Overview

The five-week Program on Regional Security Studies (PRSS) shall achieve a 360-degree insight into security developments and interdependencies in Europe and along its periphery. It analyzes wider European security in the context of great power competition and in view of the wars in Ukraine and the Near East. The program examines Europe as a regional security complex and analyzes the flanks to the East, the South, and North. It then looks in more detail at the challenges of selected European subregions. Of particular relevance to European security in this context are the security developments and challenges in the Balkans, Baltic, High North, Black Sea, Caucasus, and Middle East North Africa (MENA) areas. The PRSS course program focuses on examining the influence of local, regional and international actors on regional conflicts, and on regular, irregular and hybrid challenges that occur in Europe and at its neighboring regions. Attention is also given to the roles of the European Union, NATO, United Nations, OSCE, African Union, other international organizations, and the civil society entities involved in regional security dynamics. 

 

• Deepen understanding of ways great power competition and transnational security issues as hybrid and irregular warfare shape contemporary regional security.
• Advance knowledge and comparative analysis of security challenges and conflict in and around Europe; in the Balkan, Baltic, High North, Black Sea, Caucasus and Middle East North Africa (MENA) areas.
• Assess current and potential national, regional and international policy responses.
   

PRSS aims to enhance the professional development of midlevel and senior officers and equivalent civilian participants from governments, NGOs, academia, and think-tanks by providing them with background knowledge of relevant regional security issues and contributing to their overall understanding of key security actors and their modus operandi that impact security in and around Europe. Furthermore, it enables the exchange of ideas and best practices to enhance collective security.

The PRSS has a clear and comprehensible structure. During week 1, the theoretical foundations for analyzing regional security complexes are covered. In week 2, this knowledge is applied to the first case study, Europe. In week 3, further regional security complexes, especially on the European periphery, are analyzed because they have a lasting impact on European security. In week 4, the seminar groups each examine a European subregion and apply the basic principles of regional analysis taught earlier in the course. In order to further promote active learning, the participants are assigned a structured task to analyze their own country´s regional embedding. In week 5, they present the results of this individual study task. 

The course participants come from core European nations, peripheral regions, and even from distant world regions (partners across the globe). This makes it possible to bring in different regional perspectives and leads to collaborative solutions to common problems. The aim of the course is to gain a better understanding of crucial security challenges in different regions of the world but also to discover similarities. Participants are asked to derive insights for their own national security policy. 

The ultimate aim of the course is to empower participants to contribute to the rethinking and reshaping of security and defense in their own country´s regional context.