GÜRKAN Seda & WESTON Alison - Shifting Global Order: The EUs Foreign Policy, Security and Defence Responses (25h)
Professor: Alison WESTON
Professor: Seda GÜRKAN
Academic Assistant: Luis MATOS
The course is aimed at introducing participants to European security institutions, with a particular focus on the EU, but also on NATO, their interaction, instruments and tools to safeguard peace and security in the wider European space. It examines the formation, shape and conduct of European security policies, including EU institutions’ design and how these institutions unfold in practice.
Europe faces different challenges than a decade ago. These challenges range from rising alternative governance models, foreign interference, hybrid conflicts to the return of nuclear threat. Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine accelerated the transition to a new world order, which is marked by growing contestation between emerging power centres, declining multilateral organisations and increasing polarisation among actors in the international arena. In this more competitive, less secure geopolitical environment, the promotion of peace and security continues to be a fundamental goal of the EU.
Against the backdrop of this rapidly changing security environment, several key questions will be addressed in this course:
- What are the main challenges to European peace, security and stability? How do these challenges compel the EU to adapt its institutions, policies and foreign, security and defence policy instruments?
- What is the role of the EU in the new geostrategic environment?
- How do the main European institutions dealing with diplomacy, security and defence function?
- How do these institutions cope with the complex and multidimensional challenges they face today?
- What strategies do European security institutions employ to counter emerging threats to peace and security?
- How effective and coherent are the EU’s policies and tools in responding to the new realities of the international order?
- How do the key institutional actors involved in European foreign, security and defence policies cooperate with each other (i.e. NATO and the EU)?
- How is European diplomacy actually practised, and with what effects on third countries as well as on the peace and stability of the international system?
This course is designed for students aspiring to careers in public administration (regional, national, or European), in the EU’s specialised foreign and security policy bodies such as the European External Action Service (EEAS) or the European Defence Agency (EDA), or in international (security) organisations including NATO and the United Nations. It also provides a strong foundation for those who wish to pursue research in European studies.