Programme · Summer Workshop

Euro-SWAMOS

The European Summer Workshop on the Analysis of Military Operations and Strategy.

About

About Euro-SWAMOS

Euro-SWAMOS aimed to introduce PhD students and young scholars to terminology, concepts, analytical techniques, and illustrative cases relevant to the analysis of defence and security policies.

It was organised by the Hertie Centre for International Security and supported by the European Initiative for Security Studies (EISS). Euro-SWAMOS was funded by the Weise-Stiftung, a private German foundation.

The ambition of Euro-SWAMOS was to contribute to promoting academic excellence in Europe and to nurture the development of a new generation of scholars who engage on international security issues with their counterparts across the globe.

Euro-SWAMOS shared the same ambition, goals and approach as the Summer Workshop on the Analysis of Military Operations and Strategy (SWAMOS) organised by the Saltzman Institute at Columbia University.

The two editions

The first edition ran in July 2022 at the Hertie Centre for International Security in Berlin. The second followed from 9 to 15 July 2023, welcoming 21 fully-funded participants who each received a €1,000 stipend towards travel and accommodation. Both were directed by Mauro Gilli (ETH Zurich), Marina Henke (Hertie School) and Hugo Meijer (Sciences Po). The Hertie School filmed each week, giving a sense of the lectures, the workshops, and the people who took part.

Euro-SWAMOS 2022
Euro-SWAMOS 2023

Photos from the cohorts

A Euro-SWAMOS cohort gathered indoors at the Hertie School in Berlin.
Euro-SWAMOS participants gathered outdoors in Berlin.

Topics covered

  • Utility and limitations of force as an instrument of policy
  • Conventional air, land and naval warfare
  • Conventional weapons and emerging technologies
  • Military interventions and asymmetric warfare
  • Approaches to evaluating tactics, operational plans, strategies and grand strategies
  • Defence budgeting and program evaluation
  • Chinese and Russian defence postures

Lecturers across the two editions

  • Aaron L. Friedberg — Professor of Politics and International Affairs, Princeton University
  • Mauro Gilli — Senior Researcher in Military Technology and International Security, ETH Zurich
  • Anita Gohdes — Professor of International and Cyber Security, Hertie School
  • Marina Henke — Professor of International Relations, Hertie School
  • Austin Long — Vice Deputy Director for Strategic Stability in the Joint Staff J5, US Department of Defense
  • Hugo Meijer — CNRS Research Fellow, Center for International Studies, Sciences Po
  • Barry R. Posen — Ford International Professor of Political Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
  • Nina Silove — Senior Researcher, Center for Security Studies (CSS), ETH Zurich
  • Julian Wucherpfennig — Professor of International Affairs and Security, Hertie School
Host & venue

About the Hertie School

The Hertie School is a private graduate university in Berlin specialising in public policy, governance and international affairs. Its Centre for International Security, directed by Marina Henke, leads the school's research and training on security and defence, and was the host and organiser of Euro-SWAMOS.

Friedrichstraße 180, 10117 Berlin, Germany.

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