Keiichi Kubo, Associate Professor (Waseda University)
In the Balkan region, deadly ethnic conflicts occurred in the 1990s and the process of post-conflict peace building is under way. European states and the EU have been involved in these ethnic conflicts and the peace building process in various ways, and these experiences in the former Yugoslavia served as a touchstone for the development of the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy. This course will examine the role of European countries and the EU in the former Yugoslav conflicts and the peace-building process in the post Cold War era. Presentations and discussions will be the core course activities. Each student will make one or two presentations each term, while all participants are required to prepare for every class by reading assigned materials beforehand. The reaction of European countries and the EU to the Yugoslav wars often became a subject of heated debate in each country, and the pros and cons of involvement were seriously discussed. This course will offer an opportunity for the participants to participate in debates on the appropriateness of the decision making of European countries and the EU, in order to acquire a deeper understanding of the difficulties of decision-making with regard to these conflicts. A guest speaker who has first-hand experience with EU diplomatic activities on the ground will be invited to give a lecture. Through these activities, the course will aim at a profound understanding of the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia and the role of European countries and the EU there.