From International Relations to Global Politics

The course examines the major theories of International Relations, the key sub-fields of international politics, and the current practices of global politics.

In the first part, the theories of realism, liberalism, marxism, and constructivism are studied. In the second part, the key concepts in foreign policy analysis, internetional political economy, and security studies are presented.

In the final part, the course disentagles the context of globalization, the institutional framework of global governance, and the current reality of global politics with its risks and opportunities.

The classes will be integrated with internet hang-outs centered on current events, as well as different kinds of exercises and tests.

What will I learn?

By the end of the course, the student will be able to understand critically international affairs, to analyse major international events, to interpret the position of key international players, and in the ultimate analsysis to play actively the global political game.

What do I need to know?

Basic knowledge of international history and current affairs.

Chapter 1 How to study International Relations (on key methodologies to study international affairs)

• Structure of the course: To dos
• How to explain international phenomena?
• The Westphalian World
• The origin of the discipline: idealism

Chapter 2 Realism (on the principal paradigm of IR theory)

• Anthropology and history
• Four assumptions
• State and Power
• Strategies
• Order
• Institutions and negotiations
• Geopolitics
• Justice
• Conclusions

Chapter 3 Liberalism (on the second major paradigm of IR)

• Introduction to liberalism
• Assumptions
• Democratic Peace Theory
• Interdependence and neo-liberal institutionalism
• International organizations and International regimes
• Global governance
• Integration
• Conclusions

Chapter 4 Marxism and Constructivism (on two important alternative theories)

• Marxism: Class Struggle
• Four Assumptions
• Teoria de la dependencia
• World System theory
• Neo-Gramscian Approaches
• Constructivism: The power of imagination
• Ideas, identities, interests

Chapter 5: Foreign Policy Analysis (on the first sub-field of IR)

• Instruments and determinants of foreign policy
• Models of foreign policy decision-making

Chapter 6: International Political Economy (on the second sub-field of IR)

• Inequality
• The three schools of IPE
• From the embedded liberalism to globalization

Chapter 7: Security studies (on the third sub-field of IR)

• The notion of security
• Security and strategy
• The development of war
• Models of peacebuilding

Chapter 8: Globalization and the context of global politics (on the context of today's politics)

• What is globalization?
• The future of globalization
• Conceptual maps of international affairs
• Future scenarios

Chapter 9 Global Politics (on today's politics)

• The rule of global governance
• Global politics
• Transnational civil society: nature and functions
• Public institutions-civil society interaction
• The Boomerang Effect rivisited