Dr George Lawson CLM.5.12

This course is compulsory on the BSc in International Relations, BSc in International Relations and History and BSc in Politics and International Relations. This course is available on the BSc in Environment and Development. This course is available as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit and to General Course students.

An examination of the concepts designed to explain the nature of contemporary international relations.

1. The emergence of the discipline and the nature of its subject matter.

2. Key agential concepts in IR: state; empire; international and subnational agents; foreign policy.

3. Key structural concepts in IR: the states system; Euro-centrism, globalisation, post-colonialism; global governance; security.

4. Key institutional concepts in IR: international society; great powers; diplomacy; war; balance of power; international law and human rights.

5. Key sociological concepts in IR: power and sovereignty; intervention; gender; anarchy.

10 hours of lectures and 9 hours of classes in the MT. 10 hours of lectures and 10 hours of classes in the LT. 2 hours of classes in the ST.

Students on this course will have a reading week in Week 6, in line with departmental policy.

Students are required to write three essays of approximately 1,500 words. They will also be required to give at least one class presentation.

A full course description and guide to reading will be provided: relevant course texts include J Baylis & S Smith (Eds), Globalisation and World Politics, 2nd edn, (Oxford UP, 2001); C Brown, Understanding International Relations, 2nd edn (Macmillan, 2001); R Jackson & G Sørensen, Introduction to International Relations (OUP, revised edn., 2003).

Exam (100%, duration: 3 hours) in the main exam period.

Sample papers are included in the full course description.