculum in a more comprehensive fashion.

This dissertation investigates the geopolitical factors influencing Western policy-makers' decisi... more This dissertation investigates the geopolitical factors influencing Western policy-makers' decision to expand the North Atlantic Treaty Organization into Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) in the 1990s and early 2000s. It does so by first synthesizing various strands of geopolitical theory to construct a meta-framework of geopolitical factors intrinsic to CEE which creates conditions conducive to Western expansion. Due to the area's geographic features, this region tends to function as a buffer zone between two competing civilizations: Russian and Western. The combination of geographic and political forces attracts intervention by these civilizations which results in strategic and political advantages. The dissertation applies this geopolitical theory to examine the history of enlargement, assess the validity of competing theories of enlargement, and dissect the discourse of enlargement to discover geopolitical influences. In the historical record, the dissertation investigates three episodes of eastward expansion of NATO—East Germany in 1990, the first round of enlargement to include the Central European three in 1999, and the second round of enlargement to include seven ex-communist nations in 2004. Next, the dissertation examines common theoretical explanations for NATO's eastward enlargement and highlights how these theories use components of geopolitical theory. Finally, the study conducts a discursive analysis of policy-makers' statements in support of enlargement in order to identify the presence of geopolitical language and rationales. The dissertation concludes that geopolitically-influenced arguments were present in a significant portion of the decision-making process and geopolitical factors held sway over explanations usually deemed to be non-geopolitical. Geopolitics acted as an underlying force in the enlargement debate and suggested policies to decision-makers which tended towards enhanced engagement in the CEE region. The geopolitical analysis also suggests that NATO enlargement may be reaching its geographic limits. Overall, this dissertation research proves the applicability of geopolitical theory in studying the NATO enlargement process and reveals the forces that impacted the outcome of Western institutional enlargement on the European continent

The Journal of Slavic Military Studies, 2011

International Affairs, Sep 2015

This article reviews NATO-Russia enlargement tensions since 1990, describes how norm-driven enlar... more This article reviews NATO-Russia enlargement tensions since 1990, describes how norm-driven enlargement policy contributed to the outbreak of conflict in Ukraine, and suggests NATO use geopolitical rationales to create a more discerning and focused enlargement policy. Adjusting current enlargement policy would strengthen the alliance and provide more flexibility in dealing with Russia.

Contemporary Security Policy, Mar 2014

NATO confronts four distinct public perception challenges: weak or varying public support for the... more NATO confronts four distinct public perception challenges: weak or varying public support for the alliance and its specific missions; a general lack of public awareness of the alliance's post-cold war transformation; diverging opinions on its proper role in the world; and parochial and domestic interests filtering into NATO's agenda. These various public relations challenges detract from alliance cohesiveness, impede mission performance, breed confusion and dissension about alliance aims, and raise questions about the proper operation of democratic governance within the alliance. Recent alliance communication efforts encompassing public diplomacy and strategic communications have failed to improve these public perception challenges. Instead, NATO should consider adopting a long-term branding strategy that focuses specifically on shaping the public's mental image of the alliance through the creation, promulgation, and management of a core message. Such a strategy has the potential to create a more consolidated alliance mandate that is easier for the public to understand and, ultimately, transforms the way NATO relates to its public.

Journal of Transatlantic Studies, Nov 30, 2009

Under the moniker of transformation, NATO members initiated reforms that have greatly expanded al... more Under the moniker of transformation, NATO members initiated reforms that have greatly expanded alliance responsibilities. These reforms have redefined security concerns to encompass terrorism, nuclear-proliferation, and energy security and have enlarged the geographic reach of Article V guarantees by extending membership to 12 East European states. Also, NATO has added two new responsibilities to its mandate: democratisation tasks and global peacekeeping operations. Evidence suggests these ambitious transformation policies are creating instabilities within the alliance. The three transformation spheres of responsibilities – security guarantor, democracy promoter, and global interventionist – structurally conflict with one another in NATO operations in Afghanistan and the Balkans. There is a lack of political support for NATO's broadened responsibilities and this threatens alliance credibility. Only by diminishing the transformation mission set or increasing coordinated political support can NATO remedy the structural and political crises caused by NATO transformation.

Books by Andrew T Wolff

Europe Today, Sixth Edition, 2023

This chapter reviews the transatlantic relationship in three major areas: security cooperation, e... more This chapter reviews the transatlantic relationship in three major areas: security cooperation, economic exchange, and sociopolitical relations. It highlights historic patterns of interactions between Europe and America and illuminates current challenges confronting the Atlantic Community. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the broader implications of a malfunctioning transatlantic relationship and what is required to repair the relationship.