International Relations
compilation document
Content
Lecture 1 – 1-2 – Introduction: from International Relations to International Studies or How to Study
a Rapidly Changing World?.....................................................................................................................2
Lecture 2 – 8-2 – Critical Introduction to IR Theory................................................................................9
Lecture 3 – 15-2 – The Cold War and its Legacy...................................................................................21
Lecture 4 – 22-2 – Nuclear Proliferation, ‘Rogue States’, and the Nuclear Crisis on the Korean
Peninsula..............................................................................................................................................27
Lecture 5 – 1-3 – Nationalism, State Formation and International Order.............................................40
Lecture 6 – 8-3 – The Legacies of Decolonization and the Non-Aligned Movement.............................47
Lecture 7 – 22-3 – Globalization and neoliberalism – origins, impacts and alternatives......................58
Lecture 8 – 29-3 – War, Peace and Intervention..................................................................................70
Lecture 9 – 12-4 – Global Politics and Regional Integration.................................................................79
Lecture 10 – 19-4 – Shifting Powers – The Decline of the West and the Rise of the Rest?...................88
Lecture 11 – 26-4 – Global Politics in an ‘Age of Terror’.......................................................................97
Lecture 12 – 3-5 – Conclusion – Global Politics and the environment................................................108
1
,Lecture 1 – 1-2 – Introduction: from International
Relations to International Studies or How to Study a
Rapidly Changing World?
The changing nature of global politics after the Cold War
o 1991 as majorly significant turning point in modern history
o Collapse of the soviet union and the end of the cold war
o Global politics in the early 2000s and 2010s
Real-world politics and the study of politics or how changes in global politics may encourage
us to think differently about how to approach international relations and world politics
theoretically
o ir = international relations (real-world politics)
o IR = International Relations (the study of ir)
o Relation between ir and IR
o Does IR suffice to understand ir?
Global politics and international relations since the Cold War (post-1991)
- An interdisciplinary course on international politics, from different disciplinary angles and
traditions (History, Political Science, IR) and area specializations (especially the ‘West’
(Europe and the USA), and Asia)
- Linkages between
o Global, regional and national developments
o Theoretical approaches and real-world issues and policies
Evolution of IR theory
The gap between ir and IR is too wide
We should attempt to close this gap
o as is done very well in the Crocker article
Collapse of the Soviet Union and the bipolar world order, and its
consequences
What were the international consequences of domestic
developments
Globalization and regional integration
Most important development between the 1980s and 1990s
The changing nature of war, peace and intervention
Transformed since the World Wars
Global politics and environmental issues
Environmental issues influence international relations
Environmental issues are increasingly more pressing
Global power shifts – the ‘decline of the West and the rise of the Rest’?
The rise of China
Will there be a conflict between the USA and China?
o Western and non-western perspectives on global politics
IR is based in the West
IR is almost inherently Eurocentric
ir is not inherently western of course
o International Relations and International Studies
2
,The changing nature of global politics after the Cold War (fundamental change)
- Global order: from bipolarity, to multipolarity, to etc.
o How the world changed at the highest level of political extraction
- Globalization and diversity
o Increasing interdependence (different dimensions: political, socioeconomic, cultural,
etc.)
o Tension between increasing interdependence and the reality of diversity (different
dimensions: political, socioeconomic, cultural, etc.)
- New actors and new issues
o Fundamental change after the end of the Cold War
- A world adrift: a policy analysis
o Crocker article
o Wide gap between ir and IR
Global change after the Cold War – the changing nature of ‘world order’
- Order does not literally mean lack of chaos/presence of peace
- Order means the way the world works politically/is divided in powers/is divided in
multilateral allegiances
- World order means how does the world function politically (issues, countries, actors,
institutions, etc.)
- Power is the currency of ir
o How is power divided/distributed?
- From bipolarity (Cold War) to unipolarity, multipolarity, and non-polarity
o The rise of authoritarian great powers: Russia’s ‘revisionism’, China’s ‘peaceful rise’
and the future of the ‘global liberal order’ – challenges from within (the Trump
presidency) and from without (with, without, against, around?)
Cold war: bipolar
Capitalist vs socialist
Democratic vs authoritarian
After end of cold war: unipolar
The US was the only major power that really mattered (1990s)
Liberal global world order
o Challenged from the outside: non-democratic powers such
as China
o Challenged from the inside: the liberal world order has been
compromised by the Trump presidency
Currently: multipolar
Te (re)emergence of authoritarian major powers such as Russia and
China
Russia and China are revisionist
Russia wants to change the current world order and the way in
which ir is conducted
China wants the same but presents itself less negatively in this
respect
o ‘Back to the future?’ – John Mearsheimer, ‘Back to the Future: Instability in Europe
After the Cold War. International Security, 1990, 15(1), 5-56)
The future of European integration
3
, Ominous view on the future of European politics: Europe would not
be able to handle itself and its own challenges after the end of the
Cold War
Even NATO did not support the US’s interests anymore
Instability and conflict on Europe’s periphery
Relations with Russia
o From the ‘post-Cold War to the ‘post-post-Cold War’?
‘The post-Cold War order is unravelling, and while not perfect, it will be
missed’ – Richard N. Haass, ‘The Unraveling. How to Respond to a Disordered
World, Foreign Affairs, November/December 2014
From the unipolar order to the multipolar world order
Global change after the Cold War – Globalization and diversity
- Globalization is a political, socioeconomic, cultural, and ideational concept
- From globalization, universalism and the ‘End of History’ to the growth of ideological,
political and economic diversity, and the ‘Return of History’
o End of History – Francis Fukuyama, The End of History and the Last Man. New York:
Free Press, 1992
Influential in the early 1990s
Too optimistic
We currently live in different times
Dichotomy: we become more alike but remain very different
o Return of History – Robert Kagan, The Return of History and the End of Dreams. New
York: Atlantic, 2008
- We are becoming more alike (globalization/interdependencies), but at the same time remain
very different (dichotomy)
o Globalization going wild
Neoliberalism
Financial crisis of 2007-08
Eurozone Crisis (from 2009)
Economic crises and its discontents
People losing their livelihoods and security under the influence of
globalization
o Differences between and within countries increase and emphasized, shaped by a
large variety of ideological, cultural, national characteristics and differences
(migration, the rise of nationalism, ‘ethnic’ and ‘identity politics’), which can be very
different from the Cold War
o Growing economic equality between and inequality within countries (US, China,
Russia)
o Old, new and old/new ideas, norms: universalism (human rights), liberalism,
sovereignty, intervention
Global poverty reduction
4
compilation document
Content
Lecture 1 – 1-2 – Introduction: from International Relations to International Studies or How to Study
a Rapidly Changing World?.....................................................................................................................2
Lecture 2 – 8-2 – Critical Introduction to IR Theory................................................................................9
Lecture 3 – 15-2 – The Cold War and its Legacy...................................................................................21
Lecture 4 – 22-2 – Nuclear Proliferation, ‘Rogue States’, and the Nuclear Crisis on the Korean
Peninsula..............................................................................................................................................27
Lecture 5 – 1-3 – Nationalism, State Formation and International Order.............................................40
Lecture 6 – 8-3 – The Legacies of Decolonization and the Non-Aligned Movement.............................47
Lecture 7 – 22-3 – Globalization and neoliberalism – origins, impacts and alternatives......................58
Lecture 8 – 29-3 – War, Peace and Intervention..................................................................................70
Lecture 9 – 12-4 – Global Politics and Regional Integration.................................................................79
Lecture 10 – 19-4 – Shifting Powers – The Decline of the West and the Rise of the Rest?...................88
Lecture 11 – 26-4 – Global Politics in an ‘Age of Terror’.......................................................................97
Lecture 12 – 3-5 – Conclusion – Global Politics and the environment................................................108
1
,Lecture 1 – 1-2 – Introduction: from International
Relations to International Studies or How to Study a
Rapidly Changing World?
The changing nature of global politics after the Cold War
o 1991 as majorly significant turning point in modern history
o Collapse of the soviet union and the end of the cold war
o Global politics in the early 2000s and 2010s
Real-world politics and the study of politics or how changes in global politics may encourage
us to think differently about how to approach international relations and world politics
theoretically
o ir = international relations (real-world politics)
o IR = International Relations (the study of ir)
o Relation between ir and IR
o Does IR suffice to understand ir?
Global politics and international relations since the Cold War (post-1991)
- An interdisciplinary course on international politics, from different disciplinary angles and
traditions (History, Political Science, IR) and area specializations (especially the ‘West’
(Europe and the USA), and Asia)
- Linkages between
o Global, regional and national developments
o Theoretical approaches and real-world issues and policies
Evolution of IR theory
The gap between ir and IR is too wide
We should attempt to close this gap
o as is done very well in the Crocker article
Collapse of the Soviet Union and the bipolar world order, and its
consequences
What were the international consequences of domestic
developments
Globalization and regional integration
Most important development between the 1980s and 1990s
The changing nature of war, peace and intervention
Transformed since the World Wars
Global politics and environmental issues
Environmental issues influence international relations
Environmental issues are increasingly more pressing
Global power shifts – the ‘decline of the West and the rise of the Rest’?
The rise of China
Will there be a conflict between the USA and China?
o Western and non-western perspectives on global politics
IR is based in the West
IR is almost inherently Eurocentric
ir is not inherently western of course
o International Relations and International Studies
2
,The changing nature of global politics after the Cold War (fundamental change)
- Global order: from bipolarity, to multipolarity, to etc.
o How the world changed at the highest level of political extraction
- Globalization and diversity
o Increasing interdependence (different dimensions: political, socioeconomic, cultural,
etc.)
o Tension between increasing interdependence and the reality of diversity (different
dimensions: political, socioeconomic, cultural, etc.)
- New actors and new issues
o Fundamental change after the end of the Cold War
- A world adrift: a policy analysis
o Crocker article
o Wide gap between ir and IR
Global change after the Cold War – the changing nature of ‘world order’
- Order does not literally mean lack of chaos/presence of peace
- Order means the way the world works politically/is divided in powers/is divided in
multilateral allegiances
- World order means how does the world function politically (issues, countries, actors,
institutions, etc.)
- Power is the currency of ir
o How is power divided/distributed?
- From bipolarity (Cold War) to unipolarity, multipolarity, and non-polarity
o The rise of authoritarian great powers: Russia’s ‘revisionism’, China’s ‘peaceful rise’
and the future of the ‘global liberal order’ – challenges from within (the Trump
presidency) and from without (with, without, against, around?)
Cold war: bipolar
Capitalist vs socialist
Democratic vs authoritarian
After end of cold war: unipolar
The US was the only major power that really mattered (1990s)
Liberal global world order
o Challenged from the outside: non-democratic powers such
as China
o Challenged from the inside: the liberal world order has been
compromised by the Trump presidency
Currently: multipolar
Te (re)emergence of authoritarian major powers such as Russia and
China
Russia and China are revisionist
Russia wants to change the current world order and the way in
which ir is conducted
China wants the same but presents itself less negatively in this
respect
o ‘Back to the future?’ – John Mearsheimer, ‘Back to the Future: Instability in Europe
After the Cold War. International Security, 1990, 15(1), 5-56)
The future of European integration
3
, Ominous view on the future of European politics: Europe would not
be able to handle itself and its own challenges after the end of the
Cold War
Even NATO did not support the US’s interests anymore
Instability and conflict on Europe’s periphery
Relations with Russia
o From the ‘post-Cold War to the ‘post-post-Cold War’?
‘The post-Cold War order is unravelling, and while not perfect, it will be
missed’ – Richard N. Haass, ‘The Unraveling. How to Respond to a Disordered
World, Foreign Affairs, November/December 2014
From the unipolar order to the multipolar world order
Global change after the Cold War – Globalization and diversity
- Globalization is a political, socioeconomic, cultural, and ideational concept
- From globalization, universalism and the ‘End of History’ to the growth of ideological,
political and economic diversity, and the ‘Return of History’
o End of History – Francis Fukuyama, The End of History and the Last Man. New York:
Free Press, 1992
Influential in the early 1990s
Too optimistic
We currently live in different times
Dichotomy: we become more alike but remain very different
o Return of History – Robert Kagan, The Return of History and the End of Dreams. New
York: Atlantic, 2008
- We are becoming more alike (globalization/interdependencies), but at the same time remain
very different (dichotomy)
o Globalization going wild
Neoliberalism
Financial crisis of 2007-08
Eurozone Crisis (from 2009)
Economic crises and its discontents
People losing their livelihoods and security under the influence of
globalization
o Differences between and within countries increase and emphasized, shaped by a
large variety of ideological, cultural, national characteristics and differences
(migration, the rise of nationalism, ‘ethnic’ and ‘identity politics’), which can be very
different from the Cold War
o Growing economic equality between and inequality within countries (US, China,
Russia)
o Old, new and old/new ideas, norms: universalism (human rights), liberalism,
sovereignty, intervention
Global poverty reduction
4
