STV4256 – Global Power Shifts and International Governance
Schedule, syllabus and examination date
Course content
What challenges, if any, does the economic and geopolitical rise of China and other BRICS states pose to the international order that evolved under US leadership after WW2? To what extent have the multilateral institutions comprised by that order adjusted to shifts in relative power and to withdrawals or calls for renegotiation by the declining hegemon, the USA, in areas such as security, trade and climate change? And in what ways has such adaptation, or resistance to it, influenced the capacity of those institutions to ameliorate conflict and promote cooperation among states?
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This course identifies drivers and inhibitors of ongoing change in relative power in the international system; problematises the extent of such change across issue areas; and examines their consequences for international governance in important areas of international politics. It presents and applies recent scholarship on global power shifts, combining insights from the realist theory of hegemonic transition with variants of institutional analysis. Analysis of cross-issue and over-time diversity in institutional resilience will draw upon syllabus applications of quantitative methods, comparative analysis and case studies, including the natural experiment provided by stepwise declines in East-West relations since the early 2000s.
Learning outcome
Knowledge
The students will be familiar with:
- Ongoing and historical changes in the distribution of power in the international system.
- The scholarly debate on how hegemonic transition affects the risk of war.
- Major contending actors and the international institutions they operate in areas such as security, trade, climate and energy.
- Conditions influencing the probability of procedural and substantive adjustment of international governance institutions.
- Relationships between power shifts, institutional adjustment and institutional performance.
Skills
Students will be able to:
- Critically engage debates on power shifts and international institutionalised cooperation.
- Measure international power shifts in distinctive areas of international relations and examine consequences.
- Assess and compare institutional performance.
- Prepare and review research proposals on self-chosen subjects addressed in the syllabus.
General competence
Students will enhance their ability to:
- Critically evaluate causal arguments and theories.
- Provide and receive constructive feedback on research proposals.
Admission to the course
Students who are admitted to study programmes at UiO must each semester?register which courses and exams they wish to sign up for?in Studentweb.
Students enrolled in other Master's Degree Programmes can, on application, be admitted to the course if this is cleared by their own study programme.?Apply for guest student status?if you are admitted to another Master`s programme (deadline 1 August / 5 January).
If you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about?admission requirements and procedures.
Recommended previous knowledge
Bachelor's degree in Political Science or equivalent.
Teaching
Lectures.?
Mandatory activities:
- Submit 2 brief research proposals (each 1000-1500 words) on self-chosen subjects addressed in the syllabus.
- Submit 2 brief peer reviews (each 300-500 words) of research proposals by fellow students.
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Examination
3 hour written school examination.
Previous exams and examiner guidelines
Examination support material
Students may use dictionaries at this exam. Dictionaries must be handed in before the examination. Please read regulations for dictionaries permitted at the examination.
Language of examination
The examination text is given in English, and you submit your response in English.
Grading scale
Grades are awarded on a scale from A to F, where A is the best grade and F is a fail. Read more about?the grading system.
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