In the Jean Monnet Chair in External Economic Relations of the European Union at Freie Universität Berlin we explore policy challenges and provide informed research output on issues of international economic relations and comparative development within the regional contexts of the EU Eastern Partnership and the EU Southern Neighborhood. We draw special attention to the international economic relations of the European Union with post-Soviet Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean. We investigate the importance of international monetary relations, development aid, and globalization in those regions. Furthermore, we analyze the role of historical legacies in economic development as well as the economic aspects of cultural diversity and migration between the EU and the countries of the EU Eastern Partnership and EU Southern Neighborhood. Our students are integrated into the Jean Monnet Chair project through research-oriented learning activities, such as designing independent research projects and obtaining extensive fieldwork experience. They develop their EU expertise in combination with their area studies knowledge of Eastern Europe and the Caucasus or Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East. We have excellent academic relations with partner universities such as the Kyiv School of Economics and the Odesa National University I.I.Mechnikov in Ukraine, Tbilisi State University and Ilia State University in Georgia as well as the American University of Beirut and the Lebanese-American University in Lebanon. These collaborations are fundamental for the development of our research and teaching objectives.