Introduction to International Politics

Intro to International Politics is, unsurprisingly, the intro class to the international politics subfield of political science.

Syllabus

Introduction: theories and international politics
Realism: What It Is and Why It Matters
Realism and Causes of War.
Culture, Religion and Conflict: A Challenge to Realist Rationality?
The Liberal Critique of Realism
Levels of Analysis as a Critique of Realism: Bureaucratic and Organizational Politics, and the Importance of Individuals
Is Jihadi Terrorism a Challenge to Realism?
Origins of World War I: Military Organizations and Alliances
Origins of World War II: Appeasing and Bandwagoning
Origins of the Cold War: Realism vs. Ideology
Cuban Missile Crisis: Parity, Deterrence, and Accidents
End of the Cold War: Realism, Liberalism and Ideas
Economic Realism (mercantilism) vs. Liberalism/Neoliberalism
Globalization and Inequality: Is al Qaeda the New Marxism?
Hegemonic Stability Theory, the Bretton Woods System and the IMF
The World Trade Organization and Global Liberalization
Economic Regionalism and Politics: The European Union
The United Nations: An Organization of Organizations
Iraq, part one: Sanctions and WMD
Iraq, part two: War and its Aftermath
Proliferation and Deterrence Today: India and Pakistan
Proliferation and Deterrence Today: Iran and North Korea
U.S. Primacy and its challengers
The Mearsheimer and Walt controversy