International Studies

This course overviews the challenges and opportunities for the international community in contemporary Africa. Taught by a former ambassador with wide Africa experience, the course exposes students to the major themes in the world's interactions with Africa, ranging from humanitarian intervention to economic opportunity, from struggles against terrorism and instability to great power competition. The course is intended for future practitioners in diplomacy, business, or media with an interest in Africa and more widely for those seeking to understand global engagement with a great continent.

This course examines the modern origins and development of foreign aid. Specifically, it analyzes foreign aid administered by Western countries and transferred to developing countries, primarily in the Global South. Starting with the Marshall Plan, and the American transfer of funds to Europe, Western countries, post WW2, developed mechanisms for public financial transfers (i.e. state or IGO to state or substate) initially to allied countries and soon thereafter to industrializing countries and poor countries. Under the guise of “aid”, this relationship has mostly been considered interest-based rather than philanthropic. The course is centered around five central questions on the topic of foreign aid: 1. Who gives foreign aid? 2. Why give foreign aid? 3. Who benefits from foreign aid? 4. Does foreign aid cause more harm than good? 5. If economic restorative justice is the objective of foreign aid, are there alternative policies that can better accomplish these goals? In this context we examine the evolution of foreign aid in a post-WW2 global context: first, during the Cold War, and then during its aftermath. Central to the discussion, the course considers the economic impact of globalization on developing countries; the root causes of poverty and ways to reduce it; and the nature of North-South relations and neocolonialism. It studies issues animating foreign aid policy parameters and how these issues have changed. A focus on themes such as trade, immigration, human/gender rights, and climate change, illuminates the shifting nature of “aid.” The focus is on the methods and motivation of Western countries – examining “soft power” and the role of foreign aid in overall foreign policy of countries that administer it. Finally, the course examines the potential spread of aid as a tool for influence as it is adopted by new state actors (e.g. BRICS, China).

This course provides an introduction to the study of International Political Economy (IPE). IPE is a field of research that combines the study of politics and economics, exploring both domestic and international factors that impact preferences, behaviors, and policies relating to economic globalization. The course covers major topics of inquiry within IPE such as the politics and policies relating to international trade, international investment, and international finance. Students are introduced to theoretical and empirical research analyzing each topic covered.