ASTK18011U Core Subject: Theory and Practice in Foreign Policy

The aim of the course is to offer a comprehensive introduction to the theory and practice of foreign policy.

The course enhances the students’ ability to think critically and to combine complex theories with insights from the contemporary political world. Emphasis will be on the ability to present a coherent argument, to discuss and evaluate competing claims, and to write in concise and clear manner engaging with theory and practice in foreign policy. The course will be relevant for students interested in working with complex issues in politics and elsewhere.

The first part of the course introduces foreign policy and foreign policy analysis and provides a basic knowledge of the foreign policy vocabulary. We explore the historical context and the changing conditions for doing foreign policy.

The second part of the course focuses on major theoretical perspectives on international relations: Realism, Liberalism and Constructivism. We discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the three perspectives and their applicability for understanding different aspects of foreign policy. We work on how to apply the theories to contemporary cases such as Russian foreign policy, US foreign policy and German foreign policy.

The third part of the course zooms in on theoretical alternatives. We discuss the critical and analytical potential of discourse analysis and feminism and explore the bridge building potential of perspectives such as role theory, neoclassical realism and practice theory. We use EU foreign policy, Nordic foreign policy and the US-Russia relationship to explore the analytical potential and challenges of these perspectives.

The fourth part of the course zooms in on foreign economic policy, the hard foreign economic policy (sanctions, unilateralism and trade war), the soft foreign economic policy (incentives, persuasion and sustainable development) and development policy. We discuss the theoretical foundations for analyzing foreign economic policy and apply them to US and EU trade policy, and the policies of EU and China towards developing countries.

The fifth part of the course discusses diplomacy, both the classical diplomacy and new diplomatic challenges.

The sixth part of the course explores foreign policy in the (post-)American world order. We discuss the foreign policy of the US superpower, the challenges from Russia and China and the role of rising powers such as Brazil, India and South Africa. We explore how small states and middle powers in general and the Nordic countries in particular seek to pursue their interests and spread their values in the current international order.

Students will choose their own paper topics within the overall thematic of the course and discuss these with other students and a supervisor in two paper workshops.