IR604 EUROPE IN WORLD AFFAIRS
| Course Code: | 3140604 |
| METU Credit (Theoretical-Laboratory hours/week): | 3 (3.00 - 0.00) |
| ECTS Credit: | 8.0 |
| Department: | International Relations |
| Language of Instruction: | English |
| Level of Study: | Graduate |
| Course Coordinator: | Prof.Dr. YAKUP ATİLA ERALP |
| Offered Semester: | Fall Semesters. |
Course Objectives
Since its inception the European Union (EU) has been a contested and politically divisive project. In recent years, controversial issues such as the EU enlargement, the constitutional crisis, declining public support for European integration and the latest Eurozone crisis have tested the EU to its limits and increasingly divided both political elites and mass publics. Starting with a solid overview of the European integration process in successive stages, this course will analyse the key issues and debates related to the political system of the EU and to the politics of European integration. While most mainstream courses on the EU describe the history, the institutions, policy areas and theorizing about European integration, this course aims at familiarising the students with the key controversies that have shaped and are now openly shaping the EU polity and politics. The emphasis placed on the political dimension of European integration makes the course transdisciplinary in character and opens it up to communication with other programs (European Studies and Political Science and Public Administration). However, a basic knowledge of and familiarity with the process of European integration and EU institutional system is required.
Course Content
The aim of this course is to examine the emergence and the evolution of the idea of Europe in world politics. After examining the historical origins of this idea, the course focuses on the developments in this century, primarily on the post-second world war period. The process of European integration and its impact on the European nation-state system will be one of the central concerns of the course.
Course Learning Outcomes
By the end of this course, students should be able to analyze critically the three sets of issues below:
-the political system of the EU or more precisely the ( multi-level) governance system of the EU which basically includes both the EU level and the national level as well interactions across these levels;
-the main changing political dynamics of these relations which has given rise to “policy without politics” at the European level and to “politics without policy” at the national level;
-the emerging European political order and the Euro-polity, and
-an understanding of how the Eurozone crisis, the migration crisis and the Brexir process influence European integration and the EU.