The International System in Theory and Context

Module code: PES7054-B

Module Aims

Outline Syllabus

The syllabus is broadly organized into two main sections. The first focuses on the development of the state, and of its relations with other states, over an extended historical period. The second examines the various contemporary theories and interpretations of international relations and the present international systems; and the interrelationship with the roles and characteristics of states.

The development of the state in the international system is analysed through at least three main themes. The first is the emergence of the legally ‘sovereign’ state from an age of religious universalism (with the treaty of Westphalia as a major landmark here). The second is the era of the sovereign state, from Westphalia to the First World War; and the third is the century from 1920 to the present.

The second part of the module analyses essential themes in the study of international relations. These include: an introduction to the foundational and post-foundational theories of international relations; war and the process of state-making, colonialism and decolonisation; the Cold War and Cold War security logic; global economic governance after World War Two. It engages in depth for example with Realism, Liberal Institutionalism, Constructivism and post-colonialism, and the ways in which they may help us to make sense of the contemporary international system. Finally, it examines the roles and significance of non-state actors, international and regional institutions, and trans-national networks, and their relation to today’s international system.

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