International Studies

This course examines the critical role of emotions in international relations. The first part provides a foundational understanding of emotions, focusing on their social and political dimensions. It explores the concepts of group and collective emotions, shedding light on how emotions operate at the societal level. The second part of the course delves into the role of emotions in intergroup conflicts. It analyzes how emotions such as hatred and fear can escalate conflicts, while emotions like empathy and collective guilt can facilitate reconciliation and conflict resolution. The final part explores the influence of emotions on contemporary global issues. This includes their role in the rise of populism and their impact on collective responses to climate change. Through this comprehensive approach, students gain a deeper understanding of how emotions shape international dynamics and global challenges. The course is graded on a pass/fail basis only.

International organizations are created and expected to provide solutions whenever governments face transnational challenges, such as international and civil wars, humanitarian emergencies, flows of refugees, outbreaks of infectious diseases, climate change, financial market instability, sovereign debt crises, trade protectionism, and the development of poorer countries. But their role in world politics is controversial. Some perceive them as effective and legitimate alternatives to unilateral state policies. Others regard them as fig leaves for the exercise of power by dominant states. Others yet are regularly disappointed by the gap between the lofty aspirations and their actual performance in addressing global problems, and want to know the causes of that gap. While some commentators tend to lump all international organizations together, in reality the functioning, power, and effectiveness of international organisations differ widely – across organisations, issues, regions, and over time.

This course has been developed through an exciting international collaboration with seven institutions across the UK and Europe. Teaching content has been designed by international experts in various fields of cultural competence, linguistics, and translation/interpreting. Each week, the course tackles a theoretical and practical aspect of multilingualism and multiculturalism, in the context of topical issues, such as generative AI, climate change, democracy, global health, equality and diversity, and civic responsibilities. Having a second or third language can be an advantage, but the course does not require students to be multilingual. The course develops cultural competency in the context of multiculturalism and multilingualism (M&M), particularly through learning from translation and interpreting studies in the age of artificial intelligence to provide students with an essential understanding of the topic and the skills to learn to effectively navigate the complexity of M&M in real-world situations. to challenge students to go beyond the recognition of the coexistence of cultures and languages, by actively engaging them in discussions centered around democracy, climate change, and global health.

This course examines the problems and possibilities of peace operations conducted by the United Nations. From a small number of traditional peacekeeping missions (PK) throughout the Cold War that helped to bring peace and security to some war torn regions, to a huge growth in the number of peacekeeping missions undertaken by the UN in the early 1990s, just after the Cold War ended, that included aggressive humanitarian intervention, democracy building, and peacemaking among other goals, there is much to be learned from these numerous peace operations, each with elements of success and failure.

This course develops students' understanding of contentious politics in international relations and comparative politics by looking at how conflict spreads. A range of advanced topics are covered, with a primary focus on how diffusion and spatial dynamics affect the empirical study of international war, democracy, autocracy, and civil war. This course goes beyond traditional theories of international relations by offering a network perspective on contentious politics. In addition, this course asks students to develop theory and use statistical software to plot networks, predicting dynamics of diffusion, and designing informed policy decisions based on those insights.

This course provides the conceptual keys and analytical frameworks essential to better understand the main contemporary international issues. It explores, from a political sciences perspective, three classic themes of international relations: the diversity of actors on the international scene; the transformation of conflict and security; and the challenges posed by globalization. This is not an introductory course, as the approach is firmly focused on a selection of topical issues and the scientific debates they raise.

This course examines the study of international relations in an era of globalization. It covers the historical background, key concepts and theories, case studies, and contemporary developments in the study of world politics.

This course examines what drives development interventions, their impacts on communities, and the ways they respond. It also explores the processes and influences that operate at a global level and that impact such fundamental concerns as human rights, population health, environmental and climate change, and migration. 

In today's world, challenges are incredibly complex, multifaceted, and often intersectoral. Given the complexities and interdependencies of the 21st century, scientific disciplines and their siloed knowledge production practices are no longer sufficient to fully grasp global problems and find solutions to them. Yet they remain the dominant knowledge structures through which the world is analyzed and explained. This course first explains the structuring and evolution of scientific disciplines. Then it addresses the notion of interdisciplinarity and the tools it offers for a more holistic understanding of international relations.

This course considers and explains why and how the international system is characterized by the return of a tough competition among states. That is what we call power politics. This dynamic is reflected in the return of inter-state conflicts (Russia/Ukraine, Iran/Israel) and the risk of their spreading to other regions (Taiwan, South China Sea). The central question addressed in this course from both a conceptual and empirical perspective is why we moved within a decade from a world of economic interdependence based on the decline of interstate wars to a world where states are on the forefront of global competition including through the weaponization of economic interdependence. This course is by definition transversal and trans regional since the competition affects all regions of the world. It focuses on three types of actors: the drivers of this new competition who are setting the new rules of the game (United States and China), the contenders who have global ambitions while facing obstacles on their way (Russia, India, and the European Union) and the Hedgers who are middle income countries who are trying to leverage this new global dynamic for their own benefit (Brazil, South Africa, UAE, Indonesia, and Vietnam among others).