Summer Sessions | Courses | SIPA

This course examines the foundations, decision-making processes, and substance of American foreign policy, particularly as it has developed over the past fifty years. We explore the role of American political culture, the presidency, Congress, and the foreign policy bureaucracy in helping to determine America's relationship with other states and international organizations. We pay particular attention to the recurring tensions that run through American foreign policy: isolationism v. internationalism, security v. prosperity, diplomacy v. military power, unilateralism v. multilateralism, and realism v. idealism. Each week we will explore a broad theoretical/conceptual theme and then focus on a specific topic that exemplifies a practical application of the theme.

This course empowers students to develop a deep understanding of the major issues of East Asian security. We will examine the various challenges to stability in East Asia in the context of power, institutions, and ideas (the three primary factors that impact international relations), including: China's increasing assertiveness; the North Korean nuclear crisis; historical stigma amongst Japan, South Korea, and China; lingering Cold War confrontations on the Korean Peninsula and across the Taiwan Strait; and an unstable relationship between the US and China. Through a comparison with the West, students will inquire whether a unique approach is required when considering appropriate responses to security issues in East Asia.

Through a review of major academic literature, lectures, and class discussion, this course examines many of the central concepts, theories, and analytical tools used in contemporary social science to understand international affairs. The theoretical literature is drawn from fields including comparative politics, international relations, political sociology, and economics. The course is designed to enhance students' abilities to think critically and analytically about current problems and challenges in international politics.

It is now a well known fact that countries embroiled in conflict seldom emerge from it 'once and for all.' They tend to relapse back into conflict within months or years. The reasons are also well-known: low education and high poverty levels, weak or non- existent institutions, poor governance, exclusion and marginalization of certain groups including women and poor economic prospects certainly in livelihoods. And yet Peace building in the international context is a relatively new concept. It appeared in the in the UN lexicon in the 1980s and has evolved as a normative concept since. Peace building is complex and multi-faceted encompassing security, human rights, development and reconciliation of past differences and ultimately societal transformation. It is before everything else a political exercise. This course will ask: How is Peace building done, who are the actors and stakeholders? What lessons have we learnt since the 1980s? What does it take to build the peace? The course will give an understanding of the evolution of the norm of peace building at the United Nations and discuss the new UN Peace building architecture. Ten years after its creation, has the Peace Building Commission made a difference and why? What have been its challenges? It will look at the many stakeholders on the ground and discuss the issue of coordination and the need for integrated strategies. It will provide examples of countries that have succeeded, analyze the root causes of the conflicts and the tools which were used. It will extract the lessons learned and the conditions for peace building to succeed.

In January 2017, Antonio Guterres succeeded Ban Ki-Moon as Secretary-General of the 70-year old United Nations, at a time of great uncertainty and geopolitical upheaval. Competition between major and regional powers, divisions between the West and Russia over the crises in Ukraine and Syria, political transitions in Africa, rising tensions in the Middle East, East Asia over the South China Sea, nuclear proliferation, mass displacements, the spread and fear of terrorism, and climate insecurity all present unprecedented challenges to both individual states - struggling to meet citizens’ aspirations - and to the multilateral system. Never had a United Nations Secretary-General elicited such high expectations. Elected on a reform project and the vision of a modernized, more coherent and effective Organization, he must also defend multilateralism from attacks from all sides. Victim of various assaults on multilateralism, A.Guterres dedicated a large part of his energy to trying to protect the Organization. At this critical juncture, the international system is being challenged to provide adequate responses to a recent increase in the frequency and lethality of armed conflicts and the rise of violent extremist groups. As prevention continues to be elusive and recent – mostly intrastate - armed conflicts have proven to be particularly resistant to peaceful settlement whether through mediation, the deployment of peace operations or peacebuilding projects, the question of the relevance of the United Nations is posed yet again. To address these questions and more, the course will examine the evolving role of the world organization in global peace and security, shaped by its member states with different strategic interests and by the broader geopolitical context in which it operates. 

What is the UN track record in promoting and protecting human rights? This intense six-week course will examine the UN human rights standards, mechanisms, institutions and procedures established over the past sixty years and question their effectiveness. With a particular focus on the actions (or lack thereof) of the UN Security Council, the UN Human Rights Council and diverse international judicial institutions like the International Tribunal for Rwanda and the International Criminal Court, the course will illustrate, through practical case studies, the inherent challenges associated with the protection of human dignity, the enforcement of human rights and the fight against impunity.

This course examines the origins and evolution of modern terrorism, the challenges posed by terrorist groups to states and to the international system, and strategies employed to confront and combat terrorism. We assess a wide variety of terrorist organizations, and explore the psychological, socioeconomic, political, and religious causes of terrorist violence past and present. We also analyze the strengths and weaknesses of various counterterrorism strategies, from the point of view of efficacy as well as ethics, and look into ways in which the new threat of global terrorism might impact the healthy functioning of democratic states.

This course explores the unique and distinct foreign policy behavior of different states in the international system. Explanations of state behavior will be drawn from many overarching international relations frameworks including but not necessarily limited to realism, liberalism, and constructivism. The effects of power, culture, institutions and history will be examined.

This six week course provides an overview of the contribution the United Nations development system has made in the sphere of development. The course traces the historical evolution of the UN's contribution in the areas of development cooperation, poverty reduction, environment and climate, human rights, gender and humanitarian action. It explores the emerging role of non-state actors, in particular the private sector and civil society. The last sessions will examine in detail the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals and Agenda 2030 and the recognition that to be relevant in today's rapidly changing world, the UN must commit itself to major reform. The course will draw extensively from the practical experience of the instructor.

This course serves as an introduction to the study of international political and economic relations. We look at the connections between politics and economics as well as markets and governments and relate them to key substantive issue areas such as finance, trade, investment, marketing, income inequality and poverty, and globalization. In examining the issue areas, we shall look both at how scholars think about them and how private and public decision makers analyze and impact them. The teaching is informed by the sharing with students knowledge deriving from multiple disciplines, cultures, and languages to help them gain useful real-world insights.