Time and Location
Fall 2016 – T. R 3,4 Fine Arts C 0120
Description and Goals
This course aims at exploring different approaches and perspectives to Foreign Policy making. The syllabus is organized into three parts. In part 1, we consider the theoretical approaches and concepts necessary to analyze the foreign policies of different international actors. We examine the sources of foreign policy, including individual policy makers, characteristics of the domestic political environment, and international systemic factors. In the second part, we examine the interplay between the fields of International Relations and Foreign Policy Analysis. We review some (not all) of the theories of IR and examine the development of critical alternatives with the goal of understanding if any of these theoretical approaches can help us better understand foreign policy. The final section of the course explores post-Western approaches to foreign policy making. It explores concepts, approaches and perspectives to foreign policy that differ from the mainstream approaches examined in the second part of the class. The course content is primarily theoretical but students are expected to apply theories to relevant foreign policy cases.