HISTORY OF THE INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
GRADO EN ESTUDIOS GLOBALES/GLOBAL STUDIES
Curso 2018/2019
1. Subject Information
(Date last modified: 14-09-18 9:53)- Code
- 109001
- Plan
- 290
- ECTS
- 6.00
- Type
- Basic
- Year
- 1
- Duration
- First semester
- Area
- HISTORIA CONTEMPORÁNEA
- Departament
- Hª Medieval, Moderna y Contemporánea
- Virtual platform
Professor Information
- Profesor/Profesora
- Raúl Moreno Almendral
- Group/s
- Único
- Centre
- Fac. Geografía e Historia
- Office
- Facultad de Geografía e Historia, primera planta
- Office hours
- To be disclosed at the beginning of the course
- Web address
- https://usal.academia.edu/ÁlvaroParís
- paris@usal.es
- Telephone
- 923 29 45 00 Ext. 1455
2. Association of the subject matter within the study plan
Curricular area to which the subject matter pertains.
History
Purpose of the subject within the curricular area and study plan.
-Provides minimal background for the other modules.
-Offers the student a different point view from the political science, law, sociology and economic ones, which are dominant in the degree.
Professional profile.
Diplomats, international consultants, and the other careers pointed out in the degree repoty
3. Prerequisites
No previous international relations knowledge is required. However, the students will be expected to be familiar with the world history essentials that are supposed to have acquired during their secondary education.
4. Learning objectives
At the end of the semester, the student is expected to have:
-A basic but solid knowledge of the history of international relations
-The ability to understand the importance of history for grasping current global affairs and the foundational role it has in the education of global studies professionals
-Some critical skills related to appreciating that human phenomena happen over time and thus they are shot through an inherent historicity which underlies every social science problem
-The ability to locate the evolution of international relations within its contexts of general modern and contemporary history and history of globalization
5. Contents
Theory.
1. Basic concepts
-The problem of “international” relations, state, nation, nation-state, state-nation, stateless nation, international system, supranational, governmental and non-governmental, hegemony and balance of power, national interest
-The problem of “globalization”, globality, global governance, glocality, region, transnationality
-The problem of war, warfare, neutrals and non-belligerents, soldiers and combatants
2. Early forms of international politics and globalization (until 1750s)
-Period overview
-The Westphalian system and the early modern balance of power
3. The great transformation (1750s-1920s)
-Period overview
-The Age of Revolutions and Napoleonic Wars
-The Concert of Europe and postnapoleonic diplomacy
-Globalizing commodities: the politics of slaves and opium
-Secession and nation-building (case studies): Greece, Belgium, the United States, Italy and Germany, Norway
4. World Wars Era (1914-1945)
-Period overview
-Why and how the First World War?
-Crafting the disaster: the 1918-21 peace
-Secession and nation-building (case studies): Britain and Ireland
-The global and the local: the case of the Spanish Civil War
-The Second World War
5. Cold War Era (1945-1991)
-Period overview
-What was the Cold War?
-The end of Empire?: decolonization and the postcolonial world
-Secession and nation-building (case studies): India and Pakistan, China and Taiwan
-Globalizing commodities: the politics of oil
-Why and how did the Soviet Union fall?
6. A new global (dis)order?, 1990s onwards
-Period overview
-Heyday and decline of the European integration
-Secession and nation-building (case studies): Yugoslavia and Spain
Practice.
The students will be exposed to several international history sources, which will be used to discuss key issues in practice classes. These will include: the Declaration of Independence of the United States, Holly Alliance Treaty, Declaration of the Immediate Causes Which Induce and Justify the Secession of South Carolina from the Federal Union, Wilson’s 14 Points, United Nations Charter, Breznev Doctrine Article in Pravda, etc.
6. Competences acquired
Basic / General.
CB1, CB2, CB3, CB4, CB5, CG1
Specific.
CE2, CE3, CE4, CE5, CE6, CE13, CE17, CE18, CE19, CE20
7. Teaching methods
Lectures and practical classes, where the course instructor will summarize the essential content for each unit
Oral presentations/briefings. The students will have to choose a topic from a list provided by the professor and brief him and their colleagues in a short oral presentation.
Exam
Tutorials
8. Anticipated distribution of the use of the different teaching methods
9. Resources
Reference books.
- BAYLIS, John et al. (2016) (eds.): The Globalization of World Politics: An Introduction to International Relations. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- BEST, Anthony et al. (2014): International History of the Twentieth Century and Beyond. London-New York: Routledge.
- CLARK, Christopher (2014): Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914. New York: Harper.
- GADDIS, John L. (2007): The Cold War. London: Penguin.
- KISSINGER, Henry (1994): Diplomacy. New York: Simon & Schuster.
- MALCHOW, Howard L. (2015): History and International Relations: From the Ancient World to the 21st Century. London: Bloomsbury Academic.
- MAZOWER, Mark (2012): Governing the World: The History of an Idea. London: Penguin.
- McNeill, J. R. and William H. McNeill (2003): The Human Web: A Bird’s-Eye View of World History. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
- OSTERHAMMEL, Jürgen and Niels P. PETERSSSON (2009): Globalization. A Short History. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
- WATSON, Adam (1992): The Evolution of the International Society. A Comparative Historical Analysis. London-New York: Routledge.
- WESTAD, Odd A. (2018): The Cold War. A World History. London: Penguin.
- YOUNG, John W. and John KENT (2013): International Relations Since 1945. A Global History. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
10. Assessment
General considerations.
Grades will be delivered according to the Spanish system: 0-10; 5 or more = pass
Assessment criteria.
As soon as the log into the Studium system and enter the website, the students will find the rubric system that will be used to assess them.
Assessment tools.
Two instruments: an exam, which is composed of an essay and short question, and an individual oral presentation
Students will have to get a passing mark in both instruments
If this is not the case, the student will have to resit whichever assessment instrument he/she has failed
The weighing of the instruments are as follows: final mark = (essay 0.6 + short questions 0.4) 0.7 + oral presentation 0.3
Assessment recommendations.
Attend all your contact hours
Use the bibliography
Notice that the skills that you must show in each assessment instrument are different. The essay gauges the depth of your knowledge and your ability to make a historical argument, the short questions aim at finding out how extensive this knowledge is, the briefing tests your oral communication skills and your ability to select content independently
Guidelines in the case of failing the subject.
Attend the post-marking session