Course Objectives
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
1. Understand the foundational concepts and frameworks of the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and their relevance in addressing contemporary security challenges.
2. Analyze the EU's strategic assets, interests, and vulnerabilities in the context of regional and global dynamics.
3. Assess the implications of energy security for the EU’s strategic autonomy, including challenges stemming from diversificaOon of energy sources.
4. Evaluate the asymmetrical risks and threats facing the EU, including the roles of Russia, China, and the USA, and their impact on the EU's security policy.
5. Explore the limits and potential of EU-NATO partnerships and enlargement processes in strengthening regional and global stability.
6. Critically analyze how external actors and events, such as the war in Ukraine, the Arab Spring, and US-China competiton, shape EU security strategies.
7. Develop a nuanced understanding of EU’s position in global affairs as a potential "third way" between major powers.
Basic notions
Common Foreign and Security Policy - CFSP, enlargement, integration, deepening, association, effective multilateralism, frontier securitisation, Arab Spring, frozen conflicts, strategic autonomy, energy and rare earth elements dependence, Eastern Partnership, Union for the Mediterranean, Putinisation, New OƩomanism, New Islamism, Weimarisation, New Cold War and Containment, Preemption and Prevention, Agression and Special Military Operation
Proposed Course Structure and Modules
Module 1: Introduction to EU Security and External Challenges
Key Concepts:
CFSP, enlargement, integraOon, deepening, associaOon, effecOve mulOlateralism, strategic autonomy.
Topics:
o Historical evolution of EU security frameworks.
o Foundational challenges in EU security policy: From frontier securitization to strategic autonomy.
o Defining EU vulnerabilities: energy dependence, rare earth elements, and cyber threats.
Discussion Questions:
o Is CFSP a tool for regional hegemony or the export of stability and democracy?
o What defines the EU’s security idenOty?
Module 2: EU Strategic Assets, Interests, and PrioriOes
Key Topics:
o EU’s strategic priorities: peace, democracy, market economy, and sustainable security.
o Energy security: Diversification of energy supply chains beyond Russian gas dependency.
Case study: Russian gas dependence vs. risks of reliance on Saudi Arabia or MAGA-era USA.
o Strategic autonomy and outbound/inbound investment screening mechanisms.
Key Question:
o How can the EU balance strategic autonomy with the need for global partnerships?
Module 3: EU Enlargement and Partnership Challenges
Key Topics:
o Limits and prospects of EU and NATO enlargement.
o Eastern Partnership and the Union for the Mediterranean.
o The challenge of frozen conflicts in the EU’s neighborhood.
o The Russian vision for its Near Abroad and its implicaOons for EU security.
Discussion Question:
o Which are the limits of EU enlargement in ensuring long-term stability?
Module 4: Regional and Global Dynamics Shaping EU Security
Key Topics:
o The War in Ukraine: Causes, spillover effects, and lessons learned for EU security policy.
o The Arab Spring's failed promises and the destabilization of the Near and Middle East.
o The Israeli-PalesOnian conflict as a catalyst for regional instability.
o Russian revisionism: Strategic objecOves and global implicaOons.
Discussion Question:
o How does regional instability shape EU security priorities?
Module 5: Asymmetrical Risks and Threats to EU Security
Key Topics:
o Terrorism, cyber threats, and hybrid warfare.
o Russian interference, subversion, and disinformation campaigns.
o Climate-induced security threats and their intersection with migration paƩerns.
Key Question:
o Are the EU’s new ”smart power” tools sufficient to address asymmetrical threats?
Module 6: The TransatlanOc Link and US-China Competition
Key Topics:
o The future of the Transatlantic link under MAGA-style American Neo-conservatism.
o The EU in the age of US-China big power competition: Strategic opportunities and constraints.
o EU responses to shiOing global alliances and trade security risks.
Key Questions:
o What is the EU’s role in global security between US and China dominance?
o How can the EU ensure its strategic interests amid US unpredictability and China’s rise?
Module 7: Toward a Resilient EU Security Strategy
Key Topics:
o Containing Russian expansionism: Strategic and diplomatic approaches.
o Enhancing peacebuilding in the Near and Middle East.
o Building EU resilience to hybrid threats and global power shiOs.
Key Questions:
o How can the EU craO a ”third way” security strategy independent of US-China hegemony?
Proposed Course Actvities
Case Study Analysis:
o EU energy diversification beyond Russia: Pros and cons of alternative sources.
Debates:
o ”Is the EU’s strategic autonomy achievable without compromising its alliances?”
Simulations:
o Negotiating a multilateral energy security framework for the EU.
Selective Bibliography:
1. Helen Wallace, Mark A. Pollack, Christilla Roederer-Rynning, Alistair R. Young (eds.), 2020 – Policy Making in the European Union, 8th ediOon, Oxford: Oxford University Press, Chapters 17 (Bastian Giegerich, Foreign and Security Policy) and 19 (Ulrich Sedelmeier, Enlargement)
2. Tobias Schumacher, Andreas Marchet, Thomas Demmelhuber (eds.), 2018, The Routledge Handbook on the European Neighbourhood Policy, London: Routledge
3. Agnieszka K. Cianciara, 2020, The PoliOcs of the European Neighbourhood Policy, London: Routledge
4. George Anglitoiu, (2005-2024) – The Transdniestr Conflict, EUBAM, EU Security Strategy, EU Intelligence Service Dilemma, PuOnisaOon and Neo-containment, Putinisation and the European Union of Insecurity, The Case of the Islamic State as a RenovaOve Totalist Movement, and other essays on Republic of Moldova, Turkey, EFTA, CFSP/FASP, terrorism and organised crime, investment control etc.
5. CFSP Official Documents
6. Other important documents issued by or about EU main partners, competitors and adversaries
7. Foreign Affairs (journal) post-Cold War archive
8. EUISS - EU Institute for Security Studies // Other Western think-tank archives (e.g. SWP - German InsOtute for International and Security Affairs, IFRI – French Institute of International Relations, George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, Clingeldael, RUSI – Royal United Services InsOtute, ISW - Institute for the Study of War, Norwegian Nobel Institute, SIPRI – Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, CSIS – Center for Strategic and International Studies, Brookings InsOtute, Heritage Foundation etc.
Evaluation requirements:
Studienleistung = 50% active attendance + 1 participation in debate or 1 short paper of approx. 2,000 words (e.g. SWOT analysis)
Prufungsleistung = 50% active attendance + 1 participation in debate or 1 short paper of approx.
2,000 words (e.g. SWOT analysis) + 1 final paper of approx. 5,000 words
Deadline for submission of papers – 30 September 2025
- Lehrende/r: George Anglitoiu