International Relations Course

Lesson 1 • Defining International Relations

Clarifies the scope, actors, and levels of analysis in IR. Grounds students in disciplinary boundaries before introducing competing theories.

Lesson 2 • Historical Origins of the Modern State System

Traces the emergence of sovereignty from early modern Europe to the post-colonial era. Provides historical context essential for understanding contemporary norms.

Lesson 3 • Research Methods in IR

Surveys qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods used to study IR. Equips students to evaluate evidence and construct arguments rigorously.

Lesson 4 • Key Concepts: Power, Sovereignty, and Anarchy

Defines foundational IR concepts used throughout the course. Precise command of these terms prevents analytical errors in later chapters.

Lesson 1 • Sanctions, Coercion, and Statecraft

Analyzes economic sanctions, coercive diplomacy, and other non-military tools of statecraft. Students assess conditions under which coercion succeeds or fails.

Lesson 2 • National Interest and Grand Strategy

Defines national interest and shows how states translate it into long-term grand strategy. Students draft a simplified strategic framework for a chosen state.

Lesson 3 • Diplomacy as a Foreign Policy Tool

Covers bilateral and multilateral diplomacy, negotiation styles, and diplomatic protocol. Connects diplomatic practice to broader foreign policy goals.

Lesson 4 • Foreign Policy Decision-Making Models

Contrasts rational actor, organizational process, and governmental politics models. Students apply each model to a historical foreign policy crisis.

Lesson 1 • The United Nations System

Maps the structure, mandate, and reform debates of the UN system. Students assess the UN's capacity to manage collective security and development.

Lesson 2 • International Financial Institutions

Covers the mandates, governance, and conditionality of global financial institutions. Links financial governance to development and sovereignty debates.

Lesson 3 • Non-Governmental Organizations in Global Governance

Assesses the roles, influence, and accountability of NGOs in international governance. Students distinguish advocacy NGOs from operational humanitarian actors.

Lesson 4 • Regional Organizations and Integration

Compares regional integration models across different world regions. Students identify drivers and limits of regional cooperation.

Lesson 1 • Emerging Norms and Norm Contestation

Examines how new norms emerge, diffuse, and face contestation in world politics. Students trace the norm life cycle using the Responsibility to Protect as a case.

Lesson 2 • Laws of Armed Conflict

Covers the principles of distinction, proportionality, and precaution in warfare. Students analyze compliance challenges in contemporary armed conflicts.

Lesson 3 • Sources and Nature of International Law

Identifies treaties, customary law, general principles, and judicial decisions as legal sources. Clarifies why states comply despite the absence of a world government.

Lesson 4 • International Human Rights Law

Traces the development of universal human rights norms and monitoring mechanisms. Students evaluate the gap between legal obligations and state practice.

Lesson 1 • Security Dilemma and Arms Dynamics

Explains how defensive military buildups can trigger adversarial responses. Students model arms race dynamics and identify stabilizing versus destabilizing postures.

Lesson 2 • Intrastate Conflict and Civil Wars

Analyzes the causes, duration, and termination of civil wars. Students apply greed-versus-grievance and ethnic outbidding frameworks to ongoing conflicts.

Lesson 3 • Causes of War and Interstate Conflict

Surveys systemic, state-level, and individual explanations for war onset. Students evaluate competing causal claims using historical cases.

Lesson 4 • Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding

Covers negotiation, mediation, peacekeeping, and post-conflict reconstruction. Students design a peacebuilding framework for a simulated post-conflict state.

Lesson 1 • Theories of International Political Economy

Contrasts mercantilism, liberalism, and structuralism as frameworks for global economic analysis. Students identify which theory best explains a given trade or finance dispute.

Lesson 2 • Multinational Corporations and Global Value Chains

Examines MNC strategies, host-state bargaining, and labor standards in global supply chains. Students assess corporate power relative to state regulatory capacity.

Lesson 3 • Global Trade Governance

Examines the multilateral trade regime, preferential agreements, and trade disputes. Students analyze how power asymmetries shape trade negotiation outcomes.

Lesson 4 • Development, Aid, and Global Inequality

Analyzes competing development paradigms and the politics of foreign aid. Students evaluate aid effectiveness evidence and alternative development finance models.

Lesson 1 • Concepts of Global Governance

Defines global governance, polycentric authority, and multi-stakeholder arrangements. Distinguishes global governance from world government and international law.

Lesson 2 • Climate Change and Environmental Governance

Traces the evolution of the international climate regime and its implementation challenges. Students evaluate the role of non-state actors in filling governance gaps.

Lesson 3 • Global Health Governance

Examines international health institutions, pandemic preparedness, and health security. Students assess coordination failures and reform proposals after major outbreaks.

Lesson 4 • Cybersecurity and Digital Governance

Analyzes state and non-state threats in cyberspace and emerging governance frameworks. Students assess the applicability of existing international law to cyber operations.

Lesson 1 • Great Power Competition in the 21st Century

Examines the structural drivers of rivalry among major powers and its systemic effects. Students apply power transition theory and hegemonic stability theory to current dynamics.

Lesson 2 • Policy Analysis and Strategic Briefing

Applies all course frameworks to produce a structured policy analysis brief. Students practice evidence selection, argument construction, and policy recommendation writing.

Lesson 3 • Multipolarity and Regional Powers

Analyzes the rise of regional powers and their impact on global order. Students assess how middle powers and regional hegemons shape multilateral outcomes.

Lesson 4 • Technology, Innovation, and IR

Examines how emerging technologies reshape military power, economic competition, and diplomacy. Students assess the strategic implications of artificial intelligence and autonomous systems.