Key Information
About the content
How are international power relations changing and how can global peace and stability be maintained? This course familiarizes you with some main theories of international relations, shows how the global order is gradually changing and discusses how selected international and regional organizations contribute to the maintenance of global peace and security. You learn what research findings tell us in terms of the capacity of international organizations and actors to help prevent or stop violent conflict, what tools are used to negotiate agreements and how foundations for sustainable peace are best created. We will also focus on the role of the European Union in terms of diplomacy and efforts to prevent conflict, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the contribution of organizations such as the African Union to the prevention of conflict and war. We will study the United Nations Security Council and see in which ways its membership could be adapted to more accurately reflect the power relations of the current global order. Through quizzes and exercises testing your knowledge of these subjects, you will understand crucial concepts and get insights into how the academic study of international relations and international organization contributes to the search for global stability and peace in practice.
Syllabus
- Week 1 - Welcome to the course
Great that you are joining us! In this course you will learn about international relations, peace and security. Before you start with studying we invite you to first go through our introduction module and introduce yourself in the forum to meet your fellow lea... - Week 1 - Theories of International Relations
In this first week, we will discuss theories of international relations and in addition to this, we will have a first lecture on the United Nations Security Council. Theories may at times seem a bit ‘abstract’, or even ‘dry’, but you will see that they actuall... - Week 2 - The Changing World Order: Rising Powers and International Institutions
This week we will be looking into changing world power in more detail, mainly targeting the question: who are the rising powers? You will get lectures from two of our guest instructors: Professor Rob de Wijk and Professor André Gerrits. Topics covered are powe... - Week 3 - Conflict, Conflict Resolution and Security
This week, we will look at Conflict, Conflict Resolution and Security. We have a number of very interesting lectures as well as some additional interviews with experts in the field. Some of the topics include negotiation and mediation strategies, UN Security C... - Week 4 - Regional Organizations in Global Affairs
This week, we will look at regional organizations in global affairs in which we first focus on the European Union. Thereafter, Prof. dr. Giles Scott-Smith will familiarize us with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Arctic Council. We will also prese... - Week 5 - NATO in a Changing World
The topic addressed this week is NATO in a Changing World. There are two lectures by Prof. dr. Rob de Wijk. The first examines coercion and the second elucidates the new role of NATO in the international arena. Furthermore, there are also interesting intervie... - Week 6 - Reforming the UNSC: Strategies and Proposals
This week, we will focus on the United Nations Security Council and Reform Proposals. The topics addressed are the history of the UNSC, its current structure, and how it can best be reformed. Additionally, there are two extra videos by Abiodun Williams and Edw... - Week 7 - Handing in the UNSC Reform Groups Proposals
Please note that during week 7, there are no lectures and assigned readings. The purpose of the week is for the students participating in the UN Security Council reform group assignment to hand in their proposals. The deadline is on Wednesday of this week at 1...
Instructors
Madeleine Hosli
Prof. Dr.
Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs
Content Designer
Platform
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