For further information please consult the course catalogue of Universität Potsdam. https://puls.uni-potsdam.de/qisserver/rds?state=verpublish&status=init&vmfile=no&publishid=84748&moduleCall=webInfo&publishConfFile=webInfo&publishSubDir=veranstaltung close

The growing public debate on the maritime environment in the 21st century, in particular with regard to global warming, has in recent years led to an increased focus on the presumed security policy implications for the entire maritime environment. Today, the maritime security policy environment is characterised more than ever by changing threats and new, different types of risks, which reflect the focus on Germany, Europe and North America. Further geopolitical tensions can be expected due to the erosion of state structures in parts of Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and Asia, increasing multipolarity and a resurgence of nationalistic tendencies in parts of the world. In the light of these security policy trends, the maritime space, as a central power and order projection area, will play a fundamental role. Threats such as classic inter-state conflicts which have direct security policy and economic consequences, for example for Germany and the EU or for NATO, cannot be completely ruled out. These are mainly characterised by border and territorial water conflicts and disputes over Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) and continue to represent a direct maritime threat scenario. In addition to clearly identifiable threats, however, indirect risks are increasingly endangering maritime security. These include maritime terrorism, political, economic, ethnic and religious sub-state conflicts and state collapse in the immediate vicinity of straits and sources of resources, as well as attacks on merchant and passenger ships by pirates, criminal groups or terrorists. Economic, energy policy and ecological developments are also increasingly threatening maritime security. Climate change, environmental destruction, illegal migration and illegal arms and drug trafficking as a form of organised crime are risks that threaten Europe and Germany indirectly or directly from the sea. The dependence of modern industrial and service societies on free sea routes, but also the increasing importance of critical infrastructures for energy production and energy sources at sea, represent a major potential for vulnerability. As a rule, this can only be countered with projection measures in the context of maritime security. The theoretical framework of the course, in order to be able to comprehensively consider the topic of maritime security and to be able to classify it in terms of political science theory, is provided by the neo-realist school of thought and spatial theory in geostrategic terms. By means of the neo-realistic approach, the actions of actors in the international system in the maritime environment will be examined. Since the maritime environment consists exclusively of spaces, mainly sea areas and coastlines, it seems to make sense to analyse these in the social science theory of space, here with the focus on geostrategic spaces. By integrating the two different theories into the context of the maritime environment, participants in the module will be enabled to grasp and describe the essential elements of the maritime environment and maritime security in the 21st century from a political science perspective. Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version) close