94463 - The Regional Cooperation In East Central Europe And The Danube-Balkan Basin

Learning outcomes

The students will explore - in both an historical and contemporary perspective - the macro-regional cooperation in Central and South Eastern Europe, with particular attention to the role and activities of regional and sub-regional networks e.g. Central European Initiative, Regional Cooperation Council, Baltic See Economic Cooperation as well as various forms of cross-border cooperation (CBC) initiatives. They will also learn about the role of ECE countries in international institutions as e.g. UN, OECD, WTO, IMF/IBRD, EU, OSCE and NATO. Within the Course, special attention will be devoted to Visegrad Cooperation (Visegrad Group, Visegrad Four, V4).

Course contents

Lecture 1: Course requirements. Introduction to foreign and regional policies in ECE. Geo-political environment and historical features.

Lecture 2: Foreign policies of ECE countries in the State-Socialist period. Risks, suggestions and debates in 1989-1991. The new foreign and security policy priorities in the region.

Lecture 3: Foreign and regional policy patterns in ECE under the conditions of the post-1991 world order. ECE in European integration and Trans-Atlantic relationship.

Lecture 4: Foreign policy patterns in ECE in the post-1991 world order: the case of Hungary.

Lecture 5: Factors of regional cohesion and cooperation in ECE before and after the systemic change. Regional and inter-regional networks on governmental and sub-national levels

Lecture 6: The increasing role of sub-regional actors in ECE relations. The case of VISEGRAD FOUR (V-4).

Lecture 7: Recent developments and prospects of the region in context of international relations and regional cooperation. Scenarios for V-4 future

Seminar 1-2: Foreign policies in and towards ECE region. Cases of countries represented in the Course.

Seminar 3: Short case studies of regional and sub-regional cooperation in ECE (introduction of the topics of assigment papers)

Readings/Bibliography

• Albrycht, Izabela (ed.), The Eastern Partnership in the context of the European Neighborhood Policy and the V4 Agenda, Kosciuszko Institut, Krakow, 2011.
• Baun, Michae, Dan Marek (eds), The New Member States and the European Union: Foreign Policy and Europeanization, Routledge, 2013 , Chapters 1,2,3,4,14.
• Ganzle, S. ‘’EU Governance, ‘Experimental Union’, and Baltic Sea Cooperation: the Case of the European Union’s Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region.’’ Schuman Papers 2017. http://www.schuman-seura.fi/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Schuman_Paper_2-2017_WEB.pd
• Central European Initiative homepage (missions, objectives, activities, latest calls for actions in 2023, documents, funding, etc.)
• K. Kocsis – D. Karácsonyi (March 2022), Geographical location and geopolitical situation of the V4 countries. Geographical Institute, Budapest. real.mtak
• Roaf, James, Ruben Atoyan, Bikas Joshi, Krzysztof Krogulski (2014): 25 Years of Transition Post-Communist Europe and the IMF Regional Economic Issues Special Report http://www.imf.org/external/region/bal/rr/2014/25_years_of_transition.pdf
• Rekawek, Kacper, Non-military aspects of security in V4 countries: prospects for cooperation. Polish Institute of International Affairs, Warsaw, V4 Papers No.3., 2011, pp.35-43. (with studies by Marton, Samson and others)
• Regional Cooperation Council. (2018, April 23). Annual Report of the Secretary General of the Regional Cooperation Council 2017-2018. Retrieved from: https://www.rcc.int/pubs/60/annual-report-of-the-secretary-general-of-the-regional-cooperation-council-2017-2018
• Sabic, Zlatko, Petr Drulák (eds) Regional and International Relations of Central Europe, Palgrave Macmillan, 2012
• Törő, Csaba (ed.) Visegrad cooperation within NATO and CSDP. Warsaw: Polish Institute of International Affairs, 2011. 108.p. (with studies of Hamberger, Horváth, Samson, Tarašovic and others)
• Visnovsky, Radovan (2020), Visegrad Group and Relations with Russia. Vestnik RUDN Vol 20. http://journals.rudn.ru/intern
• Vugrinović, Andrea, e Andrea Dominko. Crossing the borders. Studies on cross-border cooperation within the Danube Region: Case Study of the Euroregion Danube-Drava-Sava. Cent Central European Service for Cross-Border Initiatives, 2016.

Teaching methods

Lectures (14 hours) and seminars (6 hours)

Assessment methods

Students' performance will be assessed on the basis of an assignment paper and in-seminar activities.

Teaching tools

Ppt presentations

Office hours

See the website of Laszlo Nyusztay