Module Information
Course Delivery
Assessment
Due to Covid-19 students should refer to the module Blackboard pages for assessment details
| Assessment Type | Assessment length / details | Proportion |
|---|---|---|
| Semester Assessment | 1 x 2,000 word Policy Report | 40% |
| Semester Assessment | 1 x 3,000 word written essay | 60% |
| Supplementary Assessment | 1 x 2,000 word Policy report | 40% |
| Supplementary Assessment | 1 x 3,000 word written essay | 60% |
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
1. Demonstrate detailed knowledge of the dynamics of NATO’s origins and evolution, with particular focus on its Post-Cold War development.
2. Critically evaluate the principal conceptual debates surrounding security cooperation in the transatlantic area and apply them accurately to devise and sustain arguments about NATO.
3. Critically review the central political, military and strategic implications for NATO of its Post-Cold War enlargement.
4. Provide a detailed critique of NATO’s post-Cold War military operations and their impact on the alliance and its military capabilities.
5. Demonstrate detailed knowledge and systematic understanding of NATO’s role in tackling so called ‘emerging security challenges’.
6. Utilise and apply specialist knowledge and critical analysis to produce a ‘policy report’ on a contemporary issue facing NATO.
Brief description
The module examines debates about the origins, evolution and future of NATO with a particular emphasis on attempts to transform NATO in the post-Cold War and post-9/11 eras. The central theme revolves around why and how the NATO alliance endures. It begins with an examination of concepts that may help us to explain the establishment, transformation and endurance of NATO, exploring the role of politics, economics, military affairs and identity. The majority of the module explores the different ways NATO has evolved in the wake of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and after the Russian intervention in Ukraine. In particular, it examines NATO enlargement and partnerships, NATO’s military operations since 1991 and ‘emerging security challenges’ agenda. Students are encouraged to critically reflect on how alliances are studied and why they emerge, collapse and/or endure using the contemporary international security environment to provide fresh insights, perspectives and debates.
Content
• Origins & Cold War
• Enlargement and Partnerships
• Military Operations
• Threats and Capabilities
Module Skills
| Skills Type | Skills details |
|---|---|
| Application of Number | Students will engage with statistics through an examination of defence spending data. |
| Communication | Students will learn how to present their ideas both verbally and in writing and how to present their arguments most effectively. They will understand the importance of information and clear communication and how to exploit these. They will know how to use the many sources of information available and how to use the most appropriate form of communication to best advantage. They will learn to be clear in their writing and speaking and to be direct about aims and objectives. They will learn to consider only that which is relevant to the topic, focus and objectives of their argument or discussion. Seminars will be run in groups where oral discussion and presentations will form the main medium of teaching and the emphasis throughout the module will be on student participation and communication. This is facilitated by group-role play based on teams operating within and beyond the seminar environment. |
| Improving own Learning and Performance | The module aims to promote self-management but within a context in which support and assistance is available from both the convener and fellow students alike. Students will be expected to improve their own learning and performance by undertaking their own research and to exercise their own initiative, including searching for sources, compiling reading lists, and deciding (under guidance) the direction of their report and essay topics. Group work is integral to the seminars and provides opportunities for students to reflect individually and collectively on their performance. The need to contribute to the group discussions in seminars and to meet an assessment deadlines will focus students’ attention on the need to manage their time and opportunity resources well. |
| Information Technology | Students will be expected to submit their work in word-processed format. Also, students will be encouraged to search for sources of information on the internet, as well as seeking sources through electronic information sources (such as Primo, Google Scholar etc). Students will also be expected to make use of the resources that will be available on the AberLearn Blackboard. Finally, they will learn to navigate through NATO’s online presence |
| Personal Development and Career planning | The discussions in particular will help to develop students’ verbal and presentation and team-working skills. Learning about the process of planning an essay and a report, framing the parameters of the projects, honing and developing the projects and seeing through to completion will contribute towards students’ portfolio of transferable skills. In particular, report writing is an essential transferable skill contributing to their employability profile |
| Problem solving | Independent project work and problem solving will be one central goal of the module; the submission of an essay and a report will require that students develop independent research skills as well as problem solving skills. The need to research and prepare seminar discussion points will also enable students to develop independent project skills. The ability of students to solve problems will be developed and assessed by asking them to: adopt differing points of view; organize data and estimate an answer to the problem; consider extreme cases; reason logically; construct theoretical models; consider similar cases; look for patterns; divide issues into smaller problems. |
| Research skills | Students will be required to identify appropriate sources of both primary and secondary source information and to use them appropriately, understanding their relevant strengths and weaknesses. In particular, research for their policy reports will require careful gathering of data and information, the judicious use of such material in support of a particular set of recommendations. Using and analysing primary sources material will provide a particular set of information literacy skills |
| Subject Specific Skills | Students have the opportunity to develop, practice and test a wide range of subject specific skills that help them to understand, conceptualise and evaluate examples and ideas on the module. These subject specific skills include: • Collect and understand a wide range of data relating to the module • Ability to evaluate competing perspectives • Demonstrate subject specific research techniques • Apply a range of methodologies to complex historical and political problems. |
| Team work | Seminars will consist in part of small group role-playing activities where students will be obliged to prepare, present and discuss as a group the core issues related to seminar topics. Such class room debates and discussions are a vital component of the module learning experience |
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 6