Political Science

This course explores the ethical dimension of international relations. It takes as its point of departure the conviction that international relations, like all realms of human conduct, is intelligible in questions of obligation, right, good, and so forth. The course interrogates prominent ethical languages of international relations, including moral skepticism, sovereignty, war, international law, and human rights. It then considers how these languages arise and conflict in a range of contemporary international issues. Particular emphasis is placed on excavating the ground on which ethical choices are made, defended, and judged.

This course focuses on the history, institutions, actors, and policies of the European Union (EU) from its beginnings in the aftermath of the Second World War to more recent developments such as the Eurozone crisis, migration and Brexit. It also analyses some of the current challenges and controversies that the EU is facing, including an increasing domestic contestation, the democratic deficit and the future of integration. In so doing, it sets the basis for the final year core courses on the EU, in which specific policy areas are discussed in greater detail.

Confronting the past and rendering justice are not an easy matter for any society. It is also true in international politics. Historian Charles Maier has lamented that “our current in capacity to entertain trans-formative political projects for the future and hence to invest our collective resources in contesting the past.” The main goal of this course is to think about this problem and propose possible solutions. This course has three components. The first component regards the key conceptual tools and theories needed to examine reconciliation and justice in international politics. The second component regards the situations on the ground. What are the main cases and issues? What are the general trends in international relations with regards to addressing and redressing justice and reconciliation? What kind of national and global efforts have been made in attempts to help solve them? The third component is drawing lessons and insights from specific cases in Asia, Europe and Africa. Why do some states promote particular historical narratives and policies? What are the domestic and international consequences of their particular policy choices? Can a country's success story be emulated by another country? Class is conducted mainly in a seminar format and complemented discussions on current issues. 

This course sets the politics of German coal in technological, social, and environmental perspective. The course examines trends in the German energy mix—with a focus on the decline of nuclear energy as a source of power and the rise of natural gas, biofuels, and wind—and considers the extent to which those trends relate to the policy stances of the various political parties in government. The course also discusses the role of coal at pivotal moments in German history: before and after unification in 1871; from the Treaty of Versailles to the occupation of the Ruhr in 1923; and after the establishment, in 1951, of the European Coal and Steel Community, the institutional forerunner of the European Union.

The course provides students with the analytical tools to make sense of similarities and differences across welfare states, focusing - among others - on the socio-economic outcomes associated with different welfare states, the reasons for distinctive social policy structures across countries, and the relation between public, private, and informal sectors in the provision of social policy. It illustrates these similarities and differences by introducing in detail selected national models of welfare states drawing on examples from Europe, North America, and East Asia. It reviews the role of international organizations in shaping social policy in the Global North and in the Global South. It discusses crises and opportunities for renewal that affect contemporary welfare states.