East Central Europe and Current Challenges

The students in this class will examine current political, social, economic and international developments of the twelve countries in the region between the Baltic, Adriatic, and Black Seas.

Students will be expected to research and present in class analyses of mutually agreed upon topics primarily using online sources and printed secondary literature. Attendance in class is mandatory as is participation in class discussion. Only two absences will be allowed. Powerpoint presentations and notes are to be delivered to the instructor via email a few days before the scheduled remarks.

ATLANTIC COUNCIL, https://www.atlanticcouncil.org.

CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT, https://carnegieendowment.org/regions/323.

CYBERSTELLAR, indein.net.

DISINFORMATION REVIEW, https://mailchi.mp/euvsdisinfo/dr195-881749?e=bc7187fe12.

ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT, EIU.com.

EUROPEAN UNION, https://europa.eu/european-union/index_en.

IMF ANNUAL REPORT 2019, https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/ar/2019/eng.

ORGANIZATION FOR ECONOMIC COOPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT, http://www.oecd.org.

OŚRODEK STUDIÓW WSCHODNICH, osw.waw.pl.

STRATEGY AND FUTURE, https://strategyandfuture.org/en/tag/intermarium-weekly.

NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANIZATION, https://www.nato.int.

WORLD BANK OPEN DATA, http://datatopics.worldbank.org/world-development-indicators

Ágh, Attila. Declining democracy in east-central Europe : the divide in the EU and emerging hard populism, (Cheltenham; Northampton: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2019).

Balcer, Adam. “Międzymorze—between Wishful Thinking and Realpolitik,” 3/2016, https://www.aspen.review/article/2017/miedzymorze-between-wishful-thinking-and-realpolitik.

Barkin, Noah. “Watching China in Europe - May 2020,” Blog Post,

May 5, 2020, https://www.gmfus.org/blog/2020/05/05/watching-china-europe-may-2020.

Dempsey, Judy. “Judy Asks: Can Europe Save Democracy in Hungary and Poland?” Carnegie Europe, May 7, 2020, https://carnegieeurope.eu/strategiceurope/81732?utm_source=rssemail&utm_medium=email&mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiTkdReU1XVTRZekZqTTJZNSIsInQiOiJldEhIblVNSU5MNkEyRTE4MDhKbmJZSzlmemZyeVlmVk43aWo5TG1IUlFpQ1RhNks3RDhVRTJuVUMyUmM3TWZBa05oMEh4MStmT0VjYWxZRVpnUzVSNWFWdkpocE1zWWtZS2ZIU0E3VEVtMGF1QWNRV2E1WVBiM1E1bW1SMUd4WiJ9.

Energy Policies of IEA Countries: Estonia 2019, October 2019, https://www.iea.org/reports/energy-policies-of-iea-countries-estonia-2019-review.

Energy Policies of IEA Countries: Slovak republic 2018, November 2018, https://www.iea.org/reports/energy-policies-of-iea-countries-slovak-republic-2018-review.

Europa Środkowa i Wschodnia wobec wybranych problemów bezpieczeństwa energetycznego / redakcja naukowa Łukasz Wojcieszak (Poznań : Fundacja na Rzecz Czystej Energii, 2018).

Eurostats Quality of Life Index, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/cache/infographs/qol/index_en.html.

Fleck, Jörn. “EU greenlights North Macedonia and Albania membership talks: Breakthrough or symbolic gesture?” New Atlanticist, March 26, 2020, https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/eu-greenlights-north-macedonia-and-albania-membership-talks-breakthrough-or-symbolic-gesture.

Fried, Daniel. “Poland, America, and a new West,” New Atlanticist, October 21, 2019, https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/poland-america-and-a-new-west.

Góra-Szopiński, Darusz. “Trimarium is not Intermarium,” July 6, 2016, https://visegradinsight.eu/russian-spring-offensive-czechia.

Havlíček, Pavel. “Russian Spring Offensive: An Unlikely Skripal 2.0 Case in Prague,” Visegrad Insight, 6 May 2020, https://visegradinsight.eu/russian-spring-offensive-czechia.

The Jagiellonian Idea Past And Present, Politea, 50: 2017, https://akademicka.pl/ebooks/free/40819e1fff1cbd6d9bee7d2a75425cd1.pdf.

Kudzko, Alena. “Slovakia looks towards an end to COVID-19’s painful isolation,”

New Atlanticist, April 8, 2020, https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/slovakia-looks-towards-an-end-to-covid-19s-painful-isolation.

Mesežnikov, Grigorij. “Russia’s Best Friend? Budapest in between Moscow, Kyiv and Brussels,” Visegrad Insight, May, 4, 2020, https://visegradinsight.eu/russia-best-friend-hungary.

Stokes, Bruce. “USA vs. Everybody? Why Foreign Policy Will Be a Backdrop to Domestic Policy in 2020, Transatlantic Take, April 20, 2020, https://www.gmfus.org/blog/2020/04/20/usa-vs-everybody-why-foreign-policy-will-be-backdrop-domestic-policy-2020.

Szymański, Piotr. „NATO i Unia Europejska wobec zagrożeń hybrydowych,” Komentarze OSW, 2020-04-24, https://www.osw.waw.pl/pl/search?text=.

Vondra, Alexandr. “Regional integration at the Three Seas summit,” October 10, 2018, https://emerging-europe.com/voices/regional-integration-at-the-three-seas-summit.

Wemer, David A. “Will the Commission’s new EU proposal revive Western Balkans enlargement?” New Atlanticist, February 10, 2020, https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/will-the-commissions-new-eu-proposal-revive-western-balkans-enlargement.

Wemer, David A. “The “time is now or never” for Central Europe to grasp Three Seas opportunity, Estonia’s president says,” New Atlanticist, March 4, 2020, https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/the-time-is-now-or-never-for-central-europe-to-grasp-three-seas-opportunity-estonias-president-says.

Zaborowski, Marcin.“The Authoritarian Turn: The Presidential Election in Poland,”

Visegrad Insight, 27 April 2020, https://visegradinsight.eu/authoritarian-turn-presidential-election-poland.

Students will:

* develop and polish their English language skills;

* enhance their ability to speak publicly;

* exercise their competence in researching topics using their various languages;

* learn about pertinent themes that they themselves will not have to present;

* develop confidence to engage publicly in scholarly discourse;

* master the technical prowess to connect online with the rest of the class.

Inculcating at least some of the above may help students to move on academically and professionally.

Regular. attendance, participation in class discussion, preparing notes to be used in slide presentations that must be sent to the instructor ahead of time.