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European Foreign Policy

Code: 101093
Credits: 6
2026/2027
Degree programme Type Course
Political Science and Public Management OP 3
Political Science and Public Management OP 4
International Relations OB 3

Contact lecturer

Name :
Diego Badell Sanchez
Email :
diego.badell@uab.cat

Teaching staff

Irina Khayrizamanova Khayrizamanova

Group languages

You can consult this information at the end of the document.

Prerequisites

The course is part of the core subject of International Relations within the study plan for the Bachelor's Degree in Political Science and Public Management, and it is also included in the study plan for the Bachelor's Degree in International Relations. Therefore, it is expected that students will have at least the fundamental knowledge of the subject taught in the International Relations course.

Students are required to read, debate, and understand academic textbook texts written in English.

In general, students should have the habit of consulting various high-quality European international information sources to follow current international debates. It is expected that students possess basic computer skills: using the Internet and Word processing software.

Objectives

This course is an optional pathway course for the International Relations Mention in the Bachelor's Degree in Political Science and Public Management, as well as a mandatory course for the Bachelor's Degree in International Relations. This course develops and deepens the theoretical and conceptual knowledge previously acquired and is complemented by the rest of the courses within the International Relations Mention pathway (Bachelor's Degree in Political Science), as well as those corresponding to the Bachelor's Degree in International Relations.

The basic objectives of the course are based on the students' ability to:

- Define and relate the main analytical concepts of international relations in the European context
- Interpret primary documents and relate their international political consequences
- Combine and synthesize different sources of information on international relations in Europe
- Present and defend positions on current international issues in a documented manner
- Describe and explain the development of the main trends in international relations in Europe from the end of World War II to the present
- Interpret the process of European political integration in the context of the division of Europe into two blocs
- Analyze current issues in the European political landscape

Learning outcomes

  1. Identifying sources of data and conducting bibliographic and documentary searches.
  2. Synthesizing and critically analysing information.
  3. Interpreting and applying English texts in an academic way.
  4. Arguing from different theoretical perspectives.
  5. Working by using quantitative and qualitative analysis techniques in order to apply them to research processes.
  6. Using the main information and documentation techniques (ICT) as an essential tool for the analysis.
  7. Demonstrating good writing skills in different contexts.
  8. Realising effective oral presentations that are suited to the audience.
  9. Managing the available time in order to accomplish the established objectives and fulfil the intended task.
  10. Working autonomously.
  11. Producing and planning researches or analytical reports.
  12. Designing data collection techniques, coordinating the information processing and meticulously applying hypothesis verification methods.
  13. Properly using the theory and concepts of international relations (traditions of Hobbesian, Grotian or Kantian thought).
  14. Explaining the major approximations to the international relations (realism, transnationalism and structuralism).
  15. Describing the international order: anarchy versus order, society of states and transnational society.
  16. Describing the main characteristic elements of the international society as a whole (1945-2000).
  17. Critically assessing the impacts of globalization in several areas: safety, environment, human rights, migrations and peace.
  18. Demonstrating they know theoretical tendencies and classical and recent analytical approximations of International Relations.
  19. Assessing specific distinctive aspects and conceptual and methodological instruments of the different tendencies and analytical approximations of International Relations.
  20. Applying theoretical and analytical knowledge of International Relations to practical and professional cases, in particular to the areas of conflict and cooperation between actors.
  21. Students must have and understand knowledge of an area of study built on the basis of general secondary education, and while it relies on some advanced textbooks it also includes some aspects coming from the forefront of its field of study.
  22. Students must be capable of applying their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional way and they should have building arguments and problem resolution skills within their area of study.
  23. Students must be capable of collecting and interpreting relevant data (usually within their area of study) in order to make statements that reflect social, scientific or ethical relevant issues.
  24. Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
  25. Identify data sources and carry out rigorous bibliographical and documentary searches.
  26. Use metatheoretical data to argue and establish plausible relation of causality and establish ways of validating or rejecting them.
  27. Apply quantitative and qualitative analysis techniques in research processes.
  28. Produce and prepare the presentation of intervention reports and/or proposals.
  29. Apply different theoretical focuses to the analysis of the international system and its subsystems and international European politics.
  30. Apply different theoretical focuses, with a constructivist approach, to the actions of international organisations.
  31. Use theoretical and meta-theoretical focuses to analyse the impact of globalisation on security, the economy and society on both a transnational and national scale and in different international organisations.
  32. Evaluate case studies of change and continuity in the international system, in the main regional subsystems (European, American, Asian) and in the subsystems of economy and security.
  33. Develop and acquire deeper historical, theoretical and conceptual knowledge of the origins, external relations and political processes of the European Union (EU).
  34. Define and relate the main analytical concepts of international relation with the process of European integration.
  35. Identify and analyse the different information sources on the international relations of the EU.
  36. Understand the process of European political integration in the context of the Cold War.
  37. Propose new experience-based methods or alternative solutions.
  38. Weigh up the risks and opportunities of one's own ideas for improvement and proposals made by others.
  39. Propose new ways to measure success or failure when implementing ground-breaking proposals or ideas.
  40. Identify the social, economic and environmental implications of academic and professional activities within the area of your own knowledge.
  41. Analyse the indicators of sustainability of academic and professional activities in the areas of knowledge, integrating social, economic and environmental dimensions.
  42. Propose viable projects and actions that promote social, economic and environmental benefits.
  43. Propose ways to evaluate projects and actions for improving sustainability.
  44. Explain the explicit or implicit code of practice of one's own area of knowledge.
  45. Critically analyse the principles, values and procedures that govern the exercise of the profession.
  46. Weigh up the impact of any long- or short-term difficulty, harm or discrimination that could be caused to certain persons or groups by the actions or projects.
  47. Propose projects and actions in accordance with the principles of ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights, diversity and democratic values.
  48. Identify the principal forms of sex- or gender-based inequality and discrimination present in society.
  49. Analyse the sex- or gender-based inequalities and the gender biases present in one's own area of knowledge.
  50. Consider how gender stereotypes and roles impinge on the exercise of the profession.
  51. Propose projects and actions that incorporate the gender perspective.
  52. Communicate using language that is not sexist or discriminatory.
  53. Develop critical thought and reasoning and be able to communicate them effectively, both in your own language and second or third languages.
  54. Develop strategies for autonomous learning.
  55. Act with ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights and duties, diversity and democratic values.
  56. Make changes to the methods and processes of the area of knowledge to provide innovative responses to the needs and wishes of society.
  57. Students must be capable of knowing and applying basic terminology in English related to political sciences.

Contents

Introduction


Session 1: Evolution of the European Order: Towards a Security Community?


- European state system
- Bipolar Europe and Community Europe
- (Re-)unified Europe?
- Concepts of security community and regional security complex


First Part: Construction and Evolution of Bipolar Europe


Session 2: The Division of Europe


- Consequences of Yalta and Potsdam and the beginnings of bloc tensions
- The Marshall Plan (1947): The logic of containment
- German reconstruction in the Western bloc: Birth of the FRG and the GDR (1949)


Session 3: Birth of Atlanticism


- From the Dunkirk Treaty (1947) to the Brussels Treaty (1948)
- The American commitment: Vandenberg Resolution (1948)
- Washington Treaty (1949): The Atlantic Alliance
- Creation of NATO (1951-1955): Members, functions, and institutional structure


Session 4: Evolution of Atlanticism during the Cold War


- Paris Conference (1954): Entry of the FRG into NATO
- Reform of the Brussels Treaty: Birth of the Western European Union (WEU) (1955)
- NATO crisis: De Gaulle and détente
- The Euromissile crisis (1979-1987): Crisis of confidence within the Western bloc


Session 5: Creation and Consolidation of the Soviet Sphere of Influence


- Popular democracies (1945-49)
- Network of bilateral treaties (non-institutionalized integration)
- Institutionalization: Cominform (1947), Comecon (1949), and Warsaw Pact (1955)


Session 6: Evolution of the Eastern Bloc


- From the Yugoslav split (1948) to the arrival of de-Stalinization (1956): Tight control of the influence area
- Poland and Hungary (1956) and Czechoslovakia (1968): The real limits of de-Stalinization
- Cracks within the Eastern bloc: Poland (1980)


Session 7: Evolution of Bipolar Europe: Tensions and Détente


- Ostpolitik: Berlin (1961), Willy Brandt, and new relations with theEast (1968-1973)
- The CSCE: Notion of pan-European security, Helsinki Final Act (1975), and OSCE evolution
- Gorbachev's impact on bloc relations in the 1980s (Perestroika and New Thinking)
- Transformations in Central Europe: Fall of the Berlin Wall and German reunification


Second Part: Construction and Evolution of Community Europe


Session 8: Pre-Community Stage


- Interwar precedents (Coudenhove-Kalergi, Briand)
- Zurich Speech (1946): United States of Europe
- Hague Congress (1948): Federalists vs. Unionists divide
- Council of Europe (1949): Classic intergovernmental cooperation


Session 9: The European Communities


- Franco-German reconciliation as the basis of the process: Jean Monnet and the Schuman Plan (1950)
- The Pleven Plan (1950) and the European Political Community project
- The three Communities: European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC, 1951), European Economic Community (EEC, 1957), and European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM, 1957)
- Creation of EFTA (1959): The British alternative


Session 10: Gaullist Reinterpretation of the European Community


- The Fouchet Plans (1961, 1962): Political Europe and intergovernmentalism
- French veto on British accession (1963, 1967)
- French \"empty chair\" policy and the Luxembourg Compromise (1966)


Session 11: Relaunch: Enlarged Europe and European Political Cooperation (EPC)


- Hague Summit (1969) and enlargements (1973, 1980, 1986)
- Crises and advances in European integration: The UK as a \"troublesome partner\"
- EPC: Structure, instruments, functioning, and agenda evolution
- Single European Act (1987): Internal Market, EPC, and institutional review


Third Part: Europe in the Post-Cold War Era


Session 12: Proposals on the European Union Construction Process


- Kohl-Mitterrand proposal for Political Union (1990)
- Intergovernmental Conferences (1991): Options and fractures among the Twelve
- Maastricht and the Treaty on European Union (1992)
- Treaty reforms: Amsterdam and Nice


Session 13: The Treaty of Lisbon


- Failure of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe
- Implications of the end of the Community Europe
- Foreign policy doctrines
- European External Action Service


Session 14: The European Union as an International Political Actor (CFSP)


- Evolution of the CFSP and its objectives
- Decision-making mechanisms and coherence
- Instruments of action: Diplomatic and economic
- Common Security and Defense Policy (CSDP): Military instruments and security challenges
- EU strategies (2003 and 2016)


Session 15: European Defense


- EU-NATO relations
- From PESCO to EDF
- The Strategic Compass
- Impact of the war in Ukraine: European Peace Facility

Learning activities and methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning outcomes
Lectures 53 2.12 2, 3, 4, 6, 18, 20
Basic and complementary lectures; Personal study; Organization of notes and material; Information search 75 3 1, 2, 3, 9, 10, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20
Office hours, seminars, exams, and reading assessments 15 0.6 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 18, 19, 20

The dedication of students to this course is divided into various types of activities, each with a specific number of working hours. This variety of work forms is materialized in differentiated methodologies.

This course is worth 6 ECTS credits, which means it requires a total student dedication of 150 hours.

- Guided activities are classroom activities, with the presence of faculty, and can consist of lectures (with the support of ICT and the possibility of developing group debates); in discussion seminars of the required readings in smaller groups and in sessions more oriented to practical issues, where cases, problems, and examples related to the course syllabus will be analyzed. For these sessions, there will be mandatory pre-readings announced in advance. These activities represent approximately one-third of the total required work (60 hours).

- Supervised activities are activities carried out by students outside the classroom according to a work plan designed and later tutored and evaluated by the faculty. Additionally, during the course, students will be required to read short articles, on which they will have to comment and actively participate in debates about the articles. This also includes tutoring sessions and other similar course follow-up activities. These activities represent approximately 10% of the required work (15 hours).

- Autonomous activities are all those activities that students do on their own and according to the requirements of the course to successfully pass it: these can be basic and complementary readings, studying class notes, or all other activities that complement the training achieved in this course. These activities represent half of the students' working time (75 hours).

The teaching methodology is adjusted to this distribution of work and activities.

Note: 15 minutes of a class will be reserved, within the schedule established by the center/degree, for students to complete surveys evaluating the faculty's performance and thecourse/module evaluation.

Annotation: within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.

Assessment

Continuous assessment activities

Title Weight Hours ECTS Learning outcomes
Attendance and participation 10% of the final grade 0 0 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 24, 26, 29, 30, 32, 34, 35, 36, 37, 52, 53, 54, 57
Simulation: position paper and debate 50% of the final grade 5 0.2 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 24, 25, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 55, 56
Final Exam 40% of the final grade 2 0.08 2, 3, 4, 7, 9, 10, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 29, 30, 31, 33, 34, 36, 38, 39, 43, 52

The evaluation of this course consists of the following two parts:

1. Continuous assessment during the semester (60% of the final grade) divided into the following activities:

1.1. Simulation (50% of the final grade)

1.1.1 Position paper (10% of the final grade)

1.1.2 Presentation of the position paper for the simulation (10% of the final grade)

1.1.3 EU Council negotiations (30% of the final grade)

1.2. Classroom participation (10% of the final grade)

2. Final exam. The date will be announced by the faculty at the beginning of the course (40% of the final grade)

Other considerations:

To pass the course, it is essential to pass the final exam with a minimum grade of 5/10. Students who do not pass the exam will have the right to retake it on the final evaluation date set by the Faculty at the end of the semester. This will be the second and last opportunity to pass the exams.

Clarification on the retake: the grade that will count towards the final course grade is the one obtained in the retake exam.

Once the exam is passed, the weighted average of all activities and the exam must be higher than 5/10 to pass the course.

The parts that make up the simulation must be carried out on the dates scheduled by the teaching staff. The teaching staff will determine the penalty for failing to meet the scheduled submission dates. This part is not recoverable.

Cases of plagiarism or other irregularities (e.g., cheating on an exam) will result in a failure (0) for the entire evaluation part in which the activity is framed. To avoid plagiarism, it is mandatory that students use citations within the text and include a correctly referenced bibliography: any paper submitted without a bibliography will automatically fail. In case AI-text generation tools are used, we ask the students to report it.

Taking assessments that constitute 50% or more of the final grade exempts the student from the \"NOT PRESENTED\" qualification.

Single Assessment: In accordance with Article 265 of the current academic regulations of the UAB, students can opt for the single assessment system. They must contact the Faculty and submit a motivated request within the established deadlines. The single assessment will take place on a single date (coinciding with the date of the final exams and retakes).

The single assessment consists of two evaluation exercises corresponding to parts I, II, and III of the course, as well as the preparation of a policy memo.

To pass this assessment, a minimum grade of 5/10 is required. In case of failure, the single assessment can be retaken on the date set by the Faculty for the compensatory evaluation of the course. The final grade review will follow the same procedure as for continuous assessment. Students must inform the professors of their intention to follow this procedure at the beginning of the course.


Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

For this course, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies is permitted exclusively for support tasks: text correction or translations. Students must clearly identify which parts were generated using this technology, specify the tools used, and include a reflection on how these tools influenced the process and the final result of the activity. A lack of transparency regarding the use of AI in this graded assignment will be considered

Bibliography

First Part

JUDT, T. 2006. *Postwar*. Penguin

Second Part

BACHE, Ian; BULMER, Simon; GEORGE, Stephen and PARKER, Owen (2020), *Politics in the European Union*, 5th Ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press

Third Part

BARBÉ, Esther (Dir.) (2014), *La Unión Europea en las relaciones internacionales*, Madrid: Tecnos.

HILL, Christopher; SMITH, Michael and VANHOONACKER, Sophie (eds.) (2023), *International Relations and the European Union*, 4th Ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press.

KEUKELEIRE, Stephan and DELREUX, Tom (2022), *The Foreign Policy of the European Union*, 3rd Ed., London: Bloomsbury.

Relevant Websites

- Website of the European Council on Foreign Relations: [https://ecfr.eu/](https://ecfr.eu/)

- Website of the European Documentation Centre at UAB: [http://www.uab.cat/web/centre-de-documentacio-europea/centre-de-documentacio-europea-1261383194655.html](http://www.uab.cat/web/centre-de-documentacio-europea/centre-de-documentacio-europea-1261383194655.html)
- Website of the Council of Europe: [http://www.coe.int](http://www.coe.int)
- Website of the Observatory of European Foreign Policy: (https://obs-europa.eu/es/inicio/)
- Website of the OSCE: [http://www.osce.org](http://www.osce.org)
- Website of NATO: [http://www.nato.int](http://www.nato.int)
- Website of the European Parliament: [http://www.europarl.europa.eu/portal/en](http://www.europarl.europa.eu/portal/en)
- Website of the European External Action Service: [https://eeas.europa.eu/headquarters/headquarters-homepage_en](https://eeas.europa.eu/headquarters/headquarters-homepage_en)
- Website of the EU: [http://www.europa.eu](http://www.europa.eu)

Software

 

No special software is necessary beyond the use of the Moodle classroom.

Course groups and languages

The information provided is provisional until November 30. After this date, you will be able to consult the language of each group through this link. To access the information, you will need to enter the course CODE

Type of teaching Group Language Semester Shift
(TE) Theory 1 English first semester morning-mixed
(PAUL) Classroom practices 1 English first semester morning-mixed
(TE) Theory 51 Catalan/Spanish second semester afternoon
(PAUL) Classroom practices 51 Catalan/Spanish second semester afternoon