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
The 18th November 2024 marks a special date: Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine began exactly 1000 days ago. To mark this sad milestone, the CASSIS Institute, together with the Görres-Gesellschaft and the Fraunhofer Institute FKIE, organised the event ‘One thousand days of war. Political, Military and Technological Assessments’ at the Bonn University Forum.
We are delighted to report that CASSIS junior researcher and project coordinator Maximilian Schranner has been selected as a Junior Associate Fellow at the NATO Defense College.
What roles does nuclear deterrence play in French and German public debates? The Table Ronde "Franco-German Perspectives on Nuclear Deterrence" on October 18, 2024, explored key similarities and differences in the French and German discussions surrounding the nuclear questions.
The students of the second MSIS-cohort embarked on an insightful trip to the Academy of International Affairs on October 16, 2024.
Lunch talk at CASSIS brings together leading space experts
We are pleased to announce that Dr Philip Jan Schäfer is standing in for Dr Enrico Fels at the CASSIS office, who is on parental leave.
CASSIS Fellow PD Dr. Antje Nötzold in an SWR interview on space security and armament in space
From September 16 to 20, the Summer School "Artificial Intelligence, Social Machines, and the Future of Democratic Societies" took place in Bonn, led by Professors Caja Thimm and Maximilian Mayer from the University of Bonn. The event was supported by RWTH Aachen and the Transdisciplinary Research Area "Individuals, Institutions, and Societies" and was part of the joint research initiative of the University of Bonn and RWTH Aachen, "Autonomy and autonomous systems." It served as a platform for discussions on the impact of artificial intelligence on democratic societies.
Security expert Dr Joachim Weber analyses the G20 summit in Rio in an interview with Phoenix.
In the Tagesschau interview, Dr Moritz Brake, an expert in maritime security, analyses the reasons that could have led to the data cable damage. In addition he addresses fundamental questions about maritime security.
Dr Landry Charrier in the Focus article on closer European cooperation and a stronger role for Germany and France in European security and foreign policy.
In their discussion, Prof. Dr. Maximilian Mayer, Prof. Dr. Kristin Shi-Kupfer, political scientist and Professor of Contemporary Sinology at the University of Trier, and Prof. Dr. Daniel Leese, Professor of Sinology at the University of Freiburg, shed light on China's geopolitical ambitions, its human rights policy, and its impact on the international order.
In an interview with the Royal United Service Institute (RUSI), Dr Antje Nötzold analyses Germany's capabilities and ambitions in space.
Prof. James D. Bindenagel on Germany's defence capability and necessary changes in the German security architecture.
Security expert Dr Joachim Weber analyses the meeting of the BRICS states in Russia in an interview with NTV.
Dr Frank Umbach analyses the strengthening of the defense industry cooperation between Germany and the UK.
Events
CASSIS offers a wide range of events on current foreign and security policy issues.
Through religious diplomacy and the use of institutions such as the Diyanet and TİKA, Turkey is trying to expand its influence on the African continent and consolidate its leading role in the Muslim world.
In his latest publication, Dr Ali Fathollah-Nejad examines Europe's reaction to Masoud Pezeshkian's victory in the 2024 Iranian presidential election and challenges his portrayal as a reformist. In reality, Pezeshkian is loyal to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and promotes the interests of the regime rather than those of reform. In his paper, Fathollah-Nejad criticises Europe's overly optimistic attitude and warns against repeating past mistakes. He also highlights the growing security threats posed by Iran, including destabilisation in the Middle East, military support for Russia in Ukraine and - widely ignored - threats to European security in the Mediterranean. A shift in EU policy towards Iran is also proposed to better address these growing challenges.
A scientific analysis by Maximilian Mayer, Emilian Kavalski, Marina Rudyak and Xin Zhang on the complex and transformative nature of Global China.
In the commemorative publication for Andreas Sohn, Prof. Dr. Ulrich Schlie describes the role of the Christian faith in the German resistance against Hitler.
In his publication, Dr. Frank Umbach analyses the security policy challenges for NATO in defending critical undersea infrastructure against Russia.
On the 80th anniversary of the failed assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler on July 20, 1944, Prof. Dr. Ulrich Schlie discusses the significance of the memorial day today.
More than 45 years after his death, the memoirs of the German Chancellor and father of the economic miracle Ludwig Erhard are now being published. The work is edited by Prof. Dr. Ulrich Schlie in cooperation with the Ludwig Erhard Foundation.
Prof. Dr. Ulrich Schlies' article in the “New German Biography” provides an overview of the life and work of the diplomat Paul Metternich as German ambassador in London from 1901 to 1912, who was a great advocate of German-British rapprochement throughout his life.
CASSIS - Center for Advanced Security, Strategic and Integration Studies
Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn