Course Name: NATO and EU Enlargement: Russia, Ukraine
University: George Washington University
Department: International Affairs
Summary:
In 2004 the enlargement of NATO by seven and the EU by ten post-communist Central and East European states marks a revolutionary transformation in integration processes throughout Europe. This dual enlargement also represents an enlargement pf ‘Europe’ (EU, NATO) and a commiserate reduction of ‘post-Communist’ states to only the CIS and the Western Balkans.
In the course we will examine the idea of ‘Europe’ as a geographic, national identity and geopolitical concept and its relationship to ‘Eurasia’. The course studies the enlargement debates, the factors working behind the decisions by NATO and the EU to enlarge and why the CIS has been left outside NATO and EU enlargement. Russia and Ukraine are used as country case studies to explain why some countries have been successful in Euro-Atlantic integration while others have not. We will also focus on how domestic factors influence foreign policy decisions and orientations.
