Expand your knowledge of the political, social and economic processes that influence contemporary Europe. Europe has been a center of international power for centuries, and its individual nations continue to wield significant global influence. The continent has undergone profound political and economic transformations in the last half-century that include the emergence of the European Union (EU), whose institutions link 27 nations. Despite these developments, Europe remains very much an idea in progress and a reality under construction. Some of the areas where we see this reality contested include challenges with continued expansion of the EU to include additional countries, transnational migration, monetary integration, and competing political ideologies.
The future of Europe includes some major challenges, including the integration of new member states as the European Union expands, issues related to transnational migrations and trafficking, the difficulties of the Euro-Zone and monetary union, and the rise of competing ideologies, particularly far-right political parties.