"Geopolitics of Europe" offers a dynamic program on both tensions and issues within the European Union, as well as its interactions with the rest of the world. Through maps, iconography, videos, computer graphics and role playing, the Mooc renders the main geopolitical issues appropriate to Europe while focusing on its representations around the world. Definitely multi-disciplinary, this Mooc offers the learners a real tool box built up through a combination of History, Geopolitics, Economics, Political science, Geography and Law. Format : The pedagogical program is both progressive and modular. It is composed of seven thematic blocks. Each block has a different scale and view point. Even though the main issue exploration in each block is thought as free navigation, each block remains marked out by specific steps : a mapping situation scenario, the study of a documentary corpus, a focus on the national perceptions, as well as an emphasis on the news. Please notice that some very limited content will only be available in French. The knowledge acquired in the first four blocks can then be assessed through a quiz and put into practice through the final serious game : a European scenario, a mission, and decisions to make...! Block number seven offers new analysis that will enable you to understand the latest events of the year 2016.
The variable-geometry maps of the European territory : who and what determines/set the EU boundaries?
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來自 Sciences Po 的課程
Geopolitics of Europe
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從本節課中
Week 1: The variable-geometry maps of the European territory : who and what determines/set the EU boundaries?
Within this session you'll discover that Europeans have created a great number of regional organisations such as the European Union, which is the most famous one.
與講師見面
Sylvain KAHNProfessor
History and Geography
Thomas RAINEAUProfessor
History
Philippe PERCHOCProfessor
History and Political Science
-Today, when talking about European integration,
the outline seems particularly hard to describe.
Europe is the continent with the most international organizations,
creating a dynamic between territory,
frontier, circulation, and political organization.
We are going to put some of these organizations in time and space.
We will note that the EU, which expanded and extended through time,
now holds a central position among all these organizations.
After World War II, European states gathered in multiple organizations
to promote peace, reconstruction, economic development,
cultural cooperation and the safety of the two blocs during the Cold War.
Among European organizations, too numerous to name, you will find:
the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO, created at the end
of World War II and the main organization of military cooperation
of the Western Bloc during the Cold War.
It survived the war and expanded to Central, Eastern, Southeastern,
and Northern Europe. The head office is located in Brussels.
The Council of Europe was also created after World War II.
It is the oldest form of permanent cooperation between European states.
Its goal was to unify the states in post-war Europe,
but now focuses on Human Rights, through the Court of Human Rights.
After the fall of the Berlin Wall, it expanded to the entire continent.
Both head offices are located in Strasbourg.
Finally, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe,
created in 1995 after a Conference for Security and Cooperation in Europe,
which, in Helsinki in 1975, had rekindled cooperation negotiations
between European states, the USSR, the United States and Canada.
Nowadays, the OSCE, which counts fifty-seven members,
mainly tackles electoral monitoring and the protection of minorities,
even if some of its military agreements are still in force.
The head office is in Vienna.
There are many other regional cooperations:
the Council of the Baltic Sea States or the Barents Euro-Arctic Council,
gathering Northern countries and Russia.
Other less formal organizations gather states according to affinities,
such as the Benelux: Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg.
The Visegrad group in Central Europe,
with Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary.
And also, the Weimar Triangle gathering Poland, Germany and France.
This diversity of organizations, added to city and regional associations
makes Europe the continent with the most institutional cooperations.
Among the organizations, the European Union is, by far, the most extensive.
Be it in its competences, budget, and specific institutions
combining supranationality and intergovernmental.
Some institutions, such as the European Commission and the Parliament
represent Europe's interests. Others, like the Council of the European Union
represent the interests of its members, the states.
This model improved over time through a thorough economic integration.
Let us take a closer look at this unique model.
In the last sixty years, the European Union has expanded and extended.
This extension went along with the creation of a Europe "à la carte".
It is codified by treaties negotiated by European governments
using two different methods: "classic" and "by convention",
ratified by the member states' parliaments
and defining the limitations of the EU's competences.
Today, the European Union consists of twenty-eight member states.
While its ancestor, the European Coal and Steel Community, the CECA,
had originally 6 members after World War II in 1951.
Followed by the European Economic Community, the EEC, in 1957.
Its core authority lies in the socioeconomic fields.
In 1960 the CEE created and regulated a common market,
which was developed in the 1990s.
Its first policy, the Common Agricultural Policy,
was gradually completed by regional aid, research,
health and more recently foreign policies.
They cover most political, social and economic sectors.
The single market facilitated the movement of production factors,
goods, services and capitals.
After World War II, cooperating through trade
seemed the better way to unite European countries
against the Soviet threat, and to support prosperity and secure peace,
than a cooperation with ambitious political objectives.
This was proven by France's rejection
of the European Defense Community in 1954,
which put an end during 40 years to any European advance
separate from the USA in the defense area.
In order to go further in the economic union,
the Maastricht Treaty created in 1992 the project of the single currency,
the euro, which was released in 2002.
Following the integration through market logic,
the euro had to create solidarity between European countries.
In 2015, 19 countries of the European Union use the euro.
The euro has been at the core of the financial crisis since 2008,
which seemed to threaten its durability.
Today, the single currency is still powerful and attractive for countries
such as Latvia and Lithuania which adopted it in 2014 and 2015.
The financial crisis compelled euro area member states
to adopt new regulations which strengthen the cooperation
in budgetary and banking sectors.
Because there is no real European government,
the member states decided to have a more severe supervision
to prevent states from systematically asking for the others' help.
Another central element of European integration
was the introduction
of freedom of movement for EU citizens.
In 1985, five states signed a treaty in Schengen, a non-EEC city
in Luxembourg.
The treaty which was incorporated in the European Union
allows the citizens of 26 countries to move and settle
in any other member state without any passport or systematic control.
The freedom of movement is the benefit European citizens value the most
according to a Eurobarometer survey.
But it also raises concerns regarding the control of the European borders,
the African boat people and the fear
of too many internal European migrations in this context
of economic crisis.
To overcome this, the member states try to reinforce their cooperation
in these fields. They created Frontex, an agency based in Warsaw, Poland.
Furthermore, the customs, police and judicial exchanges
are at the heart of new discussions to cope with global criminalization
and terrorist threats.
The EU, the main organization of cooperation on the continent,
and the most integrated in the world, is attractive
for the Western Balkans, Iceland and Turkey.
Serbia and Montenegro are the countries with the best chances
to join the European Union in the medium term.
In fact, these countries have made advances on the reforms
required by Brussels.
Serbia has changed its attitude towards the independence of Kosovo.
Their integration is more a technical than a political issue.
Even if most Europeans would like a pause in the expansion of the EU.
Iceland wants to negotiate its membership
after the terrible economic crisis of 2008.
Today, they have recovered but are still hesitating.
Joining the EU would imply changing their fisheries policy.
It is different for Turkey.
Ankara has been willing to join the EU since the 1960s.
But its internal instability worries the Europeans.
Since the 1990s, there has been a growing opposition
to Turkey's membership for democratic, religious and cultural reasons.
Some are also scared because of the size of the country,
which would have a central role in European balance.
For 10 years, Turkey itself has seemed to lose interest in this membership
which is harder and harder to negotiate.
As a conclusion, the European continent
sees its political organization controlled by the European Union
but that the EU has a differentiated integration.
The 28 member states are not all members of the euro zone
or the Schengen area. This differentiated integration
called Europe "à la carte" is still attractive to neighboring states.
