EU4A1      Half Unit
The EU and the Global South: Geopolitics, Security and Development

This information is for the 2025/26 session.

Course Convenor

Availability

This module examines the geopolitical repositioning of the European Union as it navigates a shifting global landscape dominated by rising powers such as China and India, and other regional blocs in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. It focuses on how the EU engages with the Global South, exploring the interplay between its historical ties, political and economic goals, and values in shaping its international strategies. Students will apply frameworks like postcolonialism, (inter)dependency and regionalism to analyse the dynamics of multipolarity and its implications for global cooperation.

The module explores pressing global issues such as security, trade, sustainable development, migration, climate change, digital inequality, and human rights. It strongly emphasises the perspectives from the Global South, which include perceptions of various actors in the South towards the EU and other international institutions. The module questions the asymmetrical power imbalances that shape the interactions between the EU and the Global South. Through lectures and interactive activities like simulations, debates, and policy exercises, students will gain practical experience and develop the skills needed to tackle global challenges.

15 hours of seminars and 10 hours of lectures in the Autumn Term.

This course has a reading week in Week 6 of Autumn Term.

Essay plan (1000 words)

Essay plan (1000 words)

Formative 1: essay plan (1000 words) which students will write in response to a question selected from a list of essay questions provided for the summative assessment. It will involve the following steps:

1. Students choose an essay question from the list of questions provided for the summative questions.

They may also choose and formulate their own research question, but they have to discuss it with the Convenor or instructor.

1. Students write an essay plan of 1000 words on how they will respond to the question.
2. Students submit their essay outlines for feedback in week 7.
3. Written feedback will be provided to students and oral feedback sessions will also be offered for all students on the course.

Formative 2:  Essay plan (1000 words):

1. Students refine their essay plans based on the feedback received from the instructor (in formative assessment 1) and submit them again in Week 11.
2. Students receive further feedback on the essay plans and proceed to next step of writing the summative essay.

• Abrahamsen, Rita, and Adam Sandor, 'The Global South and International Security', in Alexandra Gheciu, and William C. Wohlforth (eds), The Oxford Handbook of International Security (2018; online edn, Oxford Academic, 5 Apr. 2018), https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198777854.013.25,
• Beringer, Sarah L., Sylvia Maier, and Markus Thiel, eds. EU development policies: Between norms and geopolitics. Springer, (2019).
• Biscop, Sven. The European Union and emerging powers in the 21st century: how Europe can shape a new global order, Routledge, (2016).
• Hilpert, Hanns Günther. ‘The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement and Europe: Impact and Implications,’ In Political Economy of East Asian Economic Integration, Routledge, (2025): 164-195.
• Colombo, Silvia, and Eduard Soler i Lecha. "Europe and the ‘New’ Middle East: Geopolitical shifts and strategic choices." In Geopolitics of the New Middle East, Routledge, (2023): 7-26.
• Haastrup, Toni, Luís Mah, and Niall Duggan, eds. The Routledge handbook of EU-Africa relations. Routledge, (2020).
• Müller, Melanie. "The ‘new geopolitics’ of mineral supply chains: A window of opportunity for African countries." South African Journal of International Affairs 30, no. 2 (2023): 177-203.
• Niemann, Arne, and Natascha Zaun, Introduction: EU external migration policy and EU migration governance: introduction,’ Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 49, no. 12, (2023), 2965-2985.
• Sanahuja, José Antonio, and Roberto Domínguez (Eds), The Palgrave Handbook of EU-Latin American Relations, (2025).
• Zielonka, Jan, ‘Europe as a Global Actor: The Asian Perspective. International Affairs,’ 96(4), (2020): 1123-1140.

Essay (100%, 4000 words)

The summative assessment is a 4000-word essay. It builds on the knowledge that students developed about their essay plan (formative assessments 1 and 2 - 1000 words) and the feedback received.