Course Catalogue

View Specification Document | Reading List

This is a Social Science Honours level course taught through Central and East European Studies (CEES). It can be taken as part of the MA Honours Social Science Programme as a primary option for CEES or Politics and as an outside option for other honours programmes. This course explores various perspectives on security and international relations in the context of the experiences of the post-communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe.  This will include NAT, EU, OSCE and Council of Europe accession and membership, as well as relations with the USA, Russia, China and regional partnerships, such as the Visegrad Group, Weimar Group, and the Central European Initative.

One 2 hour class per week

This course may not be running this year. For further information please check the CEES Moodle page or contact the subject directly.

Mandatory entry requirements
Entry to CEES Honours normally requires a grade point average of 12 (Grade C) over CEES 2A and CEES 2B as a first attempt.

None

None

■ 1500 word briefing paper (40%)

■ Oral Presentation on Briefing Paper (10%)

■ 90 minute unseen exam (50%)

Reassessments are normally available for all courses, except those which contribute to the Honours classification. For non Honours courses, students are offered reassessment in all or any of the components of assessment if the satisfactory (threshold) grade for the overall course is not achieved at the first attempt. This is normally grade D3 for undergraduate students and grade C3 for postgraduate students. Exceptionally it may not be possible to offer reassessment of some coursework items, in which case the mark achieved at the first attempt will be counted towards the final course grade. Any such exceptions for this course are described below. 

This course examines security and international relations in the context of the experiences of the post-communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe. This course aims to:

■ Introduce students to, and provide them with, a broad understanding of the conceptualisation and theory of security across multiple levels (e.g. military, political, economic, environmental and societal);

■ Enable students to utilise security and international relations theory as a framework within which to analyse post-Cold War experiences of Central and Eastern Europe;

■ Encourage students to consider the role played by and the place of Central and Eastern Europe within the wider context of post-Cold War international relations;

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ Evaluate competing theories/perspectives on security;

■ Compare and contrast perceptions of post-Cold War security at elite and public discourse levels;

■ Define the various referent objects of security in Central and Eastern Europe and how these have changed/developed as a result of political and economic transition;

■ Explain the role and influence of international organisations (NATO, EU, Council of Europe, OSCE) on the development of post-Cold War security and international relations in Central and Eastern Europe;

■ Undertake analysis and provide critical reflection of a variety of visual, audio and written primary and secondary sources;

■ Present knowledge acquired during the course in coherent written and verbal manner;

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.