Module Specifications.
Current Academic Year 2024 - 2025
All Module information is indicative, and this portal is an interim interface pending the full upgrade of Coursebuilder and subsequent integration to the new DCU Student Information System (DCU Key).
As such, this is a point in time view of data which will be refreshed periodically. Some fields/data may not yet be available pending the completion of the full Coursebuilder upgrade and integration project. We will post status updates as they become available. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
Date posted: September 2024
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Description This module offers an overview of some central themes and issues in the study of contemporary world politics. Complementing theoretical elements with empirical ones, this course aims at outlining some international issues featuring both state and non-state actors. More in details, it seeks the following: i) reflecting on what IR theories are, what they are useful for and how they can be used for the understanding of the current global order. ii) assessing the role and relevance of supranational actors and dynamics iii)looking at the modern states, some of its features and challenges. All along the course, the students will be invited to reflect on the link between conceptual elements and case studies. After successfully completing this module, the student should have an adequate knowledge of a number of world politics themes and the theoretical instruments to think of them beyond the empirical dimension. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Learning Outcomes 1. Familiarity with the main theories and dynamics of contemporary affairs 2. Ability to understanding and processing simultaneously theoretical and empirical elements 3. Contextualization of the main contemporary issues and understanding of the scholarly debate around them 4. Ability to read critically different pieces of research, summarise the main points and argue about the validity and complementarity of the different argument | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
All module information is indicative and subject to change. For further information,students are advised to refer to the University's Marks and Standards and Programme Specific Regulations at: http://www.dcu.ie/registry/examinations/index.shtml |
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Indicative Content and Learning Activities
Week 1: IntroductionIntroduction to the course and review of some theoretical approachesWeek 2: The big actors in international affairs. Does America still matter? Introduction to the concept of “big powers”.Outline of the current systemic conditions and their impact on the American foreign policy. Outlining of exampleWeek 3: Small states: pawn or proactive actors?Introducing the concept of small states. Discussing what smallness is given by. Reflecting on the role of supranational structures (mostly the EU) in mitigating smallness.Week 4: The EU external action: Norms or power?Introducing the EU External Action service, its declared goals and its record. Discussing if its conduct can be classified as power-driven or value-driven.Week 5: Public diplomacy: projecting soft power?Introducing the concept of soft power and public diplomacy. Discussing its main features, its relevance and its limits. Pointing out the difference between the public diplomacy of democracies and authoritarianism.Week 6: Elections in authoritarian contexts: do authoritarian rituals make democracies?Reflecting on the constitutive properties of democracies and the role of "democratic rituals" in authoritarian settings.Week 7: Reading weekWeek 8: Rentier states. No taxation, no representation?Introduction to the concept of rentier states and their state-society relationship. Discussion on the possible challenges to this model.Week 9 : Proliferation and counter-proliferation. Do nukes still matter?Introducing the main elements of proliferation and its implications on anarchy. Reflecting on the reasons for nuclearization and de-nuclearization.Week 10: Insurgency: an alternative to the state?Introduction to failed states, insurgency and counter-insurgency. Discussion on its policy implications.Week 11: Conflict mediation. Which room for manoeuvre?Introduction to conflict mediation. Outlining of the conditions favouring a process and the primary mechanisms involved. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Indicative Reading List
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Other Resources None | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||