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2020/2021

European Foreign Policy

Code: 101093 ECTS Credits: 6
Degree Type Year Semester
2500259 Political Science and Public Management OT 3 2
2500259 Political Science and Public Management OT 4 0
2503778 International Relations OB 3 1
The proposed teaching and assessment methodology that appear in the guide may be subject to changes as a result of the restrictions to face-to-face class attendance imposed by the health authorities.

Contact

Name:
Federico Guerrero Cabrera
Email:
Federico.Guerrero@uab.cat

Use of Languages

Principal working language:
catalan (cat)
Some groups entirely in English:
Yes
Some groups entirely in Catalan:
Yes
Some groups entirely in Spanish:
No

Other comments on languages

Grup 01

Teachers

Francesc Serra Massansalvador
Federico Guerrero Cabrera

Prerequisites

This elective course is part of the major in International Relations of the Degree in Political Science and Public Management, as well as a mandatory course of the Degree in International Relations. Therefore, it is expected that the students attending this course will have a general knowledge on International Relations, the European process of integration, and contemporary international history. Also, the students attending this course should have the habit of reading and consulting multiple sources on European and international affairs. It is also expected that the students will have basic knowledge on searching sources in the internet, and on using word processing computer programs.

The students should have the ability to easily read and understand academic texts written in English. 

IMPORTANT NOTICE: it will be mandatory for students enrolled in the English group of this course to do all their assignments (exams and group and individual exercises) in English.

Objectives and Contextualisation

This course is intended to develop and deepen the historical, theoretical and conceptual knowledge on the origins, external relations, and political process of the European Union (EU).

 

At the end of the course, the students should have the ability to: 

  • Define and relate the main analytical concepts of international relations to the European integration process.
  • Understand primary sources and their international and political implications.
  • Combine and review different information sources on Europe’s international relations.
  • Present and defend, in an informed way, their analysis on current European foreign affairs.
  • Describe and explain the development of the main trends of Europe’s international relations, from the end of the Second World War to present day.
  • Understand the process of European political integration in the context of the Cold War.
  • Analyse and understand the internal and external challenges of the current European political scenario.

 

Competences

    Political Science and Public Management
  • Applying theoretical and analytical knowledge of International Relations to practical and professional cases, in particular to the areas of conflict and cooperation between actors.
  • Arguing from different theoretical perspectives.
  • Assessing specific distinctive aspects and conceptual and methodological instruments of the different tendencies and analytical approximations of International Relations.
  • Demonstrating good writing skills in different contexts.
  • Demonstrating they know theoretical tendencies and classical and recent analytical approximations of International Relations.
  • Designing data collection techniques, coordinating the information processing and meticulously applying hypothesis verification methods.
  • Distinguishing the discipline's main theories and different fields: conceptual developments, theoretical frameworks and theoretical approaches underlying the discipline's knowledge and different areas and sub-areas, as well as their value for the professional practice through concrete cases.
  • Identifying sources of data and conducting bibliographic and documentary searches.
  • Interpreting and applying English texts in an academic way.
  • Managing the available time in order to accomplish the established objectives and fulfil the intended task.
  • Producing and planning researches or analytical reports.
  • Realising effective oral presentations that are suited to the audience.
  • Synthesizing and critically analysing information.
  • Using the main information and documentation techniques (ICT) as an essential tool for the analysis.
  • Working autonomously.
  • Working by using quantitative and qualitative analysis techniques in order to apply them to research processes.
  • Working in teams and networking, particularly in interdisciplinary conditions.
    International Relations
  • Analyse the structure and operation of international institutions and organisations (political, economic, military and security, environmental, development and emergency aid) both in the universal and regional spheres, with particular emphasis on the European Union, from either real or simulated cases.
  • Apply quantitative and qualitative analysis techniques in research processes.
  • Identify data sources and carry out rigorous bibliographical and documentary searches.
  • Identify the main theories of international relations and their different fields (international theory, conflicts and security, international politics, etc.) to apply them in professional practice.
  • Students must be capable of applying their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional way and they should have building arguments and problem resolution skills within their area of study.
  • Students must be capable of collecting and interpreting relevant data (usually within their area of study) in order to make statements that reflect social, scientific or ethical relevant issues.
  • Students must have and understand knowledge of an area of study built on the basis of general secondary education, and while it relies on some advanced textbooks it also includes some aspects coming from the forefront of its field of study.
  • Use English to receive and communicate analyses and proposals.
  • Use different tools for analysing the contemporary international system and its functional and regional or geographical subsystems.
  • Use metatheoretical data to argue and establish plausible relation of causality and establish ways of validating or rejecting them.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Apply different theoretical focuses to the analysis of the international system and its subsystems and international European politics.
  2. Apply quantitative and qualitative analysis techniques in research processes.
  3. Applying theoretical and analytical knowledge of International Relations to practical and professional cases, in particular to the areas of conflict and cooperation between actors.
  4. Arguing from different theoretical perspectives.
  5. Assessing specific distinctive aspects and conceptual and methodological instruments of the different tendencies and analytical approximations of International Relations.
  6. Critically assessing the impacts of globalization in several areas: safety, environment, human rights, migrations and peace.
  7. Define and relate the main analytical concepts of international relation with the process of European integration.
  8. Demonstrating good writing skills in different contexts.
  9. Demonstrating they know theoretical tendencies and classical and recent analytical approximations of International Relations.
  10. Describing the international order: anarchy versus order, society of states and transnational society.
  11. Describing the main characteristic elements of the international society as a whole (1945-2000).
  12. Designing data collection techniques, coordinating the information processing and meticulously applying hypothesis verification methods.
  13. Develop and acquire deeper historical, theoretical and conceptual knowledge of the origins, external relations and political processes of the European Union (EU).
  14. Evaluate case studies of change and continuity in the international system, in the main regional subsystems (European, American, Asian) and in the subsystems of economy and security.
  15. Explaining the major approximations to the international relations (realism, transnationalism and structuralism).
  16. Identify and analyse the different information sources on the international relations of the EU.
  17. Identify data sources and carry out rigorous bibliographical and documentary searches.
  18. Identifying sources of data and conducting bibliographic and documentary searches.
  19. Interpreting and applying English texts in an academic way.
  20. Managing the available time in order to accomplish the established objectives and fulfil the intended task.
  21. Producing and planning researches or analytical reports.
  22. Properly using the theory and concepts of international relations (traditions of Hobbesian, Grotian or Kantian thought).
  23. Realising effective oral presentations that are suited to the audience.
  24. Students must be capable of applying their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional way and they should have building arguments and problem resolution skills within their area of study.
  25. Students must be capable of collecting and interpreting relevant data (usually within their area of study) in order to make statements that reflect social, scientific or ethical relevant issues.
  26. Students must have and understand knowledge of an area of study built on the basis of general secondary education, and while it relies on some advanced textbooks it also includes some aspects coming from the forefront of its field of study.
  27. Synthesizing and critically analysing information.
  28. Understand the process of European political integration in the context of the Cold War.
  29. Use English to receive and communicate analyses and proposals.
  30. Use metatheoretical data to argue and establish plausible relation of causality and establish ways of validating or rejecting them.
  31. Using the main information and documentation techniques (ICT) as an essential tool for the analysis.
  32. Working autonomously.
  33. Working by using quantitative and qualitative analysis techniques in order to apply them to research processes.
  34. Working in teams and networking, particularly in interdisciplinary conditions.

Content

 

Introduction

 1. Evolution of the European order: towards a security community?

  • The European state system
  • Bipolar and Communitarian Europe
  • (Re)-unified Europe?
  • Concepts: Security community and regional security complex

  

Part I. Construction and evolution of bipolar Europe

 2. The partition of Europe

  • Consequences of Yalta and Potsdam and increasing tension between the West and the Soviet Union
  • The Marshall Plan (1947) and the logic of containment
  • The rebuilding of Germany inside the Western bloc: the creation of the German Federal Republic (West Germany) and the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) (1949)

 3. The creation of the Atlantic Alliance

  • From the Dunkirk Pact (1947) to the Brussels Treaty (1948)
  • The American commitment: the Vandenberg Resolution (1948)
  • The Washington Treaty (1949): the trans-Atlantic Alliance
  • The creation of NATO (1951-1955): members, objectives and institutional structure

 4. The evolution of the Atlantic Alliance during the Cold War

  • The Paris Conference (1954): the membership of West Germany into NATO
  • The reform of the Brussels Treaty: the creation of the Western European Union (WEU) (1955)
  • The NATO crisis during the 1960s: De Gaulle and détente
  • The Euro-missiles crisis (1979-1987): confidence crisis inside the Western bloc

 5. The creation and consolidation of the Soviet Union sphere of influence

  • Peoples’ democracies (1945-49)
  • Network of bilateral treaties
  • Institutionalization: Communist Information Bureau (COMINFORM) (1947), Council forMutual Economic Assistance(COMECON) (1949), and the Warsaw Pact (1955).

 6. The evolution of the Eastern bloc

  • The Yugoslavbreaking with the USSR and the blockade of Berlin (1948-1953) and de-Stalinization of the bloc (1953-56)
  • Poland and Hungary (1956), and the doctrine of limited sovereignty in Czechoslovakia (1968)
  • Fractures inside the Eastern Bloc: Poland (1980s)

   7. Evolution of bipolar Europe: tensions and cooperation

  • Ostpolitik: Willy Brandt and the new relations between West and East (1968-1973)
  • The CSCE: Pan European security and the Helsinki Final Act (1975)
  • Gorbachev’s impact in the relations between East and West during the 1980s.
  • Transformations in Central Europe: the fall of the Berlin Wall (1989) and German reunification (1990)

 

Part II. Construction and Evolution of Communitarian Europe

 8. Pre Communitarian stage

  • Inter-war background (Coudenhove-Kalergi, Briand)
  • The Zurich Speech (1946): the United Sates of Europe
  • The Hague Congress (1948): the breakdown between federalists and unionists
  • The Council of Europe (1949): classical international cooperation.

 9. The European Communities

  • Franco-German reconciliation as the basis for unification: Jean Monnet and the Schuman Plan (1950)
  • The Pleven Plan (1950) and the project of a European Political Community
  • The Paris Treaty: creation of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) (1951), and the Treaties of Rome (1957)
  • Creation of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) (1959): the British alternative to the EEC

 10. The Gaullist re-interpretation of the European Community

  • The Fouchet Plans (1961, 1962): political Europe and intergovernmentalism
  • French veto to British membership (1963, 1967)
  • The empty chair crisis and the Luxemburg agreement (1966)

 11. Re-launching Europe: the enlargement of the EEC and the European Political Cooperation (EPC).

  • The Hague Summit (1969): new integration agenda; and enlargements of the Community (1973, 1980, 1986)
  • Crisis and progress in European integration: the United Kingdom, a a diffcult partner 
  • EPC: structure, tools, functioning and agenda evolution
  • European Single Act (1987): internal market, EPC and institutional adaptation

 

Part III. Europe in the post Cold War world

 12. Proposals for the development of the European Union

  • Kohl-Mitterrand proposal on political union (1990)
  • Intergovernmental conferences (1991): options and disagreements between the twelve
  • Maastricht and the Treaty of the European Union (1992)
  • Treaty reforms: Amsterdam, Nice and Lisbon

 13. The EU as an international political actor (Common Foreign and Security Policy)

  • Evolution and objectives of the Common Foreign and Security Policy
  • Decision-making process and internal coherence
  • Diplomatic and economic instruments
  • Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP): military instruments and security challenges
  • The European Security strategy (2003, 2008, 2016)

 14. NATO reform and the post-Cold War world

  • Internal reforms and evolution of the strategic concept
  • New roles (Western Balkans)
  • The relations with Central and Eastern Europe and the process of Eastern enlargement
  • NATO actions after 9-11: the Afghanistan mission
  • Evolution of NATO-Russian relations

 

Methodology

Activities

 

The work of the students during this course is divided into different types of activities, each of them with a specific amount of working hours. This diversity of formats is reflected in the use of different working methodologies during the course. The course has 6 ECTS credits, therefore it is expected that the students devote 150 working hours for this course.

 - Guided activities are activities done in the classroom with the presence of the teacher, and  will include: lectures (with ICT support and the possibility of forming discussion groups for specific topics); seminars in smaller groups for discussing the required readings, for focusing on practical issues and for analysing specific cases, problems and examples related to the course’ syllabus. For these activities there will be specific readings, which will be announced well in advance. These activities represent one third of the total working hours required for the course (55 hours).

 - Supervised activities are the ones carried out by the students outside the classroom, according to a work plan designed, supervised and evaluated by the lecturer. Also, during the course students will read short articles or documents, write short essays to analyze these materials, and will discuss them in class. Supervised activities also include individual tutorials and similar activities to asses each student’s progress. These activities represent approximately 10% of the required working hours (15 hours).

 - Autonomous activities are all the activities that the students do on their own, and in accordance with the requirements of the course. These activities may include supplementary research and reading, study their class notes, and all the activities that supplement their work during the course. These activities account for half of the student’ working time (75hours).

 

The teaching methodology has been adequately prepared for the contents and activities of this course.

 

Activities

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Guided activities are classroom activities, with the presence of the teacher, and that may include: lectures and seminars 53 2.12 3, 4, 9, 19, 27, 5
Type: Supervised      
Supervised activities are the ones carried out by the students outside the classroom, according to a work plan designed, supervised and evaluated by the lecturer 15 0.6 3, 4, 9, 8, 12, 21, 20, 18, 19, 27, 33, 32, 34, 31, 5
Type: Autonomous      
Autonomous activities are all the activities that the students do on their own, and in accordance with the academic requirements of the course 75 3 3, 9, 11, 10, 15, 20, 18, 19, 27, 32, 22, 5, 6

Assessment

 The evaluation of this course consists of two parts:

 

1. Continuous Evaluation during the semester (50% of the final grade) divided among the following activities:

1.1.  An individual short essay about a topic from the program proposed by the professor. It represents 20% of the final grade.

1.2.  Group assignment related to the contemporary international relations of the European Union, which consists in a group-written paper and its oral presentation (30% of the final grade). Submission of the paper and the oral presentation will take place at the end of the semester. The exact date and specific instructions will be announced during the first weeks of the course.

  

2. Two written exams on topics 1 to 13 (the midterm exam will include topics 1 to 7 of the programme, and the final exam will include topics 8 to 13). The exact date of each exam will be announced with enough time (each exam represents 25% of the final grade).

   

SUMMARY OF THE GRADING:

One individual short essay: 20%

Group assignment : 30%

Mid-term exam (topics 1-7): 25%

Final exam (topics 8-13): 25%

 

  

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

 

To pass this course you will need to pass both written exams with a minimum grade of 5/10 in each exam.

 

The students that do not pass one or both written examination(s) will have the opportunity to retake them at the end of the semester, on the date established by the Academic Office of the Faculty. If the exam(s) are not passed in the second sitting, the final grade of the course will be FAILED (NO APROVAT). There will only be two opportunities to pass each exam. Clarification: once the student retakes the midterm or the final exam (or both), the grade that will count for the course final grade is the one obtained in the second exam.

 

Once both written exams have been passed,the average grade of all the activities of the semester (short essay, group assignment and exams) must reach, at least, a  5/10 grade to pass the course.

 

All the assignments will have to be submitted on the dates established by the professor. If this is not the case the professor will specify the penalty for these late submissions. IMPORTANT: neither the individual essay nor the group assignment will be retaken.

 

The cases of plagiarism or other irregular acts (copying in an exam or submitting to equal individual essays from two different students) will be graded with a zero (0) in the related activity. To avoid plagiarism students have to do in-text citations (you can check the Faculty guide about plagiarism through the following link) as well as include a correctly referenced bibliography. IMPORTANT: any assignment that does not include a bibliography will automatically fail.

 

If a student submits the exercises representing 50% or more of the final grade, she/he will not have the right to have a final grade of NO SHOW (NO PRESENTAT).

 

VERY IMPORTANT. Exchange students will have to follow the same norms and rules that the students from the Degree (Grau).

 

VERY IMPORTANT: those students enrolled in the English group of the course will have to do all the assignments (exams, individual essay and group assignment) in English. That's mandatory

 

In accordance with article 117.2 of the UAB Academic Regulations, the evaluation of those students who have been enrolled before may consist of a single synthesis examination. This synthesis examination will include the contents and competences that belong to the three evaluation activitites that regular students will have to do during the course. The students who wish to be evaluated this way should contact the professor at the beginning of the semester. 

Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Group presentation and debate on the contemporary international relations of the European Union 30% 1 0.04 3, 2, 4, 30, 9, 8, 13, 12, 21, 23, 20, 17, 18, 16, 19, 24, 25, 27, 33, 32, 34, 31, 29, 5, 14
One individual essay about one of the topics seen during the course 20% 2 0.08 3, 1, 2, 4, 30, 9, 8, 13, 23, 20, 17, 18, 16, 19, 24, 25, 27, 22, 29, 5
Written examination (Topics 1 to 13). There will be a midterm and a final exam. 50% 4 0.16 3, 1, 4, 7, 9, 8, 11, 10, 13, 28, 15, 20, 19, 26, 27, 32, 22, 5, 6

Bibliography

IMPORTANT: the essential readings to follow the course will be available to students at Campus Virtual

Basic textbooks:

BACHE, I.; BULMER, S.; GEORGE, S. i PARKER, O. (2015), Politics in the European Union, 4th Ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press 

BARBÉ, E. (Dir.) (2014), La Unión Europea en las relaciones internacionales, Madrid: Tecnos. 

DINAN, D. (Ed.) (2014), Origins and Evolution of the European Union, 2nd Ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press.

GIL PECHARROMÁN, J. (2017), Historia de la Integración Europea, 2ª edició, Madrid: Editorial UNED. 

HILL, C.; SMITH, M. and VANHOONACKER, S. (eds.) (2017)International Relations and the European Union, 3r Ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press.

KEUKELEIRE, S. and DELREUX, T. (2014), The Foreign Policy of the European Union, 2nd Ed., Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan.

 

General bibliography:

CALVOCORESSI, P. (1991), Resilient Europe 1870-2000, Londres, Longman.

DIEZ DE VELASCO, M. (2001), Las organizaciones internacionales, Madrid, Tecnos, p. 426-449 (caps. OTAN i UEO) i p. 569-577 (cap. CSCE).

ELLWOOD, D.W. (1992), Rebuilding Europe. Western Europe, America and Postwar Reconstruction, Londres, Longman.

FUENTES, J. (1989), El Círculo de Helsinki, Madrid, Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores.

HALLIDAY, F. (1986), The making of the Second Cold War, Londres, Verso.

LAQUEUR, W. (1992), Europe in Our Time. A History 1945-1992, Londres, Penguin.

LUNDESTAD, G. (1999), East, West, North, South. Major Developments in International Politics 1945-1990, Oxford, Oxford U.P.

MAMMARELLA, G. (1995), Historia de Europa Contemporánea, Barcelona, Ariel.

OSIANDER, A. (1994), The States System of Europe1640-1990, Oxford, Clarendon Press.

PEREIRA, J.C. (1989), Historia y presente delaguerrafría, Madrid, Istmo.

SAINZ, N. (1993), La Conferència sobre la Seguretat i la Cooperació a Europa: De procés a institució paneuropea, Centre Unesco de Catalunya/Centre d'Estudis sobre la Pau i el Desarmement (UAB).

TAIBO, C. (1991), De la revolución de octubre a Gorbachov. Una aproximación a la Unión Soviética, Madrid, Fundamentos.

 

Specific bibliography for Part II:

ALDECOA LUZARRAGA, F. (2002), La integración europea. Análisis histórico-institucional con textos y documentos, Madrid, Tecnos.

ANDRES SAENZ DE SANTAMARIA, P. et al. (1999), Introducción al Derecho de la Unión Europea, Madrid, Eurolex. DINAN, D. (2000), Encyclopedia of the European Union,Londres,Macmillan.

DINAN, D. (1999), Ever Closer Union? An Introduction to the European Community, Londres, Macmillan. (2ª. ed.)

GERBET, P. (1999), La Construction de l'Europe, Paris, Imprimérie Nationale.

GILBERT, M. (2012), European Integration: A Concise History, Rowman & Littlefield

MANGAS, A. y LIÑAN, D. (2010), Instituciones y Derecho de la Unión Europea, 6th Ed., Madrid: Tecnos.

MARTIN DE LA GUARDIA, R.M. i PEREZ SANCHEZ, G.A. (2001), Historia de la integración europea, Barcelona, Ariel.

NELSEN, B. i STUBB, C. G. (eds.) (1998), The European Union. Readings on the Theory and Practice of European Integration, Londres, Macmillan (2ª. ed.).

NUGENT, N. (2006), Government and Politics of the European Union,Londres, Macmillan. (6ª ed.)

OLIVI, B. (1998), L'Europe difficile. Histoire politique de l'Europe difficile, Gallimard, Paris.

TRUYOL Y SERRA, A. (1999), La integración europea. Análisis histórico-institucional, Madrid, Tecnos.

URWIN, D. (1992), The Community of Europe. A History of European Integration since 1945, Londres, Longman.

WALLACE, h., Pollack, M. A. i Young, A.R.  (eds.) (2010), Policy making in the European Union, 6a edició, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

WEIDENFELD, W. i WESSELS, W (1998), Europa de la A a la Z. Diccionari de la Integració Europea, Barcelona, Institut Universitari d'Estudis Europeus.

 

Specific bibliography for Part III:

BARBÉ, E. (1995), La seguridad en la nueva Europa. Una aproximación institucional: Unión Europea, OTAN y UEO,Madrid, Los Libros de la Catarata.

BARBÉ, E. (1999), La política europea de España, Barcelona, Ariel.

BARBÉ, E. (coord.) (2000), Política Exterior Europea, Barcelona, Ariel.

BARBÉ, E. (ed.) (2005) ¿Existe la brecha transatlántica? Estados Unidos y la Unión Europea tras la crisis de Irak, Madrid, Los Libros de la Catarata.

BARBÉ, E. (ed.) (2010), La Unión Europea más allás de sus fronteras. ¿Hacia la transformación del Mediterráneo y Europa oriental?, Madrid: Tecnos.

CAMBON CRESPO, E. (1997), Seguridad y Cooperación en Europa: de Conferencia a Organización, Madrid, CEES Edic.

CARACUELRAYA, M.A. (1997), Los cambios de la OTAN tras el fin de la guerra fría, Madrid,Tecnos.

FRITSCH-BOURNAZEL, R. (1992), Europe and German Unification, Nueva York, Berg.

HILL, C., and SMITH, K. E. (2000), European Foreign Policy. Key Documents. London: Routledge.

LAFFAN, B. (1992), Integration and Cooperation in Europe, Londres, Routledge.

LANDAU, A. y WHITMAN, R. (comp.) (1997), Rethinking the European Union. Institutions, Interests and Identitites, Londres, Macmillan.

LODGE, J. (1993), The European Community and the Challenge of Future, Londres, Pinter, (2ª ed.).

SMITH, H. (2002), European Union Foreign Policy: What It Is and What It Does, Londres: Pluto Press

SMITH, K. (2008), European Union Foreign Policy in a Changing World,2a edición, Cambridge:Polity Press.

TAIBO, C. (1998), Las transiciones en la Europa Central yOriental, Madrid, Los Libros de la Catarata.

TONRA, B. and CHRISTIANSEN, T. (eds.) (2004), Rethinking European Union Foreign Policy, Manchester: Manchester University Press

 

Basic webpages:

Council of Europe: http://www.coe.int

European Documentation Center at UAB: http://www.uab.cat/web/centre-de-documentacio-europea/centre-de-documentacio-europea-1261383194655.html

European External Action Service: https://eeas.europa.eu/headquarters/headquarters-homepage_en

European Parliament: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/portal/en 

European Union: http://www.europa.eu

NATO: http://www.nato.int

Observatori de Política Exterior Europea: http://normcon.eu/es/

Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe: http://www.osce.org