THE MODULES

  International Relations  

Since the breakdown of the bipolar world, uncertainty dominates the international order. New actors, new issues, new challenges have disturbed the traditional rules of the game, a new logic of international relations, however, has not yet emerged clearly. Interpretations advanced by authors like Huntington, Fukuyama, Rufin, Brzezinski, Kissinger as well as by politicians are partly been confirmed by current events, but also partly disproved.
New structures appear insecure and transitory.

The seminar’s aim is to analyse the evolution of international relations since the end of the Second World War. Theories of international relations, as they have developed over these decades, will be discussed as well as the emergence of new actors in the process of globalization. In order to better understand contemporary international events, the seminar will also focus on the transformation of public violence, as they have been demonstrated by recent, « new generation » conflicts.
 

At the beginning of the new millennium, the European Union can look back at considerable achievements such as the completion of the monetary union. On the other hand, the EU remains confronted with huge challenges: New member states in Central and Eastern Europe need to be fully integrated, the EU institutions must be reformed, a common identity for foreign and security politics must be reinforced, the acceptance of the EU amongst its Member States’ populations needs to be strengthened.
This seminar aims at familiarising the students, who could well become the next generation of European and international decision-makers, with an expert knowledge of the structures, institutions, and problems of the European Union. We focus firstly on the historical development of European unification and then go on to analyse the Union’s institutions and study the basics of EU law. The last part of the program is devoted to the different policies of the EU and especially emphasises the challenges of enlargement.
 

The aim of this module is to gain a comprehensive and analytical insight into the fundamental problems contemporary European societies are confronted with. In a first phase, we will examine the theoretical foundations of Western democracy, its different political systems, and the great political currents that have shaped its development in the 20th century. A second phase will deal with the problem of globalization, which constitutes a major challenge to both European democracies and societies. We will analyse the transformation of political currents in the globalization process, as well as its social and cultural repercussions. Additionally, we will discuss how companies restructure under the pressure of globalization. The Berlin part of the program will deal with the transition processes that occurred in Central and Eastern Europe after the fall of the Berlin wall. We will analyse the problems these countries encountered while introducing democratic political systems and market economies based on the principals of capitalism.
 

 Federalism  

This seminar attempts to provide an original perspective of contemporary political societies, especially concerning problems such as sovereignty, minority questions, democratic representation, and economic coordination. This perspective is inspired by methods and different currents of federalist thought. Firstly, the seminar will familiarise students with the analytical tools that are used for the comparative analysis of federal systems as well as processes such as decentralisation and federalisation. Secondly, we will look at federalism from different theoretical perspectives. We will also analyse the links between federalism and European integration.