In this talk, Morgan will argue that states and security organizations which view their major threats as originating outside of their immediate geographic region will prefer stronger executive war powers, enabling greater flexibility for expeditionary warfare. This is investigated empirically in a study of the war powers and conflict involvement of 37 democracies between 1989 and 2004. These results are subsequently used to shed light on the accession criteria NATO has employed during its expansion process, arguing that NATO’s preferences on domestic war powers have changed as its focus has shifted from out-of-area threats during the Global War on Terror to a renewed threat to the Euro-Atlantic region's territorial integrity in the form of a revanchist Russia.

Light lunch will be provided.