Politics of the European Union

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

What is the EU? How does it work? How does it maintain unity among its member states? How does it interact with powerful states such as the US, China, and Russia? The EU is a unique experiment in transnational cooperation. It is neither a state nor an international organisation, but it has characteristics of both. It promotes integration among its member states, while also trying to accommodate their diversity. It struggles to maintain external borders, while striving to remove internal borders. The EU today faces a number of challenges - making its study timely and relevant for anyone who wishes to understand global politics. This course traces the development of the EU from its postwar origins to its transformation into a major economic and political actor in the 21st century. We will study the EU's political structures, its process of enlargement, and its foreign policy. We will also study some of the ongoing crises that threaten European unity, including the euro crisis, the refugee crisis, Brexit, and the rise of populism.