OAGR 2150 - (Re-)Making the Global Order: The Faces of Great Power Competition

***UPDATED for 2026/27***

The course will guide students toward a deeper understanding of systemic forces shaping contemporary global politics. It will aim to bridge theory and practice, leading to conceptually grounded assessments of the key forces driving global politics today, as well as fostering anticipatory thinking about the future of the global order currently undergoing an increasingly turbulent transition, and about the related risks.

The first module of the course will focus on approaches to conceptualising order in global politics, the global liberal order, great power competition, and hegemonic decline / transition.

The second module will examine the evolving responses of the EU to these systemic challenges. It will also include a methodological component focusing on the basic principles and good practices of strategic foresight, from which students may benefit in preparing their team presentations.

The third module will consist of a series of case studies designed to foster practice-oriented discussions of systemic forces and risks across four selected domains will follow. These will include shifting patterns of warfare, economic statecraft, the race for mastering emerging disruptive technologies, and the expansion of competition into outer space. Team presentations featuring foresight and policy proposals in a simulated European institutional setting will be scheduled in this module.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

• 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
• 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
• Deeper Insight into the current policy debates and controversies in European institutions regarding the EU’s response to current global challenges

PROFESSIONAL SKILLS

Improved ability to analyse complex problems; Critical interpretation skills related to current global political issues; Project teamwork; Strategic foresight; Communicating policy research in a concise and efficient manner

The feedback to students will be provided on a running basis in a multimodal way. It will take place during class debate integrated into each lecture; assessment of the team research presentations focused both on content and communication (in a simulated environment of a briefing delivered to policy makers) and a written feedback on the final research paper.

The assessment will consist of three components:

• 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 pre-assigned questions

• In Class Presence: 2 hours a week / 24 hours a semester
• Reading and Preparation for Class: 6 hours a week / 72 hours a semester
• Research and Preparation for Group Work: 16 hours a semester (over two weeks)
• Research and Writing for Individual Assessments: 36 hours a semester (before final exam)