OAGE 2065 - Economic security and statecraft in a new era of geopolitics

This course unpacks recent trends towards global economic fragmentation, from a public policy and a global business standpoint. It surveys how geopolitical tensions are increasingly spill-over into international economic relations, and the impact on globalization trends. The course provides a study of emerging economic security policies, around the notion of economic resilience, as well as around the nexus of trade and investment, emerging technologies and data and national security. It provides an assessment of the trade security and investment security policies being developed in some of the major economic blocks, with an emphasis on the policy settings of the US, the EU, Japan and China in these areas. The course also unpacks recent trends around the increased weaponization of economic linkages, the emergence of sanctions as a tool of economic statecraft and policy responses to the phenomenon of economic coercion. It looks at the opportunities and risks associated with these new economic security settings from the point of view of both governments and private sector managers and leaders.

Learning Outcomes

• Familiarization with current policy debates around supply chain vulnerabilities, national security and public order in relation to trade and investment dependencies/vulnerabilities, technological and economic leadership and rivalries between economic blocks.
• Economic analysis work the measurement of economic dependencies and vulnerabilities by State actors.

3.Undestanding of the policy and academic research frontier in the field of economic resilience and economic security.

Professional Skills

The students will develop skills necessary for the assessment of geopolitical risk in international affairs and international business. The students will also acquire in-depth, practioner-oriented knowledge of trade security and investment security legal regimes, and economic sanctions regimes, and the compliance aspects in these fields.

The students will develop skills necessary for the assessment of geopolitical risk in international affairs and international business. The students will also acquire in-depth, practioner-oriented knowledge of trade security and investment security legal regimes, and economic sanctions regimes, and the compliance aspects in these fields.

The course draws on some fundamental notions in international economics and international economic law.

Feedback will be provided throughout the semester in the sessions themselves in particular on the basis of the group presentations (sessions 3 through 8) and in the course conclusion session, as well as on an individual and written basis on the basis of the individual paper.

• group presentations (6 presentations in groups of 3, in sessions 3 through to 8, on the basis of the required readings for the sessions) – 45% of the final grade
• end of semester individual policy brief (8 pages) “Memo to the incoming European Commission on international economic policy initiatives for increased economic security in the EU” (modelled on Bruegel’s “Braver, greener, fairer – Memos to the EU Leadership 2019-2014, Demertzis, M and Wolff, G, Eds, Bruegel, 2019. – 45% of the final grade
• individual participation - 10% of the final grade

• Attendance: 2 hours a week / 24 hours a semester
• Reading and Preparation for Class: 20 hours a semester
• Research and Preparation for Group Work: 20 hours a semester
• Research and Writing for Individual Assessments: 10 hours a semester