Introduction to International Relations

Thomas Biersteker

E037 | Autumn | 6ECTS
 

Major intellectual contributions to international relations during the past century will be placed in their historical contexts, and the emergence of challenges and new theoretical syntheses will be examined in this course. Theories about international security and international political economy will be given particular attention, but the formation of political community (at the sub-national, national, regional, global, and transnational levels) and global environmental issues will also be considered.

The course will proceed through the past century in approximate chronological order, beginning with the inheritance at the end of the nineteenth century and continuing through 1990s efforts to define the post Cold War period. It will conclude with a discussion of the post-September 11 world and consider contemporary debates about power transition and global governance.