International Relations

• CAS IR 426: NGOs and the Practice of Development
  Examines roles and methods of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in social change and international development. Reviews theory and practice of NGOs in development, NGO strategies, and internal management. Students will engage directly with international development NGOs. Effective Spring 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, The Individual in Community, Critical Thinking.
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  • The Individual in Community
  • Social Inquiry II
  • Critical Thinking
• CAS IR 428: International Negotiations
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing or consent of instructor.
  Examines principles particularly relevant to negotiations among governments, the legal underpinnings of international agreements, negotiating dynamics, the unique characteristics of multilateral negotiations, and the challenges of mediation. Active participation in practical simulations is integral to the course.
• CAS IR 432: Public Diplomacy
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: CAS IR 330; and junior standing or consent of instructor.
  Public diplomacy is the principal way in which states engage with overseas publics. The course examines the principles, functions, and practices of public diplomacy, as well as how they are affected by technological and political change.
• CAS IR 452: Topics in European Politics and Culture
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing and consent of instructor.
  Meets with CAS PO 539. Explores European politics through the lens of culture, focusing on critical moments and memory across time in Spain, Germany, Austria, France, Italy, Eastern Europe, Balkans, UK, and more, using materials from literature, film, the arts, humanities, and social sciences.
• CAS IR 453: Forced Migration and Human Trafficking: Virtual Policy Incubator
  Causes and impact of forced migration and human trafficking. Role of conflict and state formation; emergence of international human rights and domestic asylum laws; role of international organizations, private sector and security forces in both combating and enabling human trafficking.
• CAS IR 461: American Grand Strategy
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120); junior standing or consent of instructor.
  Traces the United States' engagement in world affairs by evaluating U.S. grand strategy - its theory of how to 'create' security for itself in an often-threatening world. Using history and theory, identifies changes in U.S. strategy and evaluates policies today. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Writing-Intensive Course.
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  • Social Inquiry II
  • Writing-Intensive Course
• CAS IR 465: The United States and the Cold War
  Examination of American Cold War foreign policy from its origins at the end of World War II through its conduct--Marshall Plan, Detente, Cold War II--to the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the Soviet Union. Reading seminar. Also offered as CAS HI 465.
• CAS IR 468: War and Revolution
  Explores crises of legitimacy that led to six world altering revolutions and wars that changed the international system: the Protestant Reformation and wars of religion, and wars of revolution in France, Russia, Nazi Germany, China, and Iran.
• CAS IR 480: Political Economy of Human Development
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing or consent of instructor.
  Examines human development in low- and middle-income countries from applied economics perspective. Topics include: (1) economic growth, inequality, and poverty; (2) health, nutrition, and education; (3) agriculture, environment, and resource management; and (4) social and political factors in economic development. Also offered as GRS IR 680 A1. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Quantitative Reasoning II, Critical Thinking.
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  • Quantitative Reasoning II
  • Social Inquiry II
  • Critical Thinking
• CAS IR 491: Directed Study
  Directed study in international relations.
• CAS IR 495: Internship in International Relations and Regional Studies
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: successful completion of the application process and acceptance into an internship.
  This course complements an internship opportunity outside of Boston University. Provides a framework for understanding the relationship between academic studies, pre-professional development, and work experiences. Emphasizes the link between academic and career goals. Course is repeatable for credit for a maximum total of 4 credits, of which only 2 can be counted toward the major.
• CAS IR 500: Topics in International Relations
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing or consent of instructor.
  Examines aspects of international relations. May be repeated for credit if topics are different. Three topics are offered for Fall 2023. Section A1: Democracy and the Populist Challenge in Europe and North America. Focuses on the crisis of liberal democracy in Europe and North America and the challenges of populism. Examines different possible sources of populist discontent, including economic, social, and political. Explores comparatively the populists' playbook while in (and out) of power. Section B1: Finance for Development in Africa. This course canvases the set of development challenges that the countries in Africa face and the avenues and opportunities for mobilizing the necessary financing in order to meet the region's development goals. Section F1: World War I and the Making of the Modern Middle East. World War I and the demise of the Ottoman Empire created the modern Middle East. This seminar analyzes the violence associated with the breakdown of empire and traces how the war shaped the region's conflicts and questions today. Topics for Spring 2024: Section A1: History of Neoliberalism. Examines the origins, rise and institutionalization of the ideology that prioritizes economic freedom above all other liberties. Topic will be approached through a global series of case studies with emphasis on international economic law, uneven geography, financialization, and accumulation by dispossession. Section B1: Technology & War. How do countries make choices between military technologies? How do they use them? What about emerging technologies? Examines the drivers behind countries' development of military technologies, how they operationalize them, and why they sometimes restrict them. Section C1: Structural Change and African Development. Provides deep understanding of the theories, challenges, opportunities and strategies for promoting development in Africa through structural change that students will encounter in their careers as international relation professions as well as in the broader policy world. Section D1: The EU, Global, and Human Security. A seminar on colonial legacies, conflict management and peacekeeping, refugees and human trafficking, global inequality, and climate security, with a focus on Europe's dual role: its legacy of creating global human insecurity and its governance towards addressing human security problems. Section E1. Development Financing. Introduces the role of development finance institutions in fostering economic and social development. Examines the operating model for development finance institutions (DFIs) and the changing operating environment with special focus on DFIs operating in Africa. Section F1: History of Political Islam. Examines Islamic political movements in the Middle East from the late eighteenth century through the present. Considers responses to European colonialism, struggles between Islamic movements and secularizing states, and how the Cold War influenced Islamic political thought. Section G1: Debates in International Politics. Examines frameworks and solutions for major controversies in international affairs. Confronts issues such as cyberwar, climate diplomacy, state failure, insurgency, terrorism, humanitarian intervention, and inequality. Encourages discussion and cultivates abilities to navigate complexities in our interdependent world. Section H1: International Relations.
• CAS IR 501: Conflict and Cooperation in Asia
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing or consent of instructor.
  Meets with CAS PO 554. Investigates patterns of conflict and cooperation in South and East Asia surrounding issues ranging from water resources and health to borders and war. Analyzes how such issues contribute to instability in the region, as well as methods of cooperation.
• CAS IR 502: Latin American Political Parties
  Meets with CAS PO 561. Parties and party systems of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, and Venezuela. Historical origins and labor incorporation. Populist, working-class, and hegemonic parties. Market reform and party system transformation or collapse. Ethnic parties, clientelism, rise of a new Left. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Social Inquiry II, Research and Information Literacy.
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  • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
  • Social Inquiry II
  • Research and Information Literacy
• CAS IR 503: The U.S. in the Middle East
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: senior standing.
  Meets with CAS PO 503. Examines the historical development and present status of the United States' association with the Middle East: American commercial, economic, political, military, and humanitarian interests in the area and their interaction.
• CAS IR 504: Politics of the Arabian Peninsula and Persian Gulf
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: Limited to juniors, seniors, and graduate students. First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120)
  Graduate Prerequisites: Limited to juniors, seniors, and graduate students. First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120)
  Meets with CAS PO 577. An in-depth examination of the political, economic, and societal evolution and interactions of states and non-state actors in the Persian Gulf and Arabian. Critically assesses dominant political narratives. Considers factors ranging from politics and history to demography and resources. Effective Spring 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Critical Thinking.
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  • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
  • Critical Thinking
  • Writing-Intensive Course
• CAS IR 505: Arms Control and Proliferation of Weapons
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing or consent of instructor. First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120).
  Examines why and how arms control, disarmament, and non-proliferation have become important issues in modern diplomacy. Analyzes the progress made in concluding global and regional agreements, verification and compliance techniques, and their role in post-Cold War security issues. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Ethical Reasoning, Social Inquiry II.
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  • Ethical Reasoning
  • Social Inquiry II
  • Writing-Intensive Course
• CAS IR 506: India and the World: The Foreign Policy of a Rising Power
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior, senior, or graduate standing; or qualified sophomores with consent of instructor.
  Today, India is a nuclear power with a huge and growing economy. This, along with the rise of China and 9/11, has catapulted India into the international limelight. This course examines India's rise, focusing on its foreign policy and international role.
• CAS IR 507: Islam and Politics
  Investigates the origins and practices of prominent Islamists and grassroots Muslim political movements. Emphasis is on the coevolution of states and religious movements, the emergence of religious democrats, the dynamics of transnational mobilization, and recognizing politics in unusual places.
• CAS IR 510: Comparative Immigration and Racial Politics
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: Senior Standing or consent of instructor.
  Examines immigration policies and domestic racial hierarchies across world regions and regime-types. Role of immigration and racial hierarchy in economic development, state formation, nationalism, and electoral politics in three largest migrant-receiving regions: North America, Western Europe, and the Persian Gulf.