Type: Normative

Department:

Course description

Aim of the discipline

One of the main subjects of international relations training is the course “Northern Europe in the Modern System of International Relations”. It is taught to students in the field of Country Studies who want to better understand the nature, factors, trends and main components of foreign policy in this European sub-region.

 

In the first block of this course, students study and analyze the role and place of Northern Europe in the contemporary world and European politics, common problems of internal political and economic development that influence the formulation and ways of conducting foreign policy, in particular – the problems of security and peace, protection of human rights., economic cooperation and sustainable development, environmental protection, cooperation in the fields of science, education, culture. Some topics are devoted to the role, organizational structure and directions of activities of international and subregional organizations: NATO, EU, OSCE, Council of Europe, Northern Council, Council of Barents-Euro-Arctic Cooperation, Council of Baltic States and others.

 

The second block of the course deals with the foreign policy of individual countries of Northern Europe. Here, in example of each country in the sub-region, it covers the political and legal foundations of foreign policy, the influence of the internal situation on the foreign policy of the country, its role and place in international organizations, relations with neighboring countries, with politically and economically influential states of the world, as well as with Ukraine.

The course is an integrated academic discipline that covers basic knowledge of the history, politics and economy of both the sub-region as a whole and its individual states.

Objective of the discipline

The objective of the discipline is to familiarize students with the main groups of factors, political and legal and institutional support for the formation and implementation of foreign policy of the countries of Northern Europe and their subregional organizations. Students gain comprehensive understanding of the place and role of Northern European countries in the current system of international relations and in European politics. Much attention is focused on the features of formation and current state of bilateral interstate relations, in particular, in these countries’ relations with Ukraine.

Expected results

As a result of studying this course the student should know:

– features of the role of the countries of Northern Europe and their sub-regional organizations in the world and European political system and modern international relations;

– defining features of integration associations in Northern Europe,

– mechanisms and means of implementing foreign policy of the states of Northern Europe;

– main groups of factors that determine the foreign policy of the countries of Northern Europe;

– features of foreign policy implementation by different presidents and governments of the country, since the end of the 80s of the 20th century

– forms and mechanisms of bilateral cooperation between countries;

As a result of studying this subject the student should be able to:

– to use political and legal and economic terminology in order to analyze the spheres and directions of foreign policy of the state;

– establish a cause-effect relationship in the determinants, means, tools and consequences of foreign policy of the state;

– justify their own examples of optimal realization of national interest and determine priority directions of the country’s foreign policy.