This course is designed to be an introduction to the lineage, themes and debates of contemporary theories of world politics.
Prerequisite(s)
IR 5008/IRD 5005
Corequisite(s)
IR 5005/IRD 5005
Special Requisite(s)
This course is obligatory. All students are expected to participate in the classes, complete their readings and presentations on time, and regularly attend lectures. The students are required to participate in class discussions, especially in the discussions on presentations prepared by their classmates. They are all expected to prepare a 20-minute presentation. The students will complete all the required readings on this syllabus.
Instructor(s)
Professor Çağla Gül Yesevi
Course Assistant(s)
Schedule
Monday, 10:00 - 12:50, A203
Office Hour(s)
Prof. Dr. Çağla Gül Yesevi, c.yesevi@iku.edu.tr
Teaching Methods and Techniques
Lecture, discussion, students presentations
Principle Sources
Viotti, R. Paul & Kauppi, International Relations Theory: Realism, Pluralism, Globalism ( London: Allyn and Bacon, 1993).
Other Sources
Art, Robert J. & Jervis, Robert, International Politics: Anarchy, Force, Political Economy, and Decision Making, (USA: HarperCollins, 1985).
Bull, Hedley, The Anarchical Society: A Study of Order in World Politics (London: The MacMillan Press, 1979).
Guzzini, Stefano, Realism in International Relations and International Political Economy: The Continuing Story of a Death Foretold (New York: Routledge, 1988).
Keohane, Robert (ed.) Neorealism and its Critics (New York: Columbia University Press, 1986).
Keohane, Robert O. & Nye Joseph S. Nye, Power and Interdependence (USA: Harper-Collins, 1989).
Knutsen, Torbjörn L, A History of International Relations, (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1977).
Mansfield, Harvey, “Responses to Fukuyama”, National Interest, No. 56 (Summer 1999).
Qadir, Shahid, “Civilisational Clashes: Surveying the Fault-Lines”, Third World Quarterly, Vol. 19, No.1 (March 1998).
Course Schedules
Week
Contents
Learning Methods
1. Week
We will answer the main questions about IR theory briefly. What is “international politics”? What is theory? Do we need theories? How do we classify theories? What are their main assumptions? When do we start the history of IR? What is globalization? We will examine positivist and post-positivist theories. General information about theories such as Realism, Liberalism, Marxism and Social Constructivism will be given. Main theoretical approaches related to globalization will be summarized.
Oral presentation
2. Week
Major assumptions and concepts of Realism
Oral presentation, discussion, students presentations
3. Week
We will examine the main assumptions of historical antecedents of Realism. (Thucydides, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Carr, Clausewitz). History of Peloponnesian War, Melian Dialogue, Pericles’ Funeral Oration, Raison d’etat, Dual moral standard, Realism, Morality, core elements of Realism, meaning of anarchy.
Oral presentation, discussion, students presentations
4. Week
Realism and Neo-realism
Oral presentation, discussion, students presentations
5. Week
We will examine major concepts and assumptions of Liberalism. The historical development of Liberalism will be studied by referring to the ideas of Hugo Grotius, the Enlightenment process, Kant and Perpetual Peace, 19th-century liberalism (Adam Smith, Jeremy Bentham), and Wilson’s idealism.
Oral presentation, discussion, students presentations
6. Week
We will discuss Michael Doyle’s article “Liberalism and World Politics”. We will examine the fundamental concepts of liberalism as liberal values, causes of war, state of war, determinants of peace, the meaning of interdependence, collective security, democratic peace thesis, integration process, Mitrany, and ramification.
Oral presentation, discussion, students presentations
7. Week
Neo-Neo Debate
Oral presentation, discussion, students presentations
8. Week
Midterm Exam
Exam
9. Week
Midterm Exam
Exam
10. Week
We will examine the Economic Structuralism
Oral presentation, discussion, students presentations
11. Week
Social Constructivism will be studied.
Oral presentation, discussion, students presentations
12. Week
Social Constructivism will be studied.
Oral presentation, discussion, students presentations
13. Week
Reflectivist Theories will be studied. These theories are Normative Theory, Feminist Theory, Critical Theory, Historical Sociology, and Post-Modernism.
Oral presentation, discussion, students presentations
14. Week
Analysis of Selected topics and discussions on some selected readings of International Relations Theory.
Oral presentation, discussion, students presentations
15. Week
Analysis of Selected topics and discussions on some selected readings of International Relations Theory.
Oral presentation, discussion, students presentations
16. Week
Final Exam
Final Exam
17. Week
Final Exam
Final Exam
Assessments
Evaluation tools
Quantity
Weight(%)
Midterm(s)
1
25
Homework / Term Projects / Presentations
1
25
Final Exam
1
50
Program Outcomes
PO-1
To identify and use theoretical and practical knowledge in International Relations.
PO-2
To express ideas and assessments about contemporary debates in International Relations.
PO-3
To acknowledge ethical and scientific responsibilities of data collection, evaluation and publication.
PO-4
To monitor and interpret published studies in International Relations.
PO-5
To use a second language at an intermediate level.
PO-6
To analyze, compare and relate different local, regional and global developments in International Relations.
PO-7
To analyze, compare and relate International Relations with theories and practices of different associate departments and their sub-fields and to offer suggestions by combining these fields.
PO-8
To present substantial knowledge for various public, private and academic career positions.
PO-9
To analyze the emergence and functions of prominent regional and local actors and to make future projections about their actions.
PO-10
To theoretically and practically examine different events and facts in International Relations and Foreign Policy and to interpret their past, present, and future through a scientific perspective.
Learning Outcomes
LO-1
1. To explain lineage, themes and debates of contemporary theories of world politics
LO-2
2. To discuss many of the theoretical and methodological approaches used in the field and attempt to evaluate them critically.
LO-3
3. To evaluate Realism, Liberalism and Marxism., Social Constructivism and reflectivist theories (Post-modernism, Feminist Theory, Normative Theory, Historical Sociology) and current debates on globalization.
LO-4
4. To express the main issues of history of political theory as it has related to the study of international relations, and explore some contemporary debates in international political theory about various issues of international ethics.
LO-5
5. To interpret globalization, international peace, international security, human rights, intervention, the use of force, poverty and democracy.
