The international organisation of world politics
- Course Code:
- 153400068
- Unit value:
- 0.5
- Year of study:
- Year 3 of 3 or Year 4 of 4
- Taught in:
- Term 2
This course will consider the problem of collective engagement and international organisation in world politics especially since the Interwar Period, although efforts to work collectively through a Concert of Europe will also be discussed to give historical context to contemporary debates. Theoretically, the course will consider alternative understandings of the problem of cooperation and collective engagement at the international level. It will examine historically and in contemporary international relations strategies for overcoming these dilemmas, and the theories that underpin these strategies.
The course will also aim to consider the ethical issues surrounding collective action in international politics. The course will pay particular attention to theories of collective security, legitimacy and authority, hierarchy and anarchy, hegemony, security communities, and liberalism (including also embedded liberalism and liberal institutionalism). It will look to a range of specific institutional arrangements placing particular emphasis on postwar institutional arrangements.
The course will also consider the problem of institutional change, legalisation, and institutional decay. It will pay particular attention to international organisation in areas of International Security and Peacekeeping, Human Rights and Humanitarianism, and International Law and Justice. How can we understand states choices to create international institutions? What role have these institutions played in legitimating state action? How effective have these institutions been in achieving their goals? How have international institutions shaped and been shaped by globalisation? Do international institutions tame power or facilitate the projection of power?
Students of this course must have taken International Politics in Year 2.
Prerequisites
153400001 Introduction to Political Theory AND 153400063 Comparative and International Politics AND 153400014 International Politics.
Objectives and learning outcomes of the course
The objectives of the course are to promote a critical and informed understanding of the literature in the field, and to allow students to develop this understanding and to articulate it concisely in both seminar discussions and written essays.The course has the following aims:
- To provide students with an advanced background in the study of international organisation.
- To explore the international organisation of world politics both historically and in its contemporary form. Particular emphasis is placed on international security, human rights, and law.
- To deepen our understanding of contemporary issues in international organisation and to examine the implications of international organisation for conflict, cooperation, and change in world politics.
