International Studies

This course provides an overview of the main thematic areas in international political economy. The course combines mainstream and critical approaches, addressing topics from State-level politics to those at the economic and cultural levels. The course provides the opportunity to engage and interpret international events using the field’s theoretical tools. It discusses various approaches to ongoing events and underlying political, economic, and cultural reasons for them and identifies the main issues in international political economy and analyzes them critically.

This course examines the nature, constitution and effects of the contemporary global political economy from a critical perspective, discussing the variety of approaches to and understandings of global political-economic practices, actors, patterns and ideas. Introducing  international political economy as a field of study and a space of human interaction, the course examines the relationship between politics and economics and the reasons why power, resources and privilege are often concentrated in particular hands. Scrutinizing the past, present and future of the global political economy, the course outlines and overviews key histories in, approaches to and developments of the global economic order. By focusing on particular dynamics in areas such as international development, trade, finance, production, the environment and gender, the course shines a light on how inequality is generated and maintained.

Lifting the Iron Curtain studies the political, social, and economic transformation of Eastern Europe from the end of the First World War till today. This multidisciplinary course can be divided into two major parts: a historical one devoted to the short twentieth century until 1989-91 and a more contemporary one exploring the achievements and shortcomings of the three decades since. The first half of the course starts by examining East-West relations in Europe on a material and discursive level. It continues by discussing the emergence and characteristics of the post-imperial order after the First World War. It also focuses on the practically simultaneous imposition of the Bolshevik regime in the (newly created) Soviet Union as well as the brutal development of this regime under Lenin and Stalin. The course subsequently includes four meetings on the post-war (Soviet) era west of the Soviet Union, respectively devoted to the origins of Soviet-type regimes in Eastern Europe; the major challenges these regimes had to face, such as the Hungarian uprising or the Prague Spring, and how they responded to them; the reasons behind their unexpected and sudden collapse in 1989-91; and, last but not least, continental and global perspectives on these developments. As mentioned, the second half of the course assesses the political and economic transformation of Eastern Europe since 1989-91. Questions regarding democratization and the quality of democracy in the region as well as the European opening and the related expectations, hopes, and frustrations are the center of attention. The course closes with a discussion of the major challenges Eastern Europe confronts today.

This course studies the theory and practice of humanitarian intervention. It asks, is it ever justifiable to intervene in the domestic affairs of another sovereign state? If so, when, and for what reasons? 
 
This course considers the possibility that a norm of humanitarian intervention has emerged in international society since the end of the Cold War, examining case studies of the major intervention cases that have arisen in the last twenty years: Iraq 1991, Somalia, Rwanda, Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq 2003, Darfur, Libya, and Syria. 

This course provides an introduction to political and economic geography. The course advances two key arguments, namely that politics and the economy are (1) tightly intertwined and (2) innately geographical phenomenon. It explores how politics, the economy, and the environment are constituted through different sets of actors and their interrelationships. It mobilizes core geographical concepts, notably place, space, scale and territory, along with notions of power and resistance, to offer a distinctive perspective on processes of uneven development in the contemporary world.

Topics in this international relations course include: problems arising from environmental degradation; regulatory agreements; the roles of various actors; effectiveness of environmental regimes; the challenges of reaching international agreements for regulation; decision-making processes in the environmental field at the international level; the influence of non-government actors, companies, and advocacy groups on environmental legislation; the relationship between the environment, economy, and sustainable development.

This course provides an introduction to African studies, especially to the Southern African Countries. While the African continent has significant legal, political and economic challenges, students are rarely introduced to the attempts of African states to set up structures to confront those challenges through regional integration. This course introduces students to the various legal, political, and economic regional integration initiatives in the emerging Southern African region.

The course features presentations from Ambassadors and Embassy officials of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), focusing on the variety of the economy and politics of the SADC region, as well as the relationship between Japan and each respective SADC state.  

This course discusses the concept of emerging countries and the transition of developing countries to emerging countries and on to developed countries. It provides an overview of economics, state and political institutions, and challenges of emerging countries.

This course introduces international education and development through three lenses. The course first examines why education is seen as important for development, drawing upon economic, rights-based, and socio-cultural perspectives. It then examines the way education is measured and targets are set for development. The course provides grounding in education and international development, with a particular focus on the challenges facing resource-constrained and rapidly expanding educational systems. 

This course discusses the issues European migration policies seek to address, from curbing irregular migration and increasing migrant returns, to attracting talents and making asylum systems work. It explores the range of actors who shape this agenda and how policies at EU and EU Member State levels are intertwined. The course critically assesses the main migration issues in Europe, examines the trade-offs faced by European policymakers, analyzes how migration policies are designed and implemented, and outlines the effects European migration policies have on countries of origin and transit.