The Russian military invasion into Ukraine in 2022, marked clear a before and after in European security order. The invasion not only entails that large-scale, inter-state armed conflict has once again returned to the European continent, with its attendant devastating societal impact on Ukraine and on Europe at large. It also constitutes an unravelling of the carefully crafted European security architecture, which had until that moment generally been seen one of the world’s most successful and had been credited for Europe’s ‘long peace’ after World War II. The course deals with four security providing organizations -- NATO, OSCE, EU and Council of Europe – that together have managed all from human security to arms control. We will conclude the course by looking at what changes the European security architecture will experience in the near to midterm future.

Assessment

The final grade is the sum of the following criteria:

• midterm quiz (10%)

• workshop (simulation exercise) 20%

• debating panel and class discussion 30%

• Final Essay (40%)

The midterm quiz consists of a take-home exam based on a set of assigned readings.

The workshop consists of an in-person simulation exercise to gather information and arguments for the group presentations in the debating panel. The teacher will provide specific instructions for the brief in the early stages of the course.

The debating panel consists of an in-person class discussion about the future of the European security order and its institutions. The teacher will provide specific instructions for the exercise in the second part of the course.

The Final Essay consists of an academic essay on one of the European security institutions covered in this course. The teacher will provide specific instructions for the essay in the second part of the course.

The classes are based on active learning philosophy (student-centered learning), whereby students assume responsibility for a predominant part of their individual learning experience both inside and outside of the classroom. It should thus be noted that the course objectives can only be achieved if students come prepared to each session in terms of readings and/or assignments, as well as engage actively in each session.