Prof Kenneth Shadlen CON.6.07

This course is available on the CEMS Exchange, Global MSc in Management, Global MSc in Management (CEMS MIM), Global MSc in Management (MBA Exchange), MBA Exchange, MSc in Development Management, MSc in Development Management (LSE and Sciences Po), MSc in Development Studies, MSc in Economic Policy for International Development, MSc in Health and International Development, MSc in International Development and Humanitarian Emergencies, MSc in International Political Economy, MSc in International Political Economy (LSE and Sciences Po), MSc in Media, Communication and Development, MSc in Political Economy of Late Development and MSc in Political Science (Global Politics). This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.

2/3 of the spaces are reserved for ID and joint degree students, distributed on a random basis.

1/3 go to non-ID/joint students, distributed on a random basis.

All students not admitted in the initial allocation of spaces go on the waitlist, and as space opens the course leader will select students, without regard to degree/dept.

This course examines the politics of the international economy. We analyse the overarching rules and regulations that structure the international economy, and thereby provide context for development policy, and we assess the role of a range of actors (e.g. governments, firms, non-state actors) in shaping and reshaping the international economic order. We are particularly interested in understanding the ways that developing countries respond to and participate in the bodies that make and enforce international rules, and how changes in global economic governance affect opportunities for economic development. The first week, which synthesises a variety of explanations of the role that international institutions play in global politics, establishes the theoretical spine for the course. We then examine governance in international sovereign debt in weeks 2 and 3, analysing the  processes for restructuring debt owed to “public” (governments and international organizations) and “private” lenders. The course then turns to the politics of international trade, investment, and intellectual property. In week 4 we examine the emergence of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), focusing on the various agreements that the WTO administers, how it functions as an inter-governmental organisation with its own set of procedures for rule-making, policy monitoring and dispute-settlement, and the contemporary conflicts within the organization. In week 5 we examine the international trade regime beyond the WTO, including the proliferation of the bilateral and regional preferential trade agreements, focusing on the implications for development strategies in the Global South. In weeks 7 and 8 we analyse emerging arrangements for global governance in the areas of foreign investment and intellectual property, respectively. In week 9 we drill-down in more detail at global rules on intellectual property in pharmaceuticals, examining the challenges that the “globalization of pharmaceutical patenting” creates for developing countries. In week 10 consider the topic of “South-South relations,” shifting the axis of the course from analysis of institutions and organizations dominated by rich countries to institutions and organizations of – and for – developing countries. The final week synthesizes and concludes.

20 hours of lectures and 15 hours of seminars in the WT.

Plus a 2-hour revision session in the ST. There will be a reading week in Week 6 of WT. 

A detailed reading list is presented at the beginning of term.

Exam (60%, duration: 2 hours) in the spring exam period.
Essay (15%, 1500 words) and essay (25%, 1500 words) in the WT.

2 essays (15% and 25%, each 1,500 words) in the WT. The larger weight goes to the essay receiving a higher mark. The feedback on the first in-term essay serves as “formative” for second, and the feedback on both in-term essays are formative for the ST exam.

The essays are based on – and linked to – the questions discussed in the weekly seminars. Further details are available on Moodle.