HU Credits: 2

Degree/Cycle: 2nd degree (Master)

Responsible Department: European Studies

Semester: 2nd Semester

Teaching Languages: Hebrew

Campus: Mt. Scopus

Course/Module Coordinator: Dr. Daniel Wajner

Coordinator Email: daniel.wajner@mail.huji.ac.il

Coordinator Office Hours: Thursdays 13:00-14:30 (class 6205, European Forum).

Teaching Staff:
Dr. Daniel Wajner

Course/Module description:
This course aims to examine the conditions of the Mediterranean basin as an area for the regional integration of the State of Israel and thus Israel's insertion in the international system. In current world politics, countries use their participation in regions and regionalism as a "steppingstone" towards the process of globalization, which bridges the local and international levels. In doing so, the region provides the nation-states with a way to gradually establish contact with the world while maintaining the communal/particularistic qualities.
During the course we will refer to several dimensions of the Mediterranean Basin region and Israel's role in it (among them geopolitics, economy, identity, internal political system, history and diplomacy), which are in constant competition. We will also get to know the regionalist projects that have been promoted in the Mediterranean basin in recent decades and analyze them based on theoretical frameworks of regional integration, while comparing them to parallel subregional processes in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Finally, we will deal with the many regional and international cooperation projects in which Israel participates and discuss the various opportunities and risk of the "Mediterranean option" for the future of the State of Israel.

Course/Module aims:
- To encourage research on regional and sub-regional integration processes in the Mediterranean basin.
- To develop thinking about the importance of the region and participation in regional projects for the State of Israel.
- To provide students with theoretical, methodological and empirical tools for analyzing Israel's role in the region, and in the Mediterranean basin in particular.

Learning outcomes - On successful completion of this module, students should be able to:
Upon successful completion of this module, students should be able to:
- Critically read relevant academic literature and policy-oriented analyzes to better understand Israel's place in the Mediterranean basin.
- To acquire basic knowledge about the Mediterranean basin region in contemporary international relations and the various attempts of regional and sub-regional cooperation promoted by the countries of the region.
- To plan a research project focusing on one test case, which will be presented in class later.

Attendance requirements(%):
80

Teaching arrangement and method of instruction: Text discussions; Negotiation games; Student presentations; Group work.

Course/Module Content:
Lesson 1 - Introduction to regional integration in the Mediterranean basin and Israel's role in it.
Lesson 2 - Analysis of the Mediterranean Basin A - Geography, history of regional powers and identity.
Lesson 3 - Analysis of the Mediterranean Basin B - Security, internal political system, and diplomacy.
Lesson 4 - Analysis of the Mediterranean Basin C - Economy, trade, infrastructure, and finance.
Lesson 5 - Theories on regionalism, regional cooperation, and regional integration.
Lesson 6 - Regional integration in the Mediterranean basin: from regional organizations to sub-regional organizations. Comparison with parallel processes in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Lesson 7 - The Mediterranean Union: establishment, institutional structure, participants, activity. Challenges: legitimacy, populism, "regional fatigue", "overlapping regional organizations".
Lesson 8 - Discussion: The State of Israel and its integration into the region
Lesson 9 – Presentation of projects 1 (TBD) and collective discussion.
Lesson 10 – Presentation of projects 2 (TBD) and collective discussion.
Lesson 11 - Presentation of projects 3 (TBD) and collective discussion.
Lesson 12 - presentation of projects 4 (TBD) and collective discussion.
Lesson 13 - Summary of the course and discussion in preparation for the submission of papers.

Required Reading:
“Israel and the Mediterranean: A New Space for Regional Belonging”. Meeting Summaries from a Research and Policy Group. Roee Kibrik (ed.), Mitvim Institute, Davis Institute, and Haifa’s NSI. May 2021. https://mitvim.org.il/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/English-Israel-and-the-Mediterranean-A-New-Space-for-Regional-Belonging-May-2021.pdf

Additional Reading Material:
Abbott, Kenneth W., and Duncan Snidal. 1998. Why states act through formal international organizations. Journal of Conflict Resolution 42(1):3-32.‏
Acharya, Amitav, and Alastair Iain Johnston. "Comparing regional institutions: an introduction." In Crafting cooperation: Regional international institutions in comparative perspective (Cambridge University Press, 2007), pp.1-31.‏
Acharya, Amitav, and Alistair .I. Johnston (eds.) Crafting Cooperation: regional international institutions in comparative perspective. Cambridge University Press. 1996.
Adler E. (1997). Imagined (security) communities: cognitive regions in international relations. Millennium 26(2):249-277.‏
Adler, E., Bicchi, F., Crawford, B., & Del Sarto, R. A. (Eds.). (2006). The convergence of civilizations: constructing a Mediterranean region (Vol. 1). University of Toronto Press.‏
Arie M. Kacowicz, Exequiel Lacowsky, & Daniel F. Wajner, “Israel-Latin American Relations: What Has Changed in the Last Decade and Why”. In Extra-hemispheric powers in Latin America, ed. Gian-Luca Gardini (Routledge, 2021), 153–166.
Balassa, Bela. "Toward a theory of economic integration." Toward a theory of economic integration. (1966).‏
Barnett, Michael and Ethel Solingen. 2007. "Designed to fail of failure of design? .The origins and legacy of the Arab League", in A. Acharya and A.I. Johnston (eds.) Crafting Cooperation: regional international institutions in comparative perspective (London: Cambridge), 180-220.
Barnett, Michael N., and Martha Finnemore. 1999. The politics, power, and pathologies of international organizations. International organization 53(4):699-732.
Barnett, Michael. 1998. Dialogues in Arab politics: negotiations in regional order (NY: Columbia University Press(‏.
Beck, Martin. "Israel: regional politics in a highly fragmented region." Regional leadership in the global system. Routledge, 2016. 139-160.‏
Bicchi, Federica. "‘Our size fits all’: Normative Power Europe and the Mediterranean." Journal of European public policy 13.2 (2006): 286-303.‏
Bilgin, Pinar. Regional security in the Middle East: A critical perspective. Routledge, 2019.‏
Börzel T.A. and Risse T. (eds.) Oxford Handbook of Comparative Regionalism. Oxford University Press, 2016.
Börzel, T.A. Theorizing Regionalism: Cooperation, Integration, and Governance (Chapter 3), in Börzel T.A. and Risse T. (eds.), Oxford Handbook of Comparative Regionalism. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016, pp.41-63.
Börzel, TA., Dandashly.A. & Risse. T. (2015) Responses to the ‘Arabellions’: The EU in Comparative Perspective-Introduction. Journal of European Integration 37(1):1-17
Börzel, Tanja A., and Thomas Risse. "Identity politics, core state powers and regional integration: Europe and beyond." JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies 58.1 (2020): 21-40.‏
Del Sarto, Raffaella A. "Plus ça change…? Israel, the EU and the Union for the Mediterranean." Mediterranean Politics 16.01 (2011): 117-134.‏
Del Sarto, Raffaella A., and Alfred Tovias. "Caught between Europe and the Orient: Israel and the EMP." The International Spectator 36.4 (2001): 61-75.‏
Devlin, Julia. Challenges of economic development in the Middle East and North Africa region. Vol. 8. World Scientific, 2010.‏
El-Erian, Mohamed A., and Stanley Fischer. "Is MENA a region? The scope for regional integration." Economic and Political Impediments to Middle East Peace. Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2000. 70-86.‏
El-Erian, Mohamed A., and Stanley Fischer. "Is MENA a region? The scope for regional integration." Economic and Political Impediments to Middle East Peace. Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2000. 70-86.‏
Escribano, Gonzalo, and Josep María Jordán. "Sub‐regional integration in the MENA region and the euro‐mediterranean free trade area." Mediterranean Politics 4.2 (1999):133-48.‏
Fawcett, Louise and Andrew Hurrell (eds). Regionalism in World Politics. Oxford University Press, 1995.
Haftel, Yoram Z. "Designing for peace: regional integration arrangements, institutional variation, and militarized interstate disputes." International Organization 61.1(2007):217-37.‏
Haftel, Yoram Z. 2013. Commerce and Institutions: Trade, Scope, and the Design of Regional Economic Organizations. The Review of International Organizations 8(3):389-414.
Haftel, Yoram Z. Regional economic institutions and conflict mitigation: Design, implementation, and the promise of peace. University of Michigan Press, 2012.‏
Haftel, Yoram, Daniel F. Wajner, & Dan Eran, “The Short and Long(er) of It: The Effect of Hard Times on Regional Institutionalization,” International Studies Quarterly (2020), 808–820.
Harpaz, Guy. "Normative power Europe and the problem of a legitimacy deficit: an Israeli perspective." European Foreign Affairs Review 12.1 (2007).‏
Hudson, Michael. 1977. Arab politics: The search for legitimacy (Yale University Press(‏
Hurrell, Andrew. "Regional powers and the global system from a historical perspective." Regional leadership in the global system. Routledge, 2016. 27-40.‏
Hurrelmann, Achim, and Steffen Schneider, eds. The legitimacy of regional integration in Europe and the Americas. Springer, 2015.‏
K. Jayasuriya (2003), “Embedded Mercantilism and Open Regionalism: The Crisis of a Regional Political Project,” Third World Quarterly 24 (2): 339-355.
Kacowicz, Arie M., “Regionalization, Globalization, and Nationalism: Convergent, Divergent, or Overlapping?”, Alternatives, Vol. 24, No. 4, November 1999, pp. 527-556.
Kegley, World Politics. Chapter 14: “Political Integration: The Functional and Neofunctional Path to Peace”, pp.564-571.
Keohane, Robert O. “Multilateralism: An Agenda Form of Cooperation Research,” International Journal 45: 731-764, 1990.
Mansfield, Edward D., and Helen V. Milner. 1999. The new wave of regionalism. International Organization, 53(3):589-627.‏
Mattli, Walter. "A Comparative Analysis of Regional Integration: What Lessons for the Arab Region?." Arab Development Challenges of the New Millennium. Routledge, 2017. 311-353.‏
Mattli, Walter. "Comparative regional integration: Theoretical developments." In The Oxford Handbook of the European Union. 2012.‏
Mattli, Walter. The logic of regional integration: Europe and beyond. Cambridge University Press, 1999.‏
Nye, Joseph S. "Comparative regional integration: Concept and measurement." International organization 22.4 (1968): 855-880.‏
Pardo, Sharon. Normative power Europe meets Israel: perceptions and realities. Lexington Books, 2015.‏
Press-Barnathan, Galia, Ruth Fine, and Arie M. Kacowicz, eds. The Relevance of Regions in a Globalized World: Bridging the Social Sciences-humanities Gap. Routledge, 2018.
Press‐Barnathan, Galia. 2000. "The lure of regional security arrangements: the United States and regional security cooperation in Asia and Europe". Security Studies, 10(2), 49-97.‏
Puchala, Donald J. "The Integration Theorists and the Study of International Relations," in Williams et al., Classic Readings, pp. 315-330.
Rittberger, Berthold, and Philipp Schroeder. "The legitimacy of regional institutions." The Oxford handbook of comparative regionalism (2016): 579-599.‏
Rouis, Mustapha, and Steven R. Tabor. Regional economic integration in the Middle East and North Africa: Beyond trade reform. World Bank Publications, 2012.‏
Ruggie, John Gerard, “Multilateralism: The Anatomy of an Institution,” in John Gerard Ruggie (ed.), Multilateralism Matters: The Theory and Praxis of an Institutional Form (New York: Columbia University Press), pp. 3-47, 1993.
Scharpf, Fritz W. "Legitimacy in the multilevel European polity." European Political Science Review 1.2 (2009): 173-204.‏
Schimmelfennig, Frank. "Regional integration theory." Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics. 2018.‏
Schlipphak, Bernd. 2015. “Measuring attitudes toward regional organizations outside Europe.” The Review of International Organizations 10 (3): 351-75.
Shavit, Yaacov. "The mediterranean world and ‘Mediterraneanism’: The origins, meaning, and application of a geo‐cultural notion in Israel." Mediterranean Historical Review 3.2 (1988): 96-117.‏
Soderbaum, F. Old, New, and Comparative Regionalism: The History and Scholarly Development of the Field, in Börzel T.A. and Risse T. (eds.), Oxford Handbook of Comparative Regionalism. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016, pp.16-40.
Söderbaum, Fredrik. "Comparative regional integration and regionalism." The Sage handbook of comparative politics (2009): 477-496.‏
Solingen, Etel. 2008. "The genesis, design and effects of regional institutions: lessons from East Asia and the Middle East". International Studies Quarterly 52: 261-294
Tovias, A. (2003), Israeli Policy Perspectives on the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership in the Context of EU Enlargement, Mediterranean Politics, 8/2-3: 214-32.
Tovias, A. (2009), Current Israeli Perspectives on EU-Mediterranean Relations, Hellenic Studies, 17/2: 191-204.
Tovias, A., Lannon, C. Koch, and O. Shaban(2015), “EU’s Promotion of Regional and Sub-regional Economic Integration and Cooperation”, in The Arab Spring in Comparative Perspective, SSN-EuroMeSCo Joint Policy Study , Barcelona, IEMed, pp. 94-122.
Tovias, Alfred. "EU Foreign Policy on the Israeli–Palestinian Conflict: A Reevaluation." Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs 15.2 (2021): 201-216.‏
Vasconcelos, Alvaro, and George Joffé. "Towards Euro‐Mediterranean regional integration." (2000): 3-6.‏
Wajner, Daniel F., and Arie M. Kacowicz. "The quest for regional legitimation: Analyzing the Arab League’s legitimizing role in the Arab spring." Regional & Federal Studies 28.4 (2018): 489-521.‏
Zürn, Michael. 2018. A theory of global governance: Authority, legitimacy, and contestation. Oxford University Press.‏ [Introduction, pp.1-18 + Part II, 6.3, pp.137-151]

Course/Module evaluation:
End of year written/oral examination 0 %
Presentation 30 %
Participation in Tutorials 30 %
Project work 40 %
Assignments 0 %
Reports 0 %
Research project 0 %
Quizzes 0 %
Other 0 %

Additional information: