Introduction to International Relations

Waseda University, undergraduate level

This class is an introduction to the basic concepts and historical developments in the study of International Relations (IR).

Features:
Theory
History
Non-Eurocentric

• Course Requirements
• Objectives
• Readings
• Learning Outcomes
• Evaluation

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Course Requirements
This is an introductory class. No prior knowledge of the topic is expected. Familiarity with World History or theories of International Political Economy is a plus for this class.

Objectives​
This class is an introduction to the basic concepts and historical developments in the study of International Relations (IR). What is the international system? How have societies across time and cultures interacted with each other? Why do we go through periods of war and peace and are the cycles unavoidable? Is power the only thing that matters in international politics or what else structures our interactions on the global level? These and related questions will be addressed by this course throughout 15 lectures. Two sections will familiarize students first with prevalent perspectives of contemporary IR and then introduce them to various international systems before the advent of European colonialism. The goal of this class is to equip students with a holistic and non-Eurocentric understanding of the international world and the forces that have been moving it forward over the last millennia.

Readings
The weekly readings are mandatory. All students are expected to have read the texts and be able to answer questions on the content. Readings are roughly 40-60 pages long. Extracts from the following textbooks will be provided.
Textbooks: 
Cashman, Greg. What Causes War? An Introduction to Theories of International Conflict.  Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2014.
Jackson, Robert, and Sørensen, Georg. International Relations: Theories and Approaches.  Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013.
Nye Jr., Joseph S. Understanding Global Conflict and Cooperation: An Introduction to Theory and History. 10th ed.  Boston: Pearson, 2017.
McGlinchey, Stephen, Walters, Rosie, and Scheinpflug, Christian. International Relations Theory.  Bristol: E-International Relations Publishing, 2017.
Ringmar, Erik. History of International Relations: A Non-European Perspective.  Cambridge: Open Book Publishers, 2019.

Learning Outcomes
Students who successfully pass this class will be able to:

• Name different international systems of the past and describe how they worked.
• Describe differences in intellectual approaches to contemporary IR.
• Identify which school of thought most closely matches their own intuitions about the international world.
• Orient themselves among the theories of world politics.
• Describe the current international system and (some) of its components.
• Do further research on topics in international relations based on a sound understanding of current trends in the field.

Evaluation
Class Participation (20%)
Active participation in class is required. Regular attendance and active thinking in class are components that count toward a positive participation grade.
Presentation (30%)
Depending on class size, each student will have to give either an individual presentation or be part of a group presentation during one of the lectures, in which he/she (or the group) will present the main topics of the weekly reading. Students are expected to summarize the reading content, explain the central arguments of the author, and critically evaluate the information through their own observations and/or additional readings.
Essay (30%)
Toward the end of the class, students have to choose a topic of their liking and write a scholarly essay on it. Students are expected to consult with me via email or in-person on their topic and the approach they want to take. Essays can be historical research, an engagement with the philosophical underpinnings of IR, or a current topic of IR/security studies.
Final Exam (20%)
The Final exam will test students on their understanding of the major topics of the class. It will be open book and take home, with essay-type questions.

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Lecture Plan

Introduction

The first two lectures will first introduce the technicalities of the class (requirements, assignments, meeting times, evaluation, etc.) and, in the second meeting, ask the big questions of International Relations. Why war? How should we think about the international system? Are there theories? The introduction also provides students with an overview of the academic study of International Relations today.

Class 1: Introduction to the Class
No Reading Assignment
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Class 2: The Study of International Relations
Reading Assignment: Nye, chapter 1

Part I: Contemporary IR—Frameworks and Theories

In this module, we will discuss the prevalent theories and approaches to IR. These are some of the guiding frameworks that have been used over the past decades (and centuries) to think about the interactions of states and societies in general. We will look at the merits and shortcoming of these approaches and find out how they can help us make sense of the international arena.

Class 3: Realism
Reading Assignment: Jackson, Chapter 3 

Class 4: Liberalism, and Constructivism
Reading Assignment: McGlinchey Chapters 2, and 4 

Class 5: Marxism, the English School, and Critical Theory
Reading Assignment: McGlinchey Chapters 3, 5, and 6 

Class 6: Game Theory
Reading Assignment: Cashman, Chapter 9 
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Class 7: Democratic Peace Theory
Reading Assignment: Cashman, Chapter 5

Part II: International Systems—Then and Now

The second module introduces past international systems, looks at their key features and structures, and then moves forward to the contemporary world. We will try to understand how pre-nation state societies were organized, what the features of their “success” was and how they changed. We will then contrast those past systems with the globalized world that we are living in today and try to understand some of the dynamic forces that have shaped the twentieth century.

Class 8: China, East Asia, and India
Reading Assignment: Ringmar, chapter 2&3

Class 9: The Muslim Caliphates
Reading Assignment: Ringmar, chapter 4

Class 10: The Mongol Khanates
Reading Assignment: Ringmar, chapter 5

Class 11: Africa and the Americas
Reading Assignment: Ringmar chapters 6&7

Class 12: Europe, the invention of the State, and Colonialism
Reading Assignment: Nye, Chapter 3
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Class 13: The World Wars and the Post-1945 International System(s)
Reading Assignment: Nye, Chapter 4

conclusion

The last two lectures are dedicated to “tying together” what we have learned so far, analyze interdependence, and then discuss the outlook for international relations in the twenty-first century.

Class 14: Globalization and Interdependence Today
Reading Assignment: Nye, Chapter 8
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Class 15: International Relations in the Twenty-First Century
No Reading Assignment