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.