Diplomacy

The current turbulent international arena, especially when it comes to the relations between great global powers calls for a new generation of well-educated professionals dealing with foreign policy matters. The alternative is a state of conflict instead of cooperation and ignorance instead of mutual understanding. The Lazarski University wishes to engage in the task of preparing young specialists, who would help make global politics safer and more predictable. That is why the University proposes a new diplomatic specialty within the general BA in International Relations program. The Diplomacy Specialty’s aim is to prepare candidates for specific tasks related to the practice of foreign relations such as working with various foreign services and foreign policy analytical centres.

New specialization will share all obligatory courses with the existing BA in International Relations program. However, it will offer new electives, five for the second year BA students and five for the third year. The electives focus on geopolitical issues, transatlantic relations, external relations of the European Union, relations within the post-Soviet space as well as historical and practical aspects of the diplomatic profession. The student is expected to gain a wide raging knowledge of security, economic and political aspects of international relations in the Eurasia and Northern America. The specialty strives to focus specifically on the recent points of contention and opportunities for cooperation. The faculty teaching the electives are experienced academics as well as professionals, diplomats, and think-tankers. Students will also obtain assistance in finding practices in foreign embassies, the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in think-tanks dealing with international relations. Upon successful completion of the specialty, students will acquire the following qualities and capabilities:

• skills necessary to become an effective negotiator and gather sensitive information,
• understanding of how history determines the past, present and future of diplomatic relations,
• knowledge and understanding of relations and tensions between the West, Russia and China,
• awareness of how geography creates strategic threats and opportunities,
• awareness of the nature of cooperation and competition between the major European powers,
• understanding of the external challenges the EU faces,
• understanding of post-Soviet politics and possible future developmental paths of the post-Soviet space,
• understanding of the importance of the Balkans for European and global stability, 
• awareness of the problematic status of the West as a political and cultural community,
• awareness of the importance of transatlantic ties for the current world order and the challenges that those ties face.

Specifically, the graduate will demonstrate the following qualities, skills, capabilities, and values.

Intellectual:

• background education in history of diplomacy, international economics and foreign polices of major global players,
• identification and evaluation of diplomatic problems combined with the ability to use proper negotiation tools and techniques,
• ability to use analysis and synthesis, to draw viable foreign policy conclusions,
• ability to make foreign policy forecasts.

 Practical:

• negotiations, communication, presentation, interaction skills,
• knowledge of the diplomatic protocol,
• teambuilding—the ability to work creatively and flexibly with others as part of a team,
• mediating skills.

Personal and Social:

• effective managing of time and resources in the foreign service profession,
• effective usage of different information sources, for professional purposes, 
• working abroad in a foreign and at time hostile environment,
• creative and innovating thinking  about foreign policy problems.

Graduates

Diplomacy Specialty graduates will be specialists well-trained in modern foreign policy issues and acquire a great degree of diplomatic skills. They will specifically:

• be prepared to work as policy makers, planners or analysts, particularly in foreign service — especially in the diplomatic and consular corps—and in international non-governmental organisations (INGOs); as global and EU marketers and consultants in multinational business organisations; or as international journalists in the media, including the new (Internet-based) media;
• learn negotiating skills, acquire the awareness of diplomatic protocol and less formalized practices of the diplomatic profession;
• know how to gather and critically analyse different information, including the most sensitive ones;
• be able to understand the interrelated political, military, cultural and economic issues globally, from governmental as well as business and NGO perspectives.

Electives

To be eligible for the Diplomatic Specialty, the student must complete at least three electives from the offer for the second year BA and three from the list for the third year. However, during the second year the student of this specialty has to choose ‘Diplomacy’ course as one of the electives and during the third year ‘Diplomacy in Action’ course.

2^nd year electives (5 out of 5; additional selection is from electives for BA in International Relations):

Diplomacy

The course is divided into two types of knowledge: general and specific. The course starts from general knowledge-that is ideas that are universal for all human activities, both on individual and group level. It aims to demonstrate them in real-life situations and compare them with those known from the history of IR. At the start of the course, students are informed that they will be participating in a simulation game where they will take on the role of states engaged in negotiations. The key concepts covered during general part of the course are anchored around the idea of finite and infinite games. The course assumes that most human interactions are explainable via game theory. Specific knowledge that is presented to students during the course includes different types and strategies (approaches) of international diplomacy, such as economic diplomacy, security diplomacy and cultural diplomacy.

Foreign Relations in the post-Soviet Space

More than thirty years after the collapse of the Soviet Union the politics of Russia and the former Soviet republics is still quite unstable and unpredictable. The course explores the recent threats and opportunities created by this state of affairs. Russia has clear neo-imperial ambitions and pursues them with all force. Meanwhile the Western powers have adopted a very passive and lukewarm approach to the post-Soviet space. This impedes the democratisation and development of many regions in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Caucasus. Some of post-Soviet states like the Baltic States have joined the Western structures, others align themselves with Moscow or with Beijing and others pursue an independent developmental path. The course will familiarize the students with different foreign-policy strategies of those states, their internal politics as well as economics and prospects for their future.  

Imagining and Governing Europe

The course’s aim is to analyse the genesis and practical implementation of European integration. European politics is based on many different intellectual and historical facets. However, many discussions on Europe are located within the continuum of euro-enthusiasm and euro-scepticism. The course will focus on the role of the ideologies which were the fundament of integration for the founding fathers of the European Community. The role of economic and military security for member states will also be examined. Broader international perspective will be pulled into the discussion as well as social and economic aspects of integration processes. Many contemporary scientists, analysts and politicians point to the example of American and Helvetic integration for today’s Europe. Those examples and contemporary policies within the EU shall be examined to draft several possible scenarios for EU’s future development.

Transatlantic Relations

The course will address key dynamics in transatlantic relations since the onset of the 20th century. It will cover the historical, security, economic and cultural background of the relationship and its contemporary manifestations. The focus of the class will be on structural factors that led to the emergence and persistence of the transatlantic bond and its impact on the global order. The course will seek to respond to the question about the key rationale for the persistence of the bond and the likely implications of its crises. More specifically the class will address the United States’ role in Europe's peace settlements following the 1st and 2nd world wars and its role during the cold war and afterwards.  The class will address Washington's impact on European reconstruction, the emergence and persistence of European integrations. The class will also look into the United States’ role in European security, though NATO and military presence in the Eastern flank of Europe. The class will also address the economic and cultural relationship between the United States and European countries. Finally, the class will consider various scenarios concerning the future of transatlantic relationship 

Diplomacy and the Balkans

In its geographical context the course aims to familiarize students with the diplomatic experience in the Balkans, known as the crossroad of great and small powers interests. The historical overview of the regions' diplomatic history will be supported by analysis of selected case studies since the XIX century. This background will provide points of discussion on the challenges of overlapping and colliding interests in international relations as well as avenues for their solution. The second component of the course gives an overview of the main historical trends of diplomacy since its emergence, although the lion's share of the focus will be on 19th and especially 20th and 21st century diplomatic history. The course will be organised chronologically and also by a series of case studies presenting some of the key issues of the diplomatic art, including conflict resolution, peace-keeping, making trade and encouraging good relations between states. Finally, it will look at the different arenas in which diplomacy operates as the international system has become more developed.

3^rd year electives (3 out of 5):

Diplomacy in Action

The course attempts to explain the practical aspects of international relations. The goals are to underline the importance of international politics for the welfare of nations. Some states are clearly more active in this context and use their comparative advantage in international relations extremely well. They promote businesses and corporations based on the opportunities given by their territory. They also organize international environment taking into consideration their national interests.  The primary aim of the course is thus to explain the mechanisms of international organizations and international structures which assist in fulfilling national purposes. The course will also include practical elements like the art of negotiations, understanding of historical and geographical assets, as well as social and economic implications of international treaties.  Furthermore, the course will present concrete economic, business and trade facts connected with German and European foreign trade and international relations during the period of the last 10 years.

External Relations of the European Union 

European Union is struggling to build its international identity in the late-Westphalian international order. It presents a set of challenges for experts and academics. Firstly, how to analyse activities of this exceptional international actor, which can be described as a transnational political system, a set of international regimes, an international organization with supranational components or a platform of organized hegemony. Secondly, as a natural next step – how to treat the multitude of EU policies directed to the international environment, starting with trade and development cooperation, through foreign and security policy up to asylum policy structures. The course presents a framework for analysis of those challenges with a special emphasis on EU’s potential and abilities to shape the world politics, sometimes mocked by realists, sometimes exaggerated by neoliberal institutionalists.

Foreign Policy and Geopolitics

The course will cover theory and practice of geopolitics. That is the nature of relations between political power and the geological form of the earth’s crust. The purpose is to enable students to understand how states (the main actors of international relations) interact in the geographical context. This knowledge will be later used to explain the historical and recent political phenomena. The course will focus specifically on the recent history (after 1914) and the current political processes. Special attention will be paid to the competition between the USA and China in the geopolitical context as well as the peculiar geopolitics of Poland. The course will also offer insight into strategic thinking and forecasting informed by geopolitics.  A separate part of the course will be devoted to modern defence issues and competition of earth’s great powers beyond the earth’s surface, that is in space – the final frontier.

East Asia

The aim of the course is to provide students with knowledge of the major regions of East Asia: China, Japan, North and South Korea, Taiwan, and Vietnam in broad context: historical, cultural, geographical, socio-economic, and political. The emphasis will be put on the foreign relations issues.  The student will learn how to assess the political and cultural development of each major East Asian country in its historical context. They will also be able to identify, define, and analyse current business, social and political problems of each East Asian country studied. The course will also introduce and analysis of the comparative advantages and disadvantages of the region in the context of future global development.

Relations Between Germany, France, and Poland 

The course will focus on what in geopolitical sense constitutes the core of Europe, i.e. the three largest countries in the centre of the continent:  France, Germany and Poland. Those three states have had varying and at time troubled relations with each other in different political and historical contexts. Today they form a somewhat forgotten Weimar Triangle, that is a cooperation format initially developed to help Poland during the preparation for membership in the European Union. Now it seems useful to examine the crisis of the West through the prism of the Weimar countries because the differences between them nicely illustrate the different ways in which this crisis is perceived and the differences that will need to be overcome if the West is going to remain a coherent unit in the future. At the same time making the Weimar Triangle work, especially in the context of Polish-French relations holds a promise of better and more coherent policies both within the EU and the West in general. The course will explore the above-mentioned tensions and opportunities for cooperation taking into account concrete examples primarily from the realms of defence politics, diplomacy and economy.