Introduction to

International Relations

Syllabus    -link to syllabus in MS Word format

    Textbook and Study Resources   

            -link to textbook companion website

                includes chapter summaries, self-quizzes, glossary of terms

Notes on theories of International Relations

                        (available in MS PowerPoint format)

                                                                    -link to select slides on realism and liberalism

                                                                    -link to select slides on radicalism and constructivism

Suggestions for the Current Events Essay

                  1.  Choose an event (look for something at the level of nation-states- -an action or decision by a state or states).

                    2.  Choose one of the 4 theories of International Relations discussed.

                       3.  Review the core concepts that support the theory- what does it contend and on what basis?

                         4.  Ask yourself- which factor(s) is most important according to that theory?

                              -for example, for realists military power is decisive

                            5.  Use that key explanatory factor(s) (# 3 above) to discuss what happened in the event you have chosen to        

                                  analyze (you might view the event as a result of changes in the factor that the theory holds important, or you    

                                  may see the events as motivated by a factor that the theory claims can explains behavior)

                               6.  Then take another theory and repeat steps 2 through 4.

*you may want to try to allocate 1.5 pages to theory A and 1.5 pages to theory B.  You may want to begin with a short introductory paragraph that says that different theories offer different perspectives and point to different causes of the same event.  Then you go on to say in paragraph 2 that from the perspective of "constructivism" (if that is your choice for theory A), the event "X" occurred because of the following factors.  Then on page 1.5, you begin a transitional paragraph by saying that other theories point to different factors when isolating the cause of event "X."  From the perspective of "realism" (if that is your choice for theory B), event "X" occurred because of the following factors.

You do not have to defend one theoretical position or another.  You should not insert your own opinion in this essay.  Instead, you want to simply present two opposing viewpoints or perspectives, using two of the four theoretical lenses that we have covered in this class, to show how the theories identify different key factors and by focusing on those different factors you can explain the same event differently.