TEACHING
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The Politics of Identities and Citizenship in the European Union
The course examines key issues confronting the EU at this turning point in history. The European sovereign-debt crisis, the refugees, challenge, Brexit, the Treaty of Lisbon, the enlargement process, the Euro, the European Neighbourhood Policy, the Eastern Partnership, the CFSP and the European External Action Service, COVID-19 – all these reflect changes in the EU which have a bearing on, and hence raise questions relating to, the identities of the inhabitants of the Union and its neighbours.
Introduction to Diplomacy
The course provides a comprehensive introduction to the study of international diplomacy, covering both theory and practice. While focusing on Europe and the European Union the course discusses the major trends in the field of diplomacy, providing an innovative theoretical approach to understanding diplomacy. The course traces the evolution of diplomacy from its early days to our current age of digital diplomacy. The course further discusses normative approaches to how diplomacy ought to adapt itself to the twenty-first century and the new global international order.
Public International Law and the Europeanisation of the International Legal Order
The main objective of this course is to examine the important consequences that European integration has on the status of public international law in the EU and its Member States. The course emphasises, in particular, the distinct effects that international norms have upon the Union's institutions as well as on and within EU Member States. Examining what might be called 'the Europeanisation process of international law', the course illuminates critical issues pertaining to the triangular relationship between international law, the EU and its Member States. Among the questions this course raises are the following: Are we dealing with the emergence of a distinct European system of public international law? To what extent do EU Member States recognise the effect of this Europeanisation of international law? What is the role of the Court of Justice of the EU with respect to the application and interpretation of Europeanised international law? And what are the consequences of Europeanisation for the unity and coherence of public international law?
The European Union, Israel and the European Jewish Communities
Since Cyprus joined the EU in 2004, moreover, the EU has become an immediate neighbour of Israel. Yet, the EU is not merely a neighbour, since it is also Israel's largest economic partner and, some would argue, constitutes Israel's cultural and even political hinterland.
In addition, the Jewish population in all EU members (and the UK) combined is estimated at approximately 1,300,000. About 80 percent of EU Jews (including the UK) live in the four largest communities in France, UK, Germany and Hungary. While integration of Jews in the national societies is high, on the supranational level the European Jewish communities have hardly begun to interact with the EU institutions and bodies.
This course aims at introducing the basic foundations of the EU. The course provides an analysis of the history of the European integration project, the functioning of the EU's principal institutions and political actors. The course also explores EU-Israeli relations and familiarises students with the various Jewish communities in the EU.
The European Union’s Foreign Policy and the Middle East
The study of the EU’s relations with the Middle East is of a particular interest mainly because it reflects what has been faced by the EU in gradually establishing the Union’s position in external relations and its foreign policy mechanism. The Middle East was on the agenda of the first meeting of the European Political Cooperation and has remained there ever since. The Union’s behaviour vis-à-vis the conflicts in the Middle East and in the Mediterranean reflects to a large degree the conditions under which the EU developed its actorness. In light of this, the course serves as an analysis of the EU as an international actor, as well as an analysis, of the Union’s relations to the Middle East.