MSSc in West Nordic Studies, Governance and Sustainable Management

Aim

This course will offer students an in-depth Faroese perspective of the new High North geopolitical realities facing the West Nordic Region. The course will bring relevant theories of International Relations and geopolitics in play through case studies focusing on the environment and climate. This will qualify students to work in policy, business, and education with questions of West Nordic policy and development in a changing climate.

Content

Through case studies of Faroese approaches to how the West Nordic Region is facing a new geopolitical situation of the High North, students will apply and discuss strengths and weaknesses of International Relations theories (Realism, Liberalism, Securitisation Theory, and International Practice Theory). Case studies include Arctic Council, West Nordic Council, and major powers’ military strategies). The outside-in approach is reflexively supplemented with an inside-out approach based on discussions of how the micro-societies are coping with new challenges brought about by climate change as well as the region’s ongoing challenges of regional development and distances. The course is connected to research activities at the University of the Faroe Islands.