The course will guide the students to better understand the systemic forces in today's global politics. It will start by laying out different ways of conceiving of the current global order, its crisis and / or transition.
This first module will cover approaches to theorising order in global politics, hiearchy and ordering the world in a historical perspective, the global liberal order, and the overview of past and present of alternative world ordering.
After this introduction a series of case studies to illuminate the systemic forces will follow that would conceive of the great power competition and rivalry without a recourse to a classical geopolitical analysis but rather as a field of varying intensities where distinct practices or ordering are enacted and contested. The cases will include practical-oriented discussions of the shifting patterns of warfare (including hybrid), economic statecraft, a race for mastering emerging disruptive technologies, and the expansion of the competition to the outer space with a view of establishment of space settlements in a not too distant future.
The course will conclude by two sessions tracing the ongoing evolution of the EU's approaches to respond to these systemic challenges.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Better, conceptually and historically anchored understanding of the key trends in today's complex global political landscape, and the ability to critically think about them
2. Better empirical understanding of key areas of great power competition and rivalry, and ability to analyse developments in these areas in view of the systemic patterns in global politics
3. Insight into the current policy debates and controversies in European institutions about how the EU should respond to current global challenges as a practising strategic actor
PROFESSIONAL SKILLS
Improved ability to analyse complex problems; Critical interpretation skills related to current global political issues; Project teamwork; Communicating research in a concise and efficient manner
- Online learning activities: -
- Reading and Preparation for Class: 2 hours a week / 24 hours a semester
- Research and Preparation for Group Work: 10 hours a semester (over two weeks)
- Research and Writing for Individual Assessments: 16 hours a semester (before final exam)
- Participation in class (10 %), a running basis
- Team research and presentation (30 %), scheduled for one of the case study sessions
- Final research paper (60 %) of no more than 2,000 words at the end of course, responding to one of three predetermined questions