84-326 Theories of International Relations
9 units, Carnegie Mellon University
This course introduces students to the discipline of international relations IR. In the first half of the course, students review the modern history of IR from colonialism to today and are introduced to core concepts such as the national interest, power, and international order. Students also survey a broad range of IR theories, including grand paradigms from realism to constructivism, mainstream midlevel theories that help explain global politics and aid in foreign policy analysis, as well as critical, feminist, and nonwestern IR theory. The second half of the course introduces students to the two major subfields of IR, namely security studies concerned with the causes of war and peace, the politics of alliances, etc. and international political economy concerned with the causes of protectionism and free trade, the politics of economic tools of statecraft such as foreign aid, sanctions, etc.. The course ends by considering contemporary challenges posed by armed nonstate actors, climate change, and various threats to the postWorld War II liberal international order. This course should help students to better understand the world we live in and equip students with tools for analyzing various international events and foreign policy challenges.
Prerequisites: none listed
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