[2] He is the author of books and articles on European security,[3] arms control, German foreign policy, Berlin, US-European relations and South Africa.

and a PhD from the School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University (1964, 1968), and a Habilitation from the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität in Bonn (1974).

He was professor of political science at the University of the German Federal Armed Forces (Universität der Bundeswehr) in Munich (1974) and Hamburg (1975–1980).

[6] From 1996 to 2010 Mahncke was Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach Professor for European Foreign Policy and Security Studies at the College of Europe in Bruges.

Mahncke has held visiting professorships in Germany (Halle), Belgium (Antwerp), Bulgaria (Sofia), Thailand (Bangkok) and the United States (Dartmouth, Middlebury, Duke, UNC).