Faglig innhold

This course examines the European Union's role as an actor on the global stage. It introduces the EU's foreign policy architecture and its internal workings, discusses the actors involved in EU external action and examines how they are shaping it. In doing so, the course traces the on-going evolution of key tools and instruments that the EU institutions have at their disposal. Drawing upon concepts and theories from the discipline of International Relations, the course discusses what kind of an actor the EU is, as well as to what extent and how it exerts influence in the international arena. This involves analysing what the EU's foreign policy objectives are, whether or to what extent it meets them as well as what determines whether it does. To address these issues, the course discusses several areas of EU external action such as trade, development, enlargement, humanitarian aid, diplomacy as well as security and defence. To provide students with a hands-on understanding of what the EU does in these areas, the course will zoom on a range of concrete case studies.

Læringsutbytte

Successful candidates are expected to have acquired the following knowledge and skills:

Knowledge

• Students acquire in-depth empirical knowledge of the EU as an actor in international affairs.
• Students understand theoretical and conceptual approaches related to EU external action.
• Students can critically examine the merits and limitations of conceptual, theoretical and empirical approaches related to the study of EU external action and the EU's global role.
• Students obtain a thorough understanding of the intra- and extra EU actors and structures that shape and determine EU external action.
• Students grasp how the EU's foreign policy architecture relates to the challenges and contradictions in EU external action.

Skills:

• Students can conduct autonomous and independent research on EU external action using primary and secondary sources.
• Students obtain skills with respect to assessing the extent to which the EU's external action is effective and coherent.
• Students can apply theories and concepts to analyse the EU's global role, its external policies, and its efforts to influence political, economic, and social dynamics in the international system.
• Students advance their argumentation and debating skills.

Læringsformer og aktiviteter

Lectures.

Anbefalte forkunnskaper

Bachelor's degree in European Studies and Foreign Languages ​​​or equivalent approved education.

Kursmateriell

Course materials will be made available at the start of the semester.

Studiepoengreduksjon