International Studies

The course provides students with knowledge of the major theories and approaches to the analysis of international relations. In order to do so, it will focus on the structure of the international system, the dynamics of cooperation and conflict in the international arena, and the evolution of war in international politics. At the end of the course, students are able to distinguish the key factors underpinning cooperation and conflict in world politics and to use the major theories in international relations to understand contemporary international political phenomena. 

The course introduces students to the main theoretical traditions in international relations, including realism, liberalism, constructivism, the English School, and critical approaches to IR. It explores how these traditions conceptualize power, security, interests, institutions, and ideas, and how they contribute to our understanding of international politics. Students engage with the core theories of the discipline, such as balance of power, hegemonic stability, institutionalism, democratic peace, and capitalist peace. The course also examines the constructivist emphasis on norms and identity, the English School’s analyses of the evolution of the international order, as well as critical IR perspectives, which challenge mainstream theories by highlighting issues of inequality and colonialism.

This course analyzes the structures and functions of international public law using the methodological and theoretical tools of political economy. Rather than treating law as an autonomous system of norms, the course interrogates how legal regimes emerge, operate, and evolve in relation to power, interests, and material structures at the international level. We examine how legal frameworks reflect and institutionalize global distributions of power, economic interdependence, and the strategic behavior of states and non-state actors. Topics include sovereignty, trade, development, human rights, investment law, and environmental regimes, with a focus on power asymmetries, institutional design, and enforcement. Adopting a political economy approach to analyzing law - and public international law in particular - has a number of analytical, critical and empirical advantages. It highlights underlying power relationships; the political economy approach enables one to understand who writes law, for whose benefit, and in what structural context (imperialism, capitalism, inter-state rivalry).

This course provides a comprehensive understanding of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their critical role in shaping global development. It provides the knowledge and skills necessary to critically analyze, evaluate, and contribute to the progress towards these goals, particularly within the context of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). It prepares students for a range of professional roles where understanding and facilitating sustainable development is key.

This introductory course explores the current role and relevance of international negotiation and examines its interaction with global governance. It is an invitation to enhance the use of certain analytical and investigative methods while deepening key concepts and theoretical approaches of political science. Combining theory, practice, experienced negotiators' insights and case studies, the course delves into the everyday reality of the international negotiations to grasp their diversity and coherence. Grounded in current international affairs, it invites students to engage in debates on the present and future use of international negotiation.

This course examines key international relations (IR) theories—Westphalian and Asian Global International Society (GIS)—questioning their relevance to Central and South Asia. It critically assesses whether traditional theories like Realism, Liberalism, and Constructivism, alongside non-Western perspectives (Chinese, Indian, and Islamic), adequately explain the region's geopolitical and security challenges. The course analyzes China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), shifting security architectures, and post-NATO Afghanistan, highlighting tensions between theory and reality. Through problem-driven analysis, it challenges assumptions about how Western and Asian GIS traditions interpret state behavior and power shifts. The course explores whether regionalism and security complexes shape international interactions in ways overlooked by mainstream IR. Can existing theories fully capture China's strategic ambitions and evolving security dynamics? Engaging with these debates, students gain a broad understanding of IR across different GIS traditions and critically examine the gaps between theory and practice in this geopolitically significant region.

This course explores the relationship between Japan and East Asia from both historical and contemporary perspectives. 

This course examines Thailand through the perspective of its military experience from past to present. It introduces students to various aspects of Thailand within the realm of conflict from its military history to its strategic culture. As such, the course adopts a multidisciplinary approach, encouraging students to look at Thailand from a range of disciplines whether it is history, politics, or international relations. Though it may be helpful, no prior knowledge or experience will be assumed. Students are expected to develop the ability to manage and analyze potentially complex and challenging issues through the use of evidence and theories, and be able to communicate them in both oral and literary manner.

Rarely a day passes without the media reporting on violent uprisings, military coups, international interventions, suicide bombings, drone attacks, and civilian casualties all over the world. In conflict studies, these events are often discussed using a range of concepts such as ‘civil war’, ‘protracted social conflict’, ‘invasions’, and ’terrorism’. Despite this proliferation of terms, clarifying the complexity of violent conflict in the 21st century remains a challenging task. Rather than choosing one of these labels, this course presents a variety of theoretical approaches that aim to understand why and how different actors resort to violence in internationalized intrastate conflict. Each of these theories use different analytical categories to study different aspect of the phenomena under investigation. The course respectively focuses on the non-state, state, paramilitary, and international actor. This course teaches conflict analysis to help understand, and explain to others, the complex array of actors, interests, and dynamics involved in the violent conflicts we see around the world today. Throughout the course, address pressing issues in contemporary warfare like: How are terrorist and insurgency organizations able to mobilize people towards violent action? Why do states deploy starvation and sieges as a weapon of war in response?  Why do states outsource violence to paramilitaries? How and why do international actors forge transnational alliances to intervene in theatres of war? The course focuses on a broad range of contemporary case studies, such as Afghanistan, Israel-Palestine, Ukraine, Syria, Iraq, Ethiopia, and Nagorno-Karabakh. Collectively, grappling with these different layers of analysis in isolation and in relation to one another and different case studies sharpen your conceptual and analytical capacities greatly. This course is essential for those who plan to participate in upcoming courses of the Conflict Studies minor. Entrance requirements include at least 45 EC for the category 1 (Bachelor Introductory).

This course is tailored for undergraduate students majoring in international studies who seek to understand the foundations of international trade law and policy. It offers a comprehensive overview of the global trading system and prepares students for careers in trade-related fields within both business and public sectors. Students learn about key topics such as anti-dumping measures and subsidy/ countervailing duty cases, equipping them with practical skills for the private sector. Additionally, the course introduces the crucial relationship between public policy and law, making it an excellent starting point for those considering advanced studies or a Ph.D. in international trade law and policy. Topics include Non-discrimination: Most-Favored-Nation, Non-discrimination: National Treatment Principles, Tariffs, Quotas and Non-Tariff Barriers, Escape Clauses, Safeguards and Adjustment Policies, Regulation of Dumping, Subsidies in International Trade, Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measure, Technical Barriers to Trade, Trade in Services, and Regional Trading Agreement.