COURSE DESCRIPTION FOR THE BACHELOR DEGREE IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

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1 COURSE DESCRIPTION FOR THE BACHELOR DEGREE IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS Course Code Course Name International Relations of the Middle East In this course the student will learn an historical and chronological overview of the events and political developments that gave rise to the modern state system and its linking to the international system. The detachment of the region from Ottoman Empire and its subjection by the subsequent European imperialism would be reviewed, as well as the circumstances that led to the occupation of the Palestine. As to the post WW II Middle East. The course will explore interactions between domestic, regional, and the international actors. Key themes such as ideologies, identities and social/political organization in the region will be explored. The impact of the new international order on middle-eastern security would be discussed as well. Course Code Course Name History of the International Relations In this course the student will learn about the major developments of the international relations as a political practice as well as its evolution as an academic field. The main emphasis would be on the development of the current international system and the different orders that emanated from it,and the characteristics of each order and how it shapes the behavior of the system units. Course Code Course Name Comparative Political Systems This course will provide the student with the basic ideas on the way some major powers run their political systems in terms of power distribution and the different components of the government and their functions in a comparative way with special reference to foreign policy decisions and implementation. Course Code Course Name The Concept of Politics in Islam Since Islam is a complete way of life, the student will find a chance in this course to refer some issues of international contention in contemporary life to Islamic sources of 1

2 guidance such as Islamic jurisprudence, to see how they are being looked at in Islam: governance, human rights, and the role of woman in public life are just examples. Course Code Course Name Introduction to Political Economy In this course the principles of Economics as well as the concept, origins and development of the Political Economy (PE) will be explained to the students as well as the relation between the market and the state in managing the national economic activity, for that reason students will come to learn about the different approaches to PE and some of its central issues. Course Code Course Name Intelligence and Foreign Policy Since knowledge is power, the gathering of information about another s capabilities and intentions is vital aspect of state behavior. This course introduces students to the concept, types and divisions of intelligence and its purpose and the ways in which it is gathered. Likewise, the faulty intelligence consequences, implications of leaks, ethical considerations and the need for oversight will be discussed drawing from some wellknown experiences. Course Code Course Name Introduction to Foreign Policy The primary purpose of the course is to introduce students to the concept of foreign policy and how states arrive to the decisions regarding foreign policy and what are the constraints and opportunities that shape their choices at different levels. The objectives, institutions, processes and means by which foreign policy are implemented will be explained. Course Code Course Name International Political Economy In this course the student will learn about the nature of the International Political Economy (IPE), and the various schools of thought on IPE as well as the international financial institutions and issues, the international trade policy, the multinational corporations, and the North-South dialogue. Course Code Course Name Regional Security Studies In this course the student will take the concept of the region as his unit of analysis instead of the international system as a whole and his emphasis would be on the notion of security as his analytical concept instead of the concept of power which characterized international relations realist theories. Regional security is abroad concept that covers 2

3 many fields and spans many levels as opposed to the traditional concept of security of the strategic military studies. Course Code Course Name Qatar s Political System and Foreign Policy In this course the student will learn about the nature of the Qatari political system: its structures and functions as well as Qatar s foreign policy: the objectives, the processes, the means of implementation, the course will discuss the huge leap in Qatar regional influence due to the reforms introduced between 1995 and 2013 during the reign of the Emir-Father Shaikh Hamad bin Khalifa, and how Qatar managed to exploit its capabilities in enhancing its international status and image. Course Code Course Name The Foreign Policy of the United States of America In this course the student will learn about the US foreign policy institutions, processes, and objectives and the tensions between unilateral and multilateral tendencies on intervening abroad. Likewise, the struggle between the congress and the white house over foreign policy as well as the conflict of interests among other agencies such as USAID, CIA, Department of Defense, and the State Department as well as the role of the lobbies such as AIPAC Course Code Course Name Theory of International Relations In this course the student starts to learn different interpretations to the same complex international phenomena through the help he gets from priori ideas about international realities i.e. theories. The international relations theories are divided into two categories (traditional and modern), each category consists of different contending theories. Understanding these theories is essential to the IR student. Course Code Course Name Security Global Environmental In this course the student comes to learn about some security challenges that unify the human kind and how the combined effort of all the states and other non-state actors is needed if these security concerns are to be effectively addressed, challenges such as: nuclear hazards, transnational diseases, Population surge, food shortages, the depletion of natural resources and climate change. The question is what is being done and what is needed to be done. 3

4 Course Code Course Name Public international law This course deals with the definition of public international law its obligatory basis its sources its subjects and its relation to national laws. It also deals with the application of public international law in time of peace and war. It also explores the sources of this law particularly the international treaties international custom general principles of law and other sources. This course Moreover tackles some important issues such as the emergence of new states their recognition their rights and obligations the theory of international responsibility the means for the settlement of International disputes and diplomatic and consular relations among the states. Course Code Course Name Ethics in International Relations Despite the internationally accepted concepts of state sovereignty and non-interference as organizing principles of international system yet we see some powers intervene unilaterally or multilaterally or refuse to intervene in the affairs of other smaller or weak powers, in this course the interventions in world politics will be explained and a number of cases of foreign interventions will be studied to enable the student to form an ethical judgments as to assess the justifications behind these interventions. The ultimate purpose of the course is to sharpen the student critical faculty to the tension between rhetoric and reality in foreign policy. Course Code Course Name The Arab Israeli Conflict This course aims to introduce students to the political history of the Arab-Israeli conflict. It provides students with the theoretical, conceptual and textual tools required for sound comprehension of the various phases of the Arab-Israeli conflict and standing issues of contention with special reference to the Palestinian components. Also the multilevel interactions of this conflict will be exposed to the students especially in peace-making efforts, which will be addressed. Likewise, the various attempts at peace-making will be assessed so that students possess an idea about their cons and pros. Course Code Course Name International and Regional Organizations In this course the student learns about the description and roles of International and regional organizations in maintaining the international and regional peace and security and the promotion of international and regional cooperation and how these organization coordinate their missions. Examples include theleague of Nations, the UN, Arab League, African Union, European Union and Organization of American States. 4

5 Course Code Course Name Graduation research project The course is an extension to the training already received by students from the previous research methods and methodology during their studies in the College. Student shall choose a research topic and submitted to the department for approval, and then one of the Faculties shall take the responsibility of supervision and evaluation. Course Code Course Name Introduction to Diplomacy In this course the student will learn about the concept of diplomacy as means and institution of foreign policy, its evolution over time and its types and multiple uses specially its role in international conflicts management and resolution. Course Code Course Name Modern Islamic Political Thought This course aims to analyze some of the intellectual, social and political movements that took place in the Islamic world as a reaction to the impact of European ideas about organizing society, government and international relations and the rise of political ideologies. The course will likewise consider some of the efforts by the contemporary Islamic thinkers on issues of international relations nature. Course Code Course Name Cooperation Council for Gulf Arab States This course will discuss in-depth the prerequisites that are needed to make the GCC a true vehicle that turns the sub-region into security community such as the case of the EU. Current security management will be discussed such as the common defense together with special reference to the US relations to the region. The course will build on the theoretical tools learned in Regional Security Studies and the European Union courses. Course Code Course Name The American Political System This course introduces the students to the US political system and the power relations between the different branches of the government: the legislature, executive, and judiciary bodies and how it evolved over time, the electoral system and the main national parties as well as other actors as well as would be revisited also in the course. 5

6 Course Code Course Name European Union (EU) In this course the student will learn about the transformation of Europe from a warring continent to a security community: The origins and reasons that led to this integration process and the external factors that helped its success such as the rise of communist threat, the major thresholds that preceded the formation of the EU will be studied as well as the EU structures and functions and challenges. Course Code Course Name International Peace and Security This course emphasizes the previous experiences of international cooperation over peace and security by studying the League of Nations and the United Nations systems in terms of the international circumstances that brought them to existence and the reasons that led the collapse of the former and the lessons learned in the creation of the latter and the current anomalies that bedeviled the UN collective Security system and how the world is going to be governed in the future. Course Name Conflicts and Negotiations This course gives introduction about conflict: definitions and theories, underlying causes and conditions, dynamics, issues, parties, and involvement of other stakeholders. Theories that relate human behavior and social systems to the origins of conflict will be of a particular interest. Importantly, this holistic analysis of conflict and its causes should help us shed light on relevant intervention strategies and diverse views of conflict resolution. Course Name Human Rights in International Relations In this course a backdrop to the origin and evolution of human rights in the western practice will be offered and its integration in international politics. The intellectual debates over human rights as well as its codification in the international organizations will be visited. The boost it received in international relations after the collapse of the bipolar order and hence the struggle between the two doctrines of universalism versus relativism will also be exposed to discussion as well as the international protection mechanisms. Course Code Course Name Issues and Trends in Globalization Globalization is vague concept; it means different things in different realms: politics, political economy, and cultural spheres among others, it also seen as positive power in some respects while being cursed in yet other dimensions. Who is benefiting and who is losing from globalization: In this course the student will start to sort out this confusion through conceptual and theoretical tools that improve his perceptions about globalization, 6

7 issues such human rights, democratization, international terrorism and international criminal justice will be called for discussion? Course Code Course Name Special Topic The special topics course will provide in-depth focus on a specific topic and or area, depending on the expertise of faculty which will be announced at the beginning of each semester. Course Name Media and International Relations In this course student will learn about whether journalists can help people to understand crucial issues of war and political unrest? How do the media gather information and what is the quality of their reporting? Is objective, unbiased reporting on international events possible, or do we have to accept that all news is political? Do the media have any impact on international politics CNN, BBC and Algezira are among good examples for discussion? Course Name Media and International Relations In this course student will learn about whether journalists can help people to understand crucial issues of war and political unrest? How do the media gather information and what is the quality of their reporting? Is objective, unbiased reporting on international events possible, or do we have to accept that all news is political? Do the media have any impact on international politics CNN, BBC and Algezira are among good examples for discussion? 7