VS291 EUROPEAN POLITICS AND SECURITY: European politics/economy/defense

A series of sessions will focus on the problems of European security. Is Europe now independent or is it still a dependent of the United States? How will it manage without the US? Topics include NATO, the European Union, American foreign policy and European politics. Suggested readings are available for those who are interested in studying the issues in greater depth.

Session II European politics/economy/defense

What is Europe? Is US a part of Europe? How about Russia? Can the EU move beyond economic cooperation to forge a security community? Can Europeans afford to keep their promises of spending 5% of GDP on defense? Does Europe in fact need its own autonomous defense identity? If so, will it strengthen Europe or weaken NATO? What about die deutsche Frage? What would a nuclear Germany mean for Europe? Risk of a German Sonderweg?

Are we looking at the end of globalization? If so, what are the consequences for Europe? How can EU economies deal with threats from US tariffs and Chinese imports? What about energy policy and the geopolitics of Russia and the Middle East?

Mark SHEETZ is a member of WICE who lives in Paris. He taught international politics for over twenty-five years, including courses in International Politics, European Security, American foreign policy and US-European relations. Prof. Sheetz received his Ph.D in political science from Columbia University, M.A. in international relations from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and A.B. in government from Dartmouth College. Prof. Sheetz was a Fulbright Scholar and Chair of Security Studies at the College of Europe. His scholarly articles have appeared in journals such as International Security, Security Studies, Foreign Policy, Economic Diplomacy, and the Journal of Cold War Studies.