INTL4450 Global Security Policy

We live in the era of global complexity and uncertainty. As the world has become more interconnected, a crisis in one country affects other neighboring countries’ security. Security in the 21st century is not only confined to securing national territory, but expanded to a wide variety of issues (i.e., human rights, environment, disease, etc.). The challenge for contemporary students of international relations is to define security from a transnational perspective and to analyze how states, international organizations, and other actors influence global security through policy decisions. This course is designed to introduce diverse academic theories of security, present several global security threats, and analyze how international actors (i.e., states, IGOs, NGOs, etc) create policy to address these security issues.

INTL4295 War and Human Security

What are the human consequences of war? Does anything help to limit these consequences? This course focuses on the social scientific study of the human security effects of war. We will focus on scientific explanations for why wars occur and the human toll that wars have. After this class, you will have not only an understanding of the major players and factors influencing human security but a base understanding of the social scientific processes which govern human security outcomes more generally. As such, this class is not a history class or a class on current events. Though current and historical events will be discussed, your grade will not depend on your rote memorization of these events. Instead, the focus will be on understanding the underlying interests of important actors for human security, the arenas in which these actors interact, and the rules which govern their interactions. This focus on the basic principles will provide you with a rich practical knowledge of the study of human security. We will begin the semester by first defining war and human security and then focusing on the social scientific method and its role in the study of human security. After this introduction, the class will be divided into three major sections: (1) background theory on why wars occur, (2) theoretical frameworks for the causes of major human security disasters associated with wars (e.g.,human rights violations, genocides, refugees, human trafficking, public health, sexual violence, and child soldiers), (3) the social scientific literature on the efficacy of a variety of interventions and solutions for human security.

INTL4615E Politics of Disease Control

The current global pandemic has made it obvious that disease can profoundly threaten social order and prosperity. What may be harder to perceive is the crucial and complex role that governments play in preventing and controlling disease. Our purpose will be to better understand the link between political institutions and disease outcomes. We begin by asking why disease is such a difficult social problem. We then use contemporary and historical examples of domestic and global discourse on disease control to understand how governments and other international actors respond in the face of this challenge.