Unit Display

POLS104 - Introduction to International Relations

10 cp
Prerequisites: Nil
Teaching Organisation: 36 hours of lectures and tutorials

This unit provides a broad ranging introduction to the study of international relations. It concentrates initially on the major events (the World Wars, the nuclear age and Cold War); ideas (realism, liberalism, cosmopolitanism) and strategic practices (balance of power, collective security, deterrence) that have shaped the traditional international relations agenda. The unit then engages the new agenda of the post-Cold War period, including the new international political economy of the globalisation era, the War on Terror following 9/11, the subsequent conflicts in the Middle East, and the rise of the Asian Century. The course concludes with a discussion of Australia’s role in a changing world.