Europe's Muslim Populations

This course will focus on the regional security challenges, broadly conceived, that Europe, in various multilateral configurations (EU, NATO, OSCE), has been coping with since the end of the Cold War. These challenges have recently become especially acute in the face of the upheavals in North Africa, declining democratization in Eastern Europe, and the rise of competing regional powers (Turkey and Russia). At the same time, economic crises have dominated the agenda of European leaders and limited their capacity to respond to changing geopolitical conditions. Consequently, the post-Cold War vision of an “unipolar multilateral European order” centered on the EU and NATO as stabilization and democratization promoting organizations has become increasingly untenable even as such policies are as essential as ever to enhance the long term security of Europe and its neighbors in Wider Europe and North Africa. Ultimately, even the most specific Western security concerns (e.g., trafficking, counter-terrorism, energy security, cyber security, food security, urban security) are best addressed within the context of broader programs designed to promote human security. If Europe cannot deliver the requisite policies, the danger of chronic disorder looms large.