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Autumn School 2015 in Berlin

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Autumn School
SECURITY IN EUROPE – WITH OR WITHOUT RUSSIA?

28.09.2015 - 04.10.2015
Berlin, Germany
Jointly conducted by
University of Helsinki, Aleksanteri Institute
University of Tartu, European College
Freie Universität Berlin, Institute for East European Studies

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Topic
Since the Russian annexation of the Crimean peninsula at the beginning of 2014 and its support of the pro-Russian separatists in Eastern Ukraine, the perspective on security in Europe has shifted dramatically. For most European politicians and policy experts, Russia has not been considered as a “security threat” since the breakup of the Soviet Union and the beginning of the 1990s. Although critical situations have been observed with skepticism by the international community (e.g. the first and second Chechen wars or the Russian-Georgian War in 2008), Russia has not been on top of the (Western) security agenda for a long time. However, the long assumed integration of Russia into the Western community, e.g. through economic cooperation, has obviously not worked out and the escalation of the crisis in Ukraine has forced most politicians to rethink their position towards the Russian Federation.
Starting from this, the current conflict between “the West/Europe” and Russia can be analyzed and examined from various angles and perspectives. The autumn school “Security in Europe – with or without Russia” tries to analyze the current security situation in Europe with a special focus on Eastern Europe and Russia and deals with possible scenarios and outlooks.

Structure
The program of the Autumn School will comprise appr. 30 academic hours of study, combining different study formats (e.g. group work, workshops, lectures).
The following topics will be addressed:
- Historical introduction to European security questions
- Theoretical approaches towards foreign policy behavior and international relations
- Security questions in the post-soviet area and Russian perspectives
- Role of values
- Concepts of sovereignty
- European Neighborhood Policy and NATO enlargements
- Impact of sanctions on Western-Russian relations

The program awards 5 ECTS. Upon successful completion of the Autumn School, participants will receive a joint certificate from three renowned universities (FUB, UH, UT).

Students are required to:
- attend the entire program of the Autumn School
- prepare and present a group work project together with other participants
- submit a paper on a self-chosen conference related topic (4 000 words) one week (20 September) prior to the Autumn School
- present the paper to fellow students

Expenditures
There are no tuition fees. Accommodation will be booked and covered by the Freie Universität Berlin. Participants are expected to take care of the other travel arrangements and further costs themselves.

Application
The Autumn School is open to MA students and advanced undergraduate students of the three above mentioned Universities.
Deadline for applications is June 1, 2015.
A letter of motivation together with your CV and an academic transcript needs to be submitted in order to apply. Please send your application via email – attached as PDFs – to your respective program coordinator.

Contacts
Freie Universität Berlin
University of Helsinki
University of Tartu
Ms. Cosima Glahn
Ms. Minna Oroza
Ms. Oliivia Võrk
cosima.glahn@fu-berlin.de
minna.oroza@helsinki.fi
oliivia.vork@ut.ee