FSS:IREn5006 German foreign policy - Course Information

IREn5006 German foreign policy

Extent and Intensity

1/1/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).

Teacher(s)

Mgr. Jana Urbanovská, Ph.D. (lecturer)

Guaranteed by

Mgr. Jana Urbanovská, Ph.D.
Department of International Relations and European Studies – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: Olga Cídlová, DiS.
Supplier department: Department of International Relations and European Studies – Faculty of Social Studies

Timetable

Wed 8:00–9:40 U43

Prerequisites

! MVZn5018 German Foreign and Defence Pol && !NOW( MVZn5018 German Foreign and Defence Pol )
The knowledge of German language is an advantage, it is however not a precondition for a successful completion of the course.

Course Enrolment Limitations

The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 25 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/25, only registered: 0/25

fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with

there are 10 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display

Course objectives

Traditionally, Germany has been considered a “civilian power”, tied to the West, embedded in multilateral structures, with a value-based foreign policy and a reserved approach to the use of force. In the decades following the re-unification of Germany in 1990 up to the present, the notion of Germany as a civilian power has been challenged on multiple occasions. Other labels have appeared – such as central power, middle power, hegemonic power, leading power, shaping power, reflective power, or geo-economic power – that either complement the role of Germany as a civilian power, or even suggest a departure from this traditional foreign policy concept. Building on rich empirical data and academic debates on German foreign policy, the central questions of our course will be: What kind of power Germany is? Is it still a civilian power, or do other concepts better explain German post-unification foreign policy?

Learning outcomes

The main goal of the course is to understand the nature of contemporary German foreign policy. Upon successful completion of the course, students will have a detailed overview of post-WW II German foreign policy; they will be able to interpret academic debates concerning German foreign policy; and they will be able to conduct a theoretically guided analysis of German foreign policy with an emphasis on the post-unification period.

Syllabus

• 1) Introduction into the course (7 October 2020)
• 2) German foreign policy and its puzzles (14 October 2020)
• 3) Germany as a civilian power (21 October 2020)
• 4) No class – public holiday (28 October 2020)
• 5) Continuity and change of the civilian power Germany (4 November 2020)
• 6) Germany and the European integration: From a tamed power to a normalized power (11 November 2020)
• 7) Germany and the United Nations: An ambitious middle power (18 November 2020)
• 8) Germany and the politics of military intervention: A civilian power “without courage”? (25 November 2020)
• 9) Guest lecture (Prof. Stephan Bierling): The US pillar in German foreign policy in the Trump era (2 December 2020)
• 10) When interests beat norms: Germany as a geo-economic power (9 December 2020)
• 11) The “new” German foreign policy: a reflective and shaping power (16 December 2020)
• 12) Angela Merkel, the “leader of the free world” (6 January 2021)
• 13) Conclusion: Germany – what kind of power? (13 January 2021)

Literature

• New Europe, new Germany, old foreign policy : german foreign policy since unification. Edited by Douglas Webber. London: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2017, 226 stran. ISBN 9780714681856. info
• QVORTRUP, Matt. Angela Merkel : Europe's most influential leader. First published. London: Duckworth Overlook, 2016, 377 stran. ISBN 9780715651827. info
• KŘÍŽ, Zdeněk and Jana URBANOVSKÁ. Deutschlands Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik nach der Vereinigung. Zivilmacht, Handelsstaat oder Mittelmacht? (German foreign and security policy after unification. Civilian power, trading state or middle power?). 1st ed. Brno: Muni press, 2014, 265 pp. ISBN 978-80-210-7061-5. info
• CRAWFORD, Alan and Tony CZUCZKA. Angela Merkel : a chancellorship forged in crisis. First published. Chichester: Wiley, 2013, viii, 205. ISBN 9781118641101. info
• WITTLINGER, Ruth. German national identity in the twenty-first century : a different republic after all? First published. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010, ix, 187. ISBN 9781349367412. info
• German foreign policy since unification : theories and case studies. Edited by Volker Rittberger. First published. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2001, xiii, 385. ISBN 0719060397. info

Teaching methods

Teaching methods include lectures, students’ presentations, text discussions, group work and debates on current events in German foreign policy. Students are also going to read a series of fundamental texts that have shaped major debates about German foreign policy. Students’ activity in the course is based on regular, week-by-week work.

Assessment methods

Students' presentation: 20 %
Reading quizzes: 40 %
Final take-home exam: 40 %

Language of instruction

English

Further Comments

The course is taught annually.

• Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2020, recent)
  
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