How does the study of international political economy help us explain and understand international relations? For example, what is the relationship between economics and conflict? This course offers a chance to explore the answers to these questions. The first section of the course is devoted to the introduction of some of the key concepts and approaches to the study of IPE. After establishing this foundation, we explore the way a political economy-centered approach helps us explain and understand conflict around the world. Throughout the semester, case studies provide us common ground for exploration on topics such as the relationship between global conflict and the economic rise of China, trade disputes, the relationship between poverty and conflict, and the relationship between natural resources and conflict (particularly intrastate violence). In each of these cases, our political economy approach is used not only to explain but also to explore possible solutions.
This course provides an overview of international relations of East Asia. In particular, we’ll investigate key political, economic, and security issues and the shifting dynamics along these issues between China, Japan, the two Koreas, and the countries of ASEAN. As we explore the region’s experiences with colonialism, the effects of war, the various extent of post-war recovery, the tensions of the Cold War, and the region’s experience with rapid economic development followed by the Asian Financial Crisis, we’ll consider the particular ways in which this history frames the tensions and opportunities that exist within the region today.
How do countries navigate the waters between economic development and environmental sustainability? Of the challenges posed by transnational environmental politics, perhaps none is more difficult. This course explores the transnational politics associated with sustainable development. While exploring the interrelated history, politics, and economics of the sustainable development concept, we focus our attention on the so-called BRIC countries—Brazil, Russia, India, and China. Given their rapid economic development, these countries continue to experience these challenges most acutely. In addition, their vast differences coupled with their similar development trajectories make the BRIC a very interesting set of comparative cases. As we analyze the politics of sustainability within the countries, we will be careful to pay attention to the ways in which markets, states, and norms interact on issues of economic development and the environment. In addition, we’ll explore the ways in which the tensions between domestic and international add layers of complexity to the tensions between economic development and sustainability.
The Occidental Impact Fund (OxyIF) is a new student-led organization dedicated to the ideas of socially responsible investing and entrepreneurship. It aims to be engaged in micro-financing and a variety of other projects with the goal of “changing the world, one dollar, one person, one impact at a time.”
Follow all of their progress at their new blog!
This course is designed to provide a comprehensive overview of the theoretical and analytical developments in the field of international relations. Although current events in global politics are obviously at the heart of the course, the goal of the course is not just to make you aware of current events. It is to get you to think about them; to get you to think critically and creatively about the themes and processes of international politics that apply not only to current events but that are likely to apply to events that will occur during your next 60 plus years on this earth.
DWA261 @ Oxy: Small Guns, Big Guns: Controlling the Spread of Weapons of War (FA09)
Controlling the spread of weapons continues to be one of the most critical issues in international politics. This course explores the variety of challenges associated with the issues of arms control and nonproliferation. Our specific topics will include small arms trafficking, missile control and defense, nuclear weapons proliferation and policy, chemical and biological weapons, and “future weapons” based on emerging technologies. As we consider each, specific case studies will be used to illuminate the challenges facing various countries, particularly as they are forced to steer between domestic and international politics.
