The Modern International System

This course invites students to explore the human quest for order in a disorderly world. Specifically, we will examine: (1) the building blocks and institutions of political order; (2) the history of international order and disorder, particularly over the past two centuries; (3) the current unravelling of the Liberal International Order built under American leadership in the aftermaths of the Second World War and Cold War; and (4) scenarios for the future of world (dis)order. The course aims at a deep and textured conceptual, historical, and comparative exploration of human attempts to establish, maintain, and adapt international orders. Through class discussions and engagement with texts - drawn from political theory, international relations, security studies, and even memoir - we will identify different logics of order and study the history of international relations in the modern era. Attention will be paid to the dominant role played by European (and later American) conceptions of international order, but also to nonterritorial, Sinocentric, and Islamic international societies that point to alternative modes of world politics. As such, the course seeks to equip students with the ideas, historical perspectives, and analytical tools needed to navigate the "interesting times" we live in.