Political Science

This course addresses politics in the Middle East and North Africa with a focus on relations between states. Questions that guide the course include: When do countries engage in costly conflict against each other? What is the relationship between domestic politics and international relations? Do transnational ideologies impact politics? If so, how? In line with these overarching questions, the course addresses topics such as international involvement in the region, the role of resources, authoritarianism and democratization, sectarianism and ethnicity, terrorism, and protests.

Why did some Middle Eastern countries experience uprisings and others did not? Why do we observe Iran and Saudi Arabic supporting some non-state actors but ignore others? Why have some actors changed their religious rhetoric? Does oil impact politics in Saudi Arabia? This seminar examines these questions and contemporary politics in the Middle East. Students familiarize themselves with major political science debates on issues relevant to the region, and develop understanding of concepts and theory that are useful for analyzing Middle East regional politics Themes addressed include: war and international involvement in the region; authoritarianism and the Arab Spring, religion and sect; and, energy resources. The course examines a number of events, including, but not limited to, the 2003 Iraq War, the Arab Spring and the Syrian Civil War, and the Iranian nuclear deal. This course is designed as a broad survey of Middle East politics; given the time constraints; it is not possible to cover every country and issue. 

This course focuses on theoretical and empirical explanations for political phenomena in the Middle East. As such, we pay close attention to how to theoretically and empirically address social and behavioral science research questions relevant to the Middle East.

This course provides students with theoretical knowledge, which is essential for discussing critical issues on public bureaucracy in modern liberal democracies. The course is divided into four main parts. In Part I examines the primary concepts of this course (i.e., bureaucracy, democracy, and their relationships). Part II focuses on the administrative branch by discussing traditional scholarly debates and recent controversial topics such as representativeness, democratic control, political neutrality, and the brain drain of government bureaucracy. Part III discussions are expanded to the other government institutions: the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, and their relationships with the administrative branch. Part IV includes in-depth discussions on how we could blend in our understanding of the essential values and relationships revolving around public bureaucracy which is especially helpful for those who plan to work in the (quasi-) public sector.

This course examines ways to contribute to and influence policy.

"Marxism" has played an enormous role in the shape of 20th-century history. But what did Marx really believe, and how can his "critique of political economy" help us to understand the historical development of capitalism, and its modern dynamics? What are the main challenges Marxian political economy faces? In this course, students examine Marx's materialist theory of human history, his critique of capitalism, and the extent to which his conceptual tools offer us a useful framework for understanding global socioeconomic change and continuity today, compared to other social scientific methods.

An important part of diplomatic work, economic diplomacy is based on international political economy, international economics, and international economic law. Course topics include the theoretical framework and role of economy in diplomacy; the functions, characteristics, rules and objectives of economic diplomacy; the forms and means of economic diplomacy; and policy effects of economic diplomacy.

The course covers basic concepts and theories of contemporary debates and issues in security affairs of Northeast Asia. The course studies basic concepts, theories and logic that are useful for making sense of contemporary security issues. It then surveys several important issues in regional security with frequent use of recent historical examples. Topics include realism and military security; liberalism and cooperative security and arms control; constructivism and human security; domestic politics and international security; hegemony and military security; coercive diplomacy; alliances in northeast Asia; US-China competition; Japan`s security policy; North Korea`s nuclear challenge; Rok and peace in the Korean peninsula; and the US grand strategies and the future of NEA regional order.