Fall/Winter Timetable

POL380H1S L5101

Topics in International Politics

Comparative Foreign Policy

Themes

This course will introduce students to the study of comparative foreign policy. The making of foreign policy has been interpreted by scholars in the realist tradition as a rational process by which states seek to assure their security in a dangerous international environment. Liberals and Marxists on the other tend to see foreign policy as merely an extension of domestic politics. In this course we will examine the foreign policies of a number of states as they respond to the international system defined by U.S. dominance. We will attempt to determine the extent to which domestic factors (such as economic interest, political institutions and political cultures…) shape foreign policies of states. After a theoretical introduction, the case studies included in the course are Russia, EU member states France, the UK and Germany, and the rising powers China and India .
Comparing foreign policies requires an understanding of the rules of international politics, geopolitics, international political economy, strategy, and the interests, history, political culture, institutions and policy-making practices of the states to be compared. The subject is not only complex but also, from an academic viewpoint, highly theoretical. For these reasons, its breadth and complexity can only be introduced in the span of a single course.

Texts

TBA

Format and Requirements

TBA

Prerequisites

POL208H1 or POL208Y1 or POL209H5 or POLB80H3