PO/IR 357 - Reshaping the International Order - Power, Conflict and Change in the Black Sea Region

The current political crisis in Ukraine and the unilateral annexation of the Crimean peninsula by Russia clearly show that the end of the Cold War did not lead to a single European security order based on commonly shared norms and principles. Recent events in the Black Sea region do not only highlight increasing economic competition, cultural challenges, shifting power relations and a renewed flexibility of geopolitical structures. On a more fundamental political level the very constitution of international society and basic principles of international politics like for instance sovereignty and legitimacy are at stake. In this course we will analyze how these processes reshape the international system and the wider European political order. In addition, a focus on the Black Sea region also permits an assessment of the EU’s capacity to transform, influence and stabilize its geopolitical environment.