COURSE INFORMATION Course Title: REGIONAL POLITICS

Code	Course Type	Regular Semester	Theory	Practice	Lab	Credits	ECTS
PIR 450	B	2	3	0	0	3	7.5

Academic staff member responsible for the design of the course syllabus (name, surname, academic title/scientific degree, email address and signature)	Dr. Avdi Smajljaj asmajljaj@epoka.edu.al
Main Course Lecturer (name, surname, academic title/scientific degree, email address and signature) and Office Hours:	Dr. Avdi Smajljaj asmajljaj@epoka.edu.al
Second Course Lecturer(s) (name, surname, academic title/scientific degree, email address and signature) and Office Hours:	NA
Language:	English
Compulsory/Elective:	Elective
Study program: (the study for which this course is offered)	Master of Science in Political Science and International Relations
Classroom and Meeting Time:
Teaching Assistant(s) and Office Hours:	NA
Code of Ethics:	Code of Ethics of EPOKA University Regulation of EPOKA University "On Student Discipline"
Attendance Requirement:
Course Description:	-
Course Objectives:	Regionalism has become a defining feature of international relations, but why do states around the world feel the ‘urge to merge’? How have states and non-state actors led the process of creating regional institutions and what has inhibited the development of regionalism around the world? Why do some actors adopt a more formal, legalistic approach to regional institutional building, whilst others prefer more elastic and informal arrangements? Should we, and if so how can we, distinguish between old and new regionalism in a globalized political economy? How are regional groupings socially constructed to include certain actors at the expense of others? How are external actors involved in regional issues and how does regional cooperation contribute to global governance? How can such complex developments be theorized so that they may be compared? This course explores these questions in order to compare and contrast the dynamic processes of regionalism around the world today. Though regional institution building has become a global trend, regionalism has evolved in different ways. It is therefore imperative to explore the various factors, be they historical, geopolitical, cultural or other, that have influenced the development of regionalism around the world. Only by comparing the process of regionalism around the world can we understand the richness and diversity of this central trend in global politics. Comprehending the diversity of regional institution building can enable us to explore how regional groupings address specific issues in different ways. The course has two main components. On the one hand, we focus on the key conceptual, historical and theoretical dimensions to understanding regionalism around the world. On the other hand we will apply this conceptual, historical and theoretical knowledge in a more practical setting of role plays where we will concentrate on the multidimensional aspects of regional issues, the role of external actors in regional problems, and the relationship between regionalism and global governance. Each week we will examine a different case study to build a picture of regional approaches to world politics. This course aims to provide a critical examination of the development of regionalism across the world. Students will explore a variety of regional approaches to key issues and policies, adopting different levels of analysis. One of the aims of this course is to connect academic debates with policy issues. With this in mind, students will learn key transferable skills that they will be able to apply in a work environment, including working in teams and managing group activities, developing creative responses to policy problems, writing policy reports, and finding appropriate academic and non-academic sources. Students will also acquire a foundational knowledge of historical issues and theoretical approaches to understand regionalism today.

BASIC CONCEPTS OF THE COURSE

1	Regionalism
2	Regional cooperation
3	Interdependence

COURSE OUTLINE

Week	Topics
1	Introduction to the course
2	The history of the study of regionalism. Old, New, and Comparative Regionalism. (Söderbaum, 16-40).
3	The concept and theories of regionalism. (Börzel 41-64).
4	Regional security governance. (Kacowicz and Barnathan 297-322).
5	Regional Trade Governance. Regional Monetary and Financial Governance. (Kim, Mansfield, Milner & McNamara 323-374).
6	Regional Development Governance. (Bruszt and Palestini 374-405). Regional Social and Gender Governance (Vleuten 405-430). Regional Environmental Governance. (Haas 430-457).
7	Regional Migration Governance (Lavenex, Jurje, Givens, Buchanan 457-486). Regional Human Rights and Democracy Governance. (Pevehouse 486-512).
8	Regional Identities and Communities. (Checkel 559-579). Regional Institutional Design. (Lenz and Marks 513-538).
9	North America and the Transatlantic Area. (Duina 133-154).Latin America. (Bianculli 154-178).
10	Europe. (Schimmelfennig 178-202). Eurasia. (Hancock and Libman 202-225).
11	Asia. (Jetschke and Katada 225-249).
12	North Africa and the Middle East. (Valbjørn 249-271). Sub-Saharan Africa. Hartmann 271-297).
13	Western Balkans. (Handouts will be distributed to the students).
14	Course revision.

Prerequisite(s):
Textbook(s):	Nolte, Detlef, Weiffen, Brigitte (Eds.), 2020. Regionalism under Stress: Europe and Latin America in Comparative Perspective, Taylor & Francis Group. Börzel, Tanja A. and Risse-Kappen, Thomas (Eds.). 2016. The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Regionalism, Oxford Handbooks, Oxford University Press. Söderbaum, Fredrik (2015). Rethinking Regionalism. New York: Palgrave MacMillan.
Additional Literature:
Laboratory Work:
Computer Usage:
Others:	No

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES

1	Demonstrate an advanced understanding of the complex issues and processes related to the development of regionalism and regionalization
2	Apply complex conceptual tools to analyze key events in and processes related to regionalism.
3	Compare regional approaches across the world, whilst remaining sensitive to local contexts.
4	Demonstrate appropriate cognitive, communicative and transferable skills, develop the capacity for independent learning, critique major texts and approaches on regionalism in International Relations, and lead class discussions.

COURSE CONTRIBUTION TO... PROGRAM COMPETENCIES (Blank : no contribution, 1: least contribution ... 5: highest contribution)

No	Program Competencies	Cont.
Master of Science in Political Science and International Relations Program
1	Having and using advanced knowledge and comprehension supported by textbooks including actual knowledge in political sciences and international relations literature, materials and the other scientific resources.	5
2	Analyzing data, ideas and concepts of current political issues and international relations, determining complex events and topics, making discussions and developing new suggestions in accordance with researches.	5
3	Having knowledge and thought about actual topics and problems together with their historical, social and cultural aspects.	5
4	Introducing those who are interested in politics and international events with the topics of Political Science and IR and teaching clearly the problems and the types of solutions.	5
5	Improving skills of working together with the main social science disciplines and other disciplines which are related to Political Science and International Relations.	5
6	Improving critical thinking and skills in making research independently.	5
7	Developing solutions about the problems and conflicts which are common in national and international arena.	5
8	Improving skills for leadership and research and analyze capacity of those who is responsible with national and international ones.	5
9	Knowing any foreign language enough to communicate with colleagues and understand actual researches and articles.	5
10	Gaining IT skills to use computer and technology) in order to reach actual knowledge.	3
11	Gaining skills to follow societal, scientific and ethic values during collecting, interpreting, conducting of data related to social and political developments.	5
12	Having consciousness about human rights and environment.	5
13	Gaining the skills to follow actual developments and pursue long-life learning.	5

COURSE EVALUATION METHOD

Method	Quantity	Percentage
Presentation	1	10
Project	1	30
Final Exam	1	50
Attendance		10
	Total Percent:	100%

ECTS (ALLOCATED BASED ON STUDENT WORKLOAD)

Activities	Quantity	Duration(Hours)	Total Workload(Hours)
Course Duration (Including the exam week: 16x Total course hours)	16	3	48
Hours for off-the-classroom study (Pre-study, practice)	14	3	42
Mid-terms			0
Assignments	2	29	58
Final examination	1	30	30
Other	1	9.5	9.5
Total Work Load:			187.5
Total Work Load/25(h):			7.5
ECTS Credit of the Course:			7.5

CONCLUDING REMARKS BY THE COURSE LECTURER