Our Mission
The Center for Advanced Security, Strategic and Integration Studies (CASSIS) is an interdisciplinary research center at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn in the field of strategic foresight, European and security policy research. Committed to the approach "Global Challenges Need European Responses", CASSIS contributes in interdisciplinary and inter-institutional work to develop, evaluate and publicly discuss European strategies to current challenges in the field of foreign and security policy.
Our Partners
Since 2019, CASSIS has developed into an important platform for the transfer of academic expertise and knowledge on pressing strategic topics both to the academic and non-academic audiences through a range of our research and high-profile teaching and event formats. While doing so, we were able to receive invaluable support from our great partners. CASSIS is very grateful to their support and we are proud to be well connected to many wonderful institutions. Together with our valued and trusted partners, we are able to foster discussions on matters of strategic importance near and abroad and jointly conduct and advance important research projects.
Current
Dossier Ukraine
The experts of CASSIS offer in various formats from their interdisciplinary perspectives classification and analysis on the Russian attack on Ukraine and its background.
The International Security Forum Bonn 2023
From 19 October to 22 October 2023, ISFB will be held for the eighth time in person on the premises of the University of Excellence Bonn as the most important international security conference in North Rhine-Westphalia and all neighboring federal states.
Our Focus
Research at CASSIS revolves around a broad conception of security: On the one hand, the focus lies on the interdisciplinary examination of traditional foreign and security issues such as inter-state conflicts, competing international systems of order and a return of geopolitics. On the other hand, researchers examine non-traditional security challenges such as cyber and energy security, terrorism and human security, focusing in particular on health and food security.
Integrated Security and Global Sustainability
Lead: Prof. Dr. Volker Kronenberg
Prof. Dr. Wolfram Hilz
Prof. Dr. Ulrich Schlie
Security and Strategy Research
Henry Kissinger Professorship for Security and Strategy Research
Prof. Dr. Ulrich Schlie
Global Infrastructures
Politics and Governance of Global Infrastructures
Lead:
Prof. Dr. Maximilian Mayer
Challenge East - Handlungsstrategien der Europäer in der östlichen Nachbarschaft
Lead: Prof. Dr. Wolfram Hilz Prof. Dr. Andreas Heinemann-Grüder
NATO celebrated its 75th birthday on 4 April 2024. Since its foundation in 1949, the number of its member states has grown from twelve to 32, and the global political context and the public's assessment of NATO have changed significantly. Its anniversary is the occasion for the lecture series "75 Years of NATO", organised by the Henry Kissinger Professorship at CASSIS at the University of Bonn and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. Against the backdrop of the latest turning point in the organisation's history, Russia's attack on Ukraine, the lecture series take a look on the current secruity situation in an exchange with international experts from practice and academia.
The University of Cantabria, the Center for Advanced Security, Strategic and Integration Studies (CASSIS, University of Bonn) and the Spanish Network for Development Studies (REEDES), with the sponsorship of the BBVA Foundation and AECID, have jointly organized a summer school on "The Geography of Hunger in a Multi-Crisis World", which will take place from 26.08. - 30.08.2024 in Santander. The event arises from a research project of the interdisciplinary research project "The Geography of Hunger and Famine in a Multi-Crisis World".
Mando Gloger, research assistant to Prof. Dr. Maximilian Mayer at CASSIS, had the opportunity to take part in the Next Forum in Milan. As part of the student contingent of the U7+ Alliance, a global university network from 20 countries, he represented the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn in Milan. Founded in addition to the G7, the presidents of the universities of the U7+ Alliance meet annually in the run-up to the G7 conferences to explore solutions and potential for cooperation between universities in response to global challenges.
We are pleased to announce that the renowned Russia expert and CASSIS Fellow Prof. Dr. Andreas Heinemann-Grüder has received funding from the German Foundation for Peace Research for a research project starting in April 2024 on the topic of "Thinking the war from the end. Insights for the Ukraine War", which will run from April 2024, from the German Foundation for Peace Research. Our warmest congratulations!
CASSIS Director Prof. Dr. Ulrich Schlie took part in a discussion on the strategic challenges of the future as a speaker at the IABG Executive Conference. A particular focus was on the significance of the US election in November 2024.
What does hybrid warfare mean and how can it be countered? On 2 March 2024, the Gesellschaft für Sicherheitspolitik, together with CASSIS and Polis180, organised an interactive workshop on this highly topical question. Students from the Master's programme "Strategy and International Security" (MSIS) also took part in the simulation game.
The AStA of Ruhr-Universität Bochum organised a discussion between Prof. Dr Ulrich Schlie and Berthold Graf von Stauffenberg on 19 February 1924 under the title "20 July 1944: A traitor's child all of a sudden", to which university students were invited.
Iran's attack on Israel on Saturday has further exacerbated the situation in the Middle East and heightened concerns about a conflagration in the region. In an interview with the Frankfurter Rundschau on 15 April 2024, Ulrich Schlie puts the events in context.
Our Steering Committee member and international law expert Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Matthias Herdegen, Director of the Institute for International Law at the University of Bonn, analyzes the current migration policy of the german coalition in an interview with WELT.
In an interview with ntv, CASSIS Fellow Dr. Joachim Weber analyzes American arms deliveries and the superpower's attitude towards Ukraine.
In an interview with ntv, CASSIS Fellow Dr. Joachim Weber analyzes Russia's goals and its relationship with NATO.
In his guest article in Focus online, CASSIS Fellow Dr. Joachim Weber analyzes the current state of the war in Ukraine and outlines future trends.
CASSIS Fellow Dr. Frank Umbach analyzes the possible new Russian offensive in an interview with ntv.
In an interview with Welt, CASSIS Fellow Dr. Frank Umbach analyzes the NATO countries' support for Ukraine and assesses the current situation of the war in Ukraine.
In an interview with Phoenix, CASSIS Fellow Dr. Joachim Weber talks about the structural reform of the armed forces announced by Defence Minister Boris Pistorius.
Events
CASSIS offers a wide range of events on current foreign and security policy issues.
The Bonn Future Lab on Strategic Foresight took place as the second segment of the International Security Forum Bonn 2023 from October 20-22, 2023 in the UN and federal city of Bonn. Over the course of the multi-day format, the strategic challenges, risks and opportunities arising from the changing energy landscape were discussed and the resulting future prospects for German and European energy policy were examined.
In her new publication, PD Dr. Antje Nötzold sheds light on the increased importance of space as a new domain of warfare in the Ukraine war. In particular, she focuses on the role of private sector actors in the course of the developments surrounding "New Space".
The Bonn Vision Lab 2030 brought together young scientists at CASSIS to share their visions for the coming years. The results and methodology of the workshop were summarized in the report.
Dr Landry Charrier talks about the growing strength of the Rassemblement National in the Franco-German dialogue. He warns of the consequences that a strong showing by the right-wing populists in the European elections in June could have, focusing in particular on France's relationship with Germany.
CASSIS Fellow Dr Johanna Möhring discusses the problems of Franco-German armaments cooperation and develops four scenarios for its future development.
CASSIS Fellow Dr Johanna Möhring analyses Russia's ambitions in the Ukraine war.
Prof. Dr Maximilian Mayer & Dr. Susanne Peters discuss the security implications arising from the interplay between energy security, new energy technologies and the dynamics of climate change in an article for the newly published "Handbook on Climate Change and International Security",
Prof. Dr Maximilian Mayer & Yen-Chi Lu, PhD student at CASSIS, discuss in their article for
SIRIUS - Journal for Strategic Analyses, they discuss Europe's position within the structures of global digital dependency. To do so, they draw on the "Digital Dependence Index", a measurement of the dependencies of various countries in the field of digital technologies.
CASSIS - Center for Advanced Security, Strategic and Integration Studies
Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn