The Study of International Relations - Introduction and Methodology 2104-UPIR-D1TSIR

Course Content:
I. Introduction: The concept of IR or International Studies, origins of the discipline and its subject matter, boundaries of the discipline, theories of the discipline.
II. Subject matter of IR: “the international” ,.”model of agent – structure”. Agency in IR and classifications of agents: state and non – state actors.
III. Level of analysis of IR
a) Individuals
b) State level, motives of state activity, forms and methods
c) regional subsystems/regional studies: concept of regionalism, regionalization, forms of regionalism.
d) International system /global studies
IV. Concept of the International System: theories, structure (unipolarism, bipolarism, multipolarism).
V. Concept of the International society: constitutive elements, role of norms and institutions.
VI. Overview of the theories of IR
VII. Foreign policy analysis: foreign policy as a process, decisions, implementation, strategies, instruments.
VIII. International Institutions: institutions definition, forms and functions of institutions.
IX. International Security Studies: insecurities, security dilemma, securitizations, human security, national security, regional and global security.
X. IR Methodology: research questions, inductive and deductive strategies.