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Contending theories of international relations

Course overview and objectives: MC 220 is the first half of a year-long introduction to the field of International Relations. We will be examining many of the central concepts, theories, and analytical tools used in contemporary social science to understand and explain international politics, with an emphasis on security. The course will focus on the strengths and weaknesses of different theoretical approaches in explaining the causes of war and of war termination, just means and ends for war, and the use of force including humanitarian intervention. We will use case studies to illustrate the use of competing theoretical approaches and concepts. The course is designed to enhance students' abilities to think critically and analytically about current problems and challenges in international politics. This course has five main objectives: 1) To familiarize yourself with key theories and approaches in the field of international relations. 2) To be able to apply these different theories and approaches to explaining particular cases of conflict and cooperation. In doing so, we will explore the strengths and weaknesses of these various approaches: the valuable insights each perspectives can give, to what extent the approaches are complimentary and to what extent they are contradictory, as well as the limits of these approaches in fully being able to explain patterns of conflict and cooperation. 3) To give you the concepts you will need to evaluate both theory and empirical cases of conflict and cooperation, and to understand the contested nature of the concepts. These concepts include war, power, balance of power, the security dilemma, collective security, foreign policy, security, anarchy, humanitarian intervention, globalization, and ideology. 4) To better understand the particular cases of conflict and cooperation we will study, as well as understand changing conceptions of international security and ways to promote international cooperation. 5) To provide you with opportunities to improve your critical thinking, reading, writing, and speaking abilities. Particular attention will be given to developing argumentation skills, both orally and in writing, through written assignments, in class discussions and weekly discussions on ANGEL, in class debates, and simulations. We will focus on the use of logic and evidence to build an argument, and address weaknesses and exceptions in order to determine the limits of an argument. Course organization: The course is organized so that case studies can illuminate a better understanding of international relations theory. We begin with an introduction to international relations theory and to …