300462 The ‘geopolitical economy’ of Germany and the EU: “Strategic autonomy”, colonial legacies and the new question of imperialism (MA: Pol.Soz) (S) (WiSe 2025/2026)

Course Description:
This seminar examines the history and present of Germany’s and the European Union’s
relations with the world. With a theoretical focus on the notions of geopolitics and
geoeconomics and their fusion into the concept of ‘geopolitical economy’, we investigate
Germany’s violent past and its current attempts to rearrange alliances, military strategies,
and economic supplies.
We also focus on the European Union, the role of colonialism in its formative decades,
and how the EU competes with the US and China by strengthening its ‘strategic autonomy’
and cooperating with the Global South in a way that is sufficiently profitable but not too
openly exploitative.
The seminar will provide students with conceptual and historical tools to address the
political challenges of our times: war, rising inequality, and the accelerating climate crisis.
Language: English
Assessment: Active participation and an oral exam