International Studies

This course explores the relations between international politics and international relations; perspectives on international political/economic relations; the post-war economic order and its impact on African countries; globalization and the developing world.

This course examines the organization, structure, and performance of the economy of mainland China. It focuses on the institutional structure of the economy on the micro level, on the changing economic system including the roles of planning and markets, on government economic strategy and policies, and on outcomes with respect to industrialization, the distribution of activity among sectors, economic growth, income distribution, and welfare. The pre-reform period receives attention in its own right, but especially as it influences developments in the market-oriented reform period since 1978. Topics covered include rural and urban development, industrial strategy and planning, economic reform, agriculture, industry, and international trade and investment.

By examining the development of international political theory, from the Ancient Greeks to the present, the course explores and criticizes theories and arguments that have been offered to defend or challenge the power of political communities and explain the sources and varieties of conflict and cooperation that can occur within and beyond political communities. The course examines the ideas of great political thinkers from Thucydides, Machiavelli, and Hobbes to Kant, Hegel, and Marx as well as the use to which these arguments have been put in the world of politics and international relations by contemporary thinkers. These thinkers and the concepts they identify and use will provide us with a window into the structures that shape much international politics such as states’ rights and international humanitarian obligations; the nature and status of international law, and the prospects for global democracy and democratization.

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This course introduces students to the study of world politics from both theoretical and historical perspectives. First, it critically examines major theoretical approaches in the field of International Relations and applies them to a wide range of past and present world events. The central aim of the course is to help students think critically about international politics. Key topics include wars, ethnic conflicts, international trade and finance, globalization, nuclear proliferation, climate change, terrorism, pandemic, and other issues of global significance.  

Berlin is an inspiring metropolis, a place of attraction for creative people and art and culture professionals from Germany and all over the world. Artists of all kinds, designers (including fashion), and technology experts are just as much a part of it as publishers, galleries, the music industry, or the film industry. Berlin is a focal mirror, a projection surface and a platform for a "creative class" (Richard Florida) and at the same time an urban-cultural incubator of a new lifestyle, of creative working practices of aesthetic capitalism. This seminar provides an overview of the creative industries in Berlin - their diverse fields, individual industries and players, and their self-image.

The course examines energy in international relations in four parts. First, a brief overview of the history of hydrocarbons will familiarize students with how modern energy supplies developed in the past two centuries. During the first two sessions of the course, students also acquire conceptual and empirical understanding of energy value chains. Next, the course devotes three sessions to energy security as a key perspective in the studies of energy resources. After familiarizing students with the theoretical aspects of energy security, the focus is on several distinct cases examining both the supply and the demand-side of energy security on a global scale. Such cases include the energy dilemmas between energy-rich Russia/Eurasia and hydrocarbon-poor EU; the rising role of China and Asia in global energy demand and their pursuit of energy security; and the evolution of energy geopolitics between the oil-rich Persian Gulf region and the US. The third part of the course dedicates two sessions to the link between energy and development. The focus of the first session is on the literature examining the link between resource wealth and development, while the second session examines resource nationalism and its historical evolution. The fourth part looks at key challenges faced with respect to energy in a carbon-constrained world.

Combining political sociology, political thought, and international relations, this course focuses on certain aspects of modern political conflicts and particularly the institutions put into place to resolve them. It explores the difficulties that social sciences have when looking at the question of political violence and its causes, as well as the mechanisms of liberal and democratic regulation of conflict. The course also analyzes the modern international interventions after a violent political conflict, the dilemma of the actual intervention, the evolution of the rapport with political violence, and the formation of expertise post-conflict.

This course introduces key issues of pertinence in Maritime Security and geopolitics of the Sea. It demonstrates why the maritime domain is a space of great strategic interest, and how threats to security at sea have a real impact for states and people around the world. It explores a myriad of threats to security playing out at sea, while also looking at some of the mechanisms, tools, strategies, and key actors involved in addressing these challenges. Each part provides an overview of the issue it discusses and considers regional case studies as an illustration. The course utilizes a multidisciplinary perspective with interrelated considerations from very various fields of research (political science, international relations, social anthropology, political economy, international law, and history), as well as lessons learned from practitioners and policymakers, to develop a comprehensive and better informed understanding of debates and developments related to maritime security issues.

This course is tailor-made for International Asian Studies Programme (IASP) students who want to engage in a short-term project. Students taking this course are required to write a research paper on a topic in international studies under the supervision of an academic staff member.