Course syllabus European Security and Crisis Management

180 credits of which 90 credits must have been obtained in subjects in the social sciences or the humanities. English proficiency equivalent to English 6 or English Level 2 is also required.

The course focuses on traditional security threats (such as armed attacks), new transboundary threats (such as terrorism and pandemics), as well as challenges for European security, crisis management and defence. It aims to provide an analytic and critical approach to the concepts of security and crisis management as well as their application in theory and European practice. The course addresses the following central problem areas: the widened security concept, transboundary crisis, human security and gender perspectives as well as European Union (EU) security, crisis management, and defence. The development of European security structures is problematised in the light of other regional experiences. The course addresses challenges and opportunities for the creation of EU capabilities in the field. Attention is also directed towards how individual EU Member States such as Sweden are affected by contemporary European security cooperation and the union's expanded crisis management capacity.

Type of instruction 

• Lectures
• Seminars
• Simulation exercise

Instruction takes the form of lectures (non-obligatory), seminars (obligatory) and a simulation exercise (obligatory) where students are expected to contribute to the collective learning experience through active participation in discussions and through written assignments.

Upon completion of the course the student should be able to:

Knowledge and understanding

• critically present, analyse and discuss research contributions on EU security, crisis management and defence
• critically compare different theoretical perspectives on European security and crisis management
• identify and evaluate practical problems and solutions in the field of EU security, crisis management and defence

Competence and skills 

• manage a crisis situation in practice from an EU perspective in a simulated environment

Judgement and approach

• evaluate and problematise European security and crisis management as well as European defence in relation to ethical consequences and points of departure.

The student is assessed through active participation in seminars and simulation exercise, written seminar assignments, as well as a final on-campus oral examination.

The examiner may decide to request supplementary assignments for the student to be able to achieve a passing grade on the course. A supplementary assignment shall be submitted no later than 3 working days after the result and the supplementary assignment for the examination in question have been notified. Examination papers submitted late will not be graded unless special circumstances exist that are acceptable to the examiner.

Grading

The student is graded on a three-point grading scale: Fail (U), Pass (G) and Pass with Distinction (VG). Grading criteria are reported at the latest at the start of the course.

To obtain the grade Pass (G) for the course, the student must actively participate in mandatory seminars and simulation exercise, achieve the grade Pass (G) on seminar assignments and the grade Pass (G) on the oral examination.

To obtain the grade Pass with Distinction (VG) for the course, the student must, in addition to the requirements for a Pass (G), achieve the grade Pass with Distinction (VG) on the oral examination.

Restrictions in number of examinations

There is no limit on the total number of examination opportunities.

When the course is no longer offered or when the course content has changed substantially, the student has the right to be examined once per semester during a three-term period in accordance with this syllabus.