The course explores, from both theoretical and empirical perspectives, the political, economic
and legal role played by the European Union outside its own borders. Central themes include
- the EU’s changing place and role in the global order,
- the evolution of the EU as a global actor,
- the EU’s varying capacity to influence global trends and events, and the interplay
between such trends and the preconditions for the global power potential of the EU,
- the EU’s role in global political economy,
- the EU’s role in international security management,
- the EU’s relations with, and influence on, other actors in the field – states as well as
international and regional organizations,
- other actors’ perceptions of the EU as a global actor,
- links between internal and external policies of the EU.

The course is exclusively offered to students in the MSc in European Affairs.