Syllabus
Syllabus 2023/2024 1. Introduction (5.10.2023)
Themes: Course schedule and requirements 2. How to understand state behavior?/1920s (12.10.2023)
Discussion: theories of international relations; foresight in international affairs
Mandatory readings:
Snyder, J. (2004). One World, Rival Theories. Foreign Policy, 145, 53–62.
OR
Walt, S. M. (1998). International Relations: One World, Many Theories. Foreign Policy, 110, 29–46. 3. Global orders/1930s (19.10.2023)
Discussion: How and when are orders formed and by whom? What constitutes an “order” and what are the main characteristics of the liberal international order? What are the alternatives to the current order?
Mandatory reading:
Ikenberry, G. John, 'The Rise, Character, and Evolution of International Order', in Orfeo Fioretos, Tulia G. Falleti, and Adam Sheingate (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Historical Institutionalism (Oxford Academic: 2016). 4. International trade (wars)/1940s (26.10.2023)
Discussion: Spillovers of domestic economic crises; global economic crises; trading blocs and supply chains; the Great Depression; the financial crisis of 2008; tariffs
Mandatory reading:
Chase, Kerry A. “Imperial Protection and Strategic Trade Policy in the Interwar Period.” Review of International Political Economy 11, no. 1 (2004): 177–203. 5. Territorial disputes/1950s (2.11.2023)
Discussion: borders; spheres of influence; border arbitrations; minorities; South China Sea; the Arctic; Helsinki Acts
Mandatory reading:
Beck, R. J. (1989). Munich’s Lessons Reconsidered. International Security, 14(2), 161–191. 6. (De)colonization/1960s (9.11.2023)
Discussion: colonialism new and old – neocolonialism; dependency; world-system analysis; trusteeship; resource exploitation; development aid
Mandatory reading:
Jeremy Friedman, “Soviet policy in the developing world and the Chinese challenge in the 1960s ”, Cold War History 10 (2), 2010: 247-272. 7. Interventions/1970s (16.11.2023)
Discussion: proxy wars; Cold War conflicts – Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan; current conflicts – Syria, Yemen, Ukraine
Mandatory reading:
Rafael Reuveny and Aseem Prakash, “The Afghanistan war and the breakdown of the Soviet Union”, Review of International Studies 25, 1999: 693-708. 8. Transitions/1980s (23.11.2023)
Discussion: democratization; authoritarianism; elections; executive aggrandizement
Mandatory reading:
Jay Ulfelder, “Democratic transitions” in Haynes, J (ed.), Routledge Handbook of Democratization (Routledge 2011).
Douglas Brinkley, “Democratic Enlargement: The Clinton Doctrine”, Foreign Policy 106, Spring 1997: 110-128. 9. Status/1990s (30.11.2023)
Discussion: soft power; sports and health diplomacy; respect and recognition in IR
Mandatory reading:
Larson, Deborah Welch, and Alexei Shevchenko. “Status Seekers: Chinese and Russian Responses to U.S. Primacy.” International Security 34, no. 4 (2010): 63–95. 10. Hegemony/2000s (7.12.2023)
Discussion: power transition; revisionism; hegemonic stability; rogue states; terrorism
Mandatory reading:
Michael Beckley; The Peril of Peaking Powers: Economic Slowdowns and Implications for China's Next Decade. International Security 2023; 48 (1): 7–46. 11. International organizations/2010s (14.12.2023)
Discussion: multilateralism; unilateralism; peacekeeping; collective defense; alliances; Responsibility to protect
Mandatory reading:
Winther, Bjarke Zinck. “A Review of the Academic Debate about United Nations Security Council Reform”, The Chinese Journal of Global Governance 6, 1 (2020): 71-101. 12. The future and the “world state”/2020s (21.12.2023)
Discussion: Brainstorming and wrap-up session - the next decades and international relations
Mandatory reading: Wendt, A. (2003). Why a World State is Inevitable. European Journal of International Relations, 9(4), 491–542.
NOTE: All texts available in this syllabus are for study purposes of this course only. They are protected by copyright and must not be further distributed.
Annotation
The end of World War I presented an opportunity to rebuild the foundations of interstate relations and international law. However, the new order fell apart even before its merits could have been discovered in practice.
The interwar period thus presented a rather chaotic attempt to implement the rule of law in international relations and bring stability to the otherwise frustrated nations that felt belittled in the war’s aftermath. The unsettled border issues that left national minorities dispersed across Europe, protectionist trading blocs and expansionist political ideologies led the world into another great war with catastrophic consequences.
The attempt to rebuild the global order was launched even before WWII ended, but – again – its full operation was hindered by the emerging bipolarity. The Cold War presented an unprecedented era of ideological competition and rivalry, which manifested itself in proxy warfare and the maintenance of satellite states, alliances and even “empires” by the two major powers.
The revolutionary momentum of the end of the 1980s in Eastern Europe caught the United States by surprise and permitted Washington to face its “unipolar moment” and promote its version of global cooperation based on multilateralism and democracy. The hegemonic position of the US was further amplified in its post-9/11 War on Terror, but at the same time it was increasingly challenged by rising powers with revisionist attitudes.
Over 100 years since the end of WWI, the state of international relations is still in flux – the geopolitical impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, the increasingly inward-facing US foreign policy and China’s global ambitions signify that the international system is still evolving and requires a notable level of expertise and analysis to understand its contours and implications for global stability and peace.