the international relation course

the international relation course

Exploring the Dynamics of International Relations: A Comprehensive Course Guide

1. Introduction to International Relations

Curriculum topics: Students who successfully complete IIR will understand the basic concepts, methods, and theories of international relations, as well as some of the essential history and enduring issues about the subject. IIR course will generally be focused on recent issues related to international relations. While contemporary issues will be a thematic undercurrent throughout the semester, this course will not be organized chronologically or regionally in the manner of traditional global studies or world history courses. Our subject is the system-level set of political and economic relationships that is commonly called international relations. International relations is about both what goes on among countries and what does not. Our approach, as reflected by applications, will strike some as being philosophically “idiosyncratic,” but we see it as clarifying some long-standing problems that detract from the scientific inquiry into our collective future.

Course objectives: This introductory course provides a general grounding in the core concepts, methods, and theories of international relations (IR). Structure of the course: There are three main tasks in the building blocks of our course: to identify some of the key practical aspects of the subject, so that methodological questions get a reality check, and to build an approach that sees issue-linkages between supposedly different aspects of the global power relationship. Students: Several years of teaching and advising have taught the authors that a relatively open class discussion works very slowly with a roomful of people who aren’t up to speed on the discussion. We think that everyone (not just the two or three who might be misleading themselves about their skill level) can learn something from thinking about the empirical dimensions of IR intelligence analysis.

2. Key Theories and Concepts in International Relations

The dynamics of these issues are intensifying with time. Rapid technological change, the buildup of pollution and demographic pressures, socio-economic and socio- and ethnic or religious cleavage, and so on, are all strengthening the tangible and intangible bonds that link distant countries, while the traditional, territorial bonds decay or fracture. The more problems that are shared, the more significant coordinated state behavior for the stock of welfare; the less the international arena is structured; the more likely the problems will be solved by force.

A broader range of states, a number of which are non-European. As a result, so-called great issues – the equilibrium of Europe, the balance of power, the logic of the alliance and multipolar diplomacy, and so on – must also be set aside in favor of other disputes, values and norms, regimes and gravity models, and so on. Some of this work is heavily comparative, including the need to ameliorate the dynamics of ethnic warfare.

State behavior. Traditionally, work in this area has dealt with the nature and consequences of war and the suspect ability of peace. While the prolonged peace that obtains on the globe per force amplifies the significance of this framework, students want to know about the dynamics of international conflict.

International relations includes:

One of the reasons international relations is such a particularly interesting field of study is because it addresses the dynamics of a set of interdependent countries and non-state entities (nationalist movements, religious organizations, multinational business firms, labor movements, and so on) within a web of legal, moral, economic, and strategic considerations. The major actors are of course states, which control the globe, but the context is influenced by the others as well. Foreign policy, international law, and international organization are crucial subsets of the field. Moreover, because of the perilousness of nations and because of the impact that they have on the lives of everyone, we want to study the process of war and peace, as well as the prospect for the stability of the meanest international order possible. Four elements (security, power, national interest, and morality), two images (man as a social being, the state as a moral actor), and an interlocking set of theories (realism, idealism, and so on) are traditional features of the broader landscape.

3. Major Actors and Institutions in the Global Arena

As we seek answers to these questions, it is important to identify the many different constituent elements of these categories and the different layers and subcategories in which they appear on the global, regional and domestic scenes. The relationships in which these entities engage often shape politics and social interactions both within and between states and societies. Therefore, the final aim of this section is to provide the tools for unfolding these complex interactions in various domains. We will focus first on the classic ideas outlined in and by Realism, Liberalism and Constructivism, which are then used as a prism for viewing the dynamics of international institutions today – in the areas of security, trade and finance, and human rights.

This section will focus on exploring the following empirical questions: Who are the most important actors proclaimed by different theories and in which domains of international relations do these actors exert a significant influence? Additionally, how have they evolved over time? In practical terms, how should we measure power and influence in the international system and is it right to refer and think only of states as the primary – or even the only – actors influencing the international stage? In other words, should we consider non-state political and social actors as fundamental or even primary determinants of international relations? Finally, which institutions are relevant in shaping the dynamics of international relations and how do they interact with international relations?

4. Critical Issues and Contemporary Challenges in International Relations

In this course, students are trained to think dispassionately about the following dimensions of international relations and armed with the knowledge to distinguish between polemic and professional analysis. The core questions asked are what are the sources of consensus among the practitioners of international relations as a field of study, and what are the major debates within the field among and between competing theoretical schools. The great dilemmas of international relations, debates about balance of power, economic and security interdependence, and unilateralism vs. multilateral cooperation are also seriously and rigorously contemplated. Peace emerges as a distinct concept, sometimes practiced for its own sake but normally practiced as an instrument for other policy ends. But how peace is to be defined, maintained, and secured? These are explored here.

M1S2: Why do states behave in certain ways, and how did the international system come to function as it does? Is international politics simply the extension of domestic politics, or is it entirely different? In the context of a relative anarchical international system, is cooperation among states possible or not possible? How do international economic relations influence international politics? What is the source of war, and how does it relate to the overall stability of the system? Why do some great power hegemons become overextended and sag as a system instead of managing it? How do ideas and institutions shape the decisions of states? How does the international relations theory explain the contemporary world?

5. Case Studies and Analysis in International Relations

Unit III: War and International Relations Competitive Security Strategies Deterrence Deterrence: Drug Trafficking Deterrence: Proliferation of Weapons Defense and Alliance Treaty Strategy Offensive Strategies Economic Security Technology and Military Power Conventional Forces Bio-Chemical Warfare Nuclear Strategy The Forging of Dominance: Nuclear Proliferation The Superpowers and Dominance The National Interest in Nuclear War The National Interest and Use of Nuclear Forces Mutual Assured Destruction Preemption First Strike Capability Second-Strike War Gaming—The Search for an Equilateral Triangle A Nuclear Response Theory Guerrilla Warfare Revolutionary Warfare—Guatemala, Russia, China Early Security Strategies: Fidel Castro in Cuba

Unit II: The Management of Power Relations Realist Theory—An Analytical Perspective Realist Premises Realist Reasoning Other Factors Affecting the National Interest National Power Diplomacy and International Relations The Concept of Diplomacy: The Literature and Philosophy of Diplomacy The Origins and Development of Diplomacy Diplomacy in the Twentieth Century Contemporary Views of Diplomacy—Mirror On The World A Definition: Diplomacy Is … Vietnam and Diplomacy

Unit I: The Nature of International Relations International Relations Analysis Theories of International Relations Key Concepts State, National Interest, and the National Interest of the United States Individual and the state Society and the state Political Authority and the State The State as Actor Uniqueness of the National Interest of the United States The National Interest Morality and the State Louis Henkin’s Concept of the National Interest American Political Culture A Nation of Nations? The National Character

Course Content

The major world problems and issues increasingly transcend the boundaries of states and force upon the latter the need for increased cooperation among them to their mutual benefit. However, many states lack the experience, knowledge, and leadership required to forge a framework of cooperation on issues involving vast implications of political, economic, and moral security. This course aimed to acquaint students with some of the more pressing issues confronting the international society today and to enhance understanding of how international relations analysis can help in the pursuit of effective statecraft inherent in the field of international relations theory. For this purpose, the course encouraged through instruction, examples, and testing the application of concepts, paradigms, and axioms by developing a framework for analyzing the claims presented in brief articles, newspapers, journal articles, and television documentaries.

Course Objectives