International Relations (2097)

(février 2022)

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS IN THE 20th & 21st CENTURIES

Professor Jennifer Merchant

Our world has entered a period of significant change. Increasing global economic integration has led to tremendous wealth for some of the world’s inhabitants, yet most of the world’s population lives under vulnerable and uncertain economic conditions. Terrorist attacks throughout the world are painful reminders of the sometimes violent nature of world politics. World leaders must confront a number of enduring problems: environmental degradation, chronic underdevelopment in Sub-Saharan Africa, global hunger and malnourishment, failed states, increased global migration, and entrenched cultural and religious animosity, among other pressing issues.

Serving as an introductory course in international relations, this class will attempt to bring meaning to the modern world through the study of political events, phenomena, and processes which occur beyond the territorial boundaries of the modern state. The course is designed to provide students with the analytical tools and intellectual frameworks needed to understand the behavior of states and other actors in contemporary world politics.

We will first explore the definition(s) of international relations, then move on to the major theoretical approaches to international relations. We will then apply these approaches to address a variety of issues : for example, the rise of the modern state system, the origins of World War I and World War 2, the Cold War and its ramifications, the Gulf and Iraq Wars, genocide in Rwanda, free trade, globalization, North-South relations, the environment, human rights, and the "new" Cold War among others. The primary aim of this course is to familiarize students with some important issues in international politics; and most important, to help students evaluate contemporary issues in international politics.