International Relations and World Politics

Catalog description

This course provides a comprehensive introduction to the study of international relations, core concepts and key theories of world politics. Presented in this course are foundational ideas for understanding major historical and contemporary events in world politics, the behavior of states, and their relationship to the global order. This course prepares students to interpret world politics through analysis of particular trends, patterns, crises and global change. The chronic nature of war and ceaseless search for peace are considered, exploring how twentieth century historical events contribute to the twenty-first century nature of international relations. Politics and economics are also considered, focusing on economic relations among advanced post-industrial economies and issues of development of non-western nations, emphasizing the Global South. The role of post-colonial legacies and the failure of states is an important theme of the course. Additional topics include critical and emerging analyses that imagine possible future systems of international relations; imperialism; cold war politics and its legacies; national security theory including deterrence and the role of international political and monetary organizations in world politics.