Europe in The 21St Century

This course focuses on the changing realities of modern Europe. The continent?s main democratic political systems, as well as the European Union, are critically examined. The course reveals how the enlargement of the European Union is creating a supranational political and economic framework from the Atlantic to the Baltic to the Mediterranean, with tremendous economic power but still-nascent political unity and foreign-policy clout. Finally, the course examines the process of democratic change and consolidation in post-communist Europe, including both successful and unsuccessful examples. Two crucial countries straddling Europe and Asia - Turkey and Russia - are examined in depth.