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

TThe ongoing political crisis in Ukraine and the unilateral annexation of the Crimean Peninsula by Russia and the
increasingly troubled relationship between Turkey and the EU/US 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.

**Note that this syllabus will be adapted to the condensed Summer Program schedule