This textbook is designed for students taking a university degree in International Relations (IR), European Studies (ES) and Political Science (PS) at Bulgarian universities, including the University of National and World Economy (UNWE). Another potential target group of users are students majoring in journalism, law or management who need to understand and express key concepts in politics, economics and international relations. Students with an advanced level of proficiency in English will gain most benefit from this textbook. The latter has been graded as advanced level, considering that a basic prerequisite for enrollment in the bachelor’s degree course in the abovementioned major academic courses is B2-C1 level. Hence the central aim of the book is to contribute to developing and expanding students’ linguistic knowledge and skills so that the level necessary be reached to meet the requirements of the Cambridge Advanced English (CAE) test, equivalent to C1–C2 level of the Common European Framework (CEF) of the Council of Europe. Furthermore, this textbook aims to help students improve their communicative competence and raise their cultural awareness in a wide range of professional settings. Such settings presumably include international conferences and multilateral meetings, to mention but a few, where professionals are expected to communicate in English with both confidence and accuracy.
In terms of content, the focus is on international affairs, current events and technical documents such as reports, regulations and legislation. Students will read and discuss different materials in the aforementioned discourses, which involves studying terms and concepts in the specific field, so that they become fully aware of how the selected texts should be appropriately used in various contexts relevant to diplomacy and international politics.