MVZ483 The International Relations of the V4 Countries

Faculty of Social Studies
Spring 2015
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 6 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Eszter Simon, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. et Mgr. Veronika Velička Zapletalová, Ph.D. (assistant)
Guaranteed by
prof. PhDr. Petr Kaniok, 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
Tue 8:00–9:30 U43
Prerequisites
-
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 48 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/48, only registered: 0/48
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
Course Description The common historical heritage and close proximity of the Visegrad (V4) countries make it crucial that we understand the shared and diverging interest of these countries in order to determine those areas where these states may strengthen their influence by working together. It is also important to understand the foreign policy choices of states in our immediate vicinity. Accordingly, this course will introduce students to the foreign policies of the V4 countries (Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Poland). The course will start with a short introduction to the foreign policy-making process of the Visegrad countries. It will then proceed on an issue-based fashion, discussing terrorism, foreign aid, intra-visegrad relations, and contribution to European Neighborhood policy. The largest segment of the course will be devoted to discussing the bilateral relations of Visegrad countries with other states such the United States, Russia, and China. Learning outcomes By the end of this course, students will be able to: • Describe the foreign policy-making process of the Visegrad countries • Become aware of the complex relationship between Central European states in their dealings with each other and the extra-Visegrad world. • Comparatively analyze the foreign relations of the Visegrad countries.
Syllabus
  • WEEK 1 17.02 Introduction; WEEK 2 24.02 Sources of foreign policy conduct Marton, Peter. 2012. “The Sources of Visegrad Conduct: A Comparative Analysis of V4 Foreign Policymaking” The Polish Quarterly of International Affairs (4): 7-31; WEEK 3 03.03 Terrorism Mares, Miroslav. 2011. “Terrorism-Free Zone in East Central Europe? Strategic Environment, Risk Tendencies, and Causes of Limited Terrorist Activities in the Visegrad Group Countries.” Terrorism and Political Violence 23 (2): 233-253; WEEK 4 10.03 Foreign Aid Szent-Ivanyi, Balazs. 2012. “Aid allocation of the emerging Central and Eastern European donors.” Journal of International Relations and Development 15: 65–89; WEEK 5 17.03 Intravisegrad relations Törő, Csaba, Eamonn Butler, and Károly Grúber. 2014. “Visegrád: The Evolving Pattern of Coordination and Partnership After EU Enlargement.” Europe-Asia Studies, 66:3, 364-393; WEEK 6 24.03 UN/EU Michal Onderco. 2013. “‘Tell Me What You Want’: Analyzing the Visegrád Countries’ Votes in the UN General Assembly.” East European Politics and Societies and Cultures 28 (1): 63-83; WEEK 7 31.03 USA Kalan, Dariusz. 2012. “The End of a ‘Beautiful Friendship?’ U.S. Relations with the Visegrad Countries under Barack Obama (2009–2013).” The Polish Quarterly of International Affairs (4): 83-100; WEEK 8 07.04 NO CLASS; WEEK 9 14.04 Mini-presentations of final paper topic; peer review; WEEK 10 21.04 China Pleschova, Gabriela and Rudolf Fürst. Forthcoming. “Mobilizing Overseas Chinese to Back Up Chinese Diplomacy: The Case of President Hu Jintao’s Visit in Slovakia in 2009. Problems of Post-communism; WEEK 11 28.04 Russia Dangerfield, Martin. 2012. “Visegrad Group Co-operation and Russia.” JCMS 50 (6): 958–974 Jarabik, Balazs. 2014. “Russia, Ukrain, and the Visegrad: Time to get real.” Visegrad Revue. Racz, Andras. 2014. “From pragmatism to bear hug: Hungary´s Russia policy on the eve of the Ukraine crisis.” Visegrad Revue; WEEK 12 05.05 Final paper proposal peer evaluations; WEEK 13 13.05 RESEARCH WEEK; NO CLASS.
Teaching methods
Socratic method, group work, pair work, interactive lectures, problem-based learning
Assessment methods
FOR DEADLINES, CONSULT THE SYLLABUS AMONG THE STUDY MATERIALS. Note on Academic Honesty Plagiarism and cheating are considered unacceptable academic practices. Plagiarism is understood as any usage of text of other author(s) – identical or paraphrased borrowing of an idea – without proper referencing. This includes copying or borrowing from other students or handing in work prepared by someone else than the student. For word by word references, please use quotation marks as well as references. For referencing consult the APSA style manual: http://www.apsanet.org/files/Publications/APSAStyleManual2006.pdf. The fact that you employ someone else's argument will not affect your grade negatively as long as you provide references. However, the instructor will make every effort to screen out cases of plagiarism. Any student caught on plagiarism will see their exercise receive a zero for a grade. If the same student will be caught on plagiarism a second time, the student will fail the course. Grading Policy When calculating the final grade, the assessment criteria discussed above will be taken into account with the following weight: In-class participation: 15% Quizzes: 30% Presentation: 20% Final paper: 35% Requirements • Regular class attendance Students may only miss two classes during the semester. For any additional classes missed, students must present a valid proof of the reason (doctor’s note in case of illness, obituary in case of death of a family member, etc.) in order to pass the course. If a valid proof is presented, the quizzes will be averaged on the basis of the number of quizzes actually written (minus the worst two – see details below). Attendance of the workshop is compulsory. Missing a class does not exempt students from submitting each exercise in a timely manner. • Active participation in class Students are expected to actively participate in class by asking and answering questions, and offering comments on the readings. Students will be asked to complete a few small exercises throughout the course the results of which will count against their participation grade. • Weekly Quizzes There is a substantial amount of reading for this course. Students are expected to finish readings prior to each class and bring a copy of the readings with them to class. To make sure that each student prepares regularly and, thus, to ensure the possibility of classroom discussion, each class will start with a short, 8-minute quiz on the required readings for the given week. Quiz questions will be general, not requiring deep understanding of readings. Quizzes will consist of five short questions each worth 20 points (∑ 100). If a student fails to attend a class, his/her quiz will earn him/her 0 point. However, the results of the worst two quizzes will be automatically dropped when calculating the final grade. • Presentation Either individually or in pairs each student will present one or two articles. The presentations should be between 10-15 minutes, clearly state the main point of the presentation and illaborate on these points during the allotted time. You do not have to present everything in the article, but what you find important. The purpose behind this presentation is to gain additional information to classroom material. Therefore, presenters must relate the presentation reading(s) to the weekly readings(s). Students present to each other – not the instructors: make sure what you say makes sense to someone who did not read the article. As part of the presentation, students will prepare a short exercise for other students to complete on the basis of their presentations. • Final paper Students are required to submit a final paper, in which they will have to make a comparative study of at least two V4 countries. Students may choose any foreign policy-related topics within or without the realm of issues discussed during the course. From the middle of the course students will work on assignments related to the final paper. The final paper grade will be awarded on the basis of the following assignments and with the following waits: • Final paper topic: 5%: Student will submit their final paper topic, research question, the countries that the student will examine, a bibliography with at least 10 scholarly items, as well as an explanation of why it is important to research this subject (or what is the value added of the proposed investigation. Except for the bibliography, this is considered to be a short essay of 2 pages (approximately 800-1000 words). Students may still decide to change the topic after this assignment. Due: noon, April 13, 2015. • Peer feedback on final paper topic: 5%: With the help of a rubric, students will evaluate each other’s topics and make suggestions to move the project forward. This exercise will take place in class on April 4, 2015. The grade on this assignment will be assigned on the basis of peer feedback (30%) and instructor evaluation (70%). • Final paper proposal: 10% Students will submit a 4-page long (1600-1700 word, which does not include the bibliography) proposal (of their final paper assignments. Students are expected to build on the feedback they received on their proposal and improve their project accordingly. The proposal should contain the research question, the countries the paper focuses on, the rationale of why it is important to research this topic, how the student wishes to investigate this question (theoretical angle or detailed subquestions), and a bibliography of both scholarly texts and primary material (documents, magazine, newspaper articles, op eds, audiovisual material etc.) that the student considers using. Students may add or delete sources, but may not change the topic any more. Due: noon, May 4, 2015. • Peer feedback on final paper proposal: 10% With the help of a rubric, students will evaluate each other’s topics and suggest ways to improve each other’s projects. This exercise will take place in class on May 4, 2015. The grade on this assignment will be assigned on the basis of peer feedback (30%) and instructor evaluation (70%). • Final paper: 70% • Students will have to submit a final paper of 5000 ± 200 words (approximately 11 pages). The paper as all other work should use Times New Roman size 12 font, 1.5 spacing and 2 or 2.54 (1 inch) cm margins. The final paper must be comparative, analytical, have a well-defined research question, a clear structure and argument and follow the APSA style manual. More detailed requirements will be published in due course.
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught only once.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2014.
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