BA International Relations

Introduction to Global History provides students with a broad understanding of the development of the modern world system. Beginning with 1492, it traces how the world became increasingly integrated and connected – economically, politically, militarily and socially. The course begins by asking what we might mean by ‘global history,’ and then considers global phenomena including empire, slavery, colonialism and revolution, through primary and secondary sources. We take a global look at the twentieth century, moving through the world wars, decolonization, the movements of 1968 and the contemporary rise of China in a globalized and capitalist age. In short, the course seeks to “narrate the world’s past in an age of globality” (Geyer and Bright), and to show how and where that past interacts with the present.

This is a core module in both the BA Politics and BA International Relations degrees and provides a general introduction to methods of political analysis. The module provides the foundation for further study of Politics and International Relations, covering such areas as philosophy of social science, scientific methods, theoretical and methodological debates and skills key to critical reading, writing and analysis. Substantive areas of coverage include debates over structure and agency, politics and policy, historical methods, qualitative and quantitative approaches to the study of politics and international relations, measurement, inference and interpretation, the use of evidence in argumentation, narrative and language. The module is designed to complement other foundational modules in the Department of Politics and International Studies.

Introduction to Global History provides students with a broad understanding of the development of the modern world system. Beginning with 1492, it traces how the world became increasingly integrated and connected – economically, politically, militarily and socially. The course begins by asking what we might mean by ‘global history,’ and then considers global phenomena including empire, slavery, colonialism and revolution, through primary and secondary sources. We take a global look at the twentieth century, moving through the world wars, decolonization, the movements of 1968 and the contemporary rise of China in a globalized and capitalist age. In short, the course seeks to “narrate the world’s past in an age of globality” (Geyer and Bright), and to show how and where that past interacts with the present.

Introduction to Global History 2 provides students with a broad understanding of the development of the contemporary world system, tracing moments of global crisis and instability, as well as activist responses to them, in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, and seeing how each reverberates in global politics today. The module covers topics as broad as women's emancipation, fascism, decolonisation, and the energy crisis through primary and secondary sources. This is one of two Introduction to Global History modules, organised broadly chronologically. The first one runs roughly to the 1920s. This second module looks at the last century of global history.

This module is a core module in the BA International Relations and provides a general introduction to the discipline of International Relations and to major themes in world politics. Major theories and approaches to world politics are covered, including Realism, Liberalism, Constructivism, Marxism, Feminism, and Postcolonial Approaches. Topics to be covered will include issues of war and peace, power, global political economy, public health, environmental politics, justice and human rights, empire, and the crisis of liberal international order. The course pays particular attention to the relationship between the discipline of International Relations as a field of knowledge and its application and/or relevance to the experience and interests of actors in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

This module is a core module in the BA International Relations and provides a general introduction to the discipline of International Relations and to major themes in world politics. Major theories and approaches to world politics are covered, including Realism, Liberalism, Constructivism, Marxism, Poststructuralist, Feminism, and Postcolonial Approaches. Topics to be covered will include issues of war and peace, power, global political economy, identities and ideologies, environmental politics, technological change, justice and human rights, empire, and the crisis of liberal international order. The course pays particular attention to the relationship between the discipline of International Relations as a field of knowledge and its application and/or relevance to the experience and interests of actors in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

This is a core module in both the BA Politics and BA International Relations degrees and provides a general introduction to methods of political analysis. The module provides the foundation for further study of Politics and International Relations, covering such areas as philosophy of social science, scientific methods, theoretical and methodological debates and skills key to critical reading, writing and analysis. Substantive areas of coverage include debates over structure and agency, politics and policy, historical methods, qualitative and quantitative approaches to the study of politics and international relations, measurement, inference and interpretation, the use of evidence in argumentation, narrative and language. The module is designed to complement other foundational modules in the Department of Politics and International Studies.

The module provides the foundation for further study of Politics and International Relations, covering such areas as philosophy of social science, scientific methods, theoretical and methodological debates and skills key to critical reading, writing and analysis. Substantive areas of coverage include debates over structure and agency, politics and policy, historical methods, qualitative and quantitative approaches to the study of politics and international relations, measurement, inference and interpretation, the use of evidence in argumentation, narrative and language.

This course not only covers major concepts and theories in the study of Comparative Politics, but also offers empirical analyses of the government and politics in a select group of countries. The course covers a wide range of issues, including the formation of the nation-state, democratization, authoritarianism, political culture, political development, comparative political economy, nationalism, ethnic politics, politics of religion, and political institutions. The course will also discuss some debates in Comparative Politics that have been important in the policy-making community in recent decades, such as state-building, role of the state in economy, the concept of social capital, and the effort to promote democracy around the world. Although paying attention to countries in Asia, Middle East, and Africa, a select group of Western countries will also be studied in a comparative format.

This module provides a general introduction to the study of Comparative Politics, a subfield of political science. Its distinct characteristics are the use of comparative methods to examine political issues and focus on politics within countries (as opposed to International Relations that looks at politics between countries). This module not only covers major concepts and theories in the study of Comparative Politics, but also offers empirical analyses of the government and politics in a select group of countries. The module covers a wide range of issues, including the formation of the nation-state, democratisation, authoritarianism, political culture, political development, comparative political economy, nationalism, class and ethnic politics, politics of religion, and political institutions. The module will also discuss some debates in Comparative Politics that have been important in the policy-making community in recent decades, such as state-building, role of the state in economy, the concept of social capital, and the effort to promote democracy around the world. Although paying attention to countries in Asia, Middle East, and Africa, examples from Western countries will also be referred to in a comparative format.

This module is the second part of the core module in the BA Politics degree and provides a general introduction to the study of Comparative Politics. Comparative Politics is a subfield of political science. Its distinct characteristics are the use of comparative methods to examine political issues and focus on politics within countries (as opposed to International Relations that looks at politics between countries). This module not only covers major concepts and theories in the study of Comparative Politics, but also offers empirical analyses of the government and politics in a select group of countries. The module covers a wide range of issues, including the formation of the nation-state, democratisation, authoritarianism, political culture, political development, comparative political economy, nationalism, class and ethnic politics, politics of religion, and political institutions. The module will also discuss some debates in Comparative Politics that have been important in the policy-making community in recent decades, such as state-building, role of the state in economy, the concept of social capital, and the effort to promote democracy around the world. Although paying attention to countries in Asia, Middle East, and Africa, examples from Western countries will also be referred to in a comparative format.

Introduction to Political Economy moves through four stages. First, we ease our way in through some big scene setting questions. Second, different conceptual tools are explored for you to use and reuse, including liberalism, Marxism, gender analysis, and racial politics. Third, we examine how capitalism was built over the past half century, a story of bankers, bureaucrats, and barons who often made a mess of it. Fourth, all these insights are mobilised for dissecting hot current issues, such as the climate crisis (literally hot), the global financial crisis and its fallout, the politics of trade competition, socio-economic inequalities, consumerism, technology, the politics of work, and macro conversations on the future of capitalism. Bonus features include: a field trip to the City of London, one of the world's financial hubs; a film screening; and social drinks (let’s extract SOAS resources for ourselves like true capitalists).

The module is organised around debates in four areas: (1) a set of scene setting questions to introduce the material; (2) conceptual frameworks, derived from the scholarly tradition of political economy and world politics, including liberalism, Marxism, gender-based approaches, and racial capitalism; (3) the post-WWII history of governing the capitalist system, including attention to finance, trade, development, and energy and the environment; and (4) contemporary issues transfixing the world economy, including the global ecological crisis, the global financial crisis and its fallout, the politics of trade regulation, socio-economic inequalities, new concerns around technology, the political economy of work, and macro debates on capitalism and its possible futures. Students are asked to think critically about how the politics of the economy is conceived, governed, and experienced, in particular through evaluating dynamics of power.

This is the first of two, linked modules. They provide an introduction to the foundational concepts of political theory and the study of politics. Students will be closely reading and analysing classic and more contemporary texts in political thought.

Across the two modules, students will read texts by key thinkers such as Plato, Hobbes, Rousseau, Carole Pateman, Karl Marx, Franz Fanon, Charles Mills, Angela Davis and Gandhi. Through them, we will study the history of political thought, as well as discuss problems of the present moment.

This is the second of two linked modules that provides an introduction to the foundational concepts of political theory and the study of politics. Students will be closely reading and analysing classic and more contemporary texts in political thought.

Across the two modules, students will read texts by key thinkers such as Plato, Hobbes, Rousseau, Carole Pateman, Karl Marx, Franz Fanon, Charles Mills, Angela Davis and Gandhi. Through them, we will study the history of political thought, as well as discuss problems of the present moment.

This module is designed to provide a general introduction to problems, approaches and debates in social science methods. The aim is to make undergraduate students familiar with different methodological languages and approaches and foster a critical understanding of them.

This module is designed to provide a general introduction to problems, approaches and debates in social science methods. The aim is to make undergraduate students familiar with different methodological languages and approaches and foster a critical understanding of them.

The purpose of this course is to examine the effects of political factors on economic development in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. It aims to familiarise students with various theories of economic development, specifically the role of the state and government intervention, and then to guide students in tracing these theories against the empirical evidence from a range of examples from states in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. It will thereby enable students to acquire a nuanced and empirically grounded perspective on the reasons for wide variations in economic development.

The amended module focuses on major concepts, theories, methodologies and academic approaches to the study of nationalism, national identity and nationhood. It begins with an examination of the historical contexts and socioeconomic conditions under which nationalism emerged in the West and subsequently spread across the globe. By familiarising students with the key concepts, theories and approaches to the study of nationalism, the module aims at enabling students to understand the processes which appear to make nationalism a powerful mobilizing and homogenising force and also point to its contingent, shifting and fluid nature. The module focuses on understanding the political contestations underlying the notion of nationalism in various regional contexts

This module will introduce students to contemporary political theory through a focus on key concepts. These include liberty, rights, justice, democracy, representation, power, hegemony and secularism.

The purpose of this module is to introduce you to the different theoretical and conceptual approaches to the study of international organisations (IOs), and to explore both the cross-cutting, and organisation-specific, contemporary debates and issues that surround them. The module will begin with a focus on the various approaches to the study of IOs and global governance, some of the theoretical lenses through which we can understand their importance to world politics, and a historical examination of their role in the international security regime governing the use of force. The module will then move to an examination of individual IOs and regimes, including those governing human rights and international criminal accountability, as well as international trade, finance, development. We will conclude with an exploration of, and comparison to, regional organisations, as well as a look at how we might understand the future of regional and global approaches to the governance of migration.

Designed as an advanced entrée into political economy, this module is organised into two sections. In the opening three weeks, we introduce the subject of political economy and explore major conceptual frameworks, including liberalism, Marxism, gender analysis, and racial politics. In the second section, these insights are mobilised for dissecting hot current issues, including: the climate crisis; the global financial crisis and its fallout; the politics of trade competition; socio-economic inequalities; the political economy of land and property; the AI revolution; and the new era of geoeconomic competition. Across all these topics, you are asked to think critically about how the politics of the international economy is conceived, governed, and experienced, in particular through evaluating dynamics of power. Without fear or hindrance (leave them at the door as they are not needed), you are encouraged to see and paint the kaleidoscopic colours of political economy.

This module provides UG students with an advanced introduction to key issues in postcolonial theory. The module covers fundamental concepts in postcolonial theory, such as orientalism, the subaltern, self-determination, agency, and resistance. It also looks at the intersection of postcolonial theory with Marxism, feminism, and queer theory. More recent approaches to settler colonialism and the decolonization of knowledge are also addressed in this module. On successful completion of this module a student will be able to engage with key debates in postcolonial theory and assess the usefulness of postcolonial theory for understanding contemporary global politics.

International Relations as a discipline has historically given little importance to religion as an explanatory category in modern international politics. In the wake of the 9/11 attacks and with the advent of the 'war on terror' there were increasing efforts to address this gap - however this reintroduction of religion by way of counterterrorism leads only to a very limited engagement with religion (one disproportionately focused on Islamic terrorism). Where other types of religious political movements and actors are analysed, religion is often either reduced to simply an identity category or seen as a displacement for other, more Worldly, concerns - it is rarely taken seriously on its own terms. This course seeks to provide a more holistic approach to the role of religion in contemporary world politics. The course will engage with a number of religious traditions from across the World in order to interrogate questions of secularism, violence, religious nationalism, civil society, soft power initiatives, and conflict resolution. What role does religion play in addressing the major crises of the present day? The course will also address methodological questions raised by the engagement with diverse religious traditions, as well as the uses of religion as an analytical category more broadly. We will ask whether the significance of religion can be easily fit into existing IR models or whether taking religion seriously requires a more radical departure.

This module introduces students to the phenomenon of war and demonstrates its ubiquity across time and space in human affairs, and develops an account of war as a constitutive force in the production of world politics past, present and future.

International Relations of South Asia will give students a broad and comprehensive introduction to this subject. Beginning with conventional IR theory disciplinary frames, it will explore inter-state relations in the South Asian region including the history of conflict between India and Pakistan, the nature of Indian dominance/hegemony over the South Asian region, the place of Afghanistan in conceptualisations of ‘South Asia’, as well as the security perspectives of smaller states in the region including Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. Other topics in the course will examine non-conventional security issues including questions of economic and environmental security posed by the sharing of international rivers and climate change, as well as the human security issues provoked by ethnic and other forms of conflict in the region.

This course examines the international politics of sub-Saharan Africa since Independence organised around four main themes. The first concentrates on the emergence of African states, the nature and analysis of that statehood and the degrees of conflict and cooperation between African states. The second theme looks at the insertion of African states into the international order, including the economic order and their participation in international politics. The third theme assesses the period after the end of the Cold War and concentrates on three main sub themes: firstly the nature of conflict within Africa and the emergence of a greater degree of outside intervention in that conflict; secondly the attempt, also largely by outside agencies, to effect long-term fundamental change within African societies; thirdly the ways in which African states have changed regional organisations to meet a new international environment. The last theme raises the question whether new developments in global politics (e.g. the growth of China) are fundamentally changing the international position of African states.

This course is designed to provide students with a theoretically informed introduction to key issues in the contemporary international relations of East Asia. The course comprises four parts. The first part (Introduction) provides an overview of the themes and intellectual approaches to the study of the international relations of the region. The second part (Ideas) examines how ideas and ideology shape international relations of East Asia. The third part (Norms) examines the region through the lens of norms. The fouth part (identity and regionalism) examines how identity has shaped various regional institutions taking the cases of ASEAN, SCO and BRI. As a result, the students will enhance knowledge of the region as a whole (to go beyond a single country focus) and learn to relate disciplinary and empirical knowledge.

This course is designed to provide students with a theoretically informed and comparative introduction to key issues in the contemporary international relations of East Asia. East Asia is defined as the states of the Northeast Asia (in particular, China, Korea, Japan and Taiwan), and the two main external actors, the United States and Soviet Union/Russia who played a key role influencing the region’s international relations. East Asia presents fascinating case studies in the study of international relations by bringing together the world’s three largest economies (US, China, Japan), three of the UN Security Council’s permanent members (US, Russia, China) and two divided nations (China/Taiwan and the two Korea).

This module examines the historical processes by which African economic and political systems emerged and became intertwined with external actors through colonialism, the slave trade and struggles for decolonisation and the ways in which independent African states formed and sought to cooperate with each other to overcome the legacies of slavery and the remnants of colonialism. It covers their approaches to: a) security, considering post-colonial African conflicts, and the means by which African states and political movements sought to negotiate the global Cold War; and b) International political economy, considering how African states sought to overcome marginality and dependence and to pursue their own development priorities as well as to make more just international economic structures.

This module considers controversies in Africa's contemporary international relations, considering the changing nature of peacekeeping and intervention since the end of the Cold War, discussing attempts made by non-African agencies, under the rubric of ‘humanitarian intervention’ and 'development', to effect fundamental changes within African security systems, state economic policies, governance systems and social organization, as well as 'African solutions to African problems': Continental, regional and unliateral African states' actions to try and re-take ownership of their own security and development. The module also discusses recent developments, including the revitalisation of Pan-Africanist and resource-nationalist projects, the effects of the ‘Global War on Terror’, the growing influence on the continent of China and other non-Western powers, all of which raise debates about whether African positions and roles in the international system are changing in any fundamental sense.

This interdisciplinary course provides an in-depth introduction to the international politics of western Asia and, to a lesser extent, North Africa. The course thus investigates both the factors involved in the making of international politics in the area, and the way we can comprehend them. To that end, it introduces students to the discourse of “Orientalism”, theories of international relations such as (neo)realism and social constructivism and other approaches that are relevant to an in-depth enquiry into the complex interactions within the region. Beyond this conceptual focus, themes such as Islam, gender, democracy, civil society, globalisation, fundamentalism, terrorism, revolution etc. are also covered in close juxtaposition to the post-colonial development of the regional state system.

This interdisciplinary course provides an in-depth introduction to the international relations of the Middle East with a particular emphasis on the foreign policies of major states. It links the study of international relations as a subject matter with the inter-state conflict (e.g. the Persian Gulf Wars, the conflict in Israel/Palestine etc.), foreign policy of major regional states (Iran, Turkey, Iraq etc.) and “global” politics. The course thus investigates both the factors involved in the making of international politics in the area, and the way we can comprehend them.

This module introduces students to politics in Southeast Asia in order to familiarize them with the broad contours of political change in the region, academic debates explaining these changes and ways of thinking about current and future political trends. The course covers mainland South East Asia, including Burma/Myanmar, Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam.

This module introduces students to politics in Southeast Asia in order to familiarize them with the broad contours of political change in the region, academic debates explaining these changes and ways of thinking about current and future political trends. The course covers maritime and island South East Asia, including Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Timor Leste, and the Philippines.

In this module we will examine forms of global governance across a range of issue areas – including security, human rights, migration, and humanitarianism. Students will be asked to critically examine how power and hierarchy is being made and remade through the idea of global governance.

This module traces the history and politics of Palestine and the Zionist movement, within a regional and international context, from the late nineteenth century to the present. It examines Palestinian and Israeli understandings of the past and present through primary sources, scholarship, and cultural production. The module seeks to understand how and at what costs Israeli and Palestinian political institutions and nationalisms have been constructed and analyzes British and US involvement in the conflict. Key themes to be introduced and explored include imperialism, settler colonialism, nationalism, Orientalism, violence, anticolonialism, and revolution, all as understood by a variety of actors involved in the region.

This course will chart the dominant features of this scholarly territory by familiarizing students with major issues and controversies in immigration research and by examining empirical cases in Africa, the GCC, and East Asia.

This module critically explores the international politics of 'security'. Its starting point is the recognition that the meaning of security - including whose security we are (or should be) talking about and what threatens this security - cannot be taken for granted. This has not only generated heated debates among scholars, but also shifted attention towards how political actors talk about 'security' and justify actions in its name. Positioned within this critical strand, this module addresses the contested nature of 'security' and provides students with the conceptual tools to see and analyse various empirical sites and practices of 'securitization'.

The climate crisis is clearly one of the primary existential threats facing the human species. But how we understand the roots of the climate crisis, its current and future impacts on world politics, and its possible solutions, is inherently contested terrain. Nothing less than the future of life on earth, and competing conceptions of the ‘good life’ and how we should organize our societies, is at stake. This course will investigate the global politics of the climate crisis, starting with scientific debates regarding the possible severity of climate change (how bad could it get?), and then moving through questions about climate governance, the political economy of climate change, the energy and food system transitions, migration, geoengineering, possible global futures, and activism. We can hardly hope to exhaust such a complex topic in the span of 10 weeks. Instead, we will cover some key topics and hear from a wide range of perspectives. The goal will be to give students a basic grounding in the science, politics, and economics of climate change; to enable them to critically engage with a multiple perspectives on the key causes and possible solutions to the climate crisis; and to help them think through its implications for their own lives and futures.

This is a unique undergraduate module focusing on Taiwan’s relations with China and its international politics. Against the background of the island’s international relations during the period of the Cold War, lectures will explore Taiwan’s search for international space since the 1970s, as well as the evolution of cross-Strait relations under the administrations of Chen Shui-bian (2000-08), Ma Ying-jeou (2008 to 2016), and the newly-elected DPP president Tsai Ing-wen.

Decolonisation was a set of historical processes that radically transformed international politics in practice and thought. The emergence of a world of sovereign states - a core premise for International Relations - is founded on the assumed completion of such processes. Yet increasingly, research in the field points to a number of ongoing theoretical, methodological and practical issues that result from the colonial and post-colonial constitution of global order. This module asks what it means to 'decolonise International Relations' by engaging with the challenges posed by anti-colonial, post-colonial and de-colonial thinkers on such issues. We will do so by critically examining the complexity and diversity of anti-colonial movements and thinkers, mainly in Anglophone contexts. We will study colonialism and anti-colonialism as international and transnational in thought and practice by exploring how both the colonised and the coloniser were transformed by decolonisation. We will also consider the contemporary relevance of decolonisation by looking at the condition of postcolonialism. In addition we will examine the intersections between 'race', gender and class.

The aim of this course is to provide students with a critical introduction to the subfield of foreign policy analysis (FPA). From its origins in the classic work of Snyder, Bruck and Sapin, foreign policy analysis has been shaped by a set of premises that have determined the ways in which the field has developed. Specifically, foreign policy has often been equated with decision-making, and studied on the basis of individualist, positivist and liberal assumptions as the external projection of processes internal to the nation-state. The vast bulk of conceptual, theoretical and empirical work has focused on the United States. Over time, these assumptions have been increasingly questioned - although it must be said without seriously denting the overall shape of the field. The course introduces students to the core assumptions, models, and debates that have structured the field, while also opening it up to critical interrogation, considering if and how it might be ‘decolonised’ as a field of study, and exploring its applicability to global case studies.

This is a unique undergraduate module focusing on Taiwan’s domestic politics. After an overview of Taiwan’s experience of authoritarian rule and democratic transition, the module has three main themes: Taiwan’s electoral and party politics, contested gender politics, and social movements.

The purpose of this module is to examine the effects of political factors on economic and social transformation (and vice versa) with reference to some of the most successful developing economies. It focuses on two main issues. First, how did political factors (i.e. types of regime and the conditions of their formation) facilitate the transformation of certain developing economies towards upper middle-income status during the GATT or pre-globalization era (c. 1950-90). Second, the module will examine how upper middle income economies are facing up to the challenges of the globalization era, notably mobile capital (financialization and the emergence of global value chains) and the complex of constraints that constitute the “middle income trap”.

In this module, students will study various conceptions of republicanism, empire and revolution in both western and anticolonial political thought. This module examines the republican language of political activism, virtue, liberty, equality, revolution and constitutional foundings. We will consider how the republican mixed constitution was deployed to promote social hierarchy and empire in some contexts, and radical equality and anti-imperialism in other contexts. Students will read about Roman, French, Haitian and Indian republicanism through the ideas of Cicero, Montesquieu, CLR James, Anna J. Cooper, Nehru, Arendt and others.

The Final Year Project allows students to develop an independent research and writing project on an approved topic and supervised by a member of academic staff in the Department.

This module is about the politics of normative change in world politics, and more specifically, in international responses to violent conflict i.e. the contestations over the norms, institutions, and law associated with the regulation of armed conflict and the management of its effects and consequences, and, more generally, the securing of a peaceful world. The module examines these both theoretically and empirically, with a focus on key domains within world politics - including human rights, humanitarianism, international criminal justice, the laws of war, and the legitimacy of the use of armed force - and the associated frameworks that have developed over the in recent decades as a wider architecture understood as ‘liberal’ in its ostensible foundations, goals, and commitments.