SGPP Electives-Ideas & Methods

What conditions are sufficiently 'dire or inspiring'to make someone take up arms and risk his (or her) life as part of a rebel group? By the end of this advanced undergraduate-level course, you will be able to answer this question just like the leading academic minds in the field of international relations. This class will provide you with extensive exposure to the quantitative study of civil wars around the world.

How can we best explain the emergence and spread of nonviolent protest and violent conflict across the Middle East and North Africa region during the so-called 'Arab Spring'? What mechanisms facilitated the diffusion of democratic norms, ideas, and institutions across eastern Europe and the former Soviet states in the wake of the decline of communism? How, after being so deeply entrenched in western practice, can we account for the sudden and comprehensive abolition of the atlantic slave trade in the nineteenth century?

Qualified students working on an individual basis with professors who have agreed to supervise such work.

Qualified students working on an individual basis with professors who have agreed to supervise such work.

Individual or small group research under the guidance of faculty.

Analysis of conflicts of national interests; decision making in the present international system; role-playing and simulation experience.

Basic acquaintance with the United Nations and other major international organizations. One of the fundamental trends in the present and future world is the increasing and ever more complex interdependence between nations. To cope with that, conventional unilateral and bilateral means are insufficient. Multilateral approach - cooperative and competitive simultaneously - proves indispensable.

Analysis of how variations in social structures and political configurations influence governmental policy and determine international competitiveness of states. Industrial sectors in five major economies are examined to determine how political systems differ, what kinds of policies enhance competitiveness, and where countries rank in terms of innovation of key industrial sectors.

This course is designed to introduce you to the international politics of the Middle East and therefore, provides a general overview of some of the main issues of contemporary Middle Eastern Politics.

Traces the birth and growth of the Arab-Israeli conflict since 1948 with particular attention to the internal impediments to conflict resolution on both the Arab and Israeli sides. Also surveys the role of the Great Powers in Middle East politics generally.