Department of European Studies & Modern Languages, Unit Catalogue 2007/08 |
EU50664 The politics of security |
| Credits: 18 |
| Level: Masters |
| Semester: 2 |
| Assessment: ES100 |
| Requisites: |
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Aims: This unit aims to:
* Familiarise students with some key issues about organised crime and its impact on civil society, the local and global economy and contemporary politics. * Identify and analyse the main currents in the academic and policy debate on the growing impact of the European Union as an international actor; study and assess the resources, strengths and weaknesses of the European Union's CFSP. * Explore the different dimensions of the politics of sustainability; investigate how European Union politics and policy integrate these different dimensions; analyse the politics of sustainability within the context of international security and stability. Learning Outcomes: Students who complete the unit successfully will be able to demonstrate that they: * Have a detailed theoretical/empirical understanding of organised crime in Europe. * Have acquired knowledge of the key concepts in the study, understanding, and analysis of CFSP. * Are able to analyse the politics of sustainability not simply as the management of environmental issues, but also as the politics of sustainable social relations, sustainable economy and sustainable peace. Skills: The key skills the unit will hone and further develop are: * Advanced research skills in identifying, locating and exploiting a wide range of descriptive, evaluative and theoretical literature. * Intellectual skills of conceptual, original and independent thinking, critical analysis, synthesis and reasoned argument. * Skills of assessment and judgement in relation to the soundness of competing arguments and scenarios, including the reporting and assessing of qualitative and quantitative data. * Generic and transferable skills related to the oral and written presentation of ideas. * Skills of self-direction, self-evaluation and time management. Content: Part I: Organised Crime in Europe Part II: The Common Foreign and Security Policy Part III: The Politics of Sustainability: Risk, Security and Stability. |