Explore Global Security in Rome - Then Step into the NATO Field School.
22 May - 20 June 2025
This summer, take your studies beyond the classroom and into the heart of international diplomacy. The American University of Rome is proud to offer a unique, intensive summer course that delves into the past, present, and future of NATO, European security, and transatlantic relations - culminating in an international conference co-hosted with the NATO Public Diplomacy Division.
Over three dynamic weeks, you’ll gain an insider’s perspective on NATO’s evolving role - from its Cold War origins to today’s global challenges like cyber threats, climate insecurity, and the rise of China. You'll debate the delicate EU-NATO relationship, explore complex geopolitical interests in the Mediterranean and Middle East, and engage with case studies that reveal the inner workings of diplomacy, defense, and alliance-building.
But this program isn’t just about learning—it’s about participating.
In place of a fourth week of study, you'll step into the action as a delegate at "NATO and the Security of Europe and Canada", an international conference hosted right here at AUR in partnership with NATO's Public Diplomacy Division. This NATO Field School experience gives students a rare opportunity to connect with the real-world of policymaking, diplomacy, military strategy, and security.
Whether you’re pursuing a career in international relations, security studies, or diplomacy - or just want to understand how today’s global power dynamics are shaping the world - this is your chance to learn, network, and make an impact.
Detailed course description:
NATO: from the Cold War to the present
The first part of the course will provide an overview of NATO’s role in international and European security since its establishment during the Cold War until the present. Its aim is to introduce students to NATO’s decision-making, policies, and operations as well as to provide them with analytically informed and critical awareness of its role in international and European security and of the current challenges facing the Alliance. Issues, such as burden-sharing, NATO’s nuclear policy and role in arms control, partnerships, eastern enlargement, relations with Russia and China, and emerging security threats in the energy, cyber, and climate domains will also be debated and addressed.
EU-NATO Relations: A Romantic Relationship or a Troubled Marriage?
The second part of the course will focus on the origins of NATO-European relations and the evolution of European security from the Cold War to today. The analysis will address three main issues. First, from the failure of the European Defense Community to the development of EU’s Strategic Autonomy and Strategic Compass as well as the progressive enlargement of both the EU and NATO. Second, EU’s potential to create an internal market for its defense companies to promote efficiency, innovation, and interoperability, thus using economic integration as a tool to support the collaboration of its members and weaken nationalist defense postures and interests. Finally, the analysis will address the future of EU-NATO relations in light of the global power shifts; the accusation of EU’s parasitic relation to NATO; NATO’s shift to China.
NATO in the Mediterranean and Middle East
The third part of the course will address hard and soft security issues in the Mediterranean and Middle East to then assess the role, policies and interests of NATO in the area. Each NATO member has varying views and priorities in the region; beyond NATO’s capacity building and institutional assistance, several fora and initiatives have also been created to address regional challenges and foster intra-regional cooperation: the Mediterranean Dialogue and the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative. A focus on selected case studies will help to analyze NATO’s regional engagements in more detail – e.g., Afghanistan, Libya, the Sea Guardian & Ocean Shield; the Training Mission Iraq. Finally, some analytic reflections on the contribution of NATO compared to other international organizations (e.g., OSCE, EU, UN and Arab League) similarly invested in Mediterranean security will be discussed, while also assessing NATO’s growing emphasis on more recent transnational challenges such as climate change and migration.