Course Leader: Aliaksei Kazharski
Home Institution: Comenius University, Bratislava (Slovakia)
The course introduces the students to major contemporary ways of theorizing international relations and world politics. Each theory is examined in a nexus with a specific empirical phenomenon (regional integration, international law, nuclear arms, etc.) to stimulate the student’s analytical facilities.
Upon completing the course, the students should be able to explain and critically discuss the main arguments and concepts in the contemporary IR-theoretical debate. They should also be to use these concepts to analzye major phenomena and problems of international politics, such as nuclear deterrence, international institutions and regimes or regional (European) integration and its obstacles. Additionally, the students should improve their critical thinking and debating skills.
Session 1. Theorizing international law
Session 2. War, hegemony, and the rise of China: offensive realism
Session 3. Nuclear arms and deterrence: strategic realism and game theory
Session 4. Domestic politics and foreign policies: neoclassical realism
Session 5. International institutions and regimes: liberalism and rational choice theory
Session 6. Theorizing regional integration. Neofunctionalism, intergovernmentalism, Postfunctionalism
Session 7. Non-governmental organizations and international humanitarian aid: neo-institutionalist organizational theory
Session 8. National interest, identity and recognition: “a narrative theory of action” (social constructivism
Session 9. Critical perspectives on international security. Securitization theory
Session 10. Borders, spaces and regions: post-structuralism and critical geopolitics
Individual work (reading the original texts)
Lectures, using Power Point and audiovisuals (short videos)
Seminar questions and discussions: individual questions to check the understanding of basic concepts and notions; in-group discussions analyzing an empirical phenomenon or/and a practical policy matter and providing policy advise and solutions
Group vs. group debate defending/refuting a particular thesis about international politics
Popular culture (thematic movies and sitcoms)
[All course materials will be provided by the lecturer in the electronic form well ahead of the course]
Abbot K. W. et al. (2000) The Concept of Legalization. International Organization: 54
(3), 401-419
Reus-Smit, C. The politics of international law. In: Reus-Smit, C. (ed.) The Politics of
International Law. Cambridge University Press, 2004: 14-24
Gurowitz, A. International law, politics, and migrant rights. In: Reus-Smit, C. (ed.) The
Politics of International Law. Cambridge University Press, 2004: 131-150
Mearsheimer, J. The Tragedy of Great Power Politics. W.W. Norton&Company, 2001:
1-54, 138-167, 267-272, 288-304
Quackenbush S.L. Understanding General Deterrence. Theory and Application. Palgrave
Macmillan, 2011: 1-20 (Chapter 1)
Thomas Schelling. The art of commitment. In: Schelling T.C. Arms and Influence. Yale
University Press, 2008: 35-92
Coleman D.G. & J.M. Siracusa. Real-World Nuclear Deterrence: The Making of
International Strategy. Praeger Security International, 2006: 19-43 (Chapter 2), 45-53
(Chapter 3), 55-72 (Chapter 4)
Schweller R.L. Unanswered Threats. Political Constraints on the Balance of Power.
Princeton University Press, 2008: 1-21, 69-84, 103-130
Keohane, R.O. (1998) International institutions: can interdependence work? In: Keohane
R.O. (ed.). Power and Governance in a Partially Globalized World. Routledge, 2002:
27-38
Keohane, R.O. (1990) International liberalism reconsidered. In: Keohane R.O. (ed.).
Power and Governance in a Partially Globalized World. Routledge, 2002: 39-62
Keohane, R.O. After Hegemony. Cooperation and Discord in the World Political
Economy. Princeton University Press, 1984: 65-109 (Chapter 5-6)
Braun, M. 2019. Postfunctionalism, Identity and the Visegrad Group. Journal of Common
Market Studies. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcms.12994
Schimmelfennig, F. Regional Integration Theory. Oxford Research Encyclopaedia of
Politics. Oxford University Press, 2018
March J.G. & J.P. Olsen. (1998) The Institutional Dynamics of International Political
Orders. International Organization, 52: 4, 943-969
Heyse, L. (2013) Tragic Choices in Humanitarian Aid: A Framework of Organizational
Determinants of NGO Decision Making. Voluntas, 24:68–92
Ossewaarde R. et al. (2008). Dynamics of NGO legitimacy: how organizing betrays core
missions of NGOs. Public Administration and Development, 28: 42-53
The students will be assessed based on their preparedness for class (i.e., being able to comment on the required readings) and their participation during lectures and seminars. Depending on the actual size of the class, the students will be asked to answer one or more questions during the seminar discussions to check their understanding of the basic arguments and concepts. The students are also required to participate in group seminar discussions and presentations, and in group-to-group debates (see above).
The course contains no final exam.