Europe in the 21st Century (GLOBI-GC 1105)

What are the fault lines threatening Europe’s postwar integration?

In the age of artificial intelligence, nationalism fuses with ethnicity and religion in response to the Syrian refugee crisis, which creates the conditions for “reciprocal radicalization” across the Continent.

Weekly sessions explore the present context of the Far Right’s influence across Europe, the separatist movement in Catalonia, and the impact of Brexit.

Russia’s influence on Hungary, a European Union member state rejecting liberal values, and Turkey, a country at the crossroads of continental security, allow discussions to focus on likely scenarios that challenge the 20th century integration narrative.

Geopolitical implications for rising powers China and India are drawn.

The changes introduced by transnational migration are explored in terms of the “migration-terrorism nexus” with a focus on the future of European societies in this century.

Our attention turns as well to a consideration of the post-September 11 environment, the Iraq war, and the EU-Russia strategic relationship, particularly in terms of energy security, as each context influences intra-European dynamics and the Euro-Atlantic area. The prospect of future enlargements aims to encourage democracy and open markets in neighbouring states as European integration experiences its most profound crisis in decades. The mixed successes of democratization and multiculturalism in Europe are a testing ground for theories of democratic change.

This policy-oriented, interactive seminar, designed in consultation with colleagues at the Women’s Islamic Initiative for Spirituality and Equality (WISE), the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy (ICD), and the United Nations Counterterrorism Executive Directorate (UN CTED), integrates virtual reality to connect its members through learning, research, and service to internships and professional opportunities in the Middle East, Europe, and the United States.