Post-Cold War Geopolitics and the Emergence of New States In Europe

Description

Modern history is full of examples of states falling apart and new states emerging. Every great war in the modern history of Europe ended in a ‘peace conference’ after which a new state system emerged. The party that won the war usually dictate the terms of the peace according to the principle of ‘the winner takes it all.’ The borders of the European states were carved by wars and the respective victorious parties after every European great war: the Congress of Vienna (1814-1815) shaped the map of Europe after the defeat of Napoleon; the Berlin Congress of 1878 shaped the map of south-eastern Europe after the defeat of Ottoman Empire, creating the independent kingdoms of Serbia and of Montenegro – among other states. The Versailles Peace Conference produced several important treaties in the period between 1919 and 1920, marking the end of WW I. The new nation states were created according to the principle of “self-determination of the people.” One of the new states created according to the “Versailles” principles wer Czechoslovakia and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1918-1941). WWII ended with the defeat of Germany, Japan, and Italy, and the victorious Allied forces dictated the terms of the post- WWII state system in Europe as agreed at the Yalta conference of 1945. The Cold War was not a classical war, but its end had a similar effect for the state formation in Europe as past European wars. Two German states united, and three former communist federations disintegrated, namely Czechoslovakia, the USSR and Yugoslavia, adding 25 new states to the political map of Europe. Unlike WWI and WWII, the Cold War ended without an international peace conference to agree on the guiding principles upon which the dissociation of the communist federations would take place. While Czechoslovakia disintegrated amicably and swiftly by 1992, the Yugoslav communist federation disintegrated with a series of wars fought in the 1990s for the state borders between the newly declared post-Yugoslavia states. The USSR seemed to dissolve peacefully at first, but 30 years onwards, the Russian federation has made territorial claims on the territories of Georgia and most recently in Ukraine. This course will examine the impact of the disintegration of the communist Yugoslavia, the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia on the post-Cold War State System in Europe. It will also explore the emergence of the “de facto” states and their impact on the security and stability in Europe. Objectives: At the end of this course, students are able to: Understand the theoretical concepts of geopolitics, geostrategy, “real politik,” and “de facto states” Gain historical knowledge of the development of the state systems in Europe since 1815 to date Investigate the causes and consequences of the collapse of the communist federations Analyse the emergence of “de facto states”, such as Kosovo, Transdniestria, South Ossetia, Abkhazia, Donetsk, Lugansk, Nagorno Karabakh etc Access the secondary and primary sources for academic research on the related topic