PSIR 556 | Course Introduction and Application Information - Political Science and International Relations (With Thesis)

Course Name

Contemporary Issues in International Relations

Code	Semester	Theory (hour/week)	Application/Lab (hour/week)	Local Credits	ECTS
PSIR 556	Fall/Spring	3	0	3	7.5

Prerequisites	None
Course Language	English
Course Type	Elective
Course Level	Second Cycle
Mode of Delivery	-
Teaching Methods and Techniques of the Course	-
National Occupation Classification	-
Course Coordinator	-
Course Lecturer(s)	Yrd. Doç. Dr. SITKI EGELİ
Assistant(s)	Araş. Gör. Nil DİKMENGİL

Course Objectives

This course aims at providing graduate students with new perspectives on current issues and debates in the study of International Relations, and it also targets at enabling the students to analyze those issues using critical lenses.

Learning Outcomes

#	Content	PC Sub	* Contribution Level
#	Content	PC Sub	1	2	3	4	5
1	Identify the principal current issues and debates in international relations,
2	Analyze those issues using objective and critical lenses;
3	Develop their own opinions, interpretations, perspectives regarding those issues,
4	Compare/contrast the perspectives, positions and policies of leading international actors with respect to those issues,
5	Make projections on future trends and challenges likely to be faced by international community in coming years.

Course Description

The focus of the course would be some of the current issues and debates of international relations. The methodology of the course will be lecturer’s explanations intermingled with class discussions.

Course Category	Core Courses
	Major Area Courses	X
	Supportive Courses
	Media and Management Skills Courses
	Transferable Skill Courses

Week	Subjects	Related Preparation	Learning Outcome
1	Course Introduction: course objectives, content, methodology, conditions Brief overview: IR paradigms
2	Global Leadership	Stephen Kotkin, “Realist World,” Foreign Affairs, June 14, 2018; Stephen M. Walt, “What Sort of World Are We Headed for?” Foreign Policy, October 2, 2018; Richard Haas, “How a World Order Ends,” Foreign Affairs, December 11, 2018; John. J. Mearsheimer, “The Inevitable Rivalry,” Foreign Affairs, November/December 2021; Elizabeth Economy, “ Xi Jinping’s New World Order,” Foreign Affairs, January/February 2022; Liana Fix and Michael Kimmage, “What If Russia Loses?” Foreign Affairs, March 4, 2022; Michael Scumann, “The World Is Splitting in Two,” The Atlantic, March 28, 2022; Mark Leonard, “The Real End of Pax Americana,” Foreign Affairs, June 13, 2022; Hal Brands, “Why Superpower Crises Are a Good Thjng,” Foreign Policy, August 5, 2022.
3	Populism, post-truth, personalistic rules: end of democracy and liberalism?	Pankaj Mishra, “The Globalization of Rage”, Foreign Affairs, 17 October 2016; Tom Nichols, “How America Lost Faith in Expertise”, Foreign Affairs, 13 February 2017; Yasicha Mounk and Roberto Stefan Foa, “The End of The Democracy Culture,” Foreign Affairs, April 16, 2018; Robert Kagan, “The strongmen strike back,” Foreign Policy, March 14, 2019; Rick Shenkman, “The Shocking Paper Predicting the End of Democracy,” Politico, September 8, 2019; Pippa Norris, “Voters Against Democracy,” Foreign Affairs, May/June 2021; Moisés Naim, “The Dictators’ New Playbook,” Foreign Affairs, March/April 2022; Scott D. Sagan, “The World’s Most Dangerous Man,” Foreign Affairs, March 16, 2022.
4	Environmental Issues in international relations	Joshua Busby, “Warming World”, Foreign Affairs, 14 June 2018; Amitav Ghosh, “The Coming Climate Crisis”, Foreign Policy, Winter 2019; Michael Byers and Kent A. Peacock, “Did climate change destroy the aliens?” The Bulletin, June 27, 2019; Stephen M. Walt, “Who Will Save the Amazon (and How)?” Foreign Policy, August 5, 2019; Mohamed Adow, “The Cimate Debt,” Foreign Affairs, May/June 2020; Micheal Oppenheimer, “As the World Burns,” Foreign Affairs, November/December 2020; Stewart M. Patrick, “”The International Order Isn’t Ready for the Climate Crisis,” Foreign Affairs, November/December 2021; Robert Muggah, “Climate Threats Are Multiplying in the Horn of Africa,” Foreign Policy, December 5, 2021; Christina Lu and Anusha Rathi, “The Mediterranean as WE Know It Is Vanishing,” Foreign Policy, August 1, 2022. Recommended movie: Before the Flood (2016) – available on youtube.
5	Research assignment outline presentations 1
6	Research assignment outline presentations 2
7	Research assignment outline presentations 3
8	Migration	Ryan Gingeras, “Can Turkey Assimilate Its Refugees*” Foreign Affairs, May 24, 2016; Loren B. Landau et.al. “Europe Is Making Its Migration Problem Worse,” Foreign Affairs, September 5, 2018; Nanjala Nyabola, “The End of Asylum,” Foreign Affairs, Oct 10, 2019; Bryan Caplan, “Open Borders Are a Trillion-Dollar Idea,” Foreign Policy, Nov 1, 2019; Lant Pritchett, “Only Migration Can Save the Welfare State,” Foreign Affairs, February 24, 2020; Sonia Shah, “Climate Change Will Drive People Across Borders,” Foreign Affairs, July 29, 2020; Kelsey P. Norman, “Rich Countries Cannot Outsource Their Migration Dilemmas,” Foreign Affairs, January 5th, 2022; Alexander Betts, “The Ukrainian Exodus,” Foreign Affairs, March 28, 2022; Gordon H. Hanson and Metthew J. Slaughter, “Amercia Needs More Immigration to Defeat Inflation,” Foreign Affairs, December 19th, 2022. Recommended movie: Adu (2020) -available on Netflix.
9	Terrorism	Raphael Minder, “Crackdowns on Free Speech Rise Across a Europe Warry of Terror,” The New York Times, February 24, 2016; Mark Mazzetti and Eric Schmitt, “In the Age of ISIS, Who’s a Terrorist, and Who’s Simply Deranged?” The New York Times, July 17, 2016; Barbara F. Walter, “The Jihadist Threat Won’t End With ISIS’ Defeat,” Foreign Affairs, December 22, 2017; Robert Malley and Jon Finer, “Long Shadow of 9/11,” Foreign Affairs, June 14, 2018; Thomas Hegghammer, “Resistance Is Futile,” Foreign Affairs, September/October 2021; Nelly Lahoud, “Bin Laden’s Catastrophic Success,” Foreign Affairs, September/October 2021; Cynthia Miller-Idriss, “From 9/11 to 1/6,” Foreign Affairs, September/October 2021.
10	Corruption & injustice of wealth	Christopher Sabatini, “Corruption in the BRICS,” Foreign Affairs, July 18, 2016; Bill Browder, “Abandonment has consequences,” Foreign Policy, December 22, 2016; Will Doig, “The Belt and Road Initiative Is a Corruption Bonanza,” Foreign Policy, January 15, 2019; Oliver Bullough, “Dirty Money: How Corruption Changes the World,” Foreign Affairs, January/February 2020; Philip Zelikov, et.al. “The Rise of Strategic Corruption: How States Weaponize Graft,“ Foreign Affairs, July/August 2020; “The war against money-laundering is being lost,” The Economist, April 12, 2021; Ricardo Soares de Oliveira and Olivier Vallée, “The Republic of Congo Is Dark Debt Pioneer,” Foreign Policy, May 21, 2021; Josh Rudolph, “The Fight Against Corruption Needs Economists,” The Foreign Affairs, May 17, 2021; Daron Acemoglu, “Closing Tax Havens Is the True Test of the West’s Resolve,” Project Syndicate, March 8, 2022;. Recommended movie: The Laundromat (2019) – available on Netflix.
11	Outer Space	Stewart Patrick and Kyle L. Evanoff, “The Right Way to Achieve Security I Space,” Foreign Affairs, September 17th, 2018; “Lift-off for China-US rivalry over space’s new frontiers,” South China Morning Post, January 6th, 2019; “Russian satellite weapon shows the danger of hazy rules in space,” The Economist, August 9th, 2020; “In 2022 a Moonrush will begin in earnest,” The Economist, January 1st, 2022.
12	Research assignment content presentations - 1
13	Research assignment content presentations -2
14	Research assignment content presentations -3
15	Review of the semester
16	Final Exam

Course Notes/Textbooks

This course does not have a specific coursebook. Instead, all assigned readings would be available on the course’s Blackboard page for students to download before attending lectures.

All course readings are available at the University Library and as open sources.

Suggested Readings/Materials

Semester Activities	Number	Weighting	LO 1	LO 2	LO 3	LO 4	LO 5
Participation	1	20
Laboratory / Application
Field Work
Quizzes / Studio Critiques
Portfolio
Homework / Assignments	1	15
Presentation / Jury	2	25
Project
Seminar / Workshop
Oral Exams
Midterm
Final Exam	1	40
Total

Weighting of Semester Activities on the Final Grade	4	60
Weighting of End-of-Semester Activities on the Final Grade	1	40
Total

Semester Activities	Number	Duration (Hours)	Workload
Theoretical Course Hours (Including exam week: 16 x total hours)	16	3	48
Laboratory / Application Hours (Including exam week: '.16.' x total hours)	16		0
Study Hours Out of Class	16	5	80
Field Work			0
Quizzes / Studio Critiques			0
Portfolio			0
Homework / Assignments	1	38	38
Presentation / Jury	2	19	38
Project			0
Seminar / Workshop			0
Oral Exam			0
Midterms			0
Final Exam	1	12	12
		Total	216

#	PC Sub	Program Competencies/Outcomes	* Contribution Level
#	PC Sub	Program Competencies/Outcomes	1	2	3	4	5
1	To be able to improve theoretical and conceptual proficiencies on Political Science and International Relations and use them competently.		-	-	X	-	-
2	To be able to evaluate critically the relationships between various factors in the field of Political Science and International Relations such as structures, actors, institutions and culture.		-	-	-	-	X
3	To be able to determine and question the theoretical and empirical gaps in Political Science and International Relations literature.		-	-	X	-	-
4	To be able to identify the political and cultural conditions that generate discrimination mechanisms based on race, ethnicity, gender and religion at national and international levels.		-	X	-	-	-
5	To be able to gather and analyze data by using scientific research methods.		X	-	-	-	-
6	To be able to analyze and evaluate the historical continuity and changes observed in the relations between the actors and institutions of national and international politics.		-	-	-	-	X
7	To be able to present individual research and contemporary developments in Political Science and International Relations in written, oral, and visual forms.		-	-	X	-	-
8	To be able to take responsibility in generating solutions to the problems that arise in relation to the politics in daily life.		-	-	-	-	-
9	To be able to determine the institutional and political instruments for conflict resolution in domestic and international politics.		-	-	X	-	-
10	To be able to prepare a thesis/term project about Political Science and International Relations based on scientific criteria.		-	-	-	-	-
11	To be able to follow new research and developments in Political Science and International Relations and participate the debates in academic meetings through a foreign language.		-	-	-	X	-
12	To be able to have ethical, social and scientific values in the stages throughout the processes of gathering, interpreting, disseminating and implementing data relevant to Political Science and International Relations.		-	-	-	-	-

PSIR 556 | Course Introduction and Application Information

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