Geopolitics and Diplomacy in the 21st Century

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Cursusdoel

After completing this course students are able to:
  1. demonstrate understanding of how geopolitical thought has shaped strategic thinking from Thucydides to the present world
  2. develop an understanding of how geography and power overlap.
  3. distinguish between normative and empirical geopolitics
  4. apply geopolitical thinking to current international political crisis and discover the blessings and pitfalls of this approach
Description of assignment Assesses course aims
Attendance & Participation:
Midterm Exam
Presentation outline research paper
Research Paper
Final Exam		 2
1,2,3,and 4
3,4
3,4 and 1
1,2,3, and 4

Vakinhoudelijk

In The History of the Peloponnesian War, Thucydides places great importance upon naval supremacy, arguing that a modern empire is impossible without a strong navy. In his emphasis on sea power, Thucydides resembles the modern naval theorist Alfred Thayer Mahan, whose influential work The Influence of Sea Power upon History helped set in motion the naval arms race prior to World War I.
Nazi strategic thinking was heavily influenced by German and American geopolitical thinking. We will have to deal with Hitler’s flawed geopolitical thinking during the Second World War. After the war geopolitical thinking became highly controversial since nobody wanted to be associated with the Nazi barbarians. When the Cold War turned out to be inevitable, it soon re-emerged. Geopolitical thinking during the Cold War deserves a thorough analysis.
After the Cold War, some commentators believed that Kants Ewigen Friede would now finally materialise and democracy would rule. With Samuel Huntington geopolitics re-emerged in its cultural dimension. Today, with the invasion of the Crimea, Putin has destroyed the Westphalian respect for national sovereignty and frontiers. China One Belt One Road initiative is clearly a grandiose geopolitical project designed to exploit the famous Asian hinterland.
Format
Students will be engaged in learning through a variety of methods with the aim to provide foundational knowledge of the field of geopolitics; to introduce them to major theoretical trends, perspectives and debates that have shaped the field and to develop essential writing and research skills in the geopolitical realm. Specifically the course will aim to facilitate learning through
  • lectures and student participation in topical and interactive class debates
  • exploring one of the geopolitical concepts covered in the course within the context of a country, writing a short paper on it and presenting it in class
  • doing research on a topic in geopolitics that will culminate in a final written assignment.The research will develop over the semester and require working through regular teacher/peer feedback through three different stages
  • studying for a midterm and final exam that will test the students’ knowledge on the course material

Werkvormen

UCU ssc 1 course

Toetsing

Attendance & Participation

Verplicht | Weging 10% | ECTS 0,75

Research paper

Verplicht | Weging 30% | ECTS 2,25

Presentation outline paper

Verplicht | Weging 10% | ECTS 0,75

*midterm FEEDBACK*

Niet verplicht

Midterm Exam

Verplicht | Weging 25% | ECTS 1,88

Final exam

Verplicht | Weging 25% | ECTS 1,88

Ingangseisen en voorkennis

Ingangseisen

Er is geen informatie over verplichte ingangseisen bekend.

Voorkennis

Broadly politically informed and some basic geographical knowledge.

Voertalen

  • Engels

Competenties

  • Academisch schrijven
  • Interdisciplinariteit
  • Onderzoeksvaardigheden
  • Presenteren

Cursusmomenten

Gerelateerde studies

Tentamens

Er is geen tentamenrooster beschikbaar voor deze cursus

Verplicht materiaal

Materiaal Omschrijving
BOEK Kaplan, Robert D., The Revenge of Geography. What the Map Tells Us About Coming Conflicts and the Battle Against Fate, New York, Random House, 2012
BOEK Mahbubani, Kishore, Has the West lost it?
ARTIKELEN Raja Mohan, C., Between Eurasia and the Indo-Pacific: India’s New Geopolitics, 21 december 2017, Valdai Club, Carnegie India
DIVERSE various articles as outlined in the syllabus
BOEK Timothy Sneider, The road to unfreedom. Russia, Europe, America, The Bodley Head, London, 2018

Aanbevolen materiaal

Er is geen informatie over de aanbevolen literatuur bekend

Coördinator

Onbekend -

Docenten

Onbekend -

Inschrijving

Let op: deze cursus is niet toegankelijk voor studenten van andere faculteiten, bijvakkers mogen zich dus niet inschrijven.

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