Security

Public administration constitutes a vast area for reform in the countries of the Western Balkans. Political leaders have committed themselves to creating a professional, depoliticized, transparent, and service-oriented public sector – a requirement that also ranks highly on the EU’s priority list for future member states. But will reform efforts succeed in the long run? And what might public administration in the Western Balkans look like in ten years?

Politische Entscheidungsträger, Verwaltungsbeamte und Think-Tank-Analysten aus der Region trafen vom 29. bis 30. Juni in Berlin zusammen, um Zukunftsszenarien zur Reform der öffentlichen Verwaltung zu entwickeln.

Defining a coherent and future-oriented defense strategy is a challenging task for decision makers on both sides of the Atlantic. A model being applied in the United States is the concept of “net assessment” as an approach to grand strategy. But what exactly are the theoretical concept and the methods behind net assessment, and how can it be implemented? What role does strategic coordination with international partners play in that process? Is there a similar approach in Germany? Where has net assessment set or influenced the strategic agenda? What are concrete examples of its multi-disciplinary approach?

What impact will the US-led coalition against ISIS have on the Middle East? The interests of the coalition participants are sometimes at odds. Who is taking part and why? Do they share other goals apart from fighting ISIS? Could this become a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran? Should NATO be involved? These were some of the questions addressed during a day-long workshop organized by the DGAP’s Transatlantic Relations program.