POLIS 2114 - Approaches in International Relations

This course provides students with the tools to enhance their understanding of the increasingly complex arena of global politics. In recent years, we have witnessed the rise of new powers (such as China), inter-state wars, global economic and political crises, rapid technological change and the growth of non-state groups, such as transnational terrorist organisations. This course prepares you to critically analyze these developments through traditional and critical approaches in the discipline of International Relations, including realism, liberalism, the English School, constructivism and post-structuralism. By using the conceptual tools provided by these approaches, students will be able to make better sense of contemporary trends in global politics. In addition, by studying these approaches, students will gain awareness of the analytical assumptions that underpin policy making and policy analysis on issues of international political concern.