International Relations

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  • CAS IR 369: Southeast Asia in World Politics
    Meets with CAS PO 354. Examines Southeast Asia as an important emerging political, economic, and security region in world politics. Background materials, including the region's history, cultural diversity, and geo- strategic position, are given weight in the course. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Oral and/or Signed Communication, Critical Thinking.
    • Oral and/or Signed Communication
    • Critical Thinking
  • CAS IR 370: China: From Revolution to Reform
    (Meets with CAS PO 351.) Introduction to modern Chinese politics including the development of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the political development of the PRC since its founding in 1949. Focus is on the party's official policy and its changing relationships with the people of China. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry I.
    • Historical Consciousness
    • Social Inquiry I
  • CAS IR 372: International Relations of South Asia
    Meets with CAS PO 355. Introduction to South Asia and regional conflict and cooperation. Focus on India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka inter-state relations; great power interventions; power distributions; norms; political, military, and economic conflict and cooperation.
  • CAS IR 373: Global Governance and International Organization
    Provides an overview of major theoretical perspectives on the creation and function of international organizations, comparative case studies of selected organizations, and an examination of present and future roles of international organizations in selected issue areas. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry I, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy.
    • Social Inquiry I
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
  • CAS IR 374: Introduction to Security Studies
    Analysis of the factors determining national and international security. Examines the historical relationship between military power and politics. Topics include causes of war, conduct of war, prevention of war. Carries social science divisional credit in CAS.
  • CAS IR 376: American Foreign Policy Since 1945
    Analysis of the history of American foreign policy from the perspective of the changing world and regional international systems; emphasis on the effect of these systems and the impact of America on the creation and operation of international systems. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry II.
    • Historical Consciousness
    • Social Inquiry II
  • CAS IR 377: U.S. in South Asia since 1940
    What were the characteristics of U.S. foreign policy in South Asia during the Cold War? What was U.S. response in the various interstate wars in the region, particularly the 1962 war, the 1965 war, the 1971 war and the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan? What are the long-term trends that we can infer from studying the Cold War history of the region that allow us to draw policy lessons for understanding the current foreign policy and security issues in South Asia? These are some of the questions that this course will examine. No background in South Asia is required for taking this course. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Research and Information Literacy.
    • Historical Consciousness
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
    • Research and Information Literacy
  • CAS IR 378: Intelligence in a Democratic Society
    The intelligence process and its role in democratic societies; the organization and functions of the U.S. intelligence community; techniques of intelligence collection, analysis, counterintelligence and covert action; assessment of problems and attempted solutions in the United States and other democracies. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Ethical Reasoning, Oral and/or Signed Communication, Teamwork/Collaboration.
    • Ethical Reasoning
    • Oral and/or Signed Communication
    • Teamwork/Collaboration
  • CAS IR 380: American Foreign Policy: Practice and Process
    How U.S. foreign policy is made. After a historical introduction, focus on the external.bureaucratic, societal, and leadership forces that combine to shape broad policy lines and particular initiatives that produce feedback influencing the future.
  • CAS IR 382: Understanding the Modern Middle East
    Provides an introduction to the Middle East and North Africa region. Surveys the region's historical political development throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, exploring themes of colonial and imperial encroachment, state formation, statebuilding, institutional development, and state-society relations. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Critical Thinking.
    • Historical Consciousness
    • Critical Thinking
  • CAS IR 385: Foundations of Strategic Studies
    Examines factors determining national and international security, and relationships between military power and politics. Topics include causes/conduct of war, civil-military relations, coercion in international relations, and grand strategy. Students cannot receive credit for both IR 374 and IR 385. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Writing-Intensive Course, Critical Thinking.
    • Social Inquiry II
    • Critical Thinking
    • Writing-Intensive Course
  • CAS IR 390: International Political Economy
    Emphasizes the dynamic interaction between politics and economics to understand and explain historical and contemporary issues in international political economy, including international monetary, trade, investment, financial, and environmental relations. Considers emerging challenges and structures in the international political economy.
  • CAS IR 394: Power, Leadership, and Governance in Africa and the Caribbean
    (Meets with CAS AA 395 and HI 352.) Haitian Revolution; British Caribbean, leadership, governance, and power in Africa during the period of legitimate trade; visionaries, dictators, and nationalist politics in the Caribbean; chiefs, western elites, and nationalism in colonial Africa; road to governance in post-colonial Caribbean and Africa.
  • CAS IR 397: History of Modern Iran, 1900?Present
    Meets with CAS HI 381. Geographical/historical background; social structure, ethnic, religious, and linguistic diversities; Anglo-Russian interventions; consequences of tobacco concession; constitutional revolution and reform; Qajar legacy; centralization, secularization, modernization under Pahlavis; oil and Mossadeg; autocracy and revolution; liberals, communists, fundamentalists, and Islamic revolution.
  • CAS IR 399: Fundamentals of Global Money
    Examines financial globalization through the lens of the "money view," focusing on the cash inflows and outflows of all private and public actors in the global economy. Applies this analysis to issues including development finance, shadow banking, and financial crises.
  • CAS IR 400: Topics in International Relations
    Examines various aspects of international relations. May be repeated for credit, if topics are different. Topic for Fall 2019, Section A1: Leadership and Cultural Change in Large Organizations. Analyzes the determinants of successful leadership in large organizations, with particular focus on how to transform dysfunctional organizational cultures. Using case studies from US military and large corporations, addresses how to identify root causes of problems and impediments to change.
  • CAS IR 401: Honors Research in International Relations
    Honors research in the field of international relations.
  • CAS IR 402: Honors Research in International Relations
    Honors research in the field of international relations.
  • CAS IR 410: Latin America Today: An Interdisciplinary Approach
    Examines the historical roots and contemporary realities of Latin American cultural, political, social and economic challenges. Brings to bear insights of classical and contemporary scholarship from multiple disciplines and traditions to provide deeper and more comprehensive understanding of the region. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Historical Consciousness, Critical Thinking.
    • Historical Consciousness
    • Critical Thinking
    • Writing-Intensive Course
  • CAS IR 411: Conflict and Conflict Resolution in Latin America
    Meets with CAS PO 566. Examines a range of historical and contemporary conflicts and wars in Latin America, both internal and regional, examining their causes and consequences, and the most important factors that explain how they were resolved or why they persist.

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