Annotation
This is a guest course taught by Dr. Hylke Dijkstra, Assistant professor of politics at Maastricht University.
The European Union (EU) and its member states face many significant crises and geopolitical threats. The Russian intervention in Ukraine – and the annexation of Crimea – has resulted in a degree of geopolitical rivalry with Moscow not seen since the early-1980s. The presence of the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq has destabilised large parts of the Middle-East and resulted in terrorist attacks across Europe and the world. Libya is in a state of civil war and might turn into a failed state and a safe-haven for terrorism. In the Sahel region, Nigeria, South Sudan, the Central African Republic and Somalia crises continue, while the long-running Israeli-Palestinian conflict remains unresolved. The Arab Spring has failed to deliver a peaceful and/or stable environment. The refugee crisis has presented enormous challenges in terms of saving the lives of refugees, reducing migration flows, and integrating refugees across the member states. The EU Global Strategy of 2016 puts it to us in straightforward language: “Our Union is under threat.”
This short course examines EU security policy and its ability to address these contemporary threats. It starts of by discussing European security policy as it has developed since the end of the Cold War, with a particularly emphasis on the post-1999 period. It analyses how security policy is made within the EU and it presents case studies on EU actions in the field of security and defence. The short course zooms in on the EU Global Strategy and discusses the implications for security policy following the withdrawal of the UK (Brexit). The concluding session will be forward looking and examines whether the EU is prepared for contemporary threats. The course will combine traditional lectures with interactive teaching, including through student presentations, debate, case studies and policy recommendations.