Dr. Cornelia Baciu
Orders, Norms and Organizations of Peace & Security
Dr. Cornelia Baciu is a Researcher at the Department of Political Science and Centre for Military Studies, University of Copenhagen. She specialised in international security organizations and conflict research. She is developing a research agenda that seeks to introduce the notion of ‘order’ understood as the interplay and governance processes between state institutions, everyday power relations, and the international organization. She also specialized in meta-science, where she focuses on epistemological pluralism.
Prior to joining the University of Copenhagen, she was a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg, and DAAD-Postdoctoral Fellow in the program 'United States, Europe, and World Order' at Johns Hopkins University in Washington, D.C. She obtained degrees or was a research scholar at the University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, University of Maynooth, Dublin City University, University of Konstanz, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi and at the United Nations Office in Vienna. Cornelia Baciu conducted extensive field research in conflict zones in South Asia, as well as at NATO, EU and UN headquarters, and at ministries of foreign affairs and defense in several European countries and the US.
Cornelia Baciu published two books and several journal articles on global governance, institutions, peace and security, and contributed to the Parliamentary Deployment Votes Dataset on military missions (http://deploymentvotewatch.eu/). Her research received funding awards by the German Academic Research Service, European Union, Cluster of Excellence at the University of Konstanz, Young European Research Universities Network, ZEIT-Stiftung Hamburg, the land of Baden-Württemberg, Irish Research Council and Carlsberg Foundation.
RECENT POSTS
RECENT POSTS
ERGOMAS Conference"Dynamic armed forces in changing societies: Challenges for research in and on the military"
19-23 July 2021 | Online
ISA Annual Convention
06-11 April 2021 | Online
The full programme and on-demand sessions can be accessed here.
Has Integration Failed?
February/March 2021 German Institute for Democracy and Development
Global/Local Crises as a Challenge for Peace and Conflict Research
17 March 2021 | German Association for Peace and Conflict Studies
Paper presented: "The Effects of Global Governance Approaches on Constellations of Power and Civil-Military Relations in Hybrid Orders". Full conference programme here.
Multilateral Institutions Under Stress
18 February 2021 | 5th Workshop of the ESWG, British International Studies Association
Paper presented: "Geopolitical Dilemmas in Security IOs. The Case of the EU and NATO" (co-authored with Dominika Kunertova, ETH Zürich).
Democracy and its Limits: The United States in Perspective
05-06 November 2020 | John F. Kennedy Institute, Freie Universität Berlin & Atlantische Akademie
Paper presented: "A City Upon A Hill: Paradoxes of American Exceptionalism and Restraint From A Neo-Classical Realism Perspective".
GLOBSEC 2020 Digital Stage LIVE
28 August 2020 | Bratislava (online)
At GLOBSEC 2020 Digital Stage I asked Katarina Mathernova (Deputy Director General at DG Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations), Majlinda Bregu (Secretary General of the Regional Cooperation Council), Roland Freudenstein (Policy Director, Martens Centre) and Jakub Wisniewski (Director of the Department of Foreign Policy Strategy, Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs) where do they see the EU in 2050 -- being a great power, a small power, no power or a hegemon? .
Section Chair: "European Security and Foreign Policy in a Multipolar World Order. Crises, Adaptation, and Strategy"
24-28 August 2020 | European Consortium of Political Research (ECPR) General Conference
This Section sought to examine internal and external challenges to CSDP/CFSP and the EU as a security actor. In response to non-traditional types of security threats, crises and challenges – such as Brexit, US strategy of retreat, Russia’s assertive foreign policy, China as rising power, hybrid, cyber and climate risks, lack of a joint strategic culture in Europe or systemic instability, the EU underwent several processes of change and transformation.
NATO Engages "Innovating the Alliance" Conference
03 December 2019 | City Hall, London
The NATO Engages Conference took place in advance to the High-Level Leaders Meeting 2019, and I participated at the discussions as an academic observer. The text of the London Declaration of 04 December 2019 is available here.
Research Workshop "European Security Integration, Grand Strategy and the Transformation of EU-NATO Relations"
09 December 2019 | CESICE, University Grenoble Alpes
In the context of an evolving international security order, with diminishing capacity of states and international organisations to predict or control crises and insecurity, this workshop explores the evolution of EU-NATO relations as well as the perspectives for a grand strategy for Europe to advance resilience and an international agenda underpinned by a ‘positive’ understanding of peace.
Book Launch "What Does Brexit Mean for European Security and Transatlantic Relations?"
09 October 2019 | Johns Hopkins University, SAIS, Washington DC
This book launch seminar featured a keynote speech by the Irish Ambassador to the US, H.e. Daniel Mulhall and a Panel Discussion with experts Assist. Professor Alice Pannier (Johns Hopkins SAIS), Professor John R. Deni (US Army War College), Professor Daniel S. Hamilton (Johns Hopkins SAIS) and Erik Brattberg (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace).
This discussion focused on three major thematic axes. First, it explained why Brexit presents a security challenge to Ireland and the EU as it undermines the basis of the Northern Ireland peace process and Good Friday Agreement, creating the possibility that there will again be a closed border on the island of Ireland. Second, future UK relations with the US, NATO and European partners were evaluated more in-depth. While a ‘special relationship’ between the EU and the UK in the form of a special FPA seems less likely, there may be some possibilities to negotiate a special dialogue framework after Brexit. This however will largely depend on the EU27’s political preferences. Third, the speakers concluded by assessing future challenges and sources of instability in the European and transatlantic security order, associated with the Brexit process.
PhD Defence - "Strategies and Determinants of Civil-Military Adaptation in Insecure States"
29 July 2019 | Dublin City University
PhD Defence - "Strategies and Determinants of Civil-Military Adaptation in Insecure States"
29 July 2019 | Dublin City University
International Book Launching Seminar "Peace, Security and Defence Cooperation in Post-Brexit Europe"
13 June 2019 | Dublin City University
International Book Launching Seminar "Peace, Security and Defence Cooperation in Post-Brexit Europe"
13 June 2019 | Dublin City University
This book is significant because it fills a crucial scientific gap by examining key challenges as well as the impact of the Brexit a process on primary strategic aspects of peace, security and defence cooperation. The book entails contributions from internationally known researchers from London School of Economics, Hertie School of Governance in Berlin, European University Institute in Florence, Institute for European Studies in Brussels and University of Grenoble, inter alia, and contributes to a better understanding and management of anticipated challenges and sources of instability in European and international security, associated with the Brexit process.
BISA International Teaching Prize 2019
12 June 2019 | Royal Academy | London
BISA International Teaching Prize 2019
12 June 2019 | Royal Academy | London
“Science is responsible for the progress of the society” claimed the German journalist Carl von Ossietzky, laureate of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1935; and teaching can be responsible for the production of knowledge and science, I would add. In a rapidly changing international environment in the 21st century, teaching and academic research can have a stabilising impact on societies by enabling the creation of a body of knowledge and scientific outputs which can help us to understand, explain or predict crises or instability. But how can teaching at postgraduate level be positively intertwined with completing the PhD dissertation and writing journal articles and/or books?
Evidence on Future Challenges to European Security
09 May 2019 | Irish Senate Chamber | Dublin
Evidence on Future Challenges to European Security
09 May 2019 | Irish Senate Chamber | Dublin
The CSDP is a domain in which some argue differentiated integration might work better. This is because states' national strategies are driven by different threat perceptions, strategic environments, capabilities and strategic interests. My research suggests that differentiated integration in the form of a role-player model in the CSDP could enhance strategic knowledge production and capability development. Security and defence collaborative regimes such as the CSDP can have an empowering effect on member states. However, an unintended consequence of the role-player model could be a "Europe à la carte" in which members would only support the policies in which they see a benefit for their own national interests.
The Future of European Security and Transatlantic Relations
May 2019 | Expert Strategy Workshop | Centre for War Studies, University of Southern Denmark
The Future of European Security and Transatlantic Relations
May 2019 | Expert Strategy Workshop | Centre for War Studies, University of Southern Denmark
The Expert Scenario Workshop was organised by myself during my short-term YERUN Visiting Fellow at the Centre for War Studies, SDU. The workshop was attended by senior researchers from the University of Southern Denmark and University and Copenhagen. Three scenarios were counterfactually discussed:
• The Future of Transatlantic Relations – Scenario: US withdraws from NATO
• EU and NATO Strategies Towards Russia – Scenario: Russia asks for EU and NATO membership.
• EU as a Global Actor: Between Power Equilibrium and a Resilient International Security Strategy – Scenario: EU announces a new grand strategy post-Brexit in response to new type of crises.
European Strategic Autonomy and Transatlantic Relations
22 October 2018 | European Union Institute, Florence
This was part of the three-day seminar on "European Security: Old Trends and New Realities", organised by the Robert Schumann Centre and the Global Governance Programme at the European Union Institute, Florence, Italy. The seminar encompassed lectures and simulations.
The Interplay Between Exogenous and Endogenous Sources of Military Transformation
12-15 September 2018 | EISA Conference, University of Economics, Prague
This paper investigated the causal mechanism between exogenous and endogenous sources of institutional change and transformation of security and defence institutions in insecure states, and was part of the Panel "Civil-Military Relations and Change in Security Institutions".
Panel Chair: The Future of European Security and Defence Post-Brexit
22-25 August 2018 | ECPR Conference, University of Hamburg, Germany
This Panel aimed at generating an academic discussion on security and defence transformation in Europe post-Brexit. My paper proposed a conceptual model encompassing theoretical proportions from regime and game theory to test the level of strategic convergence between EU and UK and make predictions on the potential for future cooperation. I was also a Discussant in the Panel "Perspectives on Europe's Security and Defence Policy", details here.
Security and Defence Cooperation in the 21st Century: What Issues, What Models?
26 June 2018 | Institut de Recherche Stratégique de l'Ecole Militaire, Paris
This conference attempted to conceptualize modern forms of cooperation in the matter of security and defence, such as PESCO, EU-NATO framework and bilateral agreements. My paper proposed the theory of international /transnational collaborative security and defence regimes to conceptualize new forms of security cooperation. This theory was empirically tested using Germany and Romania as case studies.
Multilateralism and Interdependence: Prospects and Challenges
02 May 2018 | Royal Irish Academy, Dublin
This conference discussed the challenges facing multilateral institutions and the processes of cooperation between states. My paper presented a new methodology to analyse the transformation of security, defence and foreign policy applying Ireland as a case study.
IPSA RC44 International Conference on Military and Democratisation
04-05 July 2017 | Christchurch, New Zealand
The conference provided a platform for discussion on the changing role of the military in the contemporary world order. The presented papers focused in particular on the role of armed forces in democratisation and security.
