The international system today faces extraordinary challenges. Understanding these challenges requires understanding the past. This seminar course briefly reviews the origins and development of the international system from the 17th century through the age of empires and the great wars of the 20th century. It then concentrates on the clash of nationalism with internationalism in the world since 1945, looking at such issues as what drives nationalism and what alternatives there are to it. We will study ideas and ideologies as well as the institutions that make up the current geopolitical world. Topics will include an examination of new forms of international collaboration that have developed in the wake of crises in the years following the Second World War. This course explores the origins and management of international conflict from the 17th to the 21st century, focusing on the precursors to war and the markers of peace. We will also consider the ways in which our current global world order promotes and preserves justice between and within nations. Students will consider different theoretical approaches to justice between nations, and apply them to recent security issues. By studying the history of conflict and the difference between justice and injustice students will gain a deeper understanding of how current geopolitical actors can structure and affect the prospects for security policy reform moving forward.
The international system today faces extraordinary challenges. Understanding these challenges requires understanding the past. This seminar course briefly reviews the origins and development of the international system from the 17th century through the age of empires and the great wars of the 20th century. It then concentrates on the clash of nationalism with internationalism in the world since 1945, looking at such issues as what drives nationalism and what alternatives there are to it. We will study ideas and ideologies as well as the institutions that make up the current geopolitical world. Topics will include an examination of new forms of international collaboration that have developed in the wake of crises in the years following the Second World War. This course explores the origins and management of international conflict from the 17th to the 21st century, focusing on the precursors to war and the markers of peace. We will also consider the ways in which our current global world order promotes and preserves justice between and within nations. Students will consider different theoretical approaches to justice between nations, and apply them to recent security issues. By studying the history of conflict and the difference between justice and injustice students will gain a deeper understanding of how current geopolitical actors can structure and affect the prospects for security policy reform moving forward.
