Dear Members of Global Bridges,

It is with great pleasure and anticipation that we invite you to our IV Geopolitical Monitor “Nuclear “Zeitenwende:” The dawning of a new era of deterrence?” – this time in cooperation with the Hertie School’s Centre for International Security. The Video Symposium will take place on Thursday, March 2, 2023 at 18.00h via Zoom.

Russia’s war against Ukraine has brought questions of nuclear deterrence to the fore. For the first time since the end of the Cold War, the possibility of nuclear escalation is back on the agenda, also against the backdrop of repeated threats by President Putin. While some commentators interpret NATO’s restraint to interfere directly as prove for the reliability of nuclear deterrence, others doubt its credibility and believe its weakness has emboldened Russia’s aggressive behavior. Beyond the current war against Ukraine, we will have to expect nuclear weapons and threats to play a more prominent role in future international crises – whether in North Korea, India/Pakistan or the Middle East. All of this raises the question: What does the changed security situation mean for us? How should we respond to these new conditions? And what role will nuclear deterrence play for Germany and Europe in the future?

To answer these pressing issues, we have invited Dr. Tobias Bunde, postdoctoral researcher at the Centre for International Security as well as Director of Research and Policy at the Munich Security Conference, and Professor Dr. Angela E. Stent, Director of the Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies as well as Professor of Government and Foreign Service at Georgetown University. Julia Berghofer, Policy Fellow at the European Leadership Network and Project Manager for the Younger Generation Leaders Network on Euro-Atlantic Security, herself an expert on nuclear security, will moderate our IV Geopolical Monitor.