B5582 - EUROPEAN UNION AS A GLOBAL ACTOR

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course, students should be able to: • Analyze and interpret the role played by the European Union in different foreign policy areas and towards different geographic areas • Evaluate the main challenges and opportunities of the EU's role in world politics • Compare the EU with other international actors

Course contents

The course analyses the EU as a global actor. The analysis is conducted in two main parts. The first part (weeks 1-6), organised in lectures, is focused on the key turning points in the historical evolution of EU foreign policy, conceptualising and analysing the EU as a global actor, the foreign policy architecture and policy-making, and the main foreign policy areas (CFSP, CSDP, enlargement, trade, development, and humanitarian aid). The second part (weeks 7-10), organised in seminars, addresses specific case studies of EU foreign policy, such as the EU response to the Russian war against Ukraine, EU relations with Turkiye, the Western Balkan countries, Eastern and Southern neighbors, major powers, and multilateral organisations.

This course is taught in the second semester and is designed for graduate students who have already taken courses about the EU.

Classes and readings:


PART I: PROCESS, CONCEPTS, AND ACTORS


Weeks 1-2 (8 hours):
- Introduction to the course
- The Nature of the EU as a Global Actor
- European Integration and Foreign Policy
- Conceptualising and analysing EU foreign policy

Mandatory readings:
- Keukeleire, S. and Delreux, T. (2022), The Foreign Policy of the EU, Bloomsbury Academic, chapters 1, 2, 13
- Duchêne, D. (1972), ‘Europe's Role in World Peace', in R. Mayne, ed. Europe Tomorrow: Sixteen Europeans Look Ahead, Collins, pp. 32-47
- Bull, H. (1982), 'Civilian power Europe: a contradiction in terms?', in Journal of Common Market Studies, 21(2): 149-164
- Manners, I. (2002), 'Normative power Europe: a contradiction in terms?', in Journal of Common Market Studies, 40(2): 235-258
- Kagan, R. (2002), 'Power and Weakness', in Policy Review, June/July: 3-28
- Olsen, J.P. (2002), ‘The Many Faces of Europeanization’, in Journal of Common Market Studies, 40(5): 921-952

Weeks 3-4 (8 hours):
- EU Foreign Policy System: Actors and policy-making

Mandatory readings:
- Keukeleire, S. and Delreux, T. (2022), The Foreign Policy of the EU, Bloomsbury Academic, chapters 3, 4 and 5

- Baracani, E. and L. Santini (2023), 'The European Parliament's Political Leadership: The Case Study of EU Foreign Policy towards Turkey', Journal of Common Market Studies, 16(5): 1377-1393, open access


Weeks 5-6 (8 hours):
- The Common Foreign and Security Policy and the Common Security and Defence Policy
- Enlargement, trade, development, and humanitarian aid
- The external dimension of internal policies

Mandatory readings:
- Keukeleire, S. and Delreux, T. (2022), The Foreign Policy of the EU, Bloomsbury Academic, chapters 6, 7, 8, 9

- The Strategic Compass



PART II: CASE STUDIES

Week 7 (4 hours):

- EU response to the Russian aggression against Ukraine

Mandatory readings:

- Baracani, E. (2023), 'Ideational agenda-setting leadership: President von der Leyen and the EU response to the invasion of Ukraine', West European Politics, open access

- Orenstein, M. A. (2023), 'The European Union’s transformation after Russia’s attack on Ukraine', Journal of European Integration, 45:3, 333-342

- Meissner, K. & C. Graziani (2023), 'The transformation and design of EU restrictive measures against Russia', Journal of European Integration, 45:3, 377-394

- Anghel, V. & J. Džankić (2023), 'Wartime EU: consequences of the Russia – Ukraine war on the enlargement process', Journal of European Integration, 45:3, 487-501

Week 8 (4 hours):

- EU foreign policy towards Turkey and the Western Balkans

Mandatory readings:
- Young, R. (2021), The European Union and Global Politics, Red Globe Press, chapter 7
- Smeets, S. and D. Beach (2020), 'When success is an orphan: informal institutional governance and the EU-Turkey deal', West European Politics, 43(1): 129-158
- Baracani, E. and Calimli, M. (2016), 'Evaluating Effectiveness in EU Democracy Promotion: The Case of Turkey', Rivista Italiana di Politiche Pubbliche, 3/2016: 427-455
- Baracani, E. and Morgan, P. (2014), 'The Cyprus Conflict and the Failure of Its Europeanization', in F. Andreatta e E. Castelli (eds.) Solutions and Failures in Identity-based Conflicts. The Autonomy of Trentino-South Tyrol in Comparative Perspective, Fondazione Bruno Kessler Press, 137-156
- Belloni, R. (2019), The Rise and Fall of Peacebuilding in the Balkans, Palgrave, chapter 1
- Baracani, E. (2020), 'Evaluating EU Actorness as a State-Builder in ‘Contested’ Kosovo', Geopolitics, 25(2): 362-386


Week 9 (4 hours):

- EU relations with the Eastern and Southern neighbours

- EU relations with major powers

Mandatory readings:
- Keukeleire, S. and Delreux, T. (2022), The Foreign Policy of the EU, Bloomsbury Academic, chapters 10, 11
- Young, R. (2021), The European Union and Global Politics, Red Globe Press, chapters 10 and 11
- Schumacher, T. et al. (2017), The Routledge Handbook on the European Neighbourhood Policy, chapters 2 and 3

- Casier, T. (2020), ‘Not on Speaking Terms, but Business as Usual: The Ambiguous Coexistence of Conflict and Cooperation in EU-Russia Relations’, East European Politics, 36(4): 529-543

- Geeraerts, G. (2019), ‘The EU-China partnership: balancing between divergence and convergence’, Asia Europe Journal, 17: 281–294

- Hennessy, A. (2023), 'The impact of Russia’s war against Ukraine on Sino-European relations', Journal of European Integration, 45:3, 559-575

Week 10 (2 hours):

- EU relations with multilateral organizations

Mandatory readings:
- Keukeleire, S. and Delreux, T. (2022), The Foreign Policy of the EU, Bloomsbury Academic, chapter 12

 

Readings/Bibliography

- A detailed list of mandatory readings, for each lecture, is provided in the course contents
- All the readings are the same for attending and non-attending students

Teaching methods

- First part: traditional lectures

- Second part: seminar activity

- During each class, students' participation will be encouraged

Assessment methods

Requirements to be considered attending students:

1) Be present at least for 14/20 classes (70% of presence in class)

2) Take part in a group presentation on the topics of the second part of the program

Attending students are kindly requested to be enrolled as participants of the course on virtuale.unibo.it to facilitate the collection of presences in class

For attending students, the course grade is based on the following:

1) The written exam on the program's first part.

This exam takes place at the end of the course in a pre-appello and in all the following sessions until September (included).

Please note that this exam can be taken only once, but it is possible to come to all sessions and withdraw before the end of the exam. If the student does not withdraw and refuses the grade, the student will have to take the exam as a non-attending (as described in the following paragraph).

The exam consists of 1 long answer question (exam duration 1 hour).

2) Up to 2 additional points for class participation and the group presentation on the second part of the program

 

For non-attending students, and attending students who refuse the grade of the written exam:

- The course grade is based on a single written exam on both parts of the program
- The exam consists of 2 long answer questions (exam duration 2 hours)

EXCHANGE STUDENTS:This course is open exclusively to exchange students enrolled in Master's level degrees.

Teaching tools

- The instructor's PowerPoint presentations will be available at the end of each week on virtuale.unibo.it
- The group presentations will be scheduled during the first part of the course once there is a final list of attending students

Office hours

See the website of Elena Baracani