German foreign, security and defence policy
Module: 5. International Security Concentration Elective | 6. Portfolio Elective | 7. Portfolio Elective
Instructors: Robin Markwica, D.Phil.
Global governance of migration refers to policies, norms and practices that internationally regulate the mobility and rights of mobile populations. In this course we will examine global migration governance with a focus on key International Organisations at the international level as well as the specific dynamics and actors in the context of the European Union. Among other, we will discuss the work of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the EU border agency Frontex as well as the EU’s attempts to control migration beyond its territorial borders. We will analyse these different topics with particular emphasis on inequalities, inclusion and exclusion, for instance by focussing on how mobile populations are categorised based on nationality, gender, or age and the inequalities this produces. Overall, the course aims to not only provide a comprehensive overview of the origins and evolution of the global migration regime, its key actors and challenges, but also to shed light on the power and politics that shape this regime and its outcomes.
This course is for 2nd year MIA, MPP and MDS students only.
Find out moreThis course will cover applied research methods frequently used in health policy research. The course will cover causal analysis methods applied to policy problems in the field of healthcare. Students will be introduced to randomised control trials and other quasi-experimental methods with a focus on recent development in health economics and policy. This is a methods course and therefore a significant portion of the course will be dedicated to in-class application of research methods.
This course is for 2nd year MIA, MPP and MDS students only.
Find out moreMany states and societies across the so-called Arab World witnessed protests, upheavals and political violence during 2011 and since. In this seminar we compare various protest movements and authoritarian regimes across the region since 2011 and focus on explaining the various outcomes of these contentious episodes. Therefore, we start by introducing concepts and methods for analysing contentious politics in authoritarian regimes in the first five sessions. In the second part we then look into the effects of protests on democratisation and human rights in several countries affected by the protests during 2011. We will discuss in depth the transition trajectories of cases of: Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Syria, Bahrain, Morocco and Jordan. In the third part – the last two sessions – we then compare the consequences of different transition trajectories during the Arab Uprisings for democracy and the human rights situation in the region and discuss their policy implications for policymakers.
This course is for 2nd year MIA, MPP and MDS students only.
Find out moreNew technologies are increasingly used in different sectors of our everyday lives to evaluate individuals and manage work relations, to include or exclude citizens from social benefits and even to take decisions with significant consequences. Ensuring that human rights are strengthened and not undermined by new technologies is a crucial factor that will shape our societies. This course explores the intersection of human rights and new technologies, focusing on the legal, social and policy challenges arising from developing and deploying new technologies. In the first part, the course will explore issues raised by their use with the right to data protection, privacy, free speech, non-discrimination, fair trial and property rights to assess the implications for individuals, courts, policymakers and society. In the second part, the course will discuss specific regulatory approaches to new technologies focusing, in particular, on automated decision-making and artificial intelligence (AI) systems. Through a combination of seminars, case studies and group discussions, students will have the opportunity to think about the regulatory and policy needs to ensure that new technologies comply with human rights.
This course is for 2nd year MIA, MPP and MDS students only.
Find out moreInternational organisations (IOs) are tasked with solving some of the toughest global problems – from climate change to international conflicts. Understanding their power, limitations and how they make decisions is crucial for our understanding of international affairs and its trajectory. This is particularly so, since many of today’s key international organisations were established in the 20th century but face contestation as well as emerging new policy issues. Therefore international organisations are faced with the challenge of accommodating these new issues of legitimacy and policy within their existing mandates. Moreover, international organisations must respond to changing power dynamics since newly emerging powers, corporations and civil society actors have become influential players on the international stage. This course examines how IOs are responding to the challenges of 21st-century global politics. When examining key IOs, like the United Nations, the United Nations Security Council, the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, World Trade Organisation and the OECD, we ask questions like how do they work? How are international organisations adapting and maintaining their legitimacy in a challenging environment? What answers do they provide to key issues of world politics?
This course is for 2nd year MIA, MPP and MDS students only.
Find out moreThe course covers the intersection between intra-state conflict and foreign policy. Central to international politics are concerns about conflict initiation, conflagration and mitigation. Foreign policies of states often reflect this central concern. This course poses the question: What is the relationship between intra-state conflict and foreign policy? In this class we will explore major concepts such as intrastate and interstate wars, conflict delegation and proxy wars as well as specific types of external actors including rebel organisations and diaspora groups. In addition, strategies such as terrorist activities, insurgency and counter-insurgency and cross-national state and non-state networks and sponsorship are considered. This leads us to ask how states dealing with conflict situations conduct their foreign policy given the transnational nature of conflict in the contemporary world. At the end of this seminar, you should be able to understand conflict and foreign policymaking processes across different states in the world and base your analysis within the context in which these states operate. An overarching goal for students is learning basic methodological approaches to conflict and foreign policy. Skills that will be taught include critical evaluation of academic research, which can be transferred to a variety of topics.
This course is for 2nd year MIA, MPP and MDS students only.
Find out moreOver the past decades, Brussels has not just become the regulatory centre of the European Union but also one of the major lobbying capitals of the world. In this course, we study how lobbying works in Brussels, what we know about the population of interest groups and lobbyists who try to influence EU policymaking all across Europe, and how EU lobbying has become increasingly regulated. Students will also learn how general decision-making transparency in the EU and lobbying are linked and how EU lobby transparency has evolved over the past decade. The course combines academic insights and state-of-the-art research methods with Ronny Patz' personal experience in influencing EU policies and shaping EU lobby regulation in Brussels.
This course is for 2nd year MIA, MDS and MPP students only.
Find out moreThis class provides students with a deep insight into how various multilateral institutions, plurilateral fora, as well as (financing) instruments around climate change operate. This includes of course how UNFCCC/COPs function, but also for example creation and implementation of Just Energy Transition Partnerships; how key concepts and current topics are evolving and being negotiated like around loss and damage; how the challenges of raising public and in particular private sector finance are discussed in a number of climate funds like the Green Climate Fund.
This course is for 2nd year MIA, MPP and MDS students only.
Find out moreThis graduate seminar aims to provide students with an opportunity to read and discuss a range of scholarly literature on the causes and consequences of civil wars, and to plan their own research on related topics. It analyses what we know about civil wars —why they break out and how they end— and how to think conceptually, theoretically and empirically about conflict processes. In addition to asking why so many countries fall into a conflict trap, the seminar also focuses on how peace settlements can be achived and engage in scholarly debate on whether third-party interventions can steer countries toward peace. After introducing the causes of conflict, the second part of the seminar shifts attention to the conditions leading to peace settlements, with a particular focus on UN peacekeeping operations. Students will be introduced to the literature asking when UN peacekeepers can be successful in the context of civil wars. At the end of the seminar, students will be able to link theoretical approaches to contemporary conflict events and design a research project on a topic related to civil war and peace which presents a theoretical argument and evaluates this with empirical evidence.
This course is for 2nd year MIA, MPP and MDS students only.
Find out moreThis course provides the knowledge and the tools to apply performance management in public sector organizations and the non-governmental sector. It aims at helping students to use metrics of different sorts (objective, subjective; quantitative, qualitative; performance indicators, indexes) to assess the performance of organizations. Although the focus is on the public and the non-governmental sector, the applied knowledge can be easily transferred to the private sector. Additionally, the course deals with the use of performance information and the strategies to enhance performance including the use of specific frameworks like the Balanced Scorecard. Finally, the course also focuses on the downsides of performance management and what to do about them: chiefly, facing the immeasurable and fighting the manipulation of scores and performance indicators.
This course is for 2nd year MIA, MPP and MDS students only.
Find out moreThe course uses macroeconomic theory to analyse some of the major issues of our present time. It consists of a series of lectures, assignments and student presentations. The topics covered in lectures include:
• The decline of productivity growth in the West in the past four decades, the decline in real interest rates and rising asset prices.
• The effect of government debt and deficits on investment, the stock of capital and welfare.
• Financial booms and crises.
• Pensions, the pattern of lifetime saving and the consequences of population ageing and declining population growth rates.
• Global warming and investment in green technologies.
• Changes in income and wealth inequality.
• The macroeconomic effects of expenditures on national defense.
Students are required to have taken a course in macroeconomics at the intermediate level.
This course is for 2nd year MIA, MPP and MDS students only.
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