The New Europe

POLS 367/INST 393

Dr. Brunell

Gonzaga University

Week-By-Week Course Plan(8 February 2015)

Spring 2015 Class Meets: W 10:30 am-1:00 pm, TILF 405

Wednesday, January 14
Part 1: Introduction to the Course. Go over Course Project topics. Circulate sign up sheet for these.

Part 2: A United Europe: Cultural Fact or Political Fiction

Read these two essays, available in Blackboard under Course Documents: Havel, Vaclav, “The Hope for Europe” and Tony Judt, “Europe: The Grand Illusion.”

Part 3: Discussion of the two essays. What is Europe? Where does it end? What glues or commonalities make it hang together, unite it? What ideas, interests, institutions unite it or divide it?

Part 4: Lecture on Reid, “The Invention of Peace and the Pursuit of Prosperity.” Introduction of realism, institutionalism.

Wednesday, January 21

Part 1: Creating the New Europe’s New Security Regime; Introduction to Realism and Liberal Institutionalism

Reading: Cottey, Intro and Chpt. 1; see especially Table 1.1; Lucas, Chpt. 6 (stop after first paragraph on p. 179).

Visit:

Western Organizations: Organization for Cooperation and Economic Development (OECD); The European Union (EU); North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Eastern Organizations: Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON) (defunct); The Warsaw Pact (defunct); The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS); Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC); The Eurasian Customs Union now The Eurasian Economic Union (EEU).

Pan-European: Council of Europe (COE); Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

Part 2: Go over groups for presentations; research strategies; how to look up next week’s readings.

Wednesday, January 28

Part 1: A new Cold War? What was the Cold War? In class research project.

Read: Lucas, Preface to the 2014 Edition; Finland warns West over “new Cold war” “NATO-Russian Relations: Setting the Record Straight.” Russia’s Baltic Deployments, Russia-West Encounters at “Cold War” Levels

Part 2: The Situation in Ukraine. What precipitated the EuroMaidan protests? How did they conclude? How should we view the regime change in Ukraine? What does “the West” in this context mean? What roles have Europe, the United States, Russia played in this drama?

Assignments: click here to read encapsulated history of EuroMaidan; find in EBSCO and read: John Mearsheimer, “Why the Ukraine Crisis is the West’s Fault,” Foreign Affairs 93, no. 5: 77-89; Michael McFaul, “Moscow’s Choice.” Foreign Affairs 93, no. 6: 167-171; Stephen Sestanovich, “How the West Has Won,” Foreign Affairs 93, no. 6: 171-175; “Mearsheimer Replies,” Foreign Affairs 93, no. 6: 175-178. Bring hardcopy or e-copies of these to class with notes to discuss.

Be prepared to discuss: Who makes the more persuasive arguments about the causes of the situation in Ukraine and Russia today: Mearsheimer, McFaul or Sestanovich? What kind of arguments (realist, liberal or something else) is each of them making? Are you more of realist or liberal?

Wednesday, February 4

*Some class members will be at Air Force Assembly

Power in the New Russia

Part 1: Russia: Friend or Foe of the New Europe?

Reading: Cottey, Chpt. 5; Blackwater.ru: The Future of Private Armies in Russia;

Part 2: Oligarchy, New Tsarism and Re-writing History

Reading: Lucas, Chpt. 4 and 5; Russians’ trust in Putin grows;

Wednesday, February 11

Part 1: Report back from Air Force Assembly

Part 2: The Putin Doctrine: Putinism and Russian Foreign Policy

Reading: Putin’s Oct 24 2014 Valdai Speech, Commentary on Valdai Speech; Putin’s information blitzkrieg; Lucas, Chpt. 8.

Part 3: Pipeline Politics

Reading: Lucas, Chpts. 7; Pipelines of Empire; Russian Southstream Pipeline Redirected; China playing hardball over gas pipeline

Wednesday, February 18

Part 1: The EU and Foreign Policy: From CFSP to ESDP

Reading: Robert Dover, “From CFSP to ESDP,” Chpt. 15, in Cini, Tusk: EU needs long-term Russia strategy

Part 2: Whither the West? Are the US, the EU or “the West” cooperating effectively in foreign policy today? Why or why not? Have escalating tensions with Russia drawn the US and Europe closer together?

Reading: Cottey, Chpt. 3; Lucas, Chpt. 9

Wednesday, February 25

Part 1: Presentations on European Security

1: Espionage in the New Cold War, Cyber Politics Era

2: The Great Powers in the 21^st Century: A New Balance of Power?

Short break

Part 2: Presentations on European Security

3: Transnational Security, European Foreign Policy

4: Western Destabilization of Ukraine

Part 3: Review for Midterm

Wednesday, March 4

Part 1: Midterm

Part 2: Introduction to the European Union

The European Union

Reading: The European Union: The Evolution of the Dream

Reading: Cini, pp. 16-23; Chronology 2.5 on p. 24; and pp. 23-46.

Spring Break!!!

Wednesday, March 18

**Make it a priority to read this for this week: Jan Zielonka, “How New Enlarged Borders will Reshape the European Union,” Journal of Common Market Studies, 39 (3): 507-36.

Part 1: Institutional Design of the EU: Neither Fish nor Fowl

Inter-governmental Control through The European Council; Executive Power through The Commission, Legislating through The Council of the European Union, The European Parliament, Ombudsman

Assignments: browse Europa site’s information on institutions; Donald Tusk’s Presidency of Council; Latvia Hosting 2015 Rotating Presidency [skim the chapters from the Cini book, Cini, Chpt. 4 and pp.145-146; ; Egeberg, Chpt. 8 “The European Commission,” Lewis, Chpt. 9, “The Council of the European Union” and Scully, Chpt. 10, “The European Parliament” just read the intro and conclusion of each chapter thoroughly;

Part 2: Imagining Europe: Beyond the European Superstate; discussion of Zielonka and the nature of today’s “Europe”

Wednesday, March 25

Part 1: The Euro and Economic Integration through the Common Market

Reading: Cini, Chpt. 16 by Michelle Egan, “The Single Market.” TR Reid, “Welch’s Waterloo” and stories on the Eurozone financial crises under Course Documents in Blackboard

Part 2: The Euro. Managing the Eurozone Crisis

Visit the ECB’s site

Reading: Cini, Chpt. 20 by Amy Verdun, “Economic and Monetary Union;” read articles in Eurozone Crisis folder in Blackboard News content area.

Wednesday, April 1

Part 1: Introduction to the CAP, Public Opinion and The Outputs of EU Policymaking: The Continued Subsidy of Food Production and Why No GMOs in Europe

Reading: Fouilleux, Chpt. 21 in Cini (read intro and conclusion; skim rest); see Foreign Affairs article for background on differences between US and European approach to GM food; BBC story on GM food and Europa site info on GM Food

Part 2: Presentation on Environmentalism in the EU

Reading: Benson and Jordan, Chpt. 22 “Environmental Policy” in Cini (read intro and conclusion; skim rest).

Wednesday, April 8

Part 1: Immigration and Migration in the New Europe

Presentation on Immigration and Migration in the EU

Part 2: Rising Racism and Xenophobia in the New Europe

Reading: Taras, Chpts. 4 and 5

Wednesday, April 15

Part 1: The EU Courts: Court of First Instance, Court of Justice, Court of Auditors and The Council of Europe’s Court of Rights

Reading: Kapsis, chpt. 11 in Cini, “The Courts of the European Union;” visit European Court of Justice and European Court of Rights; Urcarer, in Cini, Chpt. 19 “Justice and Home Affairs”

Part 2: Presentation on Space: The Final Frontier

Exploration of space through European investment in R&D, space ventures; cooperation among Europe, the US and Russia

Wednesday, April 22 Papers due!!!

Europe’s New Interventionism and Experiences with Terrorism

Reading: Cottey, Chpts. 6 and 8

Wednesday, April 29 Last class!

Part 1: Part 1: Public Opinion and European Identities

Reading: McLaren, Chpt. 24 in Cini, “Public Opinion and the EU;” Taras, Intro, Chpt. 1, pp. 13-23 (stop at section on Elites on Integration after Maastricht), and Reid, Chpt. on Generation E, in Blackboard under Course Docs.

Part 2: Course wrap-up and review for final

What are the prospects for a united Europe in the 21^st Century? What promise to be the challenges and fault-lines in the “new Europe” that is emerging? How do realism and liberalism contribute to our understanding of political and economic change in the new Europe?

Part 3: Course evaluations

Final Exam: Tuesday, May 5, 1:00-3:00 pm