Introduction to International Security Studies

Is war likely between global powers the United States and China? Could we see a nuclear conflict in the next decade? What is the role of race in international security? Should we see climate change as a security challenge? To answer these questions this course introduces its students to a wide variety of theoretical perspectives on international security and applies these to historical and contemporary cases to illustrate their relevance. By focusing on both traditional and non-traditional security issues, the course seeks to provide students with analytical frameworks and the empirical basis to understand the complexity of contemporary security issues.