| Course Name | Balkan Politics |
| Code | Semester | Theory (hour/week) | Application/Lab (hour/week) | Local Credits | ECTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSIR 460 | Fall/Spring | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| Prerequisites | None | |||||
| Course Language | English | |||||
| Course Type | Elective | |||||
| Course Level | - | |||||
| Mode of Delivery | - | |||||
| Teaching Methods and Techniques of the Course | ||||||
| Course Coordinator | - | |||||
| Course Lecturer(s) | ||||||
| Assistant(s) | - | |||||
| Course Objectives | By the end of this course, the students are expected to be able to identify, analyse and evaluate political developments in the Balkan region within the European context. |
| Learning Outcomes | The students who succeeded in this course;
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| Course Description | The course is designed as to refine student’s training in the theoretical fields of IR and European studies through familiarisation with political developments in the Balkan region. The students are expected to (1) attend all classes, (2) prepare presentations on themes provided by the instructor, (3) get involved in the debates on the course themes, and (4) produce correct answers addressing topics in the exams. |
| Related Sustainable Development Goals |   |
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| Core Courses | |
| Major Area Courses | X | |
| Supportive Courses | ||
| Media and Managment Skills Courses | ||
| Transferable Skill Courses |
| Week | Subjects | Required Materials |
| 1 | Introduction – syllabus presentation and explanation. | Syllabus and documents containing rules for the undertaking and evaluation of students’ individual analytical work |
| 2 | Introduction to Balkan Politics. The role of “history” in explaining Balkan politics | Gallagher, T., 2005. Outcast Europe: the Balkans, 1789-1989, from the Ottomans to Milosevic, Routledge (at IUE Library). |
| 3 | National Liberations and World Wars in the Balkan Region | Pavkovic, Aleksandar (2002) “National Liberations in Former Yugoslavia: When Will They End?” East European Quarterly, XXXVI, No. 2, pp. 227-48 |
| 4 | Communism and he Situation of the Balkans in 1970s and 1980s | Pappas, Takis S. 2005. ‘Shared Culture, Individual Strategy and Collective Action: Explaining Slobodan Milosevic’s Charismatic Rise to Power,’ Southeast European and Black Sea Studies, Vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 191–211. Hall, Gregory O. (1999) “The Politics of Autocracy: Serbia Under Slobodan Milosevic,” East European Quarterly, Vol. XXXIII, No. 2, 233-49. |
| 5 | The Balkan Wars after 1989: interpretations and the role of the “West” (1) | Thomas, R.G.C. (1997) “Self-Determination and International Recognition Policy: An Alternative Interpretation of Why Yugoslavia Disintegrated,” World Affairs, Vol. 160, No. 1, pp. 17-33. Palairet, Michael. 2001. “The Economic Consequences of Slobodan Miloševic,” Europe-Asia Studies, Vol. 53, No. 6., pp. 903-919. |
| 6 | The Balkan Wars after 1989: interpretations and the role of the “West” (1) | Hagen, W.W. (1999) “The Balkan’s Lethal Nationalisms”, Foreign Affairs, Vol. 78, No. 4, July/August, pp. 52-64. |
| 7 | Towards Peace in the Balkans: Dayton | Daadler, I.H. and Froman M.B. (1999) “Dayton’s Incomplete Peace,” Foreign Affairs, Vol. 78, No. 6, pp. 106-113. Chivvis, C.S. and Ðogo, H. 2010. ‘Getting Back on Track in Bosnia-Herzegovina’, The Washington Quarterly, Vol. 33, No. 4, 103-118. Richmond, O.P. and Franks, J. 2009. ‘Between partition and pluralism: the Bosnian jigsaw and an “ambivalent peace”’, Southeast European and Black Sea Studies, Vol. 9, Nos. 1–2, 17–38. Pond, E., 2006. Endgame in the Balkans: regime change, European style, Brookings Institutions Press. |
| 8 | The Kosovo Issue | Blumi, I., 2002. A Story of Mitigated Ambitions: Kosova's Torturous Path to its Postwar Future. Alternatives – Turkish Journal of International Relations, 1(4). Klasnja, Marko (2007) “The EU and Kosovo Time to Rethink the Enlargement and Integration Policy?”, Problems of Post-Communism, vol. 54, no. 4, 15–32. Radin, A. 2014. Analysis of current events: “towards the rule of law in Kosovo: EULEX should go”, Nationalities Papers, Vol. 42, No. 2, 181-194. |
| 9 | Midterm Exam | |
| 10 | EU and the Stabilisation of the Balkan Region 1 | Phinnemore, David, (2003), “Stabilisation and Association Agreements: Europe Agreements for the Western Balkans?” European Foreign Affairs Review, 8, 77-103. Kavalski, Emilian (2006) “From the Western Balkans to the Greater Balkans Area: The External Conditioning of ‘Awkward’ and ‘Integrated’ States”, Mediterranean Quarterly, 17: 3, 86-100. |
| 11 | EU and the Stabilisation of the Balkan Region 2 | Bechev, Dimitar (2006) “Carrots, sticks and norms: the EU and regional cooperation in Southeast Europe”, Journal of Southern Europe and the Balkans, Vol. 8, No. 1, 27-43. Kusic, S. And Grupe, C., 2007. The Western Balkans on their way to the EU?, Peter Lang Publishing. |
| 12 | Current issues in Balkan politics 1 | |
| 13 | Current issues in Balkan politics 2 | |
| 14 | Students’ presentations | |
| 15 | Students’ presentations | |
| 16 | Review |
| Course Notes/Textbooks | Books and journal articles (see above), power point presentations
*All course readings are available at the University Library and as open sources. |
| Suggested Readings/Materials | Databases from various relevant international, EU/NATO delegations in the region and EU institutions (e.g. European Commission, European Parliament, the United Nations UN, NATO, the Council of Europe CoE; the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe OSCE); relevant local, European and world news sources (e.g. BBC, Reuters, France Press, Deutsche Welle, Financial Times, EUobserver.com, BalkanInsight.com). |
| Semester Activities | Number | Weighting |
| Participation | 1 | 10 |
| Laboratory / Application | ||
| Field Work | ||
| Quizzes / Studio Critiques | ||
| Portfolio | ||
| Homework / Assignments | ||
| Presentation / Jury | 1 | 20 |
| Project | ||
| Seminar / Workshop | ||
| Oral Exam | ||
| Midterm | 1 | 30 |
| Final Exam | 1 | 40 |
| Total |
| Weighting of Semester Activities on the Final Grade | 3 | 60 |
| Weighting of End-of-Semester Activities on the Final Grade | 1 | 40 |
| Total |
| Semester Activities | Number | Duration (Hours) | Workload |
|---|---|---|---|
| Course Hours (Including exam week: 16 x total hours) | 16 | 3 | 48 |
| Laboratory / Application Hours (Including exam week: 16 x total hours) | 16 | ||
| Study Hours Out of Class | 12 | 4 | 48 |
| Field Work | |||
| Quizzes / Studio Critiques | |||
| Portfolio | |||
| Homework / Assignments | |||
| Presentation / Jury | 1 | 20 | |
| Project | |||
| Seminar / Workshop | |||
| Oral Exam | |||
| Midterms | 1 | 20 | |
| Final Exams | 1 | 33 | |
| Total | 169 |
| # | Program Competencies/Outcomes | * Contribution Level | ||||
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
| 1 | To be able to use the theoretical and practical knowledge acquired in the areas of Political Science and International Relations. | X | ||||
| 2 | To be able to have the basic knowledge of, and make use of other disciplines which contribute to the areas of Political Science and International Relations. | X | ||||
| 3 | To be able to distinguish the differences between classical and contemporary theories and to assess their relationship. | |||||
| 4 | To be able to recognize regional and global issues, and develop solutions based on research. | X | ||||
| 5 | To be able to assess the acquired knowledge and skills in the areas of Political Science and International Relations critically. | |||||
| 6 | To be able to transfer ideas and proposals on issues in the areas of Political Science and International Relations to other people and institutions verbally and in writing. | X | ||||
| 7 | To be able to identify the historical continuity and changes observed in the relations between the actors and institutions of national and international politics. | X | ||||
| 8 | To be able to examine concepts, theories, and developments with scientific methods in the areas of Political Science and International Relations. | X | ||||
| 9 | To be able to take responsibility as an individual and as a team member. | X | ||||
| 10 | To be able to act in accordance with the scientific and ethical values in studies related to Political Science and International Relations. | |||||
| 11 | To be able to collect data in the areas of Political Science and International Relations and communicate with colleagues in a foreign language ("European Language Portfolio Global Scale", Level B1). | |||||
| 12 | To be able to speak a second foreign at a medium level of fluency efficiently. | |||||
| 13 | To be able to relate the knowledge accumulated throughout human history to their field of experience. | |||||
*1 Lowest, 2 Low, 3 Average, 4 High, 5 Highest
