International Relations as a Distinctive Science: nature of IR, definitions of the subject, major developments in IR, various understandings of IR and their subject, key definitions and concept in the discipline etc.
Required reading (34 pages):
Hollis, Martin and Steve Smith. 1990. Explaining and Understanding International Relations. Oxford: Oxford University Press: 1-9 and 16-41.
Optional readings:
Goldstein, Joshua S. 2001. International Relations. 4th ed. New York: Pearson: 3-20.
Holsti, Kalevi J. 1995. International Politics: A Framework for Analysis. 7th ed.Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall: 1-20.
The International System and the Actors in IR: major features of the international system, states as primary actors, definitions and characteristics of the state, critiques of the state, non-state actors (non-governmental organizations, international organizations etc.), pros and cons of non-state actors and their influence on international politics
Required readings (31 pages):
Hocking, Brian and Michael Smith. 1995. World Politics. 2nd ed. London: Longman: 50-59.
Baylis, John and Steve Smith. 2001. The Globalization of World Politics. Oxford: Oxford University Press: 356-383.
Optional reading:
Josselin, Daphné and William Wallace. 2001. Non-State Actors in World Politics. Basingstoke: Palgrave.
Power and Conflict: explanation of basic concepts in IR, power as a major force, balance of power and its bearing on the structure of states and patterns of behavior, possibilities and limits of conflict in international politics, war as one of the primary tools, measurement of power and capabilities.
Required readings (37 pages):
Nye, Joseph Jr. 2004. Power in the Global Information Age. London: Routledge: 53-67;
Sheehan, Michael. 1996. The Balance of Power: History and Theory. London: Routledge: 1-23.
Optional reading:
Holsti, Kalevi J. 1995. International Politics: A Framework for Analysis. 7th ed.Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall: 327-358.
Foreign Policy and Decision Making: explanation of basic tools of foreign policy, ways to practice research into foreign policy, major models of decision-making, psychological and game-theoretical approaches towards foreign policy
Required reading (14 pages):
Goldstein, Joshua S. 2001. International Relations. 4th ed. New York: Pearson: 163-176.
Optional reading:
Holsti, Kalevi J. 1995. International Politics: A Framework for Analysis. 7th ed. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall.
Geopolitics: geopolitics as a harbinger of IR theories, various traditions within geopolitics (especially British and German tradition – Mahan, Mackinder, Ratzel, Kjellén, Haushofer), new geopolitics after World War Two, environmental overlap (Sprouts), new trends in geopolitics
Required readings (18 pages):
Dougherty, James E. and Robert Pfaltzgraff. 2001. Contending Theories of International Relations. 5th ed. New York: Addison Wesley: 149-166.
Optional readings:
Agnew, John. 2003. Geopolitics. Re-visioning World Politics. London: Routledge: 85-113.
Realism: historical roots; realism as a critique of idealism/utopianism, the first Great Debate in IR; major works of classical realism in IR.
Required readings (45 pages):
Morgenthau, Hans J. 1978. Politics among Nations. New York: Alfred A. Knopf: 3-25.
Burchill, Scott and Andrew Linklater. 2001. Theories of International Relations. 2nd ed. London: Palgrave: 70-87.
Optional reading:
Hollis, Martin and Steve Smith. 1990. Explaining and Understanding International Relations. Oxford: Clarendon: chapter 2.
Morgenthau, Hans. 1985. Politics Among Nations: The Struggle for Power and Peace. New York: McGraw-Hill: 201-217.
Neorealism: Kenneth Waltz’s reformulation of realism; systemic forces in international relations, critiques of neorealism.
Required reading (29 pages):
Waltz, Kenneth. 1995. “Realist Thought and Neorealist Theory.” In Controversies in International Relations Theory: Realism and the Neoliberal Challenge. Ed. Charles Kegley. New York: St. Martin’s Press: 67-81.
Waltz, Kenneth. 1979. Theory of International Politics. New York: McGraw-Hill: 88-101.
Optional reading:
Gilpin, Robert. 1988. War and Change in World Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press: 9-15 and 211-230.
Ashley, Richard. 1986. “The Poverty of Neorealism.” In Neorealism and Its Critics. Ed. Robert Keohane. New York: Columbia University Press: 267-293.
Grieco, Joseph. 1997. “Realist International Theory and the Study of World Politics.” In New Thinking in International Relations Theory. Eds. Michael Doyle and John Ikenberry. Boulder: Westview: 177-191.
Liberal Theories of International Relations: an historical overview of liberal thinking in IR; the crisis of realism in the 1960s and the 1970s and the challenge of complex interdependence; the role of international institutions; prospects for cooperation in world politics; developments in liberalism in 1980’s
Required readings (41 pages):
Keohane, Robert and Joseph Nye. 2001. Power and Interdependence. Third Edition. New York: Longman: 20-32.
Baylis, John and Steve Smith. 2001. The Globalization of World Politics. Oxford: OxfordUniversity Press: 162-181.
Keohane, Robert and Joseph Nye. 2001. Power and Interdependence. Third Edition. New York: Longman: 215-227.
Optional readings:
Burchill, Scott and Andrew Linklater. 2001. Theories of International Relations. 2nd ed. London: Palgrave: 29-65.
Keohane, Robert and Joseph Nye. 1977. Power and Interdependence: World Politics in Transition. Boston: Little and Brown: 3-22.
Keohane, Robert and Joseph Nye. 2001. Power and Interdependence. Third Edition. New York: Longman: 228-263.
Keohane, Robert and Joseph Nye. 1972. Transnational Relations and World Politics. Cambridge: HarvardUniversity Press: ix-xxix.
Marx-inspired approaches to world politics: World System Theory; center, periphery and semi-periphery; global capitalism and the system of states; the notion of hegemony; traditional vs. critical theory.
Required readings (35 pages):
Wallerstein, Immanuel. 1996. “The Inter-State Structure of the Modern World-System.” In International Theory: Positivism and Beyond. Eds. Steve Smith, Ken Booth, and Marysia Zalewski. Cambridge: CambridgeUniversity Press: 87-107.
Cox, Robert W. 1983. “Gramsci, Hegemony and international Relations: An Essay in Method.” Millennium 12 (2): 162-175 (Reprinted in Cox, Robert W. with Timothy J. Sinclair. 1996. Approaches to World Order. Cambridge: CambridgeUniversity Press: 124-143)
Optional reading:
Gill, Stephen. 1995. “Globalisation, Market Civilisation, and Disciplinary Neoliberalism.” Millennium 24 (3): 404-418.
Skocpol, Theda. 1977. “Wallerstein's World Capitalist System: A Theoretical and Historical Critique.” American Journal of Sociology 82 (4): 1075-1090.
Neo-neo debate and transformations of classical theory: neoliberal institutionalism vs. neorealism; the absolute vs. relative gains debate; emergence of positivism vs. post-positivism divide.
Required readings (23 pages):
Ed. Baldwin, David. 1993. Neorealism and Neoliberalism. New York: ColumbiaUniversity Press: 3-25.
Optional readings:
Grieco, Joseph. 1993. “Anarchy and the Limits of Cooperation: A Realist Critique of the Newest Liberal Institutionalism.” In Neorealism and Neoliberalism: The Contemporary Debate. Ed. David Baldwin. New York: ColumbiaUniversity Press. 116-140.
Constructivism, Postmodernism and Feminism in IR: Intellectual roots of constructivism; main tenets of constructivism; the contribution of constructivism to theoretical reconfigurations within the theory of IR; main characteristics and arguments of postmodernism; varieties of feminist theorizing in IR.
Required readings (68 pages):
Reus-Smit, Christian. 2001. “Constructivism.” In Burchill, Scott a Linklater, Andrew (eds.) Theories of International Relations: Palgrave: London, pp. 209-230.
George, Jim. 1994. Discourses of Global Politics: A Critical (Re)Introduction to International Relations. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, pp. 191-219.
Tickner, Ann J. 2003. “Feminist Perspectives on International Relations” In Carlnaes, Walter, Risse, Thomas and Beth A. Simmons (eds.) Handbook of International Relations. London, Thousands Oaks and New Delhi: Sage, pp. 275-291.
Optional readings:
Palan, Ronen. 2000. “A World of Their Making: An Evaluation of the Constructivist Critique in International Relations,” Review of International Studies 26, 575-598
Der Derian, James. 1989. “Spy versus Spy: The Intertextual Power of International Intrigue.” In Der Derian, James and Shapiro, Michael J. (eds.) International/Intertextual Relations: Postmodern Readings of World Politics. Lexington, MASS and Toronto: Lexington Books, pp. 163-188.
IR Theories since 1990’s – State of the Art: epistemological turns, positivism vs. post-positivism debate, relative weight of respective theories
Required readings (71 pages):
Weaver, Ole. 1996. „The Rise and Fall of the Inter-paradigm Debate.“ In Smith, Steve, Booth, Ken and Marysia Zalewski (eds.) International Theory: Positivism & Beyond, Cambridge: CambridgeUniversity Press, pp. 149-185.
Smith, Steve. 1996. “Positivism and Beyond.” In Smith, Steve, Booth, Ken and Marysia Zalewski (eds.) International Theory: Positivism & Beyond, Cambridge: CambridgeUniversity Press, pp. 11-44.
Optional readings:
Baylis, John and Steve Smith. 1999. The Globalization of World Politics. Oxford: Oxford University Press: 167-187.