ORIN 2145 - The EU as an International Actor : Policies, Concepts and Cases

Following the Russia-Ukraine war and the reorientation of US foreign policy priorities away from Europe, calls abounds for the EU to become a more assertive geopolitical player. Yet, the EU is an unconventional actor in international relations: it has a vast diplomatic network but a very small foreign policy budget and it has a defence policy but no standing army. This course will introduce students to the various actors, processes, themes and policies that compose EU external action, as well as to the conceptual tools, theoretical approaches and scholarly debates that allow making sense of them and examining them critically. As such, it pursues a dual objective. On the hand, it will equip students with a solid empirical knowledge about EU external action through readings, lectures and case studies. On the other hand, it will present students with a number of analytical tools and approaches that they can operationalise to conduct their own IR research about the EU.

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The course will be a mix of lecture and seminars. During the first hour, the instructor will present the state-of-the-art and key concepts on a given theme. Subsequently, seminar-styles discussions will be organised around the mandatory readings and group presentations.

Students will be assessed based on two types of assignments:

A group presentation (30% of the grade) to be delivered in Sessions 2-6

An individual research outline (70% of the grade) due on November 16th

Specific guidelines will be provided on each of these assignments.