Courses

• GRS IR 610: The Political Economy of National Security
  (Meets with CAS PO 557.) A seminar considering the relationship between economics and national security. The principal theme is the way economic factors fundamentally influence the national security of states, and the way those factors shape and constrain the strategies chosen to pursue that security.
• GRS IR 701: Fundamentals of International Relations
  Offers a rigorous introduction to the basic concepts of international relations, including analytical approaches, state system and non-state actors, international legal principles, diplomatic practice, and international ethics. Emphasizes history, case study, and practical application.
• GRS IR 702: Research Methods for International Relations Practitioners
  Provides tools for designing and implementing rigorous research and policy papers. Reviews formulation of research questions and choice of research methods. Introduces methodologies including case study, archival research, and basic quantitative analysis.
• GRS IR 703: International Security
  Introduces core concepts of international security, including deterrence, balance of power theory, alliance politics, arms races, asymmetric warfare, and non-traditional security concerns such as terrorism. Topics are considered from both a theoretical basis and in historical and contemporary context.
• GRS IR 704: Global Economic and Development Policy
  Intermediate level survey of the contemporary politics, economics and policy questions in the international economy: theories of international political economy and international economics; politics of international economic institutions; analyses of industrial development, foreign investment, global and regional trade, and poverty alleviation.
• GRS IR 706: The Iranian Revolution and Its Impact on the Middle East
  This course examines the Islamic Revolution in Iran and its impact on the Middle East. The first third of the seminar focuses on Iran and, subsequently, the Iran/Iraq war. Lebanon, the Persian Gulf, and Israel will be studied as they are affected by Iran's upheavals.
• GRS IR 707: Political Reform in the Middle East
  Seminar analyzes and rethinks Middle East politics. Authoritarian governments rule most of the Middle East, but internal and external pressures for change are mounting. Given the tenuousness of the status quo, political reform will be hard to avoid.
• GRS IR 711: Civil Society and The State
  The relationship between civil society and democracy is a subject of major debate however, and many scholars contest the notion that the existence of civil society is a sufficient condition for democracy. At best there seems to be a necessary relationship between civil society and democracy, but even this claim is challenged, especially when it is applied to the developing world.
• GRS IR 718: International Migration and Diaspora in World Politics
  Explores how the movement of people across borders is reshaping world politics. Impacts of migration on the economy, domestic politics, regional integration, national identity, and the institution of the sovereign nation state. Historical perspectives and contemporary case studies.
• GRS IR 723: Seminar: The Political Economy of Advanced Industrialized Societies
  Meets with CAS PO 528. Surveys forces contributing to national differences in social and economic policy; identifies current challenges to state sovereignty, such as globalization and immigration; and examines how nations from different welfare state regimes are coping with these threats to the nation state.
• GRS IR 748: Seminar: Global Sociology
  (Meets with GRS SO 847.) Examines different sociological perspectives on global social dynamics and processes.
• GRS IR 758: Comparative Political Economy of China and India
  (Meets with GRS PO 785.) Compares China and India's economic reform, focusing on their reform policies and government-business relationships. Examines their political development (or lack thereof) during their economic reform. Discusses China and India's rise and implications for the global system.
• GRS IR 759: International Institutions for Finance, Development, and Trade
  Intensive examination of the roles the IMF, World Bank, and WTO play in the postwar international economic order-- addressing less the decision-making within these institutions and more the issues in which they are involved, including their policies and programs.
• GRS IR 760: The Political Economy of the European Union
  Meets with GRS PO 756. Investigates major issues of European economic integration, including the Single Market and European Monetary Union. Explores the theoretical and practical problems of integration. Considers the crisis of the Euro and its consequences for European member-state economies and democracies.
• GRS IR 766: Contemporary Issues in Latin America
  Meets with GRS PO 768. Review and analysis of contemporary developments in Latin America from major print and on-line news sources and journals. Focuses on breaking issues and develops capacity for critical analysis. Required for LASMA students.
• GRS IR 778: Problems of Strategic Intelligence
  Explores major aspects of strategic intelligence; interrelationship of intelligence and other aspects of foreign policy; performance of U.S. intelligence community; and intelligence as a tool in the formulation of foreign policy.
• GRS IR 780: CIA's National Clandestine Service
  The National Clandestine Service spends 5% of the US Intelligence budget but receives 95% of public and private scrutiny. Examines the unique legal mandate and culture of the clandestine service: espionage, covert operations, counterintelligence, and special operations.
• GRS IR 786: Conflict and State-Building in Africa
  Meets with GRS PO 786. Examines conflict in contemporary Africa at both the international and domestic levels. Addresses the dynamics of insurgency and inter-state war, as well as the ways in which these conflicts have affected African state-building.
• GRS IR 788: International Relations of Asia-Pacific
  Focuses on the international relations of the Asia-Pacific region. Analysis of issues that have defined regional relations; the impact of the Cold War and its aftermath, the impact of regional economic growth and dynamism, and the emergence of contention over regional identity and its relationsip to global politics.
• GRS IR 789: Globalization, Development, Governance
  Covers the latest theory and evidence related to international trade and development policy. Additional focus on how these issues are dealth with by the World Trade Organization (WTO) and international economic agreements.

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