European Security

The goal

The course aims to acquaint students with key theoretical, empirical and political debates on European security. Students will be introduced to the key actors, institutions, policies and strategic challenges of European security. Special attention will be paid to the EU Common Security and Defence Policy, Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Policy in the Western Balkans. Although the focus of the course is on the EU, students will also learn about the broader European security architecture and the role of other important actors, both nation-states and international organizations, such as NATO, OSCE and CSTO.

The outcome

The European Security course is designed to enable students to understand and independently monitor and explore key actors, processes, institutions and challenges to European security. Upon completing the course, students will have a grasp of key academic literature and be introduced to major theoretical and conceptual debates in this field. In addition, they will be able to critically observe and analyze European security dynamics based on the literature, as well as to independently write an academic essay in this field. Another important outcome of the course is for students to improve academic writing and presentation skills

Contents of lectures

1. Traditional theories and European security
2. Critical theories and European security
3. European security architecture
4. EU strategic culture
5. EU defence integration
6. EU missions and operations in the world
7. EU internal security policy
8. Transatlantic relations and European security
9. EU and Russia
10. EU and Western Balkans
11. EU, Neighborhood policy, and security
12. Future scenarios of European security
13. Reading week
14. Reading week
15. Exam

Contents of exercises

Each lecture is followed by seminars during which students present their research on chosen topics. These presentations also represent the basis of their academic essays.

1. Jorgensen, Knud Erik, et al., eds. 2015. The SAGE Handbook of European Foreign Policy. SAGE

   (Original)

2. Biscop, Sven, and Richard Whitman, eds. 2012. The Routledge Handbook of European Security. Routledge

   (Original)

3. Bigo, Didier, et al., eds. 2020. The Routledge Handbook of Critical European Studies. Routledge

   (Original)

4. Merlingen, Michael. 2012. EU Security Policy: What It Is, How It Works, Why It Matters. Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers

   (Original)

5. Zwolski, Kamil. 2018. European Security in Integration Theory: Contested Boundaries. Palgrave Macmillan

   (Original)

6. Pohl, Benjamin. 2014. EU Foreign Policy and Crisis Management Operations: Power, Purpose and Domestic Politics. Routledge

   (Original)

7. Kurowska, Xymena, and Fabian Breuer, eds. 2011. Explaining the EU's Common Security and Defence Policy: Theory in Action. Springer

   (Original)

8. Cladi, Lorenzo, and Andrea Locatelli, eds. 2015. International Relations Theory and European Security: What We Thought We Knew. Routledge

   (Original)

9. Bossing, Raphael, and Mark Rhinard, eds. 2016. Theorizing Internal Security Cooperation in the European Union. Oxford University Press

   (Original)

10. Cottey, Andrew, ed. 2018. The European Neutrals and NATO: Non-alignment, Partnership, Membership? Palgrave Macmillan

    (Original)

11. Blockmans, Steven, and Panos Koutrakos, eds. 2018. Research Handbook on the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy. Edward Elgar Publishing

    (Original)

12. Meijer, Hugo, and Marco Wyss, eds. 2018. The Handbook of European Defence Policies and Armed Forces. Oxford University Press

    (Original)

Lectures, seminars