GLOBAL AFFAIRS (ENGLISH, THESIS)
Master TR-NQF-HE: Level 7 QF-EHEA: Second Cycle EQF-LLL: Level 7

Course Introduction and Application Information

Course Code Course Name Semester Theoretical Practical Credit ECTS
GLA5007 Theories of International Relations Fall 3 0 3 8

Basic information

Language of instruction:
Type of course: Must Course
Course Level:
Mode of Delivery: Face to face
Course Coordinator : Prof. Dr. ESRA ALBAYRAKOĞLU
Recommended Optional Program Components: None
Course Objectives: This course examines various theories, which offer different viewpoints on how to evaluate concepts, actors and events in international relations. The course handles theories in historical setting, discusses the critique directed against each theory and seeks to put theory into practice through case analyses.

Learning Outcomes

The students who have succeeded in this course;
1. Differentiate between classical and critical theories;
2. Identify the major figures and basic assumptions associated with each IR theory;
3. Put theory into practice through case analyses;
4. Discuss the explanatory strength of IR theories;
5. Develop competencies with respect to active inquiry and critical thinking.

Course Content

Introduction to Western and Non-Western Theories of IR, Classical and Neo Realism, Classical and Neo Liberalism, English School, Constructivism, Copenhagen School, Post-structuralism, Marxist-inspired Third World Theories (Post-colonialism and World Systems Theory), Feminism, Green Theory (Environmentalism)

Weekly Detailed Course Contents

Week Subject Related Preparation
1) Introduction
2) Western and Non-Western IR Theories • Barry Buzan, “How and How not to Develop IR Theory,” in Yaqing Qin (ed.), Globalizing IR Theory, Routledge, 2020. • “Chp. 1: Thinking about IR Theory”, in Paul Viotti and Mark Kauppi (eds.), International Relations Theory, Rowman and Littlefield, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvKRAd9b0zU (Steve Smith & TIR) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6uwExc7eu8 (What is a non-Western IR theory?)
3) Classical Realism • “Chp. 3: Classical Realism”, in Tim Dunne, Milja Kurki and Steve Smith (ed.), International Relations Theories, 3rd Edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013. • John H. Herz, “The Security Dilemma in International Relations: Background and Present Problems”, International Relations, 17:4 (2003). • Hans Morgenthau, “Part One” in Politics among Nations, 1948. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnKEFSVAiNQ (Realism) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--kUgPyhg2U (Niccolo Machiavelli) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyKpG8Owk2I (Hans Morgenthau)
4) Neorealism • “Chp. 4: Structural Realism”, in Tim Dunne, Milja Kurki and Steve Smith (ed.), International Relations Theories, 3rd Edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013. • Fred Halliday and Justin Rosenberg, “Interview with Kenneth Waltz”, Review of International Studies, 24, (1998). • Richard Ned Lebow, “The Long Peace, the End of the Cold War, and the Failure of Realism”, International Organization, 48:2 (1994). • Gideon Rose, “Neoclassical Realism and Theories of Foreign Policy”, World Politics, 51:1 (1998). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9T-Bh254RJI (Kenneth Waltz) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXllDh6rD18&list=PLhQpDGfX5e7C6FA5IYU3VPYN7kWHl1mxQ (John Mearsheimer) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESwIVY2oimI (John Mearsheimer II)
5) Classical Liberalism • “Chp. 5: Liberalism”, in Tim Dunne, Milja Kurki and Steve Smith (ed.), International Relations Theories, 3rd Edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013. • Christopher Layne, “Kant or Cant: The Myth of the Democratic Peace”, International Security, 19:2 (1994). • G. John Ikenberry, “Liberalism in a Realist World”, International Studies, 46:1&2 (2009). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZbDMUaqwE8 (Liberalism) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxzh7N1gEF8 (Liberalism/Neoliberalism) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7D5FNrqT5dM (Andrew Moravscik on liberal theory)
6) Neoliberalism • “Chp. 6: Neoliberalism”, in Tim Dunne, Milja Kurki and Steve Smith (ed.), International Relations Theories, 3rd Edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013. • Andrew Moravcsik, “Explaining International Human Rights Regimes: Liberal Theory and Western Europe”, European Journal of International Relations, 1 (1995). • John J. Mearsheimer, “The False Promise of International Institutions”, International Security, 19:3 (1994/1995). • Miroslava Kulkova, “Undefended Borders in the Atlantic Area: The North American Security Community”, in F. Attinà (ed.), World Order Transition and the Atlantic Area, Springer Nature, 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRdV9bnNMIw (Neorealism vs. Neoliberalism) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgF2-RVu1Ag (Functionalism and the European Union)
7) Midterm Exam
8) English School • “Chp. 5: The English School”, in Paul Viotti and Mark Kauppi (eds.), International Relations Theory, Rowman and Littlefield, 2020. • Paul Sharp, “Mullah Zaeef and Taliban diplomacy: An English School approach”, Review of International Studies 29 (2003). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnUEkddkKjQ (The Globalization of International Society - Tim Dunne and Chris Reus-Smit)
9) Constructivism • Ted Hopf, “The Promise of Constructivism in International Relations Theory”, International Security, 23:1 (1998). • Rey Koslowski and Friedrich V. Kratochwil, “Understanding Change in International Politics: The Soviet Empire's Demise and the International System”, International Organization 48:2 (1994). • Jutta Weldes and Diana Saco, “Making State Action Possible: The United States and the Discursive Construction of the Cuban Missile Crisis”, Millennium - Journal of International Studies, 25 (1996). • James MacHaffie, “Mutual Trust without a Strong Collective Identity? Examining the Shanghai Cooperation Organization as a Nascent Security Community, Asian Security (2021). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYU9UfkV_XI&t=87s (Constructivism) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwU0UX5ktcU (Social Constructivism) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUF-T5JubDg&t=37s (War in Iraq through the lens of Realism, Liberalism and Constructivism)
10) Copenhagen School • Ole Wæver, “The Changing Agenda of Societal Security”, in Hans Günter Brauch et al. (ed.), Globalization and Environmental Challenges, Berlin: Springer, 2008. • Matt McDonald, “Securitization and the Construction of Security”, European Journal of International Relations 14 (2008). • “Chp. 3: Security Complexes”, in Barry Buzan and Ole Wæver, Regions and Powers: The Structure of International Security, Cambridge University Press, 2003. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPyONFYlcRY (Prof. Lene Hansen Explains Security) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQ07tWOzE_c (Copenhagen School and Securitization Theory)
11) Poststructuralism • “Chp. 11: Poststructuralism”, in John Baylis, Steve Smith and Patricia Owens (eds.), The Globalization of World Politics, 2020. • David Campbell, “Global Inscription: How Foreign Policy Constitutes the United States”, Alternatives, 15 (1990). • Roxanne Lynn Doty, “Bare life: border-crossing deaths and spaces of moral alibi”, Society and Space, 29 (2011). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKJlSY0DBBA (Understanding Derrida, Deconstruction & Of Grammatology) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBpI7PxwjzU (Foucault's Governmentality - International Relations) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgKJVz40lds (Drones, What Drones? News Media and the Ongoing War on Terror)
12) Marxist Theories of IR • “Chp. 7: Marxist Theories of IR”, in John Baylis, Steve Smith and Patricia Owens (eds.), The Globalization of World Politics, 2020. • “Chp. 10: Postcolonial and decolonial approaches”, in John Baylis, Steve Smith and Patricia Owens (eds.), The Globalization of World Politics, 2020. • Daniel Chirot and Thomas D. Hall, “World-System Theory”, Annual Review of Sociology, 8 (1982). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7CyPpnZ7PU (How the colonial past influences the way we see the world today) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGBnkk3-fS0 (Homi Bhabha on Post Colonial Studies) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7lmz4UL4wE (Africa Post-Colonial Development)
13) Feminism • “Chp. 8: Feminist Understandings in IR Theory”, in Paul Viotti and Mark Kauppi (eds.), International Relations Theory, Rowman and Littlefield, 2020. • Eric M. Blanchard and Shuang Lin, “Gender and Non-Western ‘Global’ IR: Where Are the Women in Chinese International Relations Theory?”, International Studies Quarterly, 48:3 (2004). • Anna M. Agathangelou and L. H. M. Ling, “Power, Borders, Security, Wealth: Lessons of Violence and Desire from September 11”, Alternatives, 15 (1990). • Cynthia Cockburn & Cynthia Enloe, “Militarism, Patriarchy and Peace Movements”, International Feminist Journal of Politics, 14:4 (2012). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajAWGztPUiU (Feminism and International Relations) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B33FkDx4__k (What has feminism done for International Relations? - Ann Tickner) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDsX2dl9hn0 (Interview with Cynthia Enloe)
14) Green Theory • “Chp. 14: Green Theory”, in Tim Dunne, Milja Kurki and Steve Smith (ed.), International Relations Theories, 3rd Edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013. • Michael J. Denis, “Green IR Theory and Domestic Wars: Revisiting Environmental Conflicts in Africa”, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), 3:9 (2019). • Tayyar Arı and Fatih Bilal Gökpınar, “Climate-Migration: A Security Analysis within the Context of Green Theory”, Uluslararası İlişkiler, 17:68, (2020). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8yOamWq3a0 (Garrett Hardin on the Tragedy of the Commons) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWUIIM0jgYY (Why climate change negotiations fail - An IR perspective) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LE_jle2QL6M (Future resource wars)

Sources

Course Notes / Textbooks: Haftalık ders okumalarının tamamı, dönem başında ItsLearning’e yüklenir. Ders izlencesinde yer alan tüm kitap bölümleri ve makalelere BAU Kütüphanesi’nden de erişilebilir. PowerPoint dosyaları, hafta bazında ve işlenen ders sonrasında ItsLearning’e yüklenir. Ders izlencesinde yer alan Youtube videolarının izlenmesi tavsiye edilir.
References: Weekly readings will be uploaded on ItsLearning at the beginning of the semester. All book chapters and articles listed on the syllabus are also accessible through the BAU Library. The PPT files will be shared on ItsLearning following each class. Please also watch the Youtube videos indicated.

Evaluation System

Semester Requirements Number of Activities Level of Contribution
Attendance 14 % 20
Midterms 1 % 40
Final 1 % 40
Total % 100
PERCENTAGE OF SEMESTER WORK % 60
PERCENTAGE OF FINAL WORK % 40
Total % 100

ECTS / Workload Table

Activities Number of Activities Duration (Hours) Workload
Course Hours 13 3 39
Study Hours Out of Class 20 8 160
Midterms 1 1.5 1.5
Final 1 1.5 1.5
Total Workload 202

Contribution of Learning Outcomes to Programme Outcomes

No Effect 1 Lowest 2 Low 3 Average 4 High 5 Highest
           
Program Outcomes Level of Contribution
1) Grasp basic theoretical and conceptual knowledge about the field and relations between them at the level of practice. 4
2) Possess basic knowledge about the causes and effects of political transformations in societies. 3
3) Possess knowledge about quantitative, qualitative and mixed research methods in social and behavioral sciences.
4) Recognize historical patterns while evaluating contemporary political and social developments. 5
5) Demonstrate interdisciplinary and critical approach while analyzing, synthesizing and forecasting domestic and foreign policy. 5
6) Conduct studies in the field professionally, both independently or as a team member. 3
7) Possess consciousness about lifelong learning based on Research & Development. 3
8) Communicate with peers both orally and in writing, by using a foreign language at least at a level of European Language Portfolio B2 General Level and the necessary informatics and communication technologies. 5
9) Apply field-related knowledge and competences into career advancement, projects for sustainable development goals, and social responsibility initiatives. 3
10) Possess the habit to monitor domestic and foreign policy agenda as well as international developments. 3
11) Possess competence to interpret the new political actors, theories and concepts in a global era. 5
12) Evaluate the legal and ethical implications of advanced technologies on politics.