Political Science

One of the most important questions in studying international politics is how to promote cooperation under anarchy. This course studies different perspectives of international relations including realism, neorealism, liberalism, neoliberal institutionalism, constructivism, and strategic perspective and discusses global and regional governance for peace and stability of the East Asian region. Issues reviewed during include the North Korean nuclear issues, nuclear proliferation, the rise of China and the US-China hegemonic competition, South Korea`s foreign and security policies, Korea-Japan relations, Korea-Russia relations, and Korea`s national security and its middle power role in the region. Assessments: Class attendance, quiz, class participation (15%); group paper, presentation and Q&A participation (35%); final exam (50%).

Course may be offered in English or Korean as the language of instruction.

This course introduces the debate about the state of democracy in Europe which is crucial to understand changes in today's politics. The course focuses on the most daunting challenges for Europe's democracy. The first part of the course discusses the theoretical foundations and the historical roots of Europe's democracy. The second part focuses on the current challenges including populism, authoritarianism, and technocracy. The last part envisions the future of democracy in Europe.

This course provides a historical and political introduction to modern Afghanistan. While it covers a historical timeline spanning from the late 19th century through 2021, it does not provide an exhaustive historical catalogue of events, but rather a genealogy of the political processes and factors that are pertinent to the evaluation of the processes of state-building and nation-building in Afghanistan through today. Covering the country's modern political history from its genesis during The Great Game and the birth of Afghan nationalism in the early 20th century, up to the occupations by the USSR and United States and their political consequences, the course attempts to identify the most salient patterns and trends about the country's political elites and institutions, as well as the interventions of foreign powers, all of which have affected the transformations of the state in Afghanistan.