Certificate Programme in

European Peace and Security Studies

The European Peace and Security Studies (EPSS) certificate programme is a semester-long programme that provides in-depth and unique insights into the changing nature and fundamental challenges of contemporary security issues from a distinctly Brussels perspective.

By pooling the combined expertise and resources of four leading educational institutions in Brussels – Vesalius College, the Belgian Royal Military Academy, the Institute for European Studies (IES) and the Global Governance Institute (GGI) -, students are taught by prominent specialists in the field of civilian and military security issues, in both theory and practice.

The EPSS Programme consists of four interrelated courses worth 6 ECTS credits (3 US credits) each. All courses are taught in English and take place during the fall semester. Upon successful completion of the programme, students receive a certificate in European Peace & Security Studies.

The EPSS courses are:

• Understanding Contemporary Conflicts in the Euro- Mediterranean Region • Security, Migration and Cultural Diversity in Europe• NATO and Transatlantic Approaches to Security• Military Approaches to Promoting Security

In addition, students are required to attend the Guest Lecture Series.

For more information: www.vesalius.edu/epss

This EPSS course examines the history and the politics of contemporary conflicts, with a specific focus on the Mediterranean region and the impact that its dynamics have had on European security. It will provide an understanding of the historical roots, conceptual foundations, and current developments characterising the conflicts of this area. The course is divided into three parts: the first part will focus on understanding the historical developments and changes in warfare and the tools to analyse and manage conflicts. The second part of the course will deal specifically with the most important historical developments that have created the conditions for the current conflicts in the region. The role of Europe in the formation of the contemporary Middle East will be highlighted. The third part will focus on current crises in the Middle East, dealing with four specific case studies: the Arab-Israeli conflict, the Syrian civil war, sectarianism in the Middle East and the rivalry between the Islamic State (IS) and Al-Qaeda in the Jihadist camp.

Recent events from the terrorist attacks in France and Belgium to the US presidential election through the Brexit referendum in the UK have highlighted the saliency of migration and cultural diversity in industrialised societies and the frequent linkages being made between ‘migrants’ (or ‘culturally others’) and security in its broadest sense. The main aim of this EPSS course is to equip students with the knowledge and analytical skills necessary to explain how migrants and minorities have come to be seen as threatening and the public policies that have been developed in that respect, as well as evaluating the consequences for those at the receiving end of these discourses and policies and for industrialised societies more broadly.

This EPSS course explores the history, track-record and major political and policy challenges related to both the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and wider US-Europe transatlantic relations more generally. Students will examine the waxing and waning of US-EU relations in the field of security and will assess the evolution, institutions, policy-making processes and impact of NATO’s core security policies. The final part of the course invites students to explore emerging and future challenges NATO and US-EU relations will face.

This EPSS course provides an in-depth analysis of core actors, as well as key dimensions and approaches to promoting security through military means. Particular emphasis will be placed on the so-called ‘comprehensive approach’. The course provides a conceptual and theoretical introduction to military security by focusing on the concepts of threat, risk, security and conflict and explains their evolution. It discusses the changing nature of war and the complexity of today’s conflicts and analyses the role of the military in security issues such as deterrence; arms control and disarmament; proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, small arms and light weapons; failed states. The course will also explore how the role of the military is influenced by the privatisation of international security and the evolution of military equipment. Finally, students will study the role of the military in state building, the specificity of the military in crisis management, and the main approaches to peace support operations and military crisis management in the UN, EU and NATO frameworks.

Understanding Contemporary Conflicts in the Euro-Mediterranean Region

Course Descriptions

Security, Migration and Cultural Diversity in Europe

NATO and Transatlantic Approaches to Security

Military Approaches to Promoting Security

Academic Advisory CouncilMembers of the Academic Advisory Council (AAC) provide overall guidance and input into the scope and content of the European Peace and Security Studies programme. As a deliberate mixture of distinguished academics and senior policymakers, members of the AAC also promote the policy-relevance of the programme and ensure a constant dialogue between academia and high-level policymakers in Europe’s capital and beyond. Most members of the AAC also share their insights with EPSS students in their capacity as guest lecturers.

International Senior Scholars and Academic Experts

Fernando Andresen GuimarãesHead of the Russia Division of the European External Action Service (formerly Head of the Division for North America and Canada as well as former Advisor of then Commission President Barroso

Rafael BiermannProfessor of International Relations and International Organi-zations, University of Jena, Germany and Former Deputy Dean, German Marshall Centre

Sven BiscopDirector, Security & Global Governance Programme, Egmont – Royal Institute for International Relations, Belgium

Julia De Clerck-SachsseAdviser on Strategic Planning in the EEAS

Thomas DiezProfessor of International Relations, University of Tübingen, Germany

Richard GowanAssociate Director for Policy, Center on International Cooperation, New York University, US & Policy Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations

Christopher Hill, MA DPhil (Oxon) Sir Patrick Sheehy Professor of International Relations, University of Cambridge, UK

Jolyon HoworthDepartment of Political Science, Yale University, US and Jean Monnet Professor of European Politics, University of Bath, UK

Knud Erik JørgensenProfessor of International Relations, University of Århus, Denmark

Kalypso NicolaïdisDirector of the European Studies Centre and University Lecturer in International Relations, University of Oxford, UK

Alexandra NovosseloffResearch Associate at the Centre Thucydide, University of Paris-Panthéon-Assas (expert on UN relations with regional organisa-tions), France

Hanna OjanenJean Monnet Professor, University of Tampere, Finland

Karen E. SmithDirector of the European Foreign Policy Unit, London School of Economics, UK

Michael H. SmithProfessor Emeritus of European Politics, Loughborough University, UK

Thierry TardyFaculty Member of the Geneva Centre for Security Policy, Former Course Director of the European Training Course in Security Policy (ETC), Geneva, Switzerland (expert on EU-UN relations)

Mario TeloProfessor of Political Science, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Belgium

Major Koen TrochChair of World Politics, Conflict Studies Department, Belgian Royal Military Academy, Belgium

Ole WæverProfessor of International Relations and Director of the Centre for Advanced Security Theory (CAST), University of Copenhagen, Denmark

Richard WhitmanProfessor of Politics, University of Kent, UK and Chair of the University Association for Contemporary European Studies (UACES)

Jan ZielonkaProfessor of European Politics, St Antony’s College, University of Oxford, UK

Senior European Policymakers

James AppathuraiNATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia and former NATO Spokesperson

Admiral Rainer BrinkmannFormer Commander of the Maritime Joint Task Force 150 at the Gulf of Aden and Former Director of NATO’s Centre of Excellence for Operations in Confined and Shallow Waters (COE CSW)

Steven EvertsFormer Personal Advisor to the EU High Representative (Javier Solana), former EU Personal Representative for Energy and Foreign Policy and current Member of the Cabinet of Catherine Ashton (Vice President of the EU Commission & High Repre-sentative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy)

Benedikt FrankeFormer Special Advisor to Kofi Annan, the Kofi Annan Founda-tion, Geneva

Nick GronoFormer Deputy President, International Crisis Group, Brussels

Geoffrey HarrisHead of Human Rights Unit, European Parliament, Brussels

Dick HeimansHead of Sector, Unit F1: Fight Against Terrorism, Directorate General Justice, Freedom and Security, European Commission, Brussels

Brig-Gen Gabor HorvathFormer Director for Concepts and Capabilities, European Union Military Staff, Brussels

Mika-Markus LeinonenPermanent Chair of the EU’s Committee for Civilian Aspects of Crisis Management (CIVCOM), European External Action Service, European Union

Agostino MiozzoManaging Director, Crisis Response & Operational Coordination, European External Action Service

Carlos Jiménez RenjifoDesk Officer for Spain and Andorra, United Nations Regional Information Centre for Western Europe (UNRIC), Brussels

Peter ScaruppeDirector Industry and Market, European Defence Agency (EDA), Brussels

Jamie SheaDeputy Assistant Secretary General, Emerging Security Challenges, NATO

David SpenceFormer Minister Counsellor for Human Security and Disarmament, EU Delegation to Geneva

Christof TatschlDeputy Head of Cyberdefence, Austrian Armed Forces and Former Chief of Staff, Standby High Readiness Brigade for United Nations Operations (SHIRBRIG)

Janos TisovskyFormer Director, United Nations Information Service (UNIS), Vienna

2016 EPSS Guest Lecture Series

‘Series ‘Peacebuilding and Peacekeeping: Rethinking Paradigms, Institutional Aspects and Impacts on the Ground’Prof. Prof. Hylke Dijkstra, Maastricht UniversityProf. Joachim A. Koops, Vesalius CollegeProf.Ulrich Schneckener, University of Osnabruck

‘EU-India Dialogues on Global Governance & Security’Dr. C. Raja Mohan, Director of Carnegie IndiaDr. Alka Acharya, Director and Senior Fellow of the Instituteof Chinese Studies, DelhiDr. Constantino Xavier, Associate at Carnegie IndiaDr. Garima Mohan, Research associate at the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi) in Berlin

‘European Integration and its Discontents’Mr. Geoffrey Harris, Distinguished Teaching Fellow for European Integration and Global Human Rights, Vesalius College

‘Europe and the Middle East in the aftermath of the Arab Uprising’Ms. Merete Bilde, Policy Adviser, Religion & Foreign Policy to HRVP European External Action ServiceDr. Colin Scicluna, MENA Adviser, Cabinet of Commissioner Johannes Hahn, DG NEAR, European Commission

The Future of Transatlantic Relations & Global Governance’H.E. Ambassador Anthony L. Gardner, U.S. Ambassador to theEuropean UnionDr. Fernando Andresen Guimarães, Head of the Russia Divisionof the European External Action Service (EEAS)

‘The EU Global Strategy: From Vision to Action’Dr. Julia De Clerck-Sachsse, Adviser on Strategic Planning, European External Action Service

‘Peace without money, war without Americans – Could an EU Global Strategy cope?’Dr. Sven Biscop, Royal Institute for International Relations inBrussels

‘Regions within the EU’Ms. Lorenza Badiello, Director of the EU Oce of the Emilia- Romagna Region in Brussels

‘Trust, Governance & Citizenship in Post-Euromaidan Ukraine’Dr. Marc P. Berenson, King’s Russia InstituteMr. Andrii Bychenko, Centre for Economic and Political Studies

‘Whither EU-US Relations?’Fernando Andresen Guimarães, European External Action Service (EEAS)

‘The IMF in the World Economy’Jeffrey Franks, Director and Senior Resident Representative tothe EU, IMF Europe Office in Paris & Brussels

‘Consolidating Peace in Africa’Ejeviome Eloho Otobo, Non-Resident Senior Expert in Peacebuilding & Global EconomicPolicy, Global Governance Institute

‘Facing the Challenges of Global Poverty and Underdevelopment: The Role of the World Bank’ Guggi Laryea, (Vesalius Alumnus), European Civil Society andEuropean Parliament Relations Advisor, External and CorporateRelations, World Bank.

‘North Africa 5 Years after the Arab Spring’Riccardo Fabiani, Senior Analyst, Eurasia Group

‘The Unexpected Conflict: Russia-EU-Ukraine Triangle’ Vsevolod Samokhvalov, Research Associate, Cambridge Central Asia Forum

‘The Art of Peace’ A Three-Day Intensive Workshop with the Founder of Peace Studies, Prof. Johan Galtung

Vesalius College Visiting Address: Pleinlaan 5, 1050 Brussels Belgium

Postal Address: Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels BelgiumPhone: +32 (0)2 614 8170

Website: www.vesalius.edu/epssFor questions, please visit www.vesalius.edu/contact-admissions

2015 EPSS Guest Lecture Series