Preamble: The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the study of international politics. The course will engage students with a range of political phenomena and events that determine world politics. The course begins with a general introduction to the key approaches to the study of world politics, security and inter-state relations. The objective is to familiarize students with the debates around conflict and cooperation, law of international institutions, multilateralism and human security.
Course Content: History of international relations: idea of international society, balance of power in the inter-war period, new world order; Theories on inter-state conflict and cooperation: political realism, neo-realism, complex interdependence, social constructivism and post-positivist approaches; Multilateral organizations: collective security and the role of United Nations; European Union, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Association of South East Asian Nations and other regional organizations; Cold war and post-cold war threats to international security: traditional and non-traditional security, deterrence, nuclear rivalry and maritime security.
Texts & references
1. Kenneth N. Waltz, Man, the State, and War: A Theoretical Analysis, Colombia University Press, 2001.
2. Baylis, John, Steve Smith and Patricia Owens (eds.), The Globalization of World Politics: An Introduction to International Relations (5th edn.), Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011.
3. M. Kaldor, New and Old Wars: Organized Violence in a Global Era, Polity Press, 2012.
4. E. Sridharan, International Relations Theory and South Asia: Security, Political Economy, Domestic Politics, Identities, and Images, Oxford University Press, 2014. 5. Ian Hurd, International Organizations: Politics, Law and Practice, Cambridge University Press, 2017.
