International Studies

This course examines the history of East Asia`s international relations and East Asia`s diplomacy towards the United States and the world at large from the 19th century to the advent of the Cold War. More specifically, this course is devoted to answering the question, "How did Korea charter her own path towards establishing a modern conception of national sovereignty throughout the long 19th and 20th centuries?" Topics include a comparison between a Confucian tributary system and a Westphalian system, Japan`s modernization and competing Chinese and Korean responses, Japanese imperialism and the coming of the First and Second World Wars, Japan`s surrender to the Allies and lingering post-colonial questions such as territorial sovereignty over Dokdo, the Korean War and the first two Indochina Wars as the opening "hot wars" of the Cold War, and finally, the future of the Northeast Asian international order after the Cold War.

There are three main objectives in this course. First, it examines how to prepare a theoretical basis to analyze East Asian international relations from the 19th century to the advent of the Cold War and paying special attention to how Korea encountered changes and vicissitudes of fortune as it chartered its own course in the world. Second, it identifies factors which stabilized and disrupted the East Asian international order and how interactions between such factors affected Korea’s responses. Finally, it explores what the future of East Asia’s international order will look like and how Korea’s diplomacy should act as a pivot between East Asia and the United States.

This course analyzes the role that religious forces play in international society today. It provides an overview of major world religions then discusses the role of religions in conflicts and peace.

This course introduces theories and practices of International Organizations. The first part of the course deals with theories pertaining to international relations and international law on international organizations. The second part of the course focuses on the United Nations (UN) and other organizations. This course is primarily a discussion course; prior knowledge of international law, international relations, human rights, and environment is recommended. 

Co-sponsored by the Korea Foundation, this course is designed to provide a valuable learning experience on how South Korea has been conducting its regional and functional public diplomacy with a focus on its key issues and prospects. It further explores South Korea’s attractive points in its foreign and security policy implementation process as a part of conducting its public diplomacy. Various public diplomacy strategies will be discussed, such as how Korea can shape the perceptions of other countries on itself through appeal and attraction, determined by a country’s policies, culture, and values. This course provides both theoretical and practical views on South Korea’s public diplomacies in various aspects and in diverse regions across the world. In addition to several GSIS faculty members, former ambassadors and high-level executives who were at the forefront of Korea’s diplomacy have been invited as instructors for this course.

This course introduces students to the legal regulation of commercial relationships having strong connections with more than one legal system. Although the focus is on litigation before English courts, an international perspective is adopted. The implications of Brexit in jurisdictional and recognition rules are to be considered. The traditional English principles and rules concerning international commercial litigation form the basis of the law in many, primarily common law, jurisdictions and regained relevance in the light of Brexit. Emphasis is also be placed on the relevant principles and rules of European Union law applicable before the courts across Europe.

This course provides a critical view of global issues that are ubiquitous, but often overlooked or simplified in public debate. It is based on rich illustrations to understand the profound interdependence of social, environmental, economic, and security issues internationally. Topics covered include: conflicts and security; global inequalities; environmental problems or the "return of the sacred"; the diversification of the actors on the world stage; re-geopoliticization of the world; the transformations of the international system; from economic governance or the search for lost regulation; environment and International Relations. This course mobilizes contributions from other perspectives from sociology, political theory, economics, human geography, and global and comparative history.

This course provides a broad and balanced picture of China's even growing presence and influence in the developing world, before and since the launch of its Belt & Road Initiative (BRI) in 2013. This course examines readings about China in the developing world from Chinese and international sources and perspectives that shed light on the diversity and complexity of this topic. A closely related objective of the course is to encourage students to think critically about the strengths and lessons of China's development model and experience that other developing countries should assess and learn in pursuing their own development paths.