INAF Selected Topics Courses Offered in Fall 2021

  Instructor: B. Devlen

This course aims to explore the contemporary security challenges the Transatlantic community faces in its Eastern flank, from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea. We will explore those challenges (from military confrontation to cyber and information warfare, from democratic backsliding to alliance cohesion) and the policies/strategies of the major state and non-state actors involved. The course includes a crisis simulation/wargame that will enable the students to put their newly acquired knowledge and skills to use.

We will use a hybrid of asynchronous and synchronous approaches to online teaching. There will be videos, podcasts, and other material that you can follow on your own in addition to the readings below. They will be made available on the course website before the class time. We will also have live Q&A sessions on the readings as well as interviews/guest lectures (live or pre-recorded) with scholars working on the topics under discussion, depending on the availability. The course will include a policy brief writing workshop and a wargame where you can use the knowledge acquired in the class in a real-world like setting.

Instructor: Visiting Scholar 

Powerful international challenges and crises have driven an evolution in EU external action. In the 21st century, Europe finds itself between an introvert America and a resurgent Russia. This course will analyze European perceptions of the US’s changed strategic trajectory and its impact on policy changes in Europe. In this context we will examine trade issues and policies as well as changes in the European dependence on the Atlantic security structure. The course will also tackle the questions surrounding the challenges of a resurgent Russia for the world order as well as for relations between the European Union and the United States. The course will also look at the “near abroad” of the EU, i.e. Ukraine and the states of the Eastern Partnership as well as the Middle-East and North Africa. The course will conclude on a fundamental question: does the EU still matter?

Instructor: Phil Rourke

This is a skills-based course on how to design and implement a government’s trade negotiations strategy. The course will examine each stage in trade negotiations, using real-life cases and simulations to apply the knowledge learned.  Practical examples will be drawn from both the developed and developing worlds.  The course is based on the experience of current and former trade negotiators and diplomats from Canada, the US, the UK, Russia, Africa, the Caribbean, and several Latin American and Asian countries.