Estonian School of Diplomacy (https://edk.edu.ee)
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Curriculum 2022-2023
Available courses
Cyberspace is the key feature as well as the defining factor of the modern security environment. As a human-made environment, cyberspace is the technology itself. However, cyberspace is also a tool for effective exploitation and navigation of other domains - air, land, sea, space. A growing number of malign state and non-state actors are willing and able to ‘weaponize’ inherent vulnerabilities of cyberspace. Cyber considerations are an indispensable aspect of national, as well as international security. The pandemic crisis in 2020 further emphasized the importance of secure and stable cyberspace for the proper functioning of increasingly digital societies around the globe.
The course aims at providing participants with the conceptual framework to facilitate strategic thinking about cyber defense and develop an understanding of how to integrate cyber considerations into national as well as international security policy and strategy formulation.
The course will underscore the multidimensional character of cyber defense. Diverse views from political, military, academic, and private sectors will be presented in order to highlight the importance of the comprehensive approach and cross-sector cooperation for strengthening cybersecurity on national and international levels.
The course will provide an integrated overview of contemporary geopolitical affairs and security issues to stimulate participants’ critical thinking about issues of strategic importance. The curriculum has been designed to provide the participants with basic skills and knowledge to analyze and design proper policy frameworks and strategies for cyber defense.
In the end of the course the participants should understand the main security issues that affect the Baltic, Nordic and Arctic regions and the tools that nations rely on in mitigating these issues.
Students will have an overview of main theoretical and practical problems concerning intelligence and counterintelligence as a future consumers of intelligence products and have basic skills to recognize possible recruitment attempts by hostile intelligence services.
Africa is currently standing at a crossroads. Relatively high economic growth rates in combination with increased institutional strength, credibility and legitimacy of the African Union (AU) and the Economic Community of West African States have led to greater confidence in Africa’s ability to deal with its challenges. However, the continent is also confronted with significant security challenges that have severe ramifications across several countries and regions. In particular, the Sahel region has become the new epicenter of conflict in Africa with a recent alarming rise in the spread of Jihadi-inspired Islamic insurgencies. The outcome of this conflict is still far from certain: a decisive military victory by national armies supported by France, the UN and the EU is unlikely in this remote region. This course will therefore not only offer a state-of-the art-based understanding of African politics but will also analyse trends, scenarios and dynamics in contemporary Africa, describing and identifying emerging issues and hotspots by focusing on three interlinked regional scenarios: West Africa and the Sahel; Central Africa; and Southern Africa.
The aim of this course is to provide a concise, yet comprehensive introduction to Middle East and North Africa (MENA) affairs. Its rationale is to enhance the appreciation of both, the region’s countries domestic power structures and the international relations dimension of the MENA at large, as parts of the region are traditional playing fields for external interventions. Numerous states also exhibit various degrees of fragility, the reason why a look beneath the surface will bring to the fore the full picture of a dynamic intra- and inter-state relationship.
The course aims to guide a practical and selective discussion on the Asia-Pacific region’s economic and foreign policy landscape as well as security challenges. Students are encouraged to read some of the suggested readings and to conduct their own research on topics of interest. The instructor is currently on temporary leave from the Estonian foreign service.
This course would provide both an overview and an analytical understanding of US foreign policy. The overview of US foreign policy would be from 1796 to 2023. The analytical aspect would be looking at the inputs involved in forming US foreign policy and the grand strategies available to the US at the end of the cold war.
- The goal: To give basic knowledge about the study of foreign policy analysis. Students will learn about the different types of theories and develop an understanding of how theory relates to contemporary issues.
- The outcome: Students will learn various theoretical approaches from both International Relations theory and wider social sciences. Students will also learn to develop their critical understanding of theoretical and policy debates.
- General overview: During the course, theories will be used to illustrate debates within foreign policy analysis and decision-making process.
- Classroom and independent work: Independent work includes reading assignments for each class, active participation in discussions, and a written briefing paper.
Objective
To provide a comprehensive understanding of the legal regulation of diplomatic and consular relations as well as of relevant state and court practice.
Learning Outcomes
The student who has passed the course is able to:
— Explain the central principles governing diplomatic, consular and other similar relations
— Select appropriate sources and explain the substantive regulation of diplomatic, consular and other similar relations
— Orientate in the state and court practice regarding diplomatic, consular and other similar relations
— Solve hypothetical legal cases
The aim of this course is to give an overview and a clear understanding of the political, institutional, economic, and historical dimensions of the EU and of European integration.
The lectures will provide a general and multifaceted overview on the political-institutional developments of the EU and its history. Decision-making will be discussed looking at the inter-institutional interaction dynamics and at the formal and informal processes behind them. In particular, the following aspects will be discussed: the integration process over time, the most recent institutional developments, the EU's theoretical foundation and the main related concepts, the Union's institutional, political, and economic nature, and the tension between "widening" and "deepening". Group discussion is favored.
A part of the course is devoted to the understanding and problematization of some of the most controversial contemporary issues such as the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, multi-culturalism, prospects for further political integration, and enlargement.
International law is traditionally concerned with inter-state relations, but nowadays it involves likewise international organisations and to a lesser extent also natural and legal persons. The course provides an understanding of the central principles and main branches of international law, e.g., jurisdiction and immunity, responsibility, peaceful settlement of disputes, law of treaties, consular and diplomatic law, maritime law, human rights and use of armed force. In addition to the theoretical foundation, relevant practices of states, courts and international organizations are examined in connection with discussed topics.
Drawing on current issues of international policy for its material, this module will aim to enhance the ability of participants to think politically and to develop the skills needed to draft briefs and reports effectively through the use of practical exercises. Illustrating best practice in political analysis, it will provide the opportunity to practice writing effectively for the analyst’s intended audience, and for making best use of the intellectual and analytical tools of the trade.
The goal of the course is to teach students to better negotiate internationally
During the International Relations course, theories will be used to illustrate debates within international politics. Students will analyze leading mainstream theorists and develop their understanding of contemporary debates.
The course goals: to give basic knowledge about various IR theories and concepts. Students will learn about different types of theories and develop an understanding of how theory relates to contemporary issues.
The outcome: students will learn various theoretical approaches from both IR theory and the wider social sciences. Students will also learn to develop their critical understanding of theoretical and policy debates.
International Economics course introduces students to the economic and political economy theories of international economics and their application to the real world. At the end of the course, students should be able to understand current international economic issues from different economic and political economy perspectives, and critically evaluate the policy options.
Course description:
Compare forecasting and scenario planning • Discuss different approaches to costs and benefits of technology • Compare alternative theories of international trade • Analyze and test international trade models • Evaluate the impact of different trade policies • Identify the role of global value chains • Understand the impact of preferential trade arrangements • Analyze the nation’s balance of payment • Understand how a foreign exchange market operates • Compare the exchange rate regimes and international monetary standards • Explain financial crises, their causes and solutions.
The goal of the course is to give an overview of small states and the challenges they
face in the changing world order. The course will focus on the vulnerability and
resiliency of small states to the ongoing changes in the world order.