Programme

This course consists of in-depth study of fundamental dynamics in international politics. Following an introduction on the history and historiography of IR, the course is in three parts. Its first part engages the students in a discussion of the main theories of international relations: from realism, institutionalism, and liberalism, through the English school and constructivism, to critical theory, feminism, post-structuralism, and post-colonialism. International Political Economy and green theory are also introduced. It closes with an in-class debate on cooperation and competition in international politics.
The second part moves from theory to practice and performance of foreign policy. It looks into the games real actors play in international politics and diplomacy in an increasingly pluriverse world. Furthermore, it includes a particular section on how movies perform and influence our understanding of international politics. Students can choose among a list of movies to watch and write a short narrative analysis paper of two movies.
The third part of the course explores key topics in international politics. Students can propose topics of their interest or choose among a list of topics (world-making after decolonization, new wars and areas of limited statehood, the rise of China, the crisis of the liberal order, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the European Security Order, international politics of migration etc). Students will directly engage these issues in presentations through the theoretical and conceptual tools acquired in the first part of the course. This will also help them to frame the research question, theoretical and methodological approach of the final research paper.

Students who have taken this course will have:
• a detailed knowledge of the main theoretical and conceptual approaches to the study of international relations;
• a knowledge of current developments in world politics;
• a critical understanding of the diversity of political ideas in the study of international relations and of the political and social issues that such diversity raises;
• an ability to locate, analyze and evaluate new information and knowledge from a variety of textual sources;
• an ability to communicate their knowledge.

Core Documentation

Textbook 1: Dunne, Tim, Milya Kurki, and Steve Smith (eds), International Relations Theories. Discipline and Diversity. Oxford: Oxford University Press (4th edition, 2016)
Textbook 2: Georg Sørensen, Jørgen Møller, Robert Jackson (eds.), Introduction to International Relations: Theories and Approaches. Oxford: Oxford University Press (8th edition, 2021).

Reference Bibliography

I. For the IR Theories Part: Michael Barnett and Raymond Duvall, ‘Power in International Politics’ International Organization, Vol. 59, No. 1 (Winter, 2005), pp. 39-75. Amaya Querejazu Escobari, “Encountering the Pluriverse: Looking for Alternatives in Other Worlds,” Revista Brasileira de Política Internacional 59, no. 2 (November 1, 2016), https://doi.org/10.1590/0034-7329201600207. Martin Hollis and Steve Smith, Explaining and Understanding International Relations, (New York: Clarendon Press, 1991), Introduction. Lorenzo Kamel, “The Anthropocene. History and Legacy of the Colonial Mindset,” Perspectives on History, 2022, https://www.historians.org/research-and-publications/perspectives-on-history/september-2022/the-anthropocene-history-and-legacy-of-the-colonial-mindset. Stephen D. Krasner, ‘Structural causes and regime consequences: regimes as intervening variables’, International Organization, 1982, vol. 36, issue 02, 185-205. Andrew Linklater, ‘The English School Conception of International Society: Reflections on Western and non-Western Perspectives’, Ritsumeikan Annual Review of International Studies, 2010, Vol. 9, pp. 1-13. Andrew Moravcsik, “Taking Preferences Seriously: A Liberal Theory of International Politics,” International Organization 51, no. 4 (ed 1997): 513–53, https://doi.org/10.1162/002081897550447. Hans Morgenthau, ‘Politics Among Nations: The Struggle for Power and Peace’ (McGraw-Hill: 1948), Chapter 1. Melanie Richter-Montpetit, “Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Sex (in IR) But Were Afraid to Ask: The ‘Queer Turn’ in International Relations,” Millennium 46, no. 2 (January 1, 2018): 220–40, https://doi.org/10.1177/0305829817733131. Iver B. Neumann and Ole Jacob Sending, “`The International’ as Governmentality,” Millennium 35, no. 3 (September 1, 2007): 677–701, https://doi.org/10.1177/03058298070350030201. Robert Putnam. “Diplomacy and Domestic Politics: The logic of Two-Level Games”, International Organization, Vol. 42 (1), 1988, pp. 15-32. Edward W. Said, Orientalism, (New York: Vintage Books, 1988), Introduction. J. David Singer, “The Level-of-Analysis Problem in International Relations,” World Politics 14, no. 1 (October 1961): 77–92, https://doi.org/10.2307/2009557. Kenneth M. Waltz, ‘Theory of International Politics’ (Waveland Press: 1979), Chapters 5-6. Alexander Wendt, “Anarchy is What States Make of It: the Social Construction of Power Politics” in International Organization, Vol. 46, No. 2 (Spring, 1992), pp. 391-425. Wolff, S., Gazsi, D., Huber, D. and Fisher-Onar, N. 202s. “How to Reflexively Decentre EU Foreign Policy: Dissonance and Contrapuntal Reconstruction in Migration, Religious and Neighbourhood Governance,” JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies 60 (6): 1611–28, https://doi.org/10.1111/jcms.13335. II For the Movie Analysis Part: Robert W. Gregg, 1998. “International Relations on Film” Lynne Rienner Publishers. Chapter 1: Understanding International Relations: The Role of Film. Klaus Dodds and Jean Carter. 2014. “International Politics and Film. Space, Vision, Power” Columbia University Press. Chapter 1: Film and International Politics. Cynthia Weber. 2013. "International Relations Theory: A Critical Introduction" Routledge, 2013. Introduction. III For the Presentations Part: Emanuel Adler, 1997. “Imagined (Security) Communities: Cognitive Regions in International Relations,” Millennium, 26 (2): 249–77, https://doi.org/10.1177/03058298970260021101. Alexander Betts, “The International Politics of Migration,” St Antony’s International Review 6 (2) (2011): 134–50. Adom Getachew, 2019. Worldmaking after Empire: The Rise and Fall of Self-Determination. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, Introduction. Allison Graham, 2015. “The Thucydides Trap: Are the U.S. and China Headed for War?”, The Atlantic, https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/09/united-states-china-war-thucydides-trap/406756/ Raymond Hinnebusch, 2007. “The US Invasion of Iraq: Explanations and Implications,” Critique: Critical Middle Eastern Studies 16 (3), pp. 209–28, https://doi.org/10.1080/10669920701616443. Mary Kaldor, 2013. “In Defence of New Wars”, Stability: International Journal of Security and Development, 2(1), http://doi.org/10.5334/sta.at David Lake, Lisa Martin, and Thomas Risse, 2021. “Challenges to the Liberal Order: Reflections on International Organization,” International Organization 75 (2): 225–57, https://doi.org/10.1017/S0020818320000636. Maria Mälksoo, “The Memory Politics of Becoming European: The East European Subalterns and the Collective Memory of Europe,” European Journal of International Relations 15, no. 4 (2009): 653–80. IV For the Research Paper: Laura Roselle, Sharon Spray, and Joel T. Shelton, Research and Writing in International Relations, 3rd ed. (New York: Routledge, 2019).

Type of delivery of the course

Classes will consist of lectures on major theories and topics, as well as methodologies for deep learning, including in-class debates, simulations, surveys, documentaries etc. Discussions will focus on the analysis of key theoretical paradigms in international relations and on their application to selected case studies. Students will be expected to do the required readings, keep abreast of current affairs, participate in class, and prepare a group presentation, as well as a short narrative analysis paper of two movies and a substantive final research paper.

Type of evaluation

Assessment for the course will be based upon: a) Class participation which consists of regular participation in debates in class that will count for 20% and one in-class debates that will each count for 20% of the final grade (40% of the final grade), b) a short narrative analysis paper of two movies (15% of the final grade), c) a (group) presentation (15% of the final grade), d) a substantive final research paper (30% of the grade of the final grade).