Reading newspapers and watching or listening to the
national news makes us aware of international events far away from our everyday
lives. However, these events may seem to be distant and unrelated to our own lives
can become personally salient to all of us as a consequence of their economic,
social, security or military effects. Steep fluctuations in the value of the Japanese
yen influence the price of your new computer or car; conflicts in the Middle
East affect the price of oil; we meet immigrants in our country; from time to
time shocking terrorist attack occurs in the big cities of the world, and as a
result of this security measures make things warm for us. The aim of this
course is to provide an up-to-date, integrated and forward-looking introduction
to international politics. How should we approach the study of world affairs?
How the world politics is best understood? World affairs have traditionally been
understood on the basis of an international paradigm. In this view, which is
called International Relations, states are taken to be the essential building
blocks of world politics. However, since the 1980s, an alternative
globalization paradigm has become fashionable. This reflects the belief that
world affairs have been transformed in recent decades by the growth of global
interconnections and interdependences. Non-state actors, such as international organizations,
multinational corporations, environmental organizations, and terrorist groups,
are all part of what could more correctly be termed as World or Global Politics. The objective of the course is to present and explain fundamental
concepts, relevant approaches and issues of international politics. During
the course several case studies are also presented to demonstrate how to
interpret world political events in practice. However, the course is not an
interpretation of or a talk about news, which are permanently changed, instead a highlighting of the main ideas and “evergreen”
issues. These are the "hardcore" of world politics by which we are capable of understanding the world that we live in.
Course Outline
Segment 1: World Politics as
Academic Subject
1. International
Politics as a Discipline of Political Science
2. The ”Great
Debates” and the Levels of Analysis in International Politics
3. Westphalian World Order: History and Facts
4. World Politics: Altogether of Anarchism, Order, and Chaos?
5. Ideas about
Human Nature and the Interpretations of World Politics
6. Different IR Schools and Their Views about Anarchic International Environment
Segment 2: Different Schools,
Different Focus - more details
7. The Mainstream: Traditions and Strands of Liberals and Realists
8. International Security: Topics and Discussions
9. “Beyond the Mainstream”:
Traditions and Strands of the Critical
Views
Educational Resources
- Textbooks:
- Baylis, J. – Smith, S.: The Globalization of World Politics.
Oxford University Press, 2001.
- Jackson, R. – Sorensen, G.: Introduction to International
Relations. Theories and Approaches. Oxford University Press, 2003.
- Viotti, P. – Kauppi, M.: International Relations Theory. Longman,
2012.
József Zoltán Málik: Essentials of World Politics. Budapest: ELTE, 2021. (in pdf version)
- Suggested Readings and Videos Detailed (all the articles in the list are in ):
Methodological Issues
- Jozsef Zoltan Malik: Thinking about Karl Popper and Open Society. Journal of Legal Theory, Vol. 15: (4), 2014, pp. 58-66.
- Paul Hoyningen-Hoyne: On Thomas Khun's Philosophical Significance. Configurations, 1998, 6, pp. 1-14.
- Imre
Lakatos: Criticism and the Methodology of Scientific Research
Programmes. Proc. of Aristotelian Society, Vol. 69, 1968-69, pp. 149-186.
- Paul Feyerabend: Against Method. Verso, 1988, Chapter 1-2.
- Stephen McGlinchey: The Brexit Hangover. 06.26.2016 at www.e-ir.info.
+ Video recordings (see
here):
- Occam's Razor as ambigous precept: Scenes from the Hollywood movie "Contact" directed by Robert Zemeckis
- Regime transitions can always be described as dramatic changes. (Chile, 1973; Portugal, 1974; Soviet Union, 1991)
- Hannah Arendt as post-positivist
The Liberal Stance
- John Locke: Two Treatises of Government (Classic writing originally published in 1689)
- Selected Readings:
- Michael W. Doyle: Liberalism and World Politics. American Political Science Review, Vol. 80: (12), 1986, pp. 1151-1169.
- Robert O. Keohane: From Interdependence and Institutions to Globalization and Governance. From Power and Governance in a Partially Globalized World. Routlage, 2002.
- Stephen G. Brooks: Producing Security. From Producing Security: Multinational Corporations, Globalization, and the Changing Calculus of Conflict. Princeton University Press, 2005, Chapter 1.
- Andrew Moravcsik: Taking Preferences Seriously: A Liberal Theory of International Politics. International Organization, Vol. 51: (4), 1997, pp. 513–553.
- Robert Keohane – Joseph N. Nye: Realism and Complex Interdependence. From Power and Interdependence. Longman, 1997, Chapter 2.
- Robert Keohane: A Functional Theory of International Regimes. From After Hegemony. Princeton University Press, 1984, Chapter 6.
- Joseph N. Nye: Hard and Soft Power in American Foreign Policy. From Paradox of American Power. Oxford University Press, 2002, Chapter 1.
- Immanuel Kant: Perpetual Peace. A Philosophical Sketch. (Classic writing originally published in German in 1795)
- John R. Oneal – Bruce Russett: Causes of Peace: Democracy, Interdependence, and International Organizations, 1885-1992. Paper presented at the 2001 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, San Francisco.
- Guncel Onkal: Kant's Concept of "Universal Hospitality" and Neo-Global Conflicts Against Perpetual Peace. The International Journal of Social Sciences, Vol. 12. No. 1, 2013, pp 26-32.
The Realist Stance
- Why War? – An exchange of letters between Freud and Einstein, 1931-32.
- Selected Classic Readings (extracts):
- Thucydides: The Melian dialogue. From History of the Peloponnesian War, V.84- 116
- Machiavelli: On Princes and the Security of Their States. From The Prince (1517)
- Hobbes: Of the Natural Condition of Mankind as Concerning their Felicity and Misery. From Leviathan (1651)
- Monroe Doctrine. US President James Monroe's seventh annual message to the Congress on December 2, 1823.
- Hans J. Morgenthau: A realist theory of international politics. From Politics among Nations. McGraw-Hill, 2005.
- Kenneth N. Waltz: The Anarchic Structure of World Politics. From Theory of International Politics. McGraw-Hill, 1979, pp. 79-106.
- Randall Scheller: Neorealism's status‐quo bias: What security dilemma? Security Studies Vol 5: (3), 1996, pp. 90-121.
- John Mearsheimer: The Tragedy of Great Power Politics. From The Tragedy of Great Power Politics. W. W. Norton, 2001, Chapter 1.
- Kenneth A. Oye: Explaining Cooperation under Anarchy: Hypotheses and Strategies. World Politics, Vol. 38: (1), 1985, pp. 1-24.
- Robert Jervis: Cooperation Under the Security Dilemma. World Politics, Vol. 30: (2), 1978, pp. 167-214
- Ken Booth: A long hot century. From Theory of World Security, Cambridge University Press, 2007, Chapter 10.
Critical Views
- Hugo Grotius: The Law of War and Peace (1625)
- Tim Dunne: Inventing International Society, Palgrave, 1998.
- Robert W. Cox: Gramsci, Hegemony, and International Relations. Cambridge University Press, 1996
- Immanuel Wallreinstein: World-System Analysis, Duke University Press, 1994.
+ Video recording (see
here):
- Slavoj Zizek: As a Neo-Marxist views the world. Scenes from the movie "Pervert's Guide to Ideology" directed by Sophie Fiennes
- The "New Wave":
- Dylan Kissane: A Chaotic Theory of International Relations? Pro Polis, No. 2, 2007, pp. 85-103.
- Alvin M. Saperstein: War and Chaos. Vol. 83, No. 6, 1995, pp. 548-557.
- Gottfried
Mayer-Kress: Chaos and Crises in International Systems. SHAPE
Technology Symposium on crisis management, Mons, Belgium, 1992.
Published: Jan. 25, 1993.
- Albert-Laszlo Barabasi: Introduction. Network Science, Draft version, 2012.
- Albert-Laszlo Barabasi: Linked. Perseus Publishing, Cambridge Mass., 2002.
+ Video recording (see
here):
- Albert-Laszlo Barabasi: On Laws of Networks. Lecture at the 2012 Global Empowerment Meeting, Harvard University.
- Parag Khanna: How Megacities are Changing the Map of the World. Lecture at TED Academy, Vancouver, 2016.
- Constructivism:
- Alexander Wendt: Anarchy is what States Make of it. International Organization, Vol. 46: (2), 1992, pp. 391-425.
- Alexander Wendt: Constructing International Politics. International Security, Vol. 20: (1), 1995, pp. 71-81.
- Alexander Wendt: Three Culteres of Anarchy. From Social Theory of International Politics. Cambridge University Press, 1999.
- Martha Finemore: Constructing Norms of Humanitarian Intervention. From The Culture of National Security. Columbia University Press, 1996.
- J. Samuel Barkin: Realist Constructivism. International Studies Review, Vol. 5: (3), 2003, pp. 325-342
- Feminist and the Green Perspectives:
- Garett Hardin: The Tradegy of Commons. Science, Vol. 162: (12), 1968, pp. 1243-1267.
- Thomas Homer-Dixon: On the Threshold: Enviromental Changes as Causes of Acute Conflict. International Security, Vol. 16: (2), 1991, pp. 76-116.
- John Browne: Beyond Kyoto. Foreign Affairs, Vol. 83: (4), 2004, pp. 20-32.
+ Video recording (see
here):
Trial Record in Case of United States vs. Susan B. Anthony, Canandaigua, New York, 1873.
Severn Suzuki: Speech at U.N. Conference on Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro,1992.
Global Issues
- Francis Fukuyama: The End of History. The National Interest, Summer, 1989.
- Samuel Huntington: The Clash of Civilizatons? Foreign Affairs, Summer, 1993, pp. 22-49.
- Jozsef Zoltan Malik: The Clash of Civilizations and Game Theory. Journal of Legal Theory, Vol. 16: (1), 2015, pp. 68-76.
- Rana Foroohar: Bubble Trouble. Time, Vol. 187, No. 6-7, 2016, pp. 68-75.
+ Video recording (see
here):
- Noam Chomsky: On Global Future – A EuroNews interview with Noam Chomsky (Reporter: Isabelle Kumar), 17-04-2015.
-
Video recordings:
- Occam's Razor as ambigous precept: Scenes from the Hollywood movie "Contact" directed by Robert Zemeckis: video (Transcript)
- Regime transitions can always be described as dramatic changes. Watch some illustrative footage here
- Hannah Arendt as post-positivist: video
- The Fog of War. Eleven
Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara (Lesson 11: You Can't
change human nature). Documentary directed by Errol Morris, 2003.
- Chaotic aspects in the evolution of the Arab Spring: video
- Islam and the Western Civilization: video
- Slavoj Zizek: As a Neo-Marxist views the world. Scenes from the movie "Pervert's Guide to Ideology" directed by Sophie Fiennes
- Albert-Laszlo Barabasi: On Laws of Networks. Lecture at the 2012 Global Empowerment Meeting, Harvard University.
- Parag Khanna: How Megacities are Changing the Map of the World. Lecture at TED Academy (Shorted Version), Vancouver, 2016.
- Dramatic Scene about the trial in case of United States vs. Susan B. Anthony, Canandaigua, New York, 1873. (See here the record of the trial)
- Severn Suzuki: Speech at U.N. Conference on Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro,1992.
- Noam Chomsky: On Global Future – A EuroNews interview with Noam Chomsky (Reporter: Isabelle Kumar), 17-04-2015. (See here the transcript)
Assessment
First Assessment (Due time: 03.11.2024.): Discuss the following questions (cc. in 500 words for the questions altogether):- There
are conflicts about the essence of international relations within the
realist school: classical (Morgenthau) vs. neorealist (Waltz) vs.
neoclassical (Kissinger). How can we explain that they still represent
the same realistic orientation from a methodological point of view and
not, e.g., liberal?
- Explain the Westphalian World Order creates order and anarchy in the system of international relations.
- Locke
and Kant, as emblematic figures of the liberal school of IR, opposed
the creation of a world order under the authority of a world
government. What were their arguments?
Second Assessment (Due: 13.12.2024.): Choose one question for discussion, and compose an essay to answer it (You may use any bibliography but reference is always needed. Do not plagiarize!).
- History has seen
a series of clashes between declining hegemon’s and new rising powers. Athens-Sparta, Britain-Germany, and US-USSR
all (arguably) fit into this paradigm. Today, the biggest single state-actor threat to US hegemony appears to
be China. Is conflict between the US and
China inevitable? What forces push the US and China towards potential conflict?
What factors might make conflict between these two countries less likely?
-
Scientists
predict that the failure of the international community to act collectively to
reduce carbon emissions will have dramatic environmental, social, and economic
costs. Why is it then that the
international community has been unable to act cooperatively on this
issue? Use the framework of the three Is
– Interests, Interactions, and Institutions, to explore the obstacles to
cooperation on this issue, and give a game-theoretic model.
- Here
you can read the US National Security Strategy declared by the Trump's
administration. Considering the four pillars of the Strategy, how do
you characterise the security policy of the US in terms of deterrence,
security dilemma, balancing, and the "clash of civilizations" thesis.
- Here are some articles (article1,
article2; and this video are worthy of attention to get some additional ideas to compose your essay, but
of course you may use others if you want)
containg useful information about Russia's geopolitical challenges.
Based on these, evaluate and present the goal of Russian foreign policy.
- In this provocative essay, Edward Luttwak
argues that the best international response to civil conflicts is to “give war
a chance”. What does he mean by
that? Position Luttwak's view in IP. Provide three reasons that back
his argument. Do you agree?
- My Assessment Policy:
- You may as well discuss and think over the
content of essay together at home, but you have to write your own
paper individually and send it to me via e-mail (malik.dolgozat@mail.com). Please, write "wp_your name" in the subject of the
email, and convert your attached paper into . (Don't send your paper in other format such as doc, odt,
rtf).
- Late submitted paper and team works are not
accepted.
- Though page number is far less important than
the content and quality, the size of the paper should be between 2,000 and 3,000 words.
- The composition should demonstrate student's
ability of the mastery in the concepts of main approaches to world
politics.
- To standardize the formatting of your paper, do
comply with the requirement of MLA standard.
To help your work at
home, you can download a template
here in doc for MicrosoftOffice
Word and here in odt for
LibreOffice Writer.
This
course is a part of the ERASMUS+ Program at Faculty of Law,
Eotvos Lorand University, Budapest
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