Global Politics: An Introduction to International Relations

 

Professor Ben Schiff, Politics Department

Professor Eve Sandberg, Politics Department

Oberlin College

 

This course introduces two kinds of thinking used in the study of international relations:

(1)  the study of issues, decision makers, and events that shape countries, interactions, and

(2)  the study of theories used to understand those interactions.

 

Some issues addressed by this course include: how foreign policy is made, how countries seek to insure their security, international economic relations (especially between rich and poor countries) and international organizations (such as the United Nations and the North American Free Trade Association). Discussion of international relations theory will take the account of: realist approaches, including game theory and structuralism; and a variety of moralist approaches, including feminist critical, institutionalist and constructivist theories.