Great Power Politics

The course examines international cooperation and conflict in a hierarchical international system. Three themes animate our inquiry: great powers & order; great power war & peace; great power competition. Many of the theoretical debates and substantive issues taught in this course have gained renewed relevance with the recent outbreak of war, the geopolitical impact on economic interactions and the possibility of great power war. We consider the relationship between dominance and order, as well as the nature and future of the liberal international order. The course analyzes the various strategies great powers employ when competing in the economic and security arena, involving both the security implications of economic interactions, and the economic consequences of security interactions. Longstanding claims about the relationship between the distribution of power and war and the inevitability of war between the great powers is scrutinized. Whenever possible we analyze real world developments and weigh policy tradeoffs. After taking this course students will be familiar with analytical concepts and empirical trends in the study of great powers and the field of international relations and international political economy.