What's So Great About Great-Power Politics? Considering the Alternatives

• Week 1: Great-power politics and alliances
  This week we seek to establish clarity about the frequently used phrase “great-power politics.” We will address who were the great powers of the 19th century and will undertake an examination of the shifting alliances that characterized international politics in this period. Our focus will be on the international dimensions of great-power politics, rather than the history of the 19th century more broadly.
• Week 2: The problem with great-power thinking
  Having given a sympathetic reading of great-power dynamics of the 19th century in our first week, we’ll take a more critical review of the experience. We will examine the different ways that power may be distributed at the international level, exploring the polarities model of international relations to better predict how and why a return to great-power politics should not be unequivocally embraced.
• Week 3: Great-power politics today
  We will investigate how contemporary realities mitigate against any simplistic adoption of great-power politics. The world of the 21st century differs from the 19th century in a multitude of ways, demonstrating that a "return" to great-power politics today is impossible. The economic interdependence we experience after 40 years of neo-liberal policies, and the web of multilateral institutions and agreements built in the 80 years since the Second World War, are not so easily unseated, particularly when the forces that gave rise to these developments continue to dominate the international system.
• Week 4: Challenges for the great-power model
  We have explored the concept of great-power politics as though there is a choice whether or not to embrace this model. We’ll now examine a strong counterpoint to this perspective by looking at the main problems that confront the international community today. We’ll look at climate transformation, growing global and domestic economic inequality and the rise of a new internationalized billionaire oligarchy as we think through whether great powers will be able to manoeuvre in this space.
• Week 5: Rethinking power politics for the 21st century
  International relations is eternally and necessarily preoccupied with power. As we have seen, our understanding of power is often unsophisticated and crude, particularly when we place undue emphasis on "hard power"—that is, military and economic coercion. This week we delve deeply into other expressions of power that may, in the 21st century, prove decisive in shaping international politics.
• Week 6: The new ‘super’ powers
  We will engage with the cutting edge of international relations. The arrogant swagger behind the urge to revive "great-power politics" has compelled even highly conventional organizations such as the United Nations and the European Union to reconsider their understanding of how power might be wielded at the international level. We will explore the new alliances emerging in the 21st century, not just between unlikely state allies but, more crucially, between state and non-state actors, particularly civil society movements.

By the end of the course, you should be able to:

• Understand the meaning of "great-power politics"
• Explore how some actors seek to recreate 19th-century great-power politics
• Critique the 19th century model of great-power politics
• Recognize how international relations defines and models different power constellations and their characteristics
• Consider alternatives to great-power politics, particularly new distributions of power at the global level

• Lectures
• Limited class discussion
  
• Supplementary readings and resources accessed through Canvas
  
• Reflective essay (applicable only to certificate students)

No textbook is required. We will provide all course materials online.