PLT3790

Three conceptions of international relations

Proposed to be offered next in 1999

R Spegele

8 points
* 3 hours per week
* Clayton

Objectives On successful completion of this subject students should be able to show that they have attained a comprehensive overview of international theory and that they have acquired the critical tools necessary to analyse problems and issues of international theory.

Synopsis For many years, international theorists failed to give sufficient weight to the obvious fact that there is not one conception of international relations subdivided into different theories and approaches, but at least three separate conceptions of the subject. This subject critically examines the views of the proponents of these three conceptions to understand the theory and practice of international relations. It seeks to discover the kinds of questions which need to be raised by anyone interested in sustaining the validity of one of them or in proposing an alternative conception.

Assessment Essay (3000 words): 50%
* Examination (3 hours): 50%

Prescribed texts

Spegele R Political realism in international theory CUP, 1996

Recommended texts

Kegley C Jr Controversies in international relations theory St Martin's Press, 1995
Linklater A Men and citizens in the theory of international relations Macmillan, 1986
Peterson V S Gendered states: Feminist revisions of IR theory Lynne Rienner, 1992