Crisis, Decline, and Change in International Politics - Professor Ayse Zarakol
In this course, we will explore the theme of ‘decline’ in international politics, focusing on different levels of analysis: decline of particular international actors, decline of international institutions/orders and decline/collapse of world structures. Starting with great power decline and transition, we will then move onto considering the decline of international orders and hierarchies. We will end with a discussion about the likelihood of systemic decline due to crises beyond human control such as climate change. The goal of this course option is to get students familiar with both classical and cutting edge work in theoretical, sociological and historical IR, while simultaneously engaging them in contemporary debates about urgent problems and crises in world politics.