International Relations Theory
Name：
Gustaaf Geeraerts
Nationality： Belgium
Academic
Title：
Professor
Home
University
（From）：
Vrije Universiteit Brussel
(VUB)
Email
Address：
gustaaf.geeraerts@vub.ac.be
Undergraduate Master
English
Preferably a basic political science course
Lecture, class discussion, debates on topics between groups of students
Continuous assessment, participation：30%
Final Examination：70%
2 credits
Gustaaf Geeraerts is Full Professor of International Relations at the Vrije
Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and Director of the Brussels Institute of Contemporary
China Studies (BICCS), which he has founded in 2006 and since then has developed
into one of the major research institutes on contemporary China in Europe.
Since 2010 he has been a member of the Academic Board of the Contemporary China
Research Center of Fudan University, Shanghai. Professor Gustaaf Geeraerts holds
Guest Professorships at Renmin University in Beijing (since 1999) and Sichuan
University in Chengdu (since 2012). From 2006 to2008 he was the Dean of the Faculty
of Economic, Social and Political Sciences & Solvay Business School of VUB. From
1999 until 2004 he was an Honorary Professor at the University of Kent at Canterbury.
In the period 1986 to 1990 he was located at the Department of International Relations
at the State University of Utrecht, where he was specialized in research on the
dynamics of international political processes. During that period he was also a
member of the Board of Lecturers of the Centre for Advanced Research in International
Affairs in the Netherlands (CARIAN).
His research interests centre on international relations theory, China’s foreign
policy and identity, global governance, European security and security in East Asia.
He is currently working on China’s reemergence and the new multi-polarity.
The course provides a fundamental introduction to international relations (IR). The
aim is to familiarize the students with a field in political science that has become
increasingly distinct from diplomatic history and international law. IR attempts
to explain the processes that underlie world political events. It takes no peace
with the mere description of world politics, but tries to explain why certain
processes or phenomena such as cooperation or conflict may or may not occur. This
can obviously be done from different theoretical perspectives and research
traditions. In international relations these can be essentially summarized under
the labels of realism, liberalism, international society, social constructivism and
international political economy. An important part of the course is devoted to a
critical reconstruction of these paradigms. After a thorough analysis of their key
assumptions, the possibilities and limitations of each research tradition is closely
examined. In addition, attention is given to the theoretical variations which have
been developed over time within and between different research traditions (e.g.
neorealism, neoliberal institutionalism, neo-Marxism, etc...). Finally, a number
of new developments also pass in review: post-structuralism and post-colonialism.
Throughout the course examples from history and current affairs are used in way as
to illuminate the theoretical considerations. The expectation is to enhance in this
way the student's ability to analyze and interpret developments like the end of the
Cold War, European integration, the emergence to a new multipolar world order and
the process of globalization.
Session
Session
Session
Session
Session
1 – IR as an academic discipline
2 – Realism: Anarchy, power and security
3 – Liberalism: Modernization, interdependence and cooperation
4 - International society: Anarchy, society and humanity
5 - International political economy: Hegemonic stability, development and
globalization
Session 6 - Social constructivism: Ideas, values and discourses
Session 7 - Post-positivism in IR: Post-structuralism and post-colonialism
Session 8 - Foreign policy analysis: System, state and individual
Jackson, R. and G. Sorensen (2013). Introduction to International Relations:
Theories and Approaches, Oxford: Oxford University Press
Hurrell, Andrew. 2007. On Global Order. Power, Values, and the Constitution of
International Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press.`
Keohane, Robert, and Joseph S. Nye. 1977. Power and Interdependence: World Politics
in Transition. Boston: Little Brown.
Mearsheimer, John J. 2001. The Tragedy of Great Power Politics. New York: Norton.
Waltz, Kenneth N. 1979. Theory of International Politics. Reading: Addison-Wesley.
Wendt, Alexander. 1999. Social Theory of International Politics. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.