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Our research is focused around three broad themes: conflict, peace and security; the evolving character of global and supra-national institutions; and the interpenetration of civil societies and international relations. In addition we have major strengths in area studies which help to ground our research into these broad thematic areas. Some of this activity is carried out under the umbrella of our various research centres, some within other collaborative contexts both within and outside the university, and some by individual researchers.

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Home > Arts and Sciences > International Relations > INTERNATIONALRELATIONSHONORS

International Relations Undergraduate Honors Theses

Honors theses from 2024 2024.

Where the Thunder Dragon Lives: The Case of Human Capital Flight in Bhutan , Grace Subu

Defining Greekness: The Effect of Ethnic Identity on Foreign Policy Opinions , Iliana Tzafolias

Honors Theses from 2023 2023

Rethinking ‘Feminicide’: The Role of Organized Crime Groups in Increased Rates of Feminicide in Mexico , Giselle Figueroa

Threads of Continuity: Investigating the Historical Context of the China Challenge and Its Implications for Current US Grand Strategy , Bennett Hawley

Terror Management Theory in International Relations: Vladimir Putin and Slobodan Milosevic , Poojitha Tanjore

Stranded At Home: How the Absence of Men in Norwegian Whaling Communities Fostered Women's Civic Engagement , Katrine Roderburg Westgaard

Honors Theses from 2022 2022

Psychological Peacebuilding: When the Time is Ripe for an Election , Kaiming Chen

Showing Off and Going Out: China’s Vanity Project Phenomenon , Caroline Morin

Honors Theses from 2021 2021

Like, Share, and Fight? The Role of Social Media and Cybernationalism in Exacerbating Tensions Between South Korea and Japan , Christina Durham

The Remittance Behavior of High-skill Migrants: Evidence from Albania , Gillous Harris

Behind Every Successful Diplomat is Their Spouse: The Buffer Role of Indian and Pakistani Diplomatic Spouses , Sania Shahid

Honors Theses from 2020 2020

Sleeping with the Television On: How Popular Culture Content Implicitly Informs Political Reality , Grace Amato

Trade Talks and Populist Thoughts: The Rise in Populist Rhetoric Following China's Accession to the World Trade Organization , Samuel Desmarais

All the News Fit to Print: Egyptian and Tunisian Media Development and Political Toleration through Arab Spring , Seth Fiderer

Moroccan Identity in the 1980s: The Theory and Policy Implications of Studying Moroccan Identity , Heather Rodenberg

Autocratic Liberalization and Gendered Speech: Evidence from the Parliament of Singapore , Elizabeth Rosen

Flipping the Kill-Switch: Why Governments Shut Down the Internet , Elizabeth Sutterlin

Honors Theses from 2019 2019

Impact of China's One Belt One Road Initiative at Different Geographical Scales , Yuxiang Hou

A Comparative Analysis of Media and Legislative Rhetoric on Gun Control , Samyuktha Mahadevan

Proliferation & Instability: How Nuclear Weapons Acquisition Alters Inter-state Relations , Tyler Sagerstrom

Engagement from Afar: How the Role of the Diaspora Makes or Breaks National Secession Campaigns , Lincoln Zaleski

Honors Theses from 2018 2018

Islamic Rhetoric in Pakistan: A Comparison at the National and Sub-national Levels , Ava Chafin

The Role of the Air Force in the Conduct of the Coup d’Etat , Graeme Cranston-Cuebas

Setting and Success in Resistance Campaigns , Eric Gelles

Maritime Governance: How State Capacity Impacts Piracy and Sea Lane Security , Yuito Ishikawa

Popular Motherist Activism in Argentina: Why do Mothers Radicalize? , Emily B. Jackson

Honors Theses from 2017 2017

From Invisible Children to Legal Citizens: An Analysis of Low National Birth Registration Rates and Global Efforts to Increase Registration , Mary K. Adgie

The Role of EU and NATO Conditionality on Developing Democracies: A Georgian Case Study , Carolyn A. De Roster

Things Fall Apart: The Role of Small Arms Acquisition in Insurgent Fragmentation , Matthew K. Ribar

Honors Theses from 2016 2016

Declaring War or Sentencing Criminals? Assessing Short-Term and Long-Term Counterterrorism Success , Arielle Lehner Galston

Do Birds of a Feather Really Flock Together? Ideational Homophily and Development Policy Influence , Kristin Ritchey

Honors Theses from 2015 2015

Gentle Warlords: The Potential for Violent Non-State Actors to Provide Stability , Tyler Bembenek

A Rival to the West? Comparing the Effects of Chinese and World Bank Health Aid on Health Outcomes in Sub-Saharan Africa , Isabel Jane DoCampo

Life That Thrives In Hostility: Mexico's Indigenous Communities and Self-Defense Forces , Kassia M. Halcli

Frederick's Chessboard: Domestic Institutions and the Origins of the Seven Years' War , Caitlin Hartnett

Understanding Secession: An Analysis of the 2012-2014 Debates on Independence in Scotland and Catalonia , Lucas A. Leblanc

Honors Theses from 2014 2014

Ratification and Reliability: The Strategic Logic of Formal Treaties , Benjamin L. Kenzer

Good Neighbors: Trade, Culture, and Institutions in the Resolution of Territorial Disputes , Dylan R. Kolhoff

The Relationship between Access to Healthcare and Civil Conflict , Jeffrey T. Rohde

Honors Theses from 2013 2013

The History Question in Sino-Japanese Relations , Wenfan Chen

Justice and a Lack Thereof: Comparative Perspectives on Accountability in the Southern Cone , Elsa M. Voytas

Honors Theses from 2012 2012

Government Performance, Identity, and Support for Further Devolution in Europe , Nicholas Jacob Bell

The Nuclear Taboo Paradox: Destabilizing Consequences of the Norm , Andrew Bryan Bessler

Latin America during the Cold War: The Role of U.S. Soft Power , Kate Elizabeth Hagey Clough

Visions of the Good: International Politics and the Struggle for Justice , John F. Kirn III

Honors Theses from 2010 2010

The Comparative Effect of Minority Vetoes on Shared Governance in Post-Conflict Consociational Societies: Case Studies of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Lebanon , Dina Abdel-Fattah

Why Do the Strong Quit?: Causes of Counterinsurgent Withdrawal During Overseas Insurgencies , Brian P. Doyle

Olympians , Richard Pell Jordan

Honors Theses from 2009 2009

Education and Islamic Radicalization in the Arabian Peninsula , Rachel Walsh

Honors Theses from 2008 2008

Exploring Informality: An Empirical Analysis of the Informal Economy , Sadie Gardner

Institutions and Economics: The Effectiveness of Reconstruction Efforts in Bosnia , Ashley Kramer

Confronting Jihad: Past Experience and Counterterrorism Since September 11 , Michael Woolslayer

Honors Theses from 2007 2007

The New Idealism in International Relations: Hegelian Theory of the International System , John Kainer

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Digital Commons @ USF > College of Arts and Sciences > School of Interdisciplinary Global Studies > Theses and Dissertations

Government and International Affairs Theses and Dissertations

Theses/dissertations from 2023 2023.

Standing Her Ground: Legal Constraints on Women Who have been Victims of Violence , Janae E. Thomas

Theses/Dissertations from 2021 2021

Struggling Against the Odds: Social Movements in Pakistan During Authoritarian Regimes , Sajjad Hussain

The Domestic Reality of Foreign Policy: The 1994 Clinton Administration Response to the Crises in Rwanda and Haiti , Camara Kemanini Silver

American Military Service and Identity: From the Militia to the All-Volunteer Force , Andrew C. Sparks

Theses/Dissertations from 2020 2020

Decolonizing Human Trafficking: A Case Study of Human Trafficking in Edo State Nigeria , Oyinkansola Adepitan

Borges, el Escritor Italiano: Precursores Italianos en/desde Borges , Sara Boscagli

A Dangerous New Era: Analyzing the Impact of Cyber Technology on International Conflict , Kenneth Brown

Networks in the Norm Life Cycle and the Diffusion of Environmental Norms , James E. Fry

Power, Property Rights, and Political Development: A property rights theory of political development and its application to the study of development in Honduras and Costa Rica , Ricardo R. Noé

Bodily Harm: An Analysis of the Phenomenological and Linguistic Aspects of Harm and Trauma , Grant Samuel Peeler

Mystic Medicine: Afro-Jamaican Religio-Cultural Epistemology and the Decolonization of Health , Jake Wumkes

Theses/Dissertations from 2019 2019

The Humanitarian Gaze and the Spectatorial Nature of Sympathy , Michelle Assaad

The Progressive Transformation of Medellín- Colombia: A Successful Case of Women's Political Agency , María Auxiliadora González-Malabet

Restoring International Justice: Exposing the Limitations of Retributive Justice and Proposing a Restorative Dimension , Nazek Jawad

Human Rights, Emotion, and Critical Realism: Proposing an Emotional Ontology of International Human Rights , Ben Luongo

When Faced with a Democracy: political socialization of first-generation ethnic Russian immigrants in Central and South Florida , Marina Seraphine Mendez

Structure of Turkey-USA Bilateral Relations and Analysis of Factors Affecting Bilateral Relations , Hanifi Ozkarakaya

Soviet Nationality Policy: Impact on Ethnic Conflict in Abkhazia and South Ossetia , Nevzat Torun

Theses/Dissertations from 2018 2018

The Influence of The Armenian Diaspora on The American Foreign Policy , Fatih Aydogan

Discourse, Affinity and Attraction: A Case Study of Iran's Soft Power Strategy in Afghanistan , Hiva Feizi

Becoming Legitimate: How PMSCs are Seeking Legitimacy in the International System , Sommer Mitchell

De Mestizas a Indígenas: Reindigenization as a Political Strategy in Ecuador , Pamela X. Pareja

Star Power, Pandemics, and Politics: The Role of Cultural Elites in Global Health Security , Holly Lynne Swayne

Strategic Negligence: Why the United States Failed to Provide Military Support to the Syrian Resistance in 2011-2014 , Konrad J. Trautman

The Viability of Democratic Governance in De Facto States: A Comparative Case Study of Iraqi Kurdistan and Syria Rojava , Chelsea Vogel

Theses/Dissertations from 2017 2017

Cyber Deterrence against Cyberwar between the United States and China: A Power Transition Theory Perspective , Yavuz Akdag

The Role of Elites in the Formation of National Identities: The Case of Montenegro , Muhammed F. Erdem

Measuring Trust in Post-Communist States: Making the Case for Particularized Trust. , Nicole M. Ford

Hidden: A Case Study on Human Trafficking in Costa Rica , Timothy Adam Golob

Latino Subgroups Political Participation in American Politics: The Other Latinos’ Electoral Behavior , Angelica Maria Leon Velez

Re-ethnicization of Second Generation Non-Muslim Asian Indians in the U.S. , Radha Moorthy

Structural Racism: Racists without Racism in Liberal Institutions within Colorblind States , Alexis Nicole Mootoo

Theses/Dissertations from 2016 2016

Venezuela, from Charisma to Mimicry: The Rise and Fall of a Televised Political Drama , Rebecca Blackwell

Containment: A Failed American Foreign Policy and How the Truman Doctrine Led to the Rise in Islamic Extremism in the Muslim World , Christopher Jonathan Gerber

The Role of Religion in Mitigating Cancer Disparities Among Black Americans , Samar Hennawi

Where is the Survivor’s Voice? An Examination of the Individual and Structural Challenges to the Reintegration of Immigrant Human Trafficking Survivors , Michelle Cristina Angelo Dantas Rocha

Changes and Challenges in Diplomacy: An Evaluation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Dominican Republic , Yudelka Santana

How Presidents Can Become "Hip" by Using High Definition Metaphors Strategic Communication of Leadership in a Digital Age , Mirela Camelia Stimus

Theses/Dissertations from 2015 2015

At the Intersection of Human Agency and Technology: Genetically Modified Organisms , James Libengood

The Triumvirate of Intersectionality: a Case Study on the Mobilization of Domésticas in Brazil , Kristen Lei Nash

Strategic Missile Defense: Russian and U.S. Policies and Their Effects on Future Weapons Proliferation , Diana Marie Nesbitt

Staring Down the Mukhabarat: Rhizomatic Social Movements and the Egyptian and Syrian Arab Spring , Stephen Michael Strenges

The Effect of Neoliberalism on Capabilities: Evaluating the Case of Mexico , James Paul Walker

Theses/Dissertations from 2014 2014

Human Trafficking from Southern Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala: Why These Victims are Trafficked into Modern Day Florida , Timothy Adam Golob

The Effects of U.S. Middle East Foreign Policy on American Muslims: A Case Study of Muslims in Tampa Bay , Mark G. Grzegorzewski

Does Revolution Breed Radicalism? An Analysis of the Stalled Revolution in Syria and the Radical Forces Since Unleashed , Ryan King Little

The United States Prison System: A Comparative Analysis , Rachel O'connor

Fair Trade in Transition: Evolution, Popular Discourse, and the Case of the CADO Cooperative in Cotopaxi, Ecuador , Robyn Michelle Odegard

Challenging the Democratic Peace Theory - The Role of US-China Relationship , Toni Ann Pazienza

Continuation in US Foreign Policy: An Offensive Realist Perspective , Bledar Prifti

The Syrian Civil War: Four Concentric Forces of Tensions , Majid Rafizadeh

Key Ingredients in the Rule of Law Recipe: The Role of Judicial Independence in the Effective Establishment of the Rule of Law , Lauren A. Shumate

Leges, Plebiscita, et Rogationes: Democratization and Legislative Action, 494 - 88 BC , Eric Wolters

An Analysis of State Building: The Relationship between Pashtun 'Para-State' Institutions and Political Instability in Afghanistan , Rebecca Young Greven

Accessibility's Influence on Population Location near Light Rail in the Denver Region , Christophe Michael Zuppa

Theses/Dissertations from 2013 2013

A Comparative Study: How Educational and Healthcare Preparedness Affected Marketization of the Chinese and Indian Economies , Cindy Arjoon

Accidental Detention: A Threat to the Legitimacy of Venezuelan Democracy , Mabel Gabriela Durán-Sánchez

European Union Institutions, Democratic Discourse, and the Color Revolutions , Lizette G. Howard

The End of Anarchy: Weapons of Mass Destruction and the States System , Gregory Edward Johnson

Trends in the Contracting out of Local Government Services , Cristiane Carvalho Keetch

Framing Colombian Women's Beliefs, Values and Attitude Towards Sex and Sexual High-Risk Behaviors , Rosa Ore

Impacts of U.S. Foreign Policy and Intervention on Guatemala: Mid-20th Century , Patricia M. Plantamura

Maximizing Citizenship with Minimal Representation: An Analysis of Afro-Argentine Civil Society Organizing Strategies , Prisca Suarez

From Zaire to the DRC: A Case Study of State Failure , Adam Zachariah Trautman

Guanxi, Networks and Economic Development: The Impact of Cultural Connections , Patricia Anne Weeks

Comparative Political Corruption in the United States: The Florida Perspective , Andrew Jonathon Wilson

Theses/Dissertations from 2012 2012

Modernization From Above: Social Mobilization, Political Institutionalization and Instability: A Case Study of Iran (1953-1979) , Jeffrey Robert Cobb

The Relationship between the Social Construction of Race and the Black/White Test Score Gap in , Toriano M. Dempsey

The Causes and Effects of Get Tough: A Look at How Tough-on-Crime Policies Rose to the Agenda and an Examination of Their Effects on Prison Populations and Crime , Cheyenne Morales Harty

Hegemonic Rivalry in the Maghreb: Algeria and Morocco in the Western Sahara Conflict , Michael D. Jacobs

The Politics of Pentecostalism; Does it Help or Hinder Democratic Consolidation in Brazil? , Amber S. Johansen

Women's Political Representation in Europe: An Analysis of Structural and Attitudinal Factors , Jenna Elaine Mcculloch

Examining the Relationship between Participatory Democracy and Nonwhite Domestic Workers in Porto Alegre, Brazil: Issues of Race, Class and Privilege , Alexis Nicole Mootoo

The Indigenous Movement and the Struggle for Political Representation in Bolivia , Angelica T. Nieves

MAS and the Indigenous People of Bolivia , Maral Shoaei

Cyberwar and International Law: An English School Perspective , Anthony F. Sinopoli

The Homegrown Jihad: A Comparative Study of Youth Radicalization in the United States and Europe , William Wolfberg

Theses/Dissertations from 2011 2011

The State and the Legalization of Dual Citizenship/Dual Nationality: A Case Study of Mexico and the Philippines , Pamela Kim Anderson

The Integration of African Muslim Minority: A Critique of French Philosophy and Policy , Amber Nichole Dillender

Elections and Tensions and Constitutions! Oh, My! A Process-Oriented Analysis of Bolivian Democratization from 1993 to 2009 , Laurel Kristin Dwyer

Cuban Medical Internationalism: A Case for International Solidarity in Foreign Policy Decision Making , Eric James Fiske

The Threat to Democracy in Brazil's Public Sphere , Daniel Nettuno

Prospects for Political Reform in China , Jody Lee Tomlin

Theses/Dissertations from 2010 2010

The Positive- and Negative-Right Conceptions of Freedom of Speech and the Specter of Reimposing the Broadcast Fairness Doctrine ... or Something Like It , Adam Fowler

The Christian Zionist Lobby and U.S.-Israel Policy , Mark G. Grzegorzewski

An Analysis of U.S. Policies Targeting the Iranian Nuclear Program , Bryan T. Hamilton

Religion and Resistance: The Role of Islamic Doctrine in Hamas and Hezbollah , Matthew Lawson

Prospects for Nuclear Non-Proliferation: An Actor-Oriented Case Study of Iran’s Future , James Martin Lockwood

Impact of Globalization on Socio-Economic and Political Development of the Central Asian Countries , Karina Orozalieva

Mubarak’s Machine: The Durability of the Authoritarian Regime in Egypt , Andrea M. Perkins

International Society Cosmopolitan Politics and World Society , Kimberly Weaver

Theses/Dissertations from 2009 2009

From China to Cuba: Guerilla Warfare as a Mechanism for Mobilizing Resources , Jorge Barrera

Neoliberalism and Dependence: A Case Study of The Orphan Care Crisis in Sub-Saharan Africa , Christine Concetta Gibson

City Level Development New Key to Successful Development , Gina Herron

The neoconservative war on modernity: The Bush Doctrine and its resistance to legitimation , Ben Luongo

The Security and Foreign Policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran: An Offensive Realism Perspective , Bledar Prifti

Transdiscursive cosmopolitanism: Foucauldian freedom, subjectivity, and the power of resistance , Joanna Rozpedowski

Making and Keeping the Peace: An Analysis of African Union Efficacy , Nicholas Temple

Social Implications of Fair Trade Coffee in Chiapas, Mexico: Toward Alternative Economic Integration , Joseph J. Torok

Theses/Dissertations from 2008 2008

Role of Culture in Economic Development: China Study of China and Latin America , Amira Fellner

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Home | About | Help | My Account | Accessibility Statement | Language and Diversity Statements

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The International Relations Honors Program offers qualified IR majors the opportunity to conduct a substantial independent research project under faculty guidance. You may choose a faculty thesis advisor from throughout the university. The Program will equip you with the professional "tools" to conduct independent research, analyze the findings, and write a final research thesis. The successful completion of an IR Honors thesis project requires a high degree of initiative and dedication and a significant investment of your time and energy.

The Program is interdisciplinary and enables you to undertake a wide variety of research projects. Previous students have written theses on topics such as: international political economy, international security, regional integration, human rights, domestic issues in foreign countries, international education and regional Issues (this list is by no means exhaustive). The IR Honors Program Thesis Prize is awarded annually to a thesis that stands out as exceptional. Winners receive a certificate and monetary award.

To learn more about the IR Honors Program, come to our Winter Quarter Information Session on February 2.  Please RSVP . For more information, contact IR Honors Program Director Erica Gould at  egould [at] stanford.edu (egould[at]stanford[dot]edu) .

View a list of past IR honors students and thesis topics and the library catalog of past IR honors theses.

Applications for the 2024 IR Honors Cohort are due by 5pm on Friday,  March 1 . Decisions are made on a "rolling" basis within one week after receiving a complete application.

Prerequisites:

• A declared International Relations major with a minimum 3.5 overall grade point average.
• Successful experience writing a research paper.
• An Honors Thesis proposal.
• A Thesis Advisor.
• IR Program approval.

Advisor(s):

• Your Thesis Advisor must be a Stanford Academic Council faculty member (the IR Office can confirm Academic Council status for you).
• Your Thesis Advisor is responsible for assigning your grade for INTNLREL 198 (see below). 

Requirements:

• The spring quarter of your junior year you will take the INTNLREL 200A: IR Honors Field Research course, which is mandatory for all IR Honors students (3 units).
• The autumn quarter of your senior year you will enroll in INTNLREL 200B: IR Honors Seminar, which will focus on the analysis of research findings and initial steps in writing the thesis (3 units).  At the end of the quarter, you should expect to have 1-2 chapters of their thesis submitted in draft form.
• The winter quarter of your senior year you will take INTNLREL 200C: IR Honors Thesis Writing, in which you will continue to write your honors thesis and present your research (1 unit). You will also receive feedback on your work from Honors cohort members and provide feedback on their work.
• Over the autumn, winter, and spring quarters of your senior year, you will enroll in a total of 8-15 units of INTNLREL 198: Senior Thesis with your Thesis Advisor. Students must enroll in at least one INTNLREL 198 unit during each of these aforementioned quarters, as long as they are enrolled at Stanford University. Enrollment in units will be monitored (Note: INTNLREL 200A/B/C do not count within these 8-15 units).
• Present your thesis findings at the IR Honors Conference in the spring quarter of your senior year (usually in mid-May).
• Complete 15-22 total honors units (200A/B/C and 198). Honors units are taken above and beyond the IR major 70-unit requirement. Note: 200B satisfies your IR WIM and SEM/COL requirements.
• You must receive at least a B+ in INTNLREL 198: Senior Thesis to graduate with honors. If you are making satisfactory progress toward your thesis, you will receive an N grade for INTNLREL 198 in the autumn and winter quarters and a final letter grade for spring quarter, which will be retroactively assigned to autumn and winter quarters.
• You must receive at least a B in INTNLREL 200A, INTNLREL 200B, and INTNLREL 200C.

Other Policies:

• If you are not making satisfactory progress with your thesis or otherwise fulfilling the requirements of the IR Honors thesis program, then you may be removed from the program.
• There is no fixed length for your Honors Thesis, but most IR Honors Theses are between 70-100 pages, plus notes and bibliography.
• If you are conducting interview or survey research, you must contact the Human Subjects Protocol Panel at http://humansubjects.stanford.edu .
• If you have completed all of your IR degree requirements, you may register as Permit for Services Only (PSO) in the spring quarter of your senior year while completing your thesis (international students cannot register for PSO status).
• IR Honors Students may request up to $300 in funding to support research related to their thesis project. You may complete the IR Honors Research Stipend Request Form and submit it to Dr. Gould for review.

JUNIOR YEAR

• Attend an IR Honors information session in February.
• If you haven’t already, enroll in a course related to the subject you wish to pursue in your honors work. 
• If you haven’t already, take a writing seminar to help develop research and writing skills.
• Formulate a preliminary thesis topic and consult with faculty members who might serve as your thesis advisor. Confirm your Thesis Advisor, finalize your thesis topic, and develop a work plan with your Thesis Advisor.
• Contact UAR early winter quarter if you wish to apply for a grant to conduct summer research.
• Submit your IR Honors Program application by the deadline (usually late February).
• Once again, if you are conducting interview or survey research, you must contact the Human Subjects Protocol Panel for appropriate protocol at http://humansubjects.stanford.edu .
• In spring quarter, enroll in INTNLREL 200A: IR Honors Field Research.
• Sharpen your proposal and start your research.  The more research you do over the summer, the more you can concentrate on writing once you get back to campus.
• We strongly recommend that you participate in Bing Honors College , which is a fully funded program that provides you with the opportunity to work on your theses with a cohort of Honors students and faculty advisors for three weeks in September before the start of your senior year. 

SENIOR YEAR     

Autumn Quarter

• All Honors students should enroll in the Autumn quarter course INTNLREL 200B: IR Honors Thesis Seminar, which will focus on the analysis of research findings and initial steps in writing the thesis.  At the end of the quarter, you should expect to have two chapters of their thesis submitted in draft form.
• Enroll in INTNLREL 198: Senior Thesis with your Thesis Advisor for 2-5 units. 
• In consultation with your advisor, establish a detailed timeline for draft completion progress.

Winter Quarter

• Enroll in INTNLREL 200C: IR Honors Thesis Writing.
• Enroll in INTNLREL 198: Senior Thesis with your Thesis Advisor for 2-5 units.  Continue to meet with your Faculty Advisor(s) as agreed. 

Spring Quarter

• Enroll in INTNLREL 198: Senior Thesis with your Thesis Advisor for 2-5 units. You should plan to submit to your Thesis Advisor(s) a first draft of your completed thesis by the second week of the quarter so that comments and revisions can be made.
• Present your honors thesis findings at the IR Honors Conference in mid-May.
• Submit an electronic copy of your thesis to your Thesis Advisor(s), one bound copy and one electronic copy to the IR Program Office, and one electronic copy to the Stanford library by the announced due-date (usually early June).  To be considered for a thesis prize, you should submit your completed thesis to your Thesis Advisor(s) by the awards deadline (usually in mid-May).

Are you a declared IR major interested in completing a major independent research project, developing a close relationship with a faculty advisor, and graduating with honors? If so, join us at an information session to learn more about the Honors Program in International Relations. Our program is interdisciplinary and enables students to pursue a wide variety of research projects.  Students can elect to work with faculty throughout the university and will be equipped with the professional “tools” to undertake their own independent research, analyze the findings, and write a final research thesis.  Successful students will possess a high degree of initiative and dedication and also demonstrated skills in research and writing. Applications are now being accepted on our Stanford On & Off Campus Learning Opportunities (SOLO) webpage. Contact Erica Gould at:   egould [at] stanford.edu (egould[at]stanford[dot]edu)  to learn more.

Application Materials to Submit to SOLO: 

• Resume or CV
• Copy of your most recent unofficial transcript
• IR Honors Program Thesis Advisor Form
• Thesis Proposal-  In no more than three pages double spaced, please discuss the major questions you plan to ask in your  thesis and indicate the research methods you plan to employ. Include a preliminary bibliography.
• Brief summary of your interest in writing an Honors thesis (no more than two pages double spaced).

Award Recipients

• Contagion or Coincidence? Pacific Island Independence Movements Under the British Empire
• Diasporic Lag in Memory-Making: Chinese American Historiographies of the Second Sino-Japanese War
• The Limits of Permissiveness: International Law, the UN, and the War in Ukraine
• Germany's Changing 'Boundary of Belonging': Anti-Immigrant Attitudes amidst the Refugee Crisis of 2015
• Tell all the truth but tell is slant: Education, Collective Memory and Transitional Justice in postcolonial Britain
• Hard and Soft Propaganda: Marketing Autocracy in Contemporary China
• “Not Just a Barcode”: A Descriptive Analysis of Data Privacy Protection for Refugees Resettling in the United States
• Chinese Influence in South America: Dimensions of Power in Argentina and Chile
• Truth and Justice: Understanding Franco's Use of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) for Political Gain and Envisioning Justice for Impacted Individuals and Communities 
• Of Dinners and Diplomacy: What White House State Dinners Reveal about Relationship Building and Goodwill Signaling in U.S. Foreign Policy
• Nations by the Numbers: Ethnoracial Data Collection and National Identity in the United States and France
• Clinging to Power: British Economic Policy in Egypt, 1930-1952
• Ethno-Religious Diversity and Recovery After Conflict in Post-ISIL Iraq: A Geospatial Approach
• The “Black Blouse Girl”: The History of Sexual Violence in the Vietnam War and the Opportunities for Justice
• The Eagle and the Dragon: Sino-German Military Cooperation 1919-1938

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Politics and International Relations: Theses and Dissertations

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Introduction

Theses and dissertations are documents that present an author's research findings, which are submitted to the University in support of their academic degree. They are very useful to consult when carrying out your own research because they:

• provide a springboard to scope existing literature
• provide inspiration for the finished product
• show you the evolution of an author's ideas over time
• provide relevant and up-to-date research (for recent theses and dissertations)

On this page you will find guidance on how to search for and access theses and dissertations in the Bodleian Libraries and beyond.

Theses and dissertations

• Reading theses and dissertations in the Bodleian Libraries
• Theses and dissertations in the Social Science Library

The Bodleian Libraries collection holds DPhil, MLitt and MPhil theses deposited at the University of Oxford. You can also search for theses and dissertations associated with other universities online, or request them via inter-library loan.

Help with theses and dissertations

To find out more about how to find and access theses and dissertations in the Bodleian Libraries and beyond, we recommend the following:

• Bodleian Libraries theses and dissertations Links to information on accessing the Bodleian Libraries collections of Oxford, UK, US and other international theses.
• Oxford University Research Archive [ORA] guide For searching, depositing and disseminating Oxford University research publications.
• Submitting your thesis to ORA Information on copyright, how to deposit your thesis in ORA and other important matters
• Guide to copyright The Bodleian Libraries' Quick guide to copyright and digital sources.

The Social Science Library holds hard copies of dissertations (usually MPhil and MSc) that departments have sent in according to their own selection criteria.

The library holds dissertations from the following departments: Criminology, Economics, Geography and the Environment, International Development, Politics and International Relations (note that MPhil Politics and International Relations dissertations are held in the Bodleian Library), Socio-Legal Studies and Social Policy and Intervention.

These dissertations are on the shelves opposite the Print and Copy Room, arranged by department, course and year. They are all indexed on SOLO, and they are for consultation in the library only. They cannot be borrowed.

Depositing your thesis

It is mandatory for students completing a research degree at the University of Oxford (registered to a programme of study on or after 1st October 2007) to deposit an electronic copy of their theses with the Oxford University Research Archive (ORA) in order to meet the requirements of their award. To find out more, visit the Oxford University Research Archive guide.

• Oxford University Research Archive guide

Definitions

Terms you may encounter in your research.

Thesis: In the UK, a thesis is normally a document that presents an author's research findings as part of a doctoral or research programme.

Dissertation: In the UK, a dissertation is normally a document that presents an author's research findings as part of an undergraduate or master's programme.

DPhil: An abbreviation for Doctor of Philosophy, which is an advanced research qualification. You may also see it referred to as PhD.

ORA: The Oxford University Research Archive , an institutional repository for the University of Oxford's research output including digital theses.

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International Relations and European Politics – Faculty of Social Studies

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Your bachelor thesis

Your bachelor thesis is part of receiving your degree, is written over two semesters, graded by your supervisor and a reviewer, and finlly defended in front of the bachelor degree committee. 

The thesis shall consist of between 8,500 and 10,000 words including notes and bibliography and be written within the university template provided in the IS following four specific formats. 

Deadlines and guides

SEMESTER DEADLINES

Creating a topic (GUIDE)

• The bachelor thesis is written over the course of two semesters. SEE DEADLINES IN SIDEBOX. 
• In their penultimate semester (typically 5th) students enroll in Diploma Seminar I. ( IREb1500 )
• Students seek out a supervisor based on a lecturers’ supervisor fields . Consult and specify a topic + format to be entered into the IS by the semester deadline (<- use deadline and topic creation guide links)
• Students then proceed to consult and fulfill the requirements of Diploma Seminar I. ( IREb1500 ) by submitting into the homework vault of their supervisor under the IREb1500 code
• Students receive an evaluation within a week, unsuccessful submissions may be resubmitted before the end of the examination period
• In their final semester (typically 6 th ) students enroll in Diploma Seminar II ( IREb1501 ) 
• Students then proceed to consult and fulfill the requirements of Diploma Seminar II ( IRE1501 ) by submitting into the homework vault of their supervisor under the IREb1501 code
• Students receive an evaluation within a week, unsuccessful submissions will not proceed to the handing in of a final thesis
• Students observe the final deadline of submitting the full thesis 

Theses formats

Students choose among four* types of thesis format: 1) Research paper 2) Literature review 3) Policy paper 4) Extended position paper

* Other bachelor thesis formats which do not correspond to any of the above are permitted only in exceptional, duly justified cases, and only with the express consent of the head of program.

• Each bachelor thesis must contain an abstract explicitly stating which of the it follows.
• An active approach to consultations with the supervisor, as well as the student's own initiative in writing the thesis is part of the thesis evaluation.

1. Research paper

The aim of the research paper is to enrich our knowledge of a certain phenomenon or topic. The basis of the research paper is therefore the novelty of the knowledge it brings. The research paper sets out a research question, evaluates how existing scientific literature answers this question, determines what is missing in the existing literature, and fills this knowledge gap. In doing so, the research paper proceeds to answer the question with reference to its theoretical underpinnings.

A research paper should adhere to the following structure:

• Introduction: The introduction of the topic, the justification of its practical and theoretical importance, the formulation of the main research question (i.e. the general objective of the paper), a brief explanation of why a given phenomenon needs to be examined. It concisely summarizes the results of the analysis and briefly introduces the main thesis of the paper that the author has developed. • Literature review (theoretical part): Conceptualization of concepts, presentation and critical abbreviated evaluation of the existing literature on the topic (a short version of section 2. literature review). A more detailed presentation of the rationale for why a given phenomenon needs to be examined (why existing literature is not enough). Formulation of hypotheses or specific research questions. • Data and methods: Description of the data used in the analysis (including data collection description), variable operationalization, data processing method. Of course, data and variables may be qualitative to quantitative depending on the subject matter of the research. Chosen method of analysis is presented. • Analysis: Presentation of analysis, discussion of results, evaluation of hypotheses / answers to research questions. • Conclusion: Will briefly recall the goal of the paper and the contribution of the paper. It concisely summarizes the results of the analysis and answers the research questions. It will give thought to aspects that potentially weaken the validity of analysis results. It can propose the direction of future research.

The topic of the research paper must consider the extent of the thesis and the necessity to cover all parts of the research paper (literature review, theoretical grounding, data, method). The problem to be examined should therefore be rather limited and well defined and testing should be limited to specific parts of theories or models. We recommend that the topic and the assignment of the research-oriented paper be consulted in a timely manner with the potential supervisor.

Recommended literature: Murray, R. (eds.). How to write a thesis . 3rd ed. Maidenhead, England: McGraw Hill, 2011, 325. ISBN 9780335244294

2. Literature review

The aim is to describe and evaluate the state of research on a topic. The aim of the literature review is to familiarize the reader with existing research on the subject and find out which areas are unexplored and require further research. In other words, the literature review critically summarizes what we know about the subject, what we do not know, and what needs to be further explored.

A literature review is not intended to be a list of annotations for individual scientific papers but should be structured according to topics and sub-topics. Thus, the literature review structure is not based on individual authors (or works), but is based on individual concepts, theories or approaches. While reference to authors and their works is important, it serves only as support for the discussion of concepts, theories, and approaches.

A literature review should have the following characteristics:

• summarizes relevant literature and analyzes it critically • evaluates the current state of knowledge in terms of its completeness and quality • presents the author's insight into the strong and weak points of current knowledge. Furthermore, it identifies which topics do not yet have unambiguous conclusions and where blanks remain in the topic. • presents and analyzes the state of knowledge of the given topic in a synthesizing form, not in the form of a list of authors or scientific works • at the end, clearly summarizes the current level of knowledge, identifies its strengths and weaknesses, and proposes appropriate research questions or hypotheses for future innovative research • a literature review may include a description of the subject, but a critical discussion of the literature still represents the core of the thesis.

Recommended literature: Knopf J.W. 2006. Doing a Literature Review. PS: Political Science and Politics 39(1): 127-132 .

3. Policy paper

The aim of the policy paper is to provide a proposal for solving a social problem. Unlike "research work", the policy paper does not have the ambition to contribute to the theoretical debate on the issue. The policy paper identifies a practical, politically relevant issue that needs to be resolved (such as religious intolerance, corruption, human rights violations in foreign countries, etc.), identifies possible solutions, evaluates these solutions, and clearly suggests a recommended solution to the problem.

The policy paper sometimes distinguishes between "policy study" and "policy analysis". The bachelor thesis expects a policy study, not a policy analysis (see Young and Quinn 2002 for more about differences). Therefore, a work that is not written for a particular client with a specific assignment is expected, but will be about the problem itself. The work will target readers from experts on public policy analysis, not decision makers (i.e. policy makers). In order to support the argumentation, this genre admits and in specific cases even requires the collection of primary data, not just summarizing the already tested one. With regard to the target audience of the readers, the language of the work should be expert and the reasoning should be appropriate in depth.

A policy paper should include the following points: • Abstract clearly summarizing the main argument / recommendation • A description of the serious policy issue and the rationale for addressing the problem. It is necessary to clearly describe the context in which the problem arises and to communicate clearly the purpose / aim of the paper. • The policy paper contains a methodological section (although it differs from a research paper). It is necessary to clearly describe what data is used, how it is analyzed, and what pattern the workflow and argumentation will follow. • Limits of the paper are stated and acknowledged as one study cannot include all aspects of the policy issue being examined. Likewise, data availability issues must be acknowledged. • A description of possible solutions to the problem. • Analysis of the likely impacts of each of the described alternatives, their strengths and weaknesses. • Suggestions of preferred alternatives and arguments for the choice of the offered best solution to the problem.

Recommended literature: Eóin Young a Lisa Quinn. 2002. Writing Effective Public Policy Papers. A Guide for Policy Advisers in Central and Eastern Europe. Open Society Institute.

4. Extended position paper

The aim of the extended position paper is adopting an argumentative stance developed in response to a specific position or theory typically exemplified by a monograph or monographs presenting a coherent view (e.g. world becoming more peaceful as exemplified S.Pinker, normative power Europe as exemplified by I. Manners, microfinancing in international development as exemplified by M. Yunnus).

The position should be made clear throughout the paper. An extended position paper differs from a research paper in lacking the necessity of a methodological approach in answering a yet unanswered question, but does require research. It must consider and evaluate relevant evidence both in support and against the adopted stance and present coherent and persuasive argumentation which will stand up to refute. Furthermore, the extended position paper should not only borrow criticism or supportive arguments from already existing works, but also offer some innovative insight as part of the adopted stance.

An extended position paper should include the following points: • Abstract clearly summarizing the main topic chosen and the stance adopted • A clear introduction of the relevance of the topic to the readership, the reasons for varying stances on the issue at hand, and the stance adopted • A concise and analytical revision of the target monograph/text’s main points, strengths, and weaknesses while identifying clearly the tenets to be argued for or against • Clear argumentative sections encompassing evidence and counter-evidence on the chosen points which best represent the body of the argument • Innovative insight into argumentation on the topic and suggestions on types of research which might strengthen the stance adopted • A conclusion which does not simply restate the position adopted, but assesses its strength in light of the evidence provided and refuted

Recommended literature: Ian Johnston. 2000. Essays and Arguments: A Handbook on Writing Argumentative and Interpretative Essays. VIU.

Thesis format examples from successful theses

The links below will take you to examples of the four types of theses listed above. We recommend looking not just at the theses but at the advisors' and discussants' reports as well. Some of the theses were defended in Czech programs at our department but we chose them because they are in English and - more importantly - because they are outstanding examples of the genre.

RAMMER, Jakob. The Political Discourse Regarding the War in Afghanistan: A Comparative Analysis Between American Presidents Bush and Obama [online]. Brno, 2021 [cit. 2021-09-28]. Available from: https://is.muni.cz/th/q40x7/ .  Bachelor's thesis. Masaryk University, Faculty of Social Studies. Thesis supervisor Maya HIGGINS.

  MALÁ, Zuzana. The Varied Effects of the Structural Adjustment Programs on Women’s Well-Being in Mexico [online]. Brno, 2021 [cit. 2021-09-28]. Available from: https://is.muni.cz/th/btg66/ . Bachelor's thesis. Masaryk University, Faculty of Social Studies. Thesis supervisor Jan OSIČKA.

We also recommend browsing IR and EP journals (such as the Journal of Peace Research, International Organization, European Union Politics, Journal of European Public Policy). Empirical articles in these journals are model examples of a research paper as well. Although we do not require an MA thesis to have a scientific contribution equivalent to a journal article, the structure of an MA thesis is largely equivalent to the structure of a journal article

PŘEVLOCKÝ, Eduard. Pirate Parties of Europe: Built to Last or Destined to Crumble? [online]. Brno, 2020 [cit. 2021-09-28]. Available from: https://is.muni.cz/th/glf7l/ . Bachelor's thesis. Masaryk University, Faculty of Social Studies. Thesis supervisor Vít HLOUŠEK.

We also recommend browsing the Annual Reviews in Political Science , which is a journal dedicated solely to publishing literature reviews.

GOMERSALL, Maxwell.  The Ineffective Spending of EU Structural Funds in Bulgaria  [online]. Brno, 2021 [cit. 2021-09-08]. Available from: https://is.muni.cz/th/sgrtu/ . Bachelor's thesis. Masaryk University, Faculty of Social Studies. Thesis supervisor Vratislav HAVLÍK.

HAAPANEN, Ville.  Including the stayers: Towards an improved European citizenship  [online]. Brno, 2020 [cit. 2021-09-08]. Available from: https://is.muni.cz/th/l09l9/ . Bachelor's thesis. Masaryk University, Faculty of Social Studies. Thesis supervisor Vratislav HAVLÍK.

The following publication provides detailed guidelines on who to write a policy paper: Young Young E. and Quinn L. 2002. Writing Effective Public Policy Papers: A Guide to Policy Advisers in Central and Eastern Europe.  Available from https://www.icpolicyadvocacy.org/sites/icpa/files/downloads/writing_effective_public_policy_papers_young_quinn.pdf [Accessed Sept 28, 2021]

This article may be used as an example of an extended position paper.

Sovacool, B. K. 2016. "How long will it take? Conceptualizing the temporal dynamics of energy transitions." Energy Research & Social Science 13: 202-215. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2015.12.020

Thesis evaluation criteria

Be advised, the table below only serves as a guide for referees. It is important to note that the final grade is not a summation of individual items in the table and individual items may have different weights toward the resulting grade. The final grade is contingent on both the text of the thesis AND the defense proceedings themselves.

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The Senior Thesis

The International Relations Program is one of the few majors on campus that requires all seniors to successfully complete a thesis over two semesters in their senior year. You will register for the senior thesis seminar sequence (INTR390-391). These seminars will guide you through the process of proposing, planning, researching, and writing a senior thesis.

We believe that the senior thesis is an opportunity for you to showcase what you have learned over the last four years, and is one of the most important (and rewarding) aspects of the IR major. The thesis is meant as a capstone experience. We expect you to bring everything you have learned at UPenn—the substantive knowledge you have gained from your classes, the analytical techniques and approaches to knowledge you have mastered in the various disciplines, any language skills that might be relevant, the experiences you have had abroad—to bear on your thesis topic. It truly is a culmination of your academic experience here. The thesis will be challenging, hard even. But it will be one of the most rewarding things you do as an undergraduate.

When you began as IR majors, we stressed that by the time you leave the program we expect you to have acquired expertise in some aspect of international relations. Choosing an area of focus was the start of that process, and the thesis is the culmination. The thesis will allow you to further refine your knowledge of your field of specialization and hone your analytical and writing skills. The thesis will start you on your way to becoming a truly knowledgeable specialist.

Up to this point, your entire academic training has consisted of consuming knowledge produced by others. Now it is your turn to give something back---to contribute new and original insights to the collective pool of knowledge that informs us all.

Boston University Academics

Boston University

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• BA in International Relations

To reach an IR academic advisor, please visit the Pardee School Student Affairs & Services website .

International Relations is a major offered by the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies to students enrolled in the College of Arts & Sciences.

To study international relations is to learn how the world works. At Boston University, we take an interdisciplinary approach. Undergraduates studying international relations choose from a wide range of courses in international relations, history, economics, political science, anthropology, sociology, and religion, among other disciplines. The international relations major can be customized to fit individual students’ interests and goals. Students choose both a region of the world on which to focus their studies and a functional area, such as Foreign Policy and Security Studies or Environment and Development, that is a subfield of the larger discipline of international relations. In a globalizing world, the study of international relations provides a gateway into a variety of career fields as well as excellent preparation for further graduate or professional training.

Learning Outcomes

• Demonstrate substantive interdisciplinary knowledge of legal, political, economic, social, cultural, and historical factors influencing international affairs.
• Display an in-depth understanding of an important functional subfield of the discipline and a major geographical region of the world.
• Conduct theoretically informed and empirically based analysis of real-world conditions and events and present the results of that analysis persuasively in written and oral forms.

Requirements

Bu hub general education.

All BU undergraduate students, including both entering first-year and transfer students, will pursue coursework in the BU Hub, the University’s general education program that is integrated into the entire undergraduate experience. BU Hub requirements can be satisfied in a number of ways, including coursework in and beyond the major as well as through cocurricular activities. Students majoring in International Relations will ordinarily, through coursework in the major, satisfy BU Hub requirements in Diversity, Civic Engagement, and Global Citizenship, as well as some requirements in Philosophical, Aesthetic and Historical Interpretation, Scientific and Social Inquiry, Communication, and the Intellectual Toolkit. Remaining BU Hub requirements will be satisfied by selecting from a wide range of available courses outside the major or, in some cases, cocurricular experiences.

Major Requirements

Twelve courses and two prerequisites are required for an undergraduate major in International Relations. These 12 are:

• Four required principal courses
• Four courses from a functional track
• Four courses from a regional track

For details, see below.

A grade of C or higher is required in all principal and track courses. At least two upper-level courses in the major must be taken. Upper-level courses are courses listed at the 400 or 500 level. Internships, even if numbered at the 400 level, cannot be counted toward this requirement, unless they include a significant written component and are approved in writing by the Associate Dean for Studies. Students majoring in International Relations are encouraged to fulfill at least one of their Quantitative Reasoning Hub units in statistics. Students must fulfill major requirements, including track requirements, as stipulated below. International Relations majors are encouraged to study abroad for at least one semester. Courses taken abroad must be approved by the student’s major advisor for credit toward the major.

All required courses are 4-credit hours.

Two prerequisites are:

• CAS EC 101 Introductory Microeconomic Analysis
• CAS EC 102 Introductory Macroeconomic Analysis

A grade of D or higher is required in prerequisite courses.

Required Principal Courses

Required principal courses are designed to develop a general understanding of the economic, political, historic, and geographic factors that influence the international system. Students must take all four of the courses listed below with the exception of students selecting the functional track in international economics, business, and politics, who must take CAS IR 399 or CAS EC 392 or QST IM 345 in place of CAS IR 292. All students must take IR 349 and IR 350 as offered at Boston University; no substitutes will be accepted for these two courses.

• CAS IR 271 Introduction to International Relations
• CAS IR 292 Fundamentals of International Economics OR CAS IR 399 Fundamentals of Global Money (CAS EC 101 and EC 102 are prerequisite courses for both)
• CAS IR 349 History of International Relations, 1900–1945
• CAS IR 350 History of International Relations since 1945

Note: CGS students, upon admission to CAS, will be given credit for CGS SS 202 as a substitute for CAS IR 350.

Note: Students who have declared the International Economics, Business & Politics track must take either EC 392, IR 399, or IM 345 in place of IR 292. Students who declare any other functional track may take any of these four classes to satisfy the major requirement. Students who take IR 399 as the Fundamentals of International Economics equivalent cannot also count it toward their International Economics functional track.

International Relations Tracks

The major in International Relations encompasses courses in 9 subfields, known as “tracks.” Tracks are divided into two types: functional and regional. Undergraduate majors must select a functional track, consisting of four courses, and a regional track, consisting of four courses. No course may be used in more than one track. This arrangement is designed to give the undergraduate major a reasonable facility in an important functional subfield of international relations, as well as an understanding of at least one part of the world. A listing of courses, by functional and regional tracks, is included below.  

Functional Track Options Include:

• Environment and Development
• Foreign Policy and Security Studies
• International Economics, Business, and Politics
• International Systems and World Order
• Regional Politics and Cultural Anthropology

Environment and Development Functional Track Courses

• CAS AN 285 Coping with Crisis in Contemporary Africa
• CAS AN 363 Food and Water: Critical Perspectives on Global Crises
• CAS AN 371 Political Anthropology of the Modern World
• CAS EC 320 Economics of Less-Developed Regions
• CAS EC 369 Economic Development of Latin America
• CAS EC 370 The Chinese Economy
• CAS EC 371 Environmental Economics
• CAS EC 387 Introduction to Health Economics
• CAS EE 100 Environmental Change and Sustainability
• CAS EE 150 Sustainable Energy: Technology, Resources, Society, and Environment
• CAS EE 201 World Regional Geography
• CAS EE 250 The Fate of Nations: Climate, Resources, and Institutions
• CAS EE 304 Environmentally Sustainable Development
• CAS EE 308 Introduction to Global Resource Geopolitics: Natural Resources, Development, and Conflict
• CAS EE 309 Intermediate Environmental Analysis and Policy
• *CAS EE 311 Topics in Earth & Environment
• CAS EE 375 Introduction to Quantitative Environmental Modeling
• CAS HI 343 Taste, Culture, and Power: The Global History of Food
• CAS HI 351 Environmental History of Africa (meets with CAS EE 394)
• CAS IR 242 Globalization and World Poverty (meets with CAS SO 242)
• CAS IR 251 Introduction to Comparative Politics (meets with CAS PO 151)
• *CAS IR 300 Technology, Politics, and International Relations
• CAS IR 304 Environmentally Sustainable Development (meets with CAS EE 304)
• CAS IR 308 Introduction to Global Resource Geopolitics: Natural Resources, Development, and Conflict (meets with CAS EE 308)
• CAS IR 311 Climate Change and Development Policy
• CAS IR 358 Global Feminism: Race and Gender in International Relations
• CAS IR 365 Rise of China (meets with CAS PO 352)
• CAS IR 367 Introduction to Latin American Politics and International Relations (meets with CAS PO 360)
• CAS IR 369 Southeast Asia in World Politics (meets with CAS PO 354)
• CAS IR 373 Global Governance and International Organization (meets with CAS PO 384)
• CAS IR 395 North-South Relations (meets with CAS PO 328)
• CAS IR 399 Fundamentals of Global Money
• *CAS PO 330 Special Topics in Comparative Politics
• CAS PO 333 Democratic Erosion
• CAS SO 242 Globalization and World Poverty

Environment and Development Track Advanced Courses  

• CAS AN 505 Women and Social Change in Asia
• CAS EC 521 Development Policy
• CAS EC 571 Energy and Environmental Economics
• CAS EC 598 The Economics of Globalization
• CAS EE 400 Environment and Development: A Political Ecology Approach
• CAS EE 425 United States Environmental Policy
• CAS EE 475 Urban Ecology
• CAS EE 512 Urban Climate
• CAS EE 519 Energy, Society, and the Environment
• CAS EE 521 Law for Sustainability
• CAS EE 522 The Development of Sustainable Environmental Responsibility
• CAS EE 524 Environmental Justice
• CAS EE 545 Methods of Environmental Policy Analysis
• CAS EE 555 World Oil Markets
• CAS EE 597 Development and Environment in Latin America
• CAS HI 526 Poverty and Democracy: Modern India and the United States in Comparative Perspective
• CAS HI 589 Nature’s Past: Histories of Environment and Society
• CAS IR 425 Seminar: Women and Social Change in the Developing World (meets with CAS SO 420)
• CAS IR 426 NGOs and the Practice of Development
• CAS IR 480 Political Economy of Human Development
• CAS IR 501 Conflict and Cooperation in Asia (meets with CAS PO 554)
• CAS IR 512 Global Resource Geopolitics (meets with CAS EE 506)
• CAS IR 513 Bureaucracy and Governance: A Comparative Inquiry (meets with CAS PO 525)
• CAS IR 519 People Power in Global Politics
• *CAS IR 500 Topics in International Relations
• CAS IR 520 The State & Public Purpose in Asia
• CAS IR 527 Political Economy of China (meets with CAS PO 548)
• CAS IR 540 Rural Development and the Global South
• CAS IR 544 Solving Humanitarian Crises
• CAS IR 590 Political Economy of Latin America (meets with CAS PO 562)
• CAS IR 591 Political Economy of Gender Inequality
• CAS IR 592 Economic Development and International Institutions
• CAS IR 593 Technology and Economic Inclusion in the Developing World
• CAS IR 594 Global Environmental Negotiation and Policy (meets with CAS EE 594)
• CAS IR 597 Development and Environment in Latin America (meets with CAS EE 597)
• CAS IR 599 Science, Politics, and Climate Change (meets with CAS EE 599)
• CAS SO 438 Seminar on International Migration
• CAS SO 439 Seminar: State Building and Failure in the Developing World

Foreign Policy and Security Studies Functional Track Courses

• CAS HI 277 War: Myths and Realities
• CAS HI 284 History of War
• CAS HI 287 History of American Foreign Relations since 1898 (meets with CAS PO 381)
• CAS HI 336 History of World Wars, 1914–1945
• CAS HI 384 History of Genocide
• CAS HI 393 Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
• *CAS IR 200 Topics in International Relations
• CAS IR 234 Fundamentals of Strategic Intelligence
• CAS IR 240 America Abroad: Debating the US and the World since 1789
• CAS IR 250 Europe and International Relations (meets with CAS PO 343)
• CAS IR 290 Drugs and Security in the Americas
• *CAS IR 300 Topics in International Relations
• CAS IR 310 The Sea and International Relations
• CAS IR 312 Comparative Development in the Middle East
• CAS IR 315 International Nuclear Politics (meets with CAS PO 358 & CAS HI 335)
• CAS IR 325 The Great Powers and the Eastern Mediterranean (meets with CAS HI 229)
• CAS IR 330 Diplomatic Practice
• CAS IR 353 Nuclear Security (meets with CAS PO 356)
• CAS IR 372 International Relations of South Asia (meets with CAS PO 355)
• CAS IR 374 Introduction to Security Studies
• CAS IR 376 American Foreign Policy since 1945 (meets with CAS HI 288)
• CAS IR 377 US in South Asia Since 1947
• CAS IR 378 Intelligence in a Democratic Society
• CAS IR 379 Civil-Military Relations: Theory and Practice
• CAS IR 380 American Foreign Policy: Practice and Process
• CAS IR 385 Foundations of Strategic Studies
• CAS PO 357 Causes of War and Peace (meets with CAS IR 347)

Foreign Policy and Security Studies Track Advanced Courses

• CAS HI 465 The United States and the Cold War (meets with CAS IR 465)
• CAS HI 537 World War II: Causes, Course, Consequences
• CAS HI 559 Wars, Peace, and Diplomacy
• *CAS IR 400 Topics in International Relations
• CAS IR 411 Conflict and Conflict Resolution in Latin America (meets with CAS PO 566)
• CAS IR 428 International Negotiations
• CAS IR 432 Public Diplomacy
• CAS IR 437 The Prevention of Genocide
• CAS IR 461 American Grand Strategy
• CAS IR 465 The United States and the Cold War (meets with CAS HI 465)
• CAS IR 503 The US in the Middle East (meets with CAS PO 503)
• CAS IR 505 Arms Control and Proliferation of Weapons
• CAS IR 506 India and the World: The Foreign Policy of a Rising Power
• CAS IR 507 Islam and Politics
• CAS IR 514 Empire and Power: British Foreign Policy, 1782–Present (meets with CAS HI 533)
• CAS IR 516 Intelligence and Homeland Security
• CAS IR 518 Gender and War (meets with CAS PO 583 and WS 345)
• CAS IR 521 Congress and National Security
• CAS IR 522 Politics of Nuclear Weapons
• CAS IR 523 Cybersecurity & US National Security
• CAS IR 525 21st Century Deterrence: Nuclear, Space, Cyber
• CAS IR 526 National and Homeland Security Law
• CAS IR 529 Cuba in Transition
• CAS IR 535 Diplomacy and Statecraft
• CAS IR 539 History, Policy, and Statecraft
• CAS IR 548 Peacekeeping and State-Building
• CAS IR 556 Current Intelligence Issues
• CAS IR 557 Guerrilla Warfare and Terrorism
• CAS IR 558 Mapping Dangerous Online Speech
• CAS IR 559 Leadership and Cultural Change in Large Organizations
• CAS IR 560 Ethnic Conflict in Global Perspective
• CAS IR 561 Religion and International Relations (meets with CAS PO 589 and CAS RN 561)
• CAS IR 566 History of Deportation and Border Security in the Americas
• CAS IR 568 US-Latin American Relations (meets with CAS PO 565)
• CAS IR 574 Laws of War
• CAS IR 577 Foreign Policy of the People’s Republic of China (meets with CAS PO 576)
• CAS IR 579 Japan in International Politics (meets with CAS PO 552)
• CAS IR 581 The Evolution of Strategic Intelligence
• CAS IR 583 Strategies of Defense Planning
• CAS IR 584 The United States and Sub-Saharan Africa
• CAS IR 589 North Atlantic/European Security Issues (meets with CAS PO 582)
• CAS PO 558 War and Society in the Modern Age
• CAS PO 569 Money, Guns, and Power (meets with GRS IR 630)
• CAS PO 578 The United States as a World Power
• CAS PO 579 Political Biography

International Economics, Business, and Politics Functional Track Courses

Students planning to take the International Economics, Business, and Politics Track must take CAS IR 399 or CAS EC 392 or QST IM 345 rather than CAS IR 292 as a principal required course. CAS EC 203 is a prerequisite for CAS EC 392; CAS EC 204 is a corequisite for students who have not already completed it. Students who take IR 399 to fulfill their international economics requirement cannot count it towards the International Economics, Business, and Politics Track.

• CAS EC 201 Intermediate Microeconomic Analysis (prerequisite for CAS EC 391)
• CAS EC 202 Intermediate Macroeconomic Analysis
• *CAS EC 390 Special Topics in Economics
• CAS EC 391 International Trade
• CAS IR 340 Comparative Public Policy (meets with CAS PO 324)
• CAS IR 354 Gender and Global Politics
• CAS IR 368 Contemporary East Asian Economics (meets with CAS EC 368)
• CAS IR 390 International Political Economy (meets with CAS PO 329)
• CAS PO 324 Comparative Public Policy

International Economics, Business, and Politics Track Advanced Courses

• CAS EC 591 International Economics
• CAS EC 595 International Finance
• CAS IR 441 Immigration and Development in Asia (meets with CAS PO 458)
• CAS IR 480 Political Economy of Human Development (meets with GRS IR 680)
• CAS IR 513 Bureaucracy and Governance: A Comparative Inquiry
• CAS IR 520 The State & Public Purpose in Asia (meets with CAS PO 550)
• CAS IR 532 Trade Law and Development
• CAS IR 564 Political Economy of Rising Powers
• CAS IR 571 Global Money
• CAS IR 592 Economic Development and International Organizations
• CAS IR 596 Globalization and Contemporary Capitalism in Advanced Industrialized Nations (meets with CAS PO 529)
• CAS PO 528 Seminar: The Political Economy of Advanced Industrialized Societies
• QST IM 445 Multinational Management
• QST MK 467 Global Marketing Management
• QST SI 475 Global Management Experience

International Systems and World Order Functional Track Courses

• CAS HI 341 Political and Cultural Revolutions
• CAS IR 206 Introduction to the Sociology of Globalization (meets with CAS SO 206)
• CAS IR 230 Fundamentals of International Politics
• CAS IR 295 Quantitative Methods for Global Policy
• CAS IR 332 Understanding and Managing Rising Powers
• CAS IR 333 Non-State Actors in International Relations (meets with CAS PO 327)
• CAS IR 348 History of International Human Rights (meets with CAS HI 346)
• CAS IR 352 International Human Rights: Applying Human Rights in Africa (meets with CAS PO 378)
• CAS IR 375 International Law & Organizations
• CAS PO 344 Democracy: Origins and Breakdown
• CAS PO 357 Causes of War and Peace
• CAS PO 378 International Human Rights: Applying Human Rights in Africa (meets with CAS IR 352)
• CAS SO 206 Introduction to the Sociology of Globalization (meets with CAS IR 206)

International Systems and World Order Track Advanced Courses

• CAS HI 549 Nationalism in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries
• CAS IR 453 Forced Migration and Human Trafficking: Virtual Policy Incubator
• CAS IR 468 War and Revolution
• CAS IR 510 Comparative Immigration and Racial Politics
• CAS IR 518 Gender and War (meets with CAS PO 583 & CAS WS 345)
• CAS IR 531 Intercultural Communication
• CAS IR 553 Digital Diplomacy
• CAS IR 561 Religion and International Relations (meets with CAS PO 589 & RN 561)
• CAS IR 563 Religion and Politics Across Cultures (meets with CAS AN 563)
• CAS IR 573 Introduction to Public International Law
• CAS PO 533 Globalization of Nationalism
• CAS PO 542 Immigration: Politics and Policy
• *CAS PO 580 Readings in International Relations in Political Science

Regional Politics and Cultural Anthropology Functional Track Courses

• CAS AN 101 Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
• CAS AN 252 Ethnicity and Identity
• CAS AN 260 Sex and Gender in Anthropological Perspective
• CAS AN 307 Turkey and Middle East in Comparative Perspective
• CAS AN 312 Peoples and Cultures of Africa
• CAS AN 318 Southeast Asia: Tradition and Modernity
• CAS AN 319 Anthropology of Muslim Cultures and Politics
• CAS AN 320 Women in the Muslim World
• CAS AN 344 Culture and Social Change in Japan
• CAS AN 347 Afghanistan
• CAS AN 348 Anthropology of Globalization
• CAS AN 355 Religious Fundamentalism in Anthropological Perspective
• CAS AN 375 Culture, Society, and Religion in South Asia (meets with CAS RN 375)
• CAS AN 379 China: Tradition and Transition
• CAS AN 384 Anthropology of Religion (meets with CAS RN 387)
• CAS HI 237 Reconstructing the African Past
• CAS HI 349 History of Religion in Precolonial Africa (meets with CAS AA 382 and RN 382)
• CAS HI 389 Americans and the Middle East
• CAS HI 397 Modern Latin America
• CAS IR 251 Introduction to Comparative Politics (CAS PO 151)
• CAS IR 275 The Making of Asia (meets with CAS PO 350)
• CAS IR 302 Campaigns and Elections Around the World (meets with CAS PO 325)
• CAS IR 307 Introduction to Middle East Politics (meets with CAS PO 368)
• CAS IR 328 Turko–Persia in the Twentieth Century (meets with CAS HI 382)
• CAS IR 340 Comparative Public Policy
• CAS IR 341 Central Europe (meets with CAS HI 278)
• CAS IR 343 African Politics Today (meets with CAS PO 373)
• CAS IR 351 Africa in International Politics (meets with CAS PO 377)
• CAS IR 354 Gender & Global Politics
• CAS IR 362 European Politics (meets with CAS PO 341)
• CAS IR 382 Understanding the Modern Middle East
• CAS IR 397 History of Modern Iran, 1900–Present (meets with CAS HI 381)
• CAS RN 105 World Religions
• CAS RN 249 Islamophobia and Anti-Semitism
• CAS RN 345 Shariah Law
• CAS RN 382 History of Religion in Pre-Colonial Africa (meets with CAS HI 349)
• CAS RN 387 Anthropology of Religion (meets with CAS AN 384)
• CAS SO 242 Globalization and World Poverty (meets with CAS IR 242)
• CAS WS 213 Resistance, Protest, and Empowerment: Global Women’s Movements

Regional Politics and Cultural Anthropology Advanced Courses

• CAS HI 482 Merchants, Pirates, Missionaries, and the State in Maritime Asia, 600–2000
• CAS HI 487 The Making of Modern China, 1600 to the Present
• CAS HI 582 Social Movements in Twentieth-Century Latin America
• CAS HI 587 US-Mexican Borders
• CAS HI 588 Women, Power, and Culture in Africa (meets with CAS AA 588)
• CAS IR 410 Latin America Today: An Interdisciplinary Approach
• CAS IR 452 Topics in European Politics and Culture (meets with CAS PO 539)
• CAS IR 502 Latin American Political Parties (meets with CAS PO 561)
• CAS IR 504 Seminar: The Persian Gulf/Arabian Peninsula (meets with CAS PO 577)
• CAS IR 511 The Middle East Today
• CAS IR 518 Gender and War (meets with CAS PO 583 and CAS WS 345)
• CAS IR 543 The Changing Face of Eastern Europe (meets with CAS PO 583)
• CAS IR 550 European Integration (meets with CAS PO 535)
• CAS IR 551 Social Europe: Identity, Citizenship, and the Welfare State (meets with CAS PO 536)
• CAS IR 585 Post-Mao China
• CAS RN 435 Women, Gender, and Islam
• CAS SO 440 Seminar: Comparative Political Cultures

Regional Track Options Include:

• Africa and Middle East
• Latin America

Africa and the Middle East Regional Track Courses

• CAS HI 234 Introduction to India and South Asia
• CAS HI 348 Colonialism in Africa: Impact and Aftermath
• CAS HI 392 Israel: History, Politics, Culture, Identity
• CAS ID 116 Africa Today: The Beat of Popular Culture
• CAS IR 328 Turko-Persia in the Twentieth Century (meets with CAS HI 382)
• CAS IR 329 History of Premodern Iran (meets with CAS HI 385)
• CAS IR 343 African Politics Today (meets with PO 373)
• CAS IR 382 Understanding the Middle East (meets with CAS EE 382)
• CAS IR 383 Understanding Modern North Africa (meets with CAS PO 376)
• CAS IR 394 Power, Leadership, and Governance in Africa and the Caribbean (meets with CAS AA 395 and CAS HI 352)
• CAS IR 397 History of Modern Iran: 1900–Present (meets with CAS HI 381)
• CAS RN 214 Islam
• CAS RN 316 Modern Islam
• CAS RN 382 History of Religion in Pre-Colonial Africa

Africa and the Middle East Track Advanced Courses

• CAS AN 524 Seminar: Language and Culture Contacts in Contemporary Africa
• CAS AN 532 Literacy and Islam in Africa
• CAS AN 548 Muslim Societies: An Interdisciplinary History
• CAS HI 489 The African Diaspora in the Americas (meets with CAS AA 489)
• CAS HI 595 Morocco: History on the Cusp of Three Continents
• CAS IR 504 Politics of the Arabian Peninsula and Persian Gulf (meets with CAS PO 577)
• CAS IR 533 Contentious Politics and the Arab Uprisings in the Middle East
• CAS IR 534 Government and Politics of Contemporary Africa (meets with CAS PO 571)
• *CAS PO 530 Readings in Comparative Politics
• CAS PO 572 Political Systems of Southern Africa

Asia Regional Track Courses

• CAS AN 344 Modern Japanese Society: Family, School, and Workplace
• CAS HI 364 Modern Chinese History
• CAS HI 367 The Odd Couple: China and the USA, 1776 to the present
• CAS HI 369 Introduction to Modern Japanese History
• CAS HI 488 Twentieth Century Japanese History
• CAS IR 370 China: From Revolution to Reform (meets with CAS PO 351)

Asia Track Advanced Courses

• CAS AN 573 The Ethnography of China and Taiwan
• CAS IR 441 Immigration and Development in Asia
• CAS IR 582 Taiwan: Politics and Transformation (meets with CAS PO 563)
• CAS IR 585 Problems and Issues in Post-Mao China (meets with CAS PO 549)

Europe Regional Track Courses

• CAS AN 316 Contemporary European Ethnography
• CAS HI 218 Power and Authority in Europe Since World War I
• CAS HI 247 The Making of Modern Britain
• CAS HI 248 Modern Britain, 1867 to Present
• CAS HI 271 The Nazis
• CAS HI 272 The History of Imperial Russia
• CAS HI 273 The History of the Soviet Union
• *CAS HI 290 Topics in History
• CAS HI 336 World War I
• CAS RN 384 The Holocaust

Europe Track Advanced Courses

• *CAS HI 400: Topics in History
• CAS HI 430 Comparative European Fascism
• CAS HI 449 The History of Soviet Terror
• *CAS IR 500: Topics in International Relations
• CAS IR 517 Balkan Politics & International Relations
• CAS IR 537 The British Political System (meets with CAS PO 537)
• CAS IR 542 The Reemergence of Russia
• CAS IR 543 The Changing Face of Eastern Europe

Latin America Regional Track Courses

• *CAS AH 323 Topics in Latin American Art
• CAS HI 350 Atlantic History (meets with CAS AA 385)
• CAS LP 362 Inventing Brazil (in English Translation)

Latin America Track Advanced Courses

• CAS HI 584 Labor, Sexuality, and Resistance in the Afro-Atlantic World (meets with CAS AA 514)
• CAS IR 540 Rural Development in the Global South
• CAS IR 568 U.S.-Latin American Relations (meets with CAS HI 523 and CAS PO 565)
• CAS PO 561 Latin American Political Parties
• *CAS LS 452 Topics in Latin American Literature and Culture

*These courses may sometimes be credited toward the International Relations major, but only with advisor approval and when the topic is relevant to the specific regional or functional track.

• Honors in the Major

Honors in International Relations within the Pardee School may be earned by completing two semesters of independent senior honors work (CAS IR 401 and IR 402) and presenting an original research paper (thesis) in written and oral form to a committee of faculty readers. The committee will consider both the thesis and the result of the oral examination to determine whether the student will receive honors in the major. A grade of B+ or better in each semester of CAS IR 401 and CAS IR 402 is also required for the award of honors. Effective fall 2021, CAS IR 401 and CAS IR 402 are approved for BU Hub credits. CAS IR 401 fulfills a single unit in Writing-Intensive Course, Critical Thinking, and Research and Information Literacy. CAS IR 402 fulfills a single unit in Oral & Signed Communication and Writing-Intensive Course. Students are required to attend structured workshops in the fall and spring related to each of these competencies. The research and writing are conducted under the guidance of a faculty advisor who will serve as the instructor of record for CAS IR 401 and CAS IR 402. In consultation with their faculty advisor, students are also required to complete cocurricular activities that expand their understanding of their research topic. IR honors students earn credit for two upper-level courses (CAS IR 401 and CAS IR 402) in their chosen tracks.

Effective fall 2022, students may not simultaneously study abroad and participate in the Honors program.

Admission to the IR Honors program requires a 3.5 cumulative and 3.6 major grade point average, at the time of application. To learn more about the application process, visit the Pardee School of Global Studies website . Interested students should contact their Academic Advisor to discuss ideas for research and faculty advisors. Students typically apply for the Honors program in the spring of their junior year.

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Subject guide

International Studies: how to write your thesis

This Subject Guide is designed to support students of International Studies with writing their BA thesis and research papers. This guide focuses on the research process, and suggests effective ways to: 1. find a topic and formulate a good research question; 2. search, find and evaluate literature; 3. search, find and organize primary sources; and 4. organize the research and writing process.

A. Getting Started & Staying Organized

Writing a thesis, or a larger research paper, can often be a challenge. It requires not only research skills, but also organizational skills to break down the process in smaller steps and make a realistic planning.

Sage Research Methods is a tool that helps you develop your research from the first to the last step .

B. Finding a good Topic

Leiden University’s library offers a number of tools to help you find a good research topic: Start your thesis .

Portland State University’s library, too, offers a good tool to help you get started: the DIY Library , and Ohio State University offers a handbook .

Three short videos that can help you get started are: Picking a topic IS research (by NC State); Choosing a Research Paper Topic (by University of Minnesota Libraries); How to Develop a Good Research Topic (by Kansas State Libraries).

C. Formulating a Research Question

The instruction page ‘ How to write a research question ’ of George Mason University’s Writing Center can form a good starting point, as well as this handbook .

You can also watch these short videos to help you get started: Developing a Research Question (by Steely Library); and Research Questions tutorial (by George Washington University Library).

D. Finding & Evaluating literature

Leiden University’s library offers help with finding and evaluating literature for your thesis or research paper.

You can find tutorials on searching for literature ; as well as tutorials on evaluating sources , or use this handbook .  

You can also ask for help by asking questions directly to library staff; or by a meeting with a subject librarian .

Two helpful short videos on finding literature include: One perfect source? (by NC State); and Tips & Tricks: Phrase Searching (by NC State).

E. Finding Primary Sources

The library provides access to a large number of digital resources, databases and archives . The Subject Guide for International Studies provides an overview of the various resources. 

Four examples of digital primary sources are  digital & digitised newspapers ; the Global Encyclopedia of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) History ; the Economist Intelligence Unit , which provides economic profiles and country reports; and the The Digital National Security Archive , which contains declassified CIA and US government documents.

You can gain an overview of the databases and e-resources offered through the library via this link .

F. Planning your Research Project

Students often struggle with making a realistic time-plan and then sticking with it. The following tools can help:

The Open University’s interactive website Time Management Skills portal helps you to develop your time management skills. See the following links for topics such as: - setting goals , - how to prepare a schedule and -tips for time management .

G. Help & Support

For questions about finding the right literature, you can approach the library, by asking questions directly to library staff; or by requesting a one-on-one meeting with a subject librarian .

For help with writing your thesis or research paper, you can also contact the International Studies Writing Lab .

For help with developing your Study skills & managing your studies (for example help with managing your time or coping with study stress), you can approach the Student Support Services for various workshops and courses .

If you are coping with more serious study-related or mental issues, you contact the study advisers or the university’s student psychologist , or visit the university’s website on well being .

Find a topic, formulate a research question, make a realistic time-plan

As a student you will have to do research assignments, write papers and hand in your final thesis before graduation. In order to succeed in this, you need to choose a good topic, formulate a researchable question, and make a realistic planning.

An effective tool for designing your research process in an effective way, is the SAGE Research Methods website . This website is user-friendly and helps you to break down your research process into smaller blocks. It also provides help with planning your research project.

Tips on how to choose a topic

• Get inspired: Take inspiration from your required readings for a course you like, browse the books in the Wijnhaven Library reading room , explore topics in peer-reviewed international studies journals , or have a look at other theses by former students . Ask yourself: which question has not yet been answered? What information seems to be missing? What can you add to the discussion?
• Brainstorm: Write down possible topic that comes to mind. These tutorials can help you with your brainstorm.
• P ick something you like : If you have little influence over your thesis topic, try and steer your assigned topic in the direction you would like to take it to. This can be a specific discipline (sociology, anthropology, politics, linguistics) era (historical approach) or method (surveys, data sets, newspapers, personal stories etc).
• Make sure you can make it into an academic treatise: A good number of students choose a thesis topic that aligns with their private interests. However, it can be a challenge to turn such topics into an academic treatise, because you may not have enough (1) relevant (2) academic and (3) accessible sources about the topic to base your argument on. Make sure that you choose a topic that you are passionate about, but that also has received scholarly interest, on which there is literature available, as well as other sources. If you start searching for sources in an early stage you can quickly determine whether your topic is in fact viable as a thesis topic or not.
• Mind the size of your topic: it is important to narrow down your topic to a manageable size. Too few sources means you may want to expand your topic a bit. On the other hand, having too many sources on your topic means you need to narrow your topic down further. This is one of the reasons why starting to search for sources early is an important step in pinpointing a research topic that is just the right size for you.
• Use the Sage Project Planner or other tutorials for defining a topic

Tips on how to formulate a good question

• Avoid questions that can be answered with ‘yes’ or ‘no’
• Have a voice: Ideally you already have a hypothesis, idea or point of view through which you can enter this topic. Often times you will adjust your view on the topic the more you learn about it.
• Formulate a ‘problem’ that you need to answer: Think about the big questions, such as ‘why’, ‘how’, ‘when’, and ‘who’. This will give you an open-ended question through which you can explore your topic.
• Avoid ‘Compare A to B and see what happens’ scenarios: There needs to be a formulation of a ‘problem’ and a point of view.
• Use these tutorials or the Sage project planner to develop a researchable question

Tips on how to meet your deadline

• Start with a general overview of the amount of time you have: When is your deadline? When can (and when should) you get started? How many hours can you realistically spend per week on this project?
• Write down the steps you need to take from start to end: Go through this research guide to get an idea of how much time you need for your research. Don’t forget about things that might not be included here, such as spell checks, format checks, printing and binding etc.
• You can use the Sage project planner to make a planning .
• Be realistic: A realistic planning will help you to set goals and avoid stress by impeding deadlines. Underestimating the amount of work needed to write a well-researched, well-written paper is the number one reason students experience a lot of overwhelm from the research process. Therefore, be realistic about the amount of work you can put in in a day.
• Write down your daily top 3: Write down three achievable things you want to have finished by the time you are done for the day and start with the most important thing.
• Don’t forget to take a break: It is important to put away what you wrote for a bit so you can revisit it later. Oftentimes, when you go back to your text at a later point, you see little inconsistencies that you overlooked earlier; or you have new insights to add to your argument.
• Time Management Skills: Planning your research is about much more than just prioritizing and setting goals. It is also about how you deal with distractions, procrastination, and what to do if you fall behind. Time management skills are essential skills not only for now, but also for when you find employment. Read more about Time Management Skills : - setting goals , - how to prepare a schedule and -tips for time management .

Recommended Books

• Yvonne N. Bui - How to Write a Master’s Thesis
• Umberto Eco - Hoe schrijf ik een scriptie
• Umberto Eco - How to write a thesis (e-book)
• Nel Verhoeven – Doing Research: the hows and whys of applied research
• Choosing & Using Sources: A Guide to Academic Research

A. Finding literature is not like a trip to the supermarket

Some students approach the act of gathering information for their research as if they were taking a trip to the supermarket; they expect to be able to find exactly what they need within a certain set amount of time. Unlike a supermarket trip, however, searching for scholarly information is difficult, and you do not always get the results you want. This is mostly due to the fact that it is easy to (1) overestimate the quality and availability of the sources you need, and (2) underestimate the amount of time and skill needed to find these sources amidst the millions of sources out there.

In other words, some students expect to find ‘perfect sources’ for their thesis topic – meaning; academic sources that ‘tick all the right boxes’ of their thesis topic – fully downloadable, and found with little effort with just a few keywords and clicks. In reality, however, the ‘perfect source’ likely does not exist, many sources you need will not be available digitally, it will take quite some time and effort to find these sources, and you will have to pick up some new search skills along the way. This often causes students to experience the ‘search’ and ‘access’ phase as the most frustrating, unsatisfactory experience in the whole research experience.

Frustration, coupled with a lack of time, makes it tempting for students to turn to less trustworthy or relevant sources because they are more familiar (Google), or more easily available (full-text search only). This, however, leads to an unbalanced and incomplete list of sources. It is therefore important to think about how you search; are your expectations realistic? What are your pitfalls when pressed for time or when something does not work out immediately? How can you avoid them?

The good news is that you don’t need to find a ‘perfect source’, and this brief video shows you why : ‘Good research isn’t about finding the perfect article that makes all the connections for you, it’s about finding information that helps you form your ideas, and tying it together yourself to form a cohesive argument.’

If the perfect source already existed, there would not be a reason for you to write your thesis or paper. As a researcher, your assignment is to get to know the literature on a topic, identify what is missing, and add to the existing knowledge with our own writing. Sage Research Methods helps you to approach your research project in exactly this way.

Second, there are many ways the  library can help you get access to difficult-to-obtain sources and teach you how to search. Third, if you make a project plan early and manage your time, you should have enough time to search for the sources you need, thus avoiding a lot of stress and frustration.

B. First Step: Background Search

The best way to start your search is getting yourself more acquainted with the topic; you know some things about it, but there is a lot that you do not (yet) know. Background search can help you to identify important facts (dates, events, people, terminology) refine your topic (what aspect about this topic is it that truly interests you?), and give you additional information and tips on where to search (dictionaries, encyclopedias, databases). For your background search you can use Google, Wikipedia, your textbooks, bibliographies and encyclopedias .

At this stage of your research, important tools to start with are Google Scholar , which allows you to search and browse journal articles as well as the bibliographies that you can find in this Subject Guide for International Studies . The bibliographies are curated by a specialized staff and are more complete and systematic.

When doing background research you can start with a couple of keywords. You can use keywords from titles or abstracts. Specific keywords can narrow or broaden the amount of information you will find. Try out different (combinations of) keywords/synonyms to see what kind of information you get and which terms are useful. Learn more in these tutorials about keywords.

You can also use the so-called snowball-method to find literature on your topic: simply browse the bibliography at the end of a book or article that you found convincing to see if it contains other titles related to your topic.

C. Searching in the Library Catalogue

Try out different search terms when you start searching in the catalogue. The catalogue automatically searches for all of the entered search terms in one document unless you use OR. You can use NOT if you want specific words to be excluded. If you don’t know how to spell a word or it can be written in different ways, you can use the symbol # or ? (wom#n finds woman and women). When you have found a relevant item, you can also use the references or citations as new sources. It is not recommended to limit yourself to things only available in Leiden University by selecting ‘Leiden Collections’ instead of ‘All content’ in the search screen. See our catalogue tutorial .

D. Find Literature Elsewhere

Though Leiden University provides access to an extensive collection of literature related to International Studies, many more can be found elsewhere.

Recommended Library Catalogues

• Worldcat : is the biggest world-wide search engine for library holdings. You can use it to search information about books, but also to locate the nearest library (inside or outside the library) that holds a copy. If any book or journal you found is unavailable in Leiden, you can either visit the holding library (which is often free for Dutch University Students) or request the item through (International) Inter Library Loan .

Recommended Online Search Engines

• Google Scholar is Google’s search engine for scientific articles and academic books. It is recommended not to limit your search activities to Google, but it does offer a good starting point.

Recommended Bibliographies

• A great number of specialized, academically curated bibliographies on many topics and fields can be found through the Subject Guide for International Studies .

A. Digital and Paper Sources

Tips for accessing digital sources.

• If you have found a digital source in the catalogue that you wish to access from home you need to login via the library catalogue, using your ULCN credentials, and not via a publisher portal. You can also use the Get Access browser extension .
• If you come across a source in the catalogue that is listed as “Online Access” or “Open Access” but you cannot get access, click the ‘report a problem’ option within the record. 

Tips for accessing Paper sources

• You need a valid LU card for access in most buildings.
• Leiden University Libraries consists of several library locations. Depending on your research topic, you may need to access physical books from these different locations.

B. Not available in Leiden?

There are a number of ways in which you can get access to materials that are not available at Leiden University Libraries.

How to get access to materials not available in Leiden

• Look up the book or journal in Worldcat . If you enter your zip code, you can find the library nearest to you that has a copy, such as the Royal Library in the Hague or other University Libraries.
• The Royal Library in the Hague offers a 50% discount for students for a one-year membership. Leiden University Students can apply for a library card free of charge at all Dutch Universities.
• Request the item through Inter Library Loan (ILL ) or through  International ILL .
• Ask Leiden University to acquire the item : You can file a request for the library to purchase a book, access to a journal or database. All requests are considered by the relevant subject librarian, and a decision is made depending on collection policy, available budget and price of the item. Please keep in mind that, in case an item is purchased, it can take several weeks for the item to be shipped and processed.
• Contact your subject librarian . If the above measures did not help, reach out to your subject librarian. It is possible that they know different means and methods within their field of expertise to obtain access to the materials you need.

A. Why do I need to evaluate scholarly publications – wasn´t that evaluated already?

Students are required to be critical of all their sources, including the ones you find in the library catalogue, academic databases, and those quoted in other scholarly publications. In today’s world, publishing and sharing information has become accessible to all, which also has made it easier to publish misinformation.

Academic information, at least, has put up a number of hurdles to tackle misinformation and disinformation from spreading, such as peer review . However, aside from the fact that these measures are far from failsafe , journals, books and authors can certainly be biased or prejudiced while working within the academic framework. It is your job as a scholar to be critical of all sources you use – academic or not – and train yourself in recognizing credible sources and using them in a critical fashion.

B. Popular & Scholarly

At the beginning of your student career at Leiden University, you may sometimes miss the difference between scholarly information and popular sources, and why this difference is important.

Media like YouTube videos, blog posts, or magazine articles can be tempting to use in a paper, because they (1) mainly focus on being entertaining instead of being informative, (2) use clear and easy to understand language, and (3) due to algorithms, are likely to confirm your pre-existing worldview and ideas. The goal of a research project, however, is to approach a certain problem in an open way, and embark on a research as an open-ended process. For such a project, usage of scholarly publications is crucial.

One of the main differences between popular sources and scholarly sources is the scientific rigor that lies at the basis of an analysis and argument, and transparent presentation of the used methods and sources. These are part of the scholarly format of peer-reviewed and annotated texts. Illustrative of the importance of this format is the fact that an op-ed written by a professor is categorized as a popular source, while an article in a scientific journal by the same professor is categorized as a scholarly text.

It is especially tricky when opinions of the author are presented as ‘facts’ that seem correct due to being based on cherry-picked data. If you are not yet confident in discerning between scholarly and popular sources, we recommend you follow a couple of tutorials .

C. Evaluating information

It is important you ask yourself a number of questions while reading a source, such as: Who wrote the information, why did they publish it, is there an agenda and when/where was it published? All of this comes before you can think about the text itself. This follows a technique used by professional factcheckers, called lateral reading , where you first consider the container of the text, before you look at the text itself. 

The above is useful for information found both in print and online. For information found solely online there is an additional method, called the SIFT method . SIFT stands for Stop, Investigate the Source, Find trusted coverage, Trace claims, quotes, and media back to the original context. In many cases it will take about 30 seconds to quickly check whether for example a news report is true once you have trained yourself in the four moves of SIFT.

Take a look at these tutorials about evaluating information.

A. Reading and searching: two sides of the same coin

The most conventional method of discovering relevant authors and publications for your research is discovering them citations and references of other publications. We therefore recommend to make enough time to read your sources, and then do follow-up searches. When reading ask yourself: which authors are talking about my topic, what do they say, what books/articles did they write, which sources do they cite and how was the research conducted?

You may think that reading all the sources you find in order to do follow up search will take too long. However, in this part of the research process, you are only reading your sources to (1) confirm that they match your information need, (2) double-check that they are academic (3) not too old for your topic of choice, and (4) find references to other scholars and publication about your topic.

Tips on strategic reading

• Scan : Quickly go through a text by reading just the titles of chapters, abstracts of papers, paragraph titles, or the first sentence of a new paragraph, and the conclusion. This will help you determine whether or not you want to read the source more in detail, and which parts you can easily skip.
• Reading and Note making: You will have to read, process and remember information from a lot of different sources. To stay organized, it is important to make efficient notes while reading. Look here for a top five of critical reading techniques and a brief course on critical reading .
• Don’t forget to write down where your information comes from ! If you are not sure where the information comes from when you start writing, you are at risk of plagiarism. Tip: The quickest way to make a short note when you are reading is taking the last name of the author  + page. For example: Hall, p. 31. If you use multiple sources by the same author, add the publication year. (Hall, 2005, p. 31)
• For more information see the Critical Reading Techniques .

Rinse and Repeat

At this stage, you have found a good number of sources, read them, took notes, and likely found other publications authors and data that you have not found before. This marks the second round of searching for sources – look up that interesting looking book you found in a citation, find out what else the author of that book wrote, see if you can get it through Leiden University or other means, and... read! By repeating this cycle of read-search-access-read two or three times, you are very likely to find (1) the majority of relevant publications on your topic of choice, (2) the majority of authors writing about your topic of choice, and (3) a good overview of primary sources relating to your topic of choice. Only once you have followed this thorough and deliberate way of locating your sources are you ready to move forward.

B. Refine your topic

This is a good point in your research to revisit your topic and your research question. While reading you may have found that there is much more information available about your topic than you initially thought – or not enough. You may have found that your research question has already been dealt with in length by other scholars, while at the same time, another question that is even more interesting may have come to mind. Perhaps you would like to take your research into a whole different direction after doing some reading and follow up research? When you are refining your topic, allow yourself to be flexible. It is common to modify your topic during the research process.

Take some time to visit the checklist for your topic and research question again, and see if you need to make any chances. If you have already handed in your topic and research question to your supervisor, you should always inform them of any major changes you wish to make. Have a look at this overview of tips for refining your research topic .

In some cases, using primary sources for your research is optional, in other cases it is an obligatory part of your research. Students can use a variety of primary sources for their projects, depending on their topics. Different sources may require different research methodologies.

Central to all primary research projects is, however, that you systematically analyze a well-delineated corpus of sources. The delineation refers both to the source and the time-frame. For example, instead of analyzing how ‘the media’ reported on a topic, choose a specific media outlet (for example one newspaper) or set of media outlets (a well-delineated set of newspaper titles), and research the news reports over a specific time-frame (for example: how did the New York Times report on North Korea’s nuclear weapons program between 2010 and 2020). A similar systematic can be used when analyzing statistical data, CIA reports, the correspondence between Marx and Engels, etc.

Sage Research Methods provides a good overview of the most important primary source research methods , as well as examples and cases.

The library provides access to a large number of digital resources, databases and archives . The Subject Guide for International Studies provides an overview of the various resources.

A. Managing your research project

Once you have found, evaluated, and read all of your literature (for now) it is time to think about what you have read and to organize your findings. This can be a challenging phase in the research project. If you feel overwhelmed by the work you have to do, various actions may help: 1.) break down the project into smaller steps; 2.) make a time plan that enables you to find a good balance between reading, researching, writing, and free time; 3.) break down your thesis or paper into smaller blocks that you can separately work on.

Tools that can help you to break down your project into smaller parts and to manage time-planning are: the Sage project planner ; and the Open University’s Time Management Skills portal. See the following links for topics such as: setting goals , how to prepare a schedule> tips for time management .

For help with developing your study skills & managing your studies (for example help with managing your time or coping with study stress), you can approach the Student Support Services for various workshops and courses .

B. Synthesizing; Interrogating the literature

Your thesis or research paper needs to clearly relate to the existing literature on a topic: you need to show who you (dis)agree with and what you are adding to the existing body of knowledge. This means that you need to identify at least the following three points (1) common themes between sources, (2) points on which the sources/authors (direct or indirect) disagree and (3) gaps in the literature (what is missing?).

This does not mean that you should just give a number of summaries of articles. Instead, it is important to compare and contrast, broaden the argument and give your own thoughts and conclusions. For a more detailed explanation on synthesizing and integrating information, use one of the following sources:

• “Help…I’ve been asked to synthesize!”
• Simply Psychology – how to synthesize written information from multiple sources.

C. Footnotes, Citations and Citation Managers

For your thesis or research paper you are potentially going to refer to a large body of sources. Typing up all the footnotes by hand, and maintaining one consistent reference style is time-consuming. Therefore, it is highly recommended to use an electronic citation manager. Learning how to work with a reference manager is a new skill, but it will save you time in the long run – the more papers you write, the more time you save.

Mendeley, EndNote and Zotero are three of the main refence managers. You can learn more about these programmes on our page about reference managers.

• There are brief introductory videos on Mendeley , Endnote , and Zotero .

There are various citation methods. International Studies theses and papers are to use CMS as their citation style. The most important thing about using a citation style is consistency . Do not mix up the different styles and rules! If you are uncertain which style you should use for your paper or thesis, always consult with your supervisor. See these tutorials and books below that can help you get started with making your own citations below. 

Recommended Books:

• Cite Right : a quick guide to citation styles.
• Doing honest work in college: how to prepare citations, avoid plagiarism and achieve real academic success : deals with today’s issues, like citing podcasts or social media posts, using mobile devices during tests, and the pro-s and cos of reference managers.
• Cite them right : the essential referencing guide.

D. Writing the Report

For the actual writing of your thesis or research paper, structure is important in a double sense of the word. First of all, it is important to structure your thesis into smaller parts that you can write in subsequent order. Secondly, it is important to structure your working day and working week in such a way that you can find a productive balance between working on your thesis and doing other things.

Next to the Sage project planner , the website of the Australian National University can help you to design an effective structure for your thesis.

For structuring your working day and working week, you can take cue from the Open University’s Time Management Skills portal. See the following links for topics such as: setting goals , how to prepare a schedule and tips for time management .

Another helpful website is the Thesis Whisperer , which among other offers advice on How to become a literature searching Ninja , and on How to write 1000 words a day (and not go bat shit crazy) .

Library For questions about finding the right literature, you can approach the library, by asking questions directly to library staff; or by requesting a one-on-one meeting with a subject librarian . If you would like to suggest purchase requests, contact the subject librarian for International Studies, Nathaniël Linssen .

Writing Lab For help with writing your thesis or research paper, you can also contact the International Studies Writing Lab .

Workshops on Managing Time and Coping with Study Stress For help with developing your Study skills & managing your studies (for example help with managing your time or coping with study stress), you can approach the Student Support Services for various workshops and courses.

Study-related and Mental Support If you are coping with more serious study-related or mental issues, you contact the study advisers or the university’s student psychologist , or visit the university’s website . 

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Note that prior to Fall Term 2023, the department was known as International Studies.

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• Disability and Inclusive Education in Mexico: Perspectives and Impact of Civil Society  Grigoreva, Anastasiia ( University of Oregon , 2024-01-10 ) This thesis examines the role of civil society organizations (CSOs) in promoting inclusive education (IE) in Mexico. Semi-structured interviews were conducted from July to September 2022, involving 33 representatives from ...
• Agroecological Transformations in Oregon's Willamette Valley: A Historical and Ethnographic Case Study  Olson, Tara ( University of Oregon , 2024-01-10 ) This thesis is an evaluation of the constraints and opportunities for agroecological transformation in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, in attempt to find what can be learned from the particularities of this context. Using a ...
• Beeing in the Willamette Valley: A Look at Human and Honey Bee Relationships and the Global Currents That Shape Them  Paone, Taylor ( University of Oregon , 2024-01-09 ) This thesis explores interspecies relationships between humans and honey bees. Through multispecies ethnographic vignettes, beekeeper-honey bee relationships reveal the ways in which social systems inform interspecies ...
• Understanding and Addressing Structural Barriers to Healthcare Access for Mam Indigenous Women in Oregon  Garcia, Veronica ( University of Oregon , 2024-01-09 ) This thesis explores structural barriers to healthcare access for Mam Indigenous women in Oregon. It provides an overview of structural barriers within the healthcare system and local community and how service providers ...
• Mapping Disaster: Indicators for a Resilient Food System in North Minneapolis  Schlegelmilch, Joanna ( University of Oregon , 2024-01-09 ) This research examines the complexities within the interdependent global issues of racism and food insecurity and argues for the need to build empirical systems of analysis around the reliability of food systems to advance ...
• Expressing Values and Fulfilling Obligations to Family Through Education: An Exploration of Higher Secondary School Student Experiences & Expectations in Sindhupalchowk, Nepal  Wright, Grace ( University of Oregon , 2022-10-26 ) Students in Nepal face numerous barriers in accessing and affording higher secondary schooling, yet many of their families prioritize education and send them on rural-to-urban pathways. While being uprooted from their home ...
• Caregiving in pandemic times: Perspectives from women heads of transnational households in rural Mexico  Pedraza, Alejandra ( University of Oregon , 2022-10-04 ) This thesis explores how women heads of transnational households in one rural Mexican village in Querétaro, Mexico experienced the COVID-19 pandemic vis-à-vis their gendered family roles. From June 2021 to February 2022, ...
• Law as Violence in the Post-Colonial State: the Case of Lawfare in Kashmir  Massara, Lindsay ( University of Oregon , 2022-10-04 ) This study uses law as a divining rod to draw out historical connections and intersections that implicate power, violence, and oppression in Indian-administered Kashmir. Broadly, this study asks why violence and oppression ...
• Building Bridges and Breaking Down Barriers: First Food Knowledge Transmission of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation  Caudill, Lydia ( University of Oregon , 2022-02-18 ) Through semi-structured interviews with CTUIR community members, I assessed the current spectrum of relationships that exists between CTUIR community members and their First Foods. Furthermore, I identify two categories ...
• Breaking Down the Walls: Fostering Opportunity and Dignity Amongst Refugee Women and Girls Through Sport  Gerken, Kimberly ( University of Oregon , 2021-11-23 ) Sports for Development and Peace (SDP) refers to the intentional use of sports in the pursuit of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This thesis primarily centers on three SDP Goals: #3, Good Health and Well-Being; ...
• Cross-Cultural Accessibility and Inclusion in Youth Outdoor Experiential Education  Gupta, Neti ( University of Oregon , 2021-11-23 ) This study explores Kenyan parent’s values and beliefs about nature, and how they perceive the role of nature in their child’s development. Further, this study investigates the barriers to accessing outdoor experiential ...
• Culture in the Food Security Literature of West Africa: A Critical Review  Ziesenhene , Ellen ( University of Oregon , 2021-11-23 ) This critical review analyzes the visibility of three aspects of culture in West African food security literature: livelihood and practice, social, and systems of meaning. It presents insights into these cultural applications ...
• Assessing the Status of Forces Agreement in Okinawa, Japan  Fouts, Matthew ( University of Oregon , 2021-09-13 ) The Japanese prefecture of Okinawa is a contradiction. A peaceful, idyllic tourist destination for beachgoers today, in 1945 Okinawans suffered through a four-month battle where hundreds of thousands of civilians died by ...
• "Just a Dash of Salt": Salt and Identity Formation in Historical and Contemporary Jamaica  Sperry, Alyssa ( University of Oregon , 2021-04-27 ) Salt is a ubiquitous substance that has played a significant role in the development of human culture. It is a recognizable universal human need that over time has adapted symbolic and practical significance across cultures ...
• Towards a Transformative Agroecology: Seeding Solutions for Food Sovereignty and Climate Change Among Smallholder and Tribal Farmers in Rajasthan, India  Nikfarjam, Michelle ( University of Oregon , 2021-04-27 ) This thesis explores how the state-wide non-governmental organization (NGO), CECOEDECON, is using agroecology as a vehicle for promoting greater farmer sovereignty and preparing for negative impacts of climate change in ...
• Show Me the Money: Understanding FATCA - United States & CARICOM Relations  Hall, Jeffery ( University of Oregon , 2021-04-27 ) This study explores the provisions of the United States Internal Revenue Services’ Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) and its demands to increase disclosure and transparency pertaining to the financial data of ...
• Rural Sanitation Preferences and Household Decisions: A Mixed-Methods Case Study in Wolaita, Ethiopia  Hansberger, Dayna ( University of Oregon , 2020-12-08 ) Rural Ethiopian families bear the responsibility to invest in their own sanitation, resulting in large disparities in latrine quality. This study analyzes considerations for household latrine purchases, desirable latrine ...
• Life in Limbo: Refugees and Community Response in Athens, Greece  Dgebuadze, Nino ( University of Oregon , 2020-12-08 ) This thesis explores perspectives of refugee and asylum-seeking women and grassroots organizations on challenges that refugee populations face in Greece and how the local community responds to the emerging needs of the ...
• Post-Rape Care and Justice in South Africa: Improving Support Services for Survivors of Sexual Violence.  Lechlech, Lina ( University of Oregon , 2020-09-24 ) The purpose of this study is to explore and describe the current experience of sexual violence survivors in Sexual Offences Courts and Thuthuzela Care Centres in South Africa. While these two models were developed as a way ...
• Transitional Justice (TJ) Mechanisms in Nepal: Victims’ Needs and State Responses  Singh, Sugam ( University of Oregon , 2020-02-27 ) This thesis examines the history and intricacies of Transitional Justice (TJ) and how it has been utilized in the case of Nepal. Since the TJ process does not exist in a historical and socio-political vacuum, I also cursorily ...

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168 Current International Relations Research Topics For Any Level

Are you a student looking for intriguing international relations research topics? Look no further! In this blog post, we have created a list of 168 unique and thought-provoking research topics in the field of international relations that should help students get an A+ on their next paper.

Whether you’re studying political science, international affairs or related disciplines, this comprehensive list covers a wide range of fascinating subjects. From global governance to security issues, diplomacy, human rights, and more, these topics are designed to inspire your research and help you delve deeper into the complexities of international relations. So, grab your notepad and get ready to explore these captivating research ideas!

A Word On International Relations Theses

International relations is the study of interactions between nations and global actors. It examines politics, economics, security, and culture, exploring how countries cooperate, conflict and shape global dynamics. If you’re about to start working on a thesis in international relations and you are wondering what to include in your paper, here is a short explanation of each of the mandatory chapters:

Introduction: The opening section that presents the research problem, objectives, and significance of the study. Literature Review: A comprehensive review of existing scholarly works related to the research topic, providing a context for the study. Methodology: Describes the research design, data collection methods, and analytical techniques used to address the research questions or hypotheses. Findings: Presents the empirical results or outcomes of the research, often supported by data, analysis, and interpretation. Discussion: Analyzes and interprets the findings in relation to the research objectives, drawing connections to existing literature and providing insights. Conclusion: Summarizes the main findings, highlights the contributions to the field, and suggests avenues for future research. References: Lists all the sources cited in the thesis following a specific citation style (e.g., APA, MLA).

Now, it’s time to deliver on our promise and give you the list of international relations research paper topics. Choose the one you like the most:

Easy International Relations Research Topics

Explore our list of easy international relations research topics that will help you understand global politics and analyze the dynamics of international relations with ease

• The impact of globalization on state sovereignty and international relations
• Analyzing the role of non-state actors in global governance structures
• The influence of soft power in shaping international relations and diplomacy
• Exploring the relationship between human rights and international relations
• Examining the dynamics of economic interdependence in international relations
• The role of international organizations in promoting peace and security
• Assessing the impact of climate change on international relations and cooperation
• Analyzing the role of regional integration in shaping global politics
• The implications of cyber warfare for international relations and national security
• Examining the challenges and opportunities of humanitarian intervention in international relations
• Analyzing the role of ideology in shaping state behavior in international relations
• Exploring the impact of migration and refugee crises on international relations
• Assessing the role of international law in resolving conflicts and promoting peace
• Investigating the role of intelligence agencies in shaping international relations

International Relations Thesis Topics

Our wide range of international relations thesis topics will guide you towards developing a strong research question, conducting in-depth analysis, and contributing to the field with your original research:

• Power dynamics and the balance of power in international relations
• Exploring the role of diplomacy in conflict resolution and peacebuilding
• The impact of nuclear proliferation on international security and non-proliferation regimes
• Analyzing the role of international institutions in managing global crises
• The influence of nationalism on interstate relations and regional cooperation
• Examining the role of international norms and human rights in shaping foreign policy
• Assessing the impact of economic globalization on state sovereignty in international relations
• The role of social media in shaping public opinion and international relations
• Exploring the concept of hegemony and its implications for international relations
• The role of gender in international relations and its impact on policy-making
• Analyzing the role of intelligence agencies in shaping international relations
• The implications of emerging technologies on international security and arms control
• Examining the role of media and propaganda in international conflicts and public opinion
• The impact of regional integration on state behavior and international cooperation

Advanced International Relations Topics For Research

Dive into complex issues, explore cutting-edge theories, and unravel the intricate dynamics of global affairs with our advanced international relations topics for research:

• China’s global rise and its power dynamics
• Non-traditional security threats in international relations
• AI and warfare: Implications for international security
• Climate change, conflict, and forced migration in international relations
• Religion and politics in international relations
• Populism’s impact on global governance and international relations
• Social movements and civil society in shaping international relations
• Pandemics and international cooperation: Implications for global governance
• Cultural diplomacy and soft power in international relations
• Information warfare and disinformation in international relations
• Regional powers shaping global security dynamics
• Responsibility to protect and humanitarian interventions in international relations
• Resource scarcity and environmental degradation in international relations
• Migration and refugee crises’ impact on global stability

International Relations Research Questions

Our carefully curated list of international relations research questions will inspire critical thinking and promote meaningful discussions:

• How does power transition theory explain shifts in global power dynamics?
• What are the implications of the rise of non-state actors on traditional state-centric international relations theories?
• How do identity politics and nationalism shape interstate conflicts?
• What are the factors influencing state compliance with international human rights norms?
• How does globalization impact state sovereignty?
• What are the challenges of multilateralism in addressing global issues?
• How does public opinion influence state behavior in international relations?
• What are the causes and consequences of failed states in international relations?
• How does the distribution of power in international institutions affect their legitimacy?
• What are the implications of emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, on international security?
• How do regional conflicts and security dilemmas impact regional integration efforts?
• What are the root causes of terrorism?
• How does economic interdependence shape interstate relations and global governance structures?
• What are the challenges of global environmental governance in addressing climate change?

International Relations Paper Topics

Choose one of our international relations paper topics that resonate with your interests and embark on an enriching research journey:

• The role of ideology in shaping state behavior in international relations
• Analyzing the impact of economic sanctions on diplomatic relations between countries
• The role of media and propaganda in influencing public opinion in international conflicts
• Exploring the relationship between globalization and cultural identity in international relations
• The implications of cybersecurity threats on national security and international relations
• Assessing the role of intelligence agencies in gathering and analyzing international intelligence
• Analyzing the impact of regional organizations on regional conflicts and cooperation in international relations
• The influence of international trade agreements on global economic and political relations
• Exploring the dynamics of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation in international relations
• The role of international law in resolving territorial disputes and promoting peace
• Non-state actors in international relations: Influence and challenges
• Conflict resolution mechanisms: Negotiation, mediation, and peacebuilding approaches
• Diplomatic immunity: Balancing immunity with accountability in international relations
• The impact of global pandemics on international cooperation and security

Engaging Topic Ideas About International Relations

Are you seeking engaging and captivating topic ideas for your international relations research? Choose one of these engaging topic ideas about international relations:

• Global governance and international organizations in addressing global challenges.
• Nationalism’s impact on international relations and global cooperation.
• Soft power in shaping international perceptions and relations.
• Regional conflicts’ implications for global stability and security.
• Cyber warfare: Assessing evolving cyber threats in international relations.
• Media’s role in international relations: Influence, propaganda, and disinformation.
• Economic interdependence: Opportunities and risks in global relations.
• Diplomacy in the digital age: Challenges of virtual diplomacy.
• Global migration and refugee crises: Humanitarian and political dimensions.
• Human rights in international relations: Promoting universal rights.
• Terrorism’s impact on global security and counterterrorism efforts.
• Environmental diplomacy: Addressing global environmental challenges.
• Religion’s role in international relations.
• Regional power dynamics: Influence of major powers in different regions

Interesting International Relations Research Paper Topics

Uncover fascinating research paper topics in international relations that will captivate your readers and showcase your analytical skills. Use one of these interesting international relations research paper topics:

• Populism’s rise and its impact on international relations and global governance
• Climate change’s geopolitical implications: Conflicts, migrations, and resource competition
• Hybrid warfare: Analyzing blurred lines between conventional and unconventional threats
• Technology’s impact on diplomacy and the future of diplomatic practices
• Nuclear energy diplomacy: Balancing peaceful uses and proliferation concerns
• Soft power and cultural industries’ influence in international relations
• Politics of humanitarian aid: Challenges and ethical considerations
• Media framing’s impact on public opinion in international conflicts
• International cooperation in space exploration and its geopolitical implications
• Diaspora communities’ role in shaping international relations and global politics
• Migration policies and human rights: Balancing border control and human dignity
• Global health governance: Cooperation, challenges, and pandemic responses
• Environmental peacebuilding: Addressing conflicts over natural resources and degradation
• Economic sanctions: Effectiveness and ethical implications in international relations

Political Science Dissertation Topics

Our list of political science dissertation topics will provide you with a solid foundation for developing a unique research proposal and making a significant contribution to the field:

• The role of political ideologies in foreign policy and international relations.
• National security strategies and state behavior in international relations.
• Global governance and collective decision-making challenges in international institutions.
• Public opinion’s influence on foreign policy and international relations.
• Identity politics and intergroup relations in international contexts.
• Humanitarian interventions and the responsibility to protect.
• Geopolitics and resource conflicts: Strategic importance of natural resources.
• International law’s role in shaping state behavior and resolving conflicts.
• Comparative political systems in international relations.
• Political leadership’s impact on diplomatic relations and cooperation.
• International development assistance: Aid effectiveness and challenges.
• Non-state actors in global politics: Influence, networks, power dynamics.
• Intelligence agencies in international intelligence gathering and analysis.
• Political parties and foreign policy shaping

Current International Relations Topics For Research Paper

Stay up to date with the latest developments in global politics by exploring our selection of current international relations topics for research paper writing :

• Emerging technologies’ impact on global security and power dynamics.
• Transnational threats: Terrorism, crime, and cyber challenges in focus.
• Regional integration in globalization: Achievements, limitations, and prospects.
• Trade wars: Implications for global economy and cooperation.
• Disinformation and fake news: Influence on international politics and public opinion.
• Climate change negotiations: Progress and challenges in combating global warming
• Cybersecurity and emerging threats in international relations.
• Regional power dynamics in the Middle East: Implications for global security
• Global responses to the COVID-19 pandemic: Cooperation and challenges
• Climate change mitigation and adaptation in international policy
• Rising nationalism and its impact on international cooperation
• Humanitarian crisis in Yemen: International responses and challenges
• Technology and the future of warfare: Implications for global security
• The Belt and Road Initiative: Assessing its impact on international relations

Awesome Research Topics For International Relations

Our awesome research topics for international relations allow you to explore diverse areas of global politics and contribute to the field with your exceptional research:

• NGOs’ role in shaping international policies and agendas
• Humanitarian interventions and the responsibility to protect: Effectiveness and ethics
• Cybersecurity challenges in international relations: Risks and responses
• Global migration governance: Policies and implications
• Globalization vs national sovereignty: Impacts on state behavior
• China’s Belt and Road Initiative: Geopolitical influence and challenges
• Nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation: Effectiveness of treaties
• Gender in international relations: Impact of norms and policies
• Post-colonial perspectives in international relations: Power dynamics and legacies
• Climate justice and international cooperation: Addressing climate change
• Regional organizations in global governance and international relations
• Politics of humanitarian intervention: Strategies and outcomes
• Political economy of international trade: Impact of policies and agreements
• Populism’s impact on democracy and international relations

Controversial International Relations Topics

Delve into the realm of controversy and discourse with our thought-provoking controversial international relations topics:

• Drones in targeted killings: Legal and ethical implications
• Nuclear energy and non-proliferation: Benefits and risks
• Intervention in state sovereignty: Legitimacy and consequences
• Ethics of economic sanctions: Effectiveness and impact on civilians
• Cyber warfare and international norms: Regulating cyber conflicts
• Climate change’s impact on national security and conflicts
• Intelligence agencies in covert operations and international relations
• Politics of humanitarian aid: Motivations and challenges
• Ethics of military intervention: Justifications and consequences
• Politics of regime change: Motivations and implications
• Media bias’s impact on international perceptions and diplomacy
• Private military companies: Challenges and accountability
• Politics of disarmament and arms control: Progress and challenges
• Corporate interests’ influence on foreign policy and relations

Best International Relations Topics For 2023

Stay ahead of the curve with our selection of the best international relations topics for 2023. These carefully curated topics reflect the current trends, emerging challenges and pressing issues:

• COVID-19 pandemic’s implications on global politics and international relations
• Rise of populism and its impact on democracy and international cooperation
• Cybersecurity challenges in a hyper-connected world: Risks and responses
• Future of international cooperation in addressing global challenges and conflicts
• Climate change and security: Implications for international relations and stability
• Evolving role of regional powers in shaping global politics and relations
• Technological advancements’ impact on state power and international relations
• Global governance reform: Restructuring international institutions
• Social media’s role in shaping international perceptions and political movements
• Challenges and prospects of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation
• Intersection of artificial intelligence and international relations
• Impact of trade wars on global economic relations and cooperation
• Geopolitical tensions in the Arctic: Resource competition and influence
• Future of multilateralism: Relevance and effectiveness in a changing world

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We have also prepared a list of best topics on the following disciplines:

• 122 Best Ecology Topics To Sparkle Your Writing
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• 110 Impressive Nursing Research Topics To Use

How do I choose a research topic in international relations?

Consider your interests, current events, and gaps in existing literature to identify an area of focus. Brainstorm potential topics and ensure they align with your research objectives.

What makes a strong international relations research paper?

A strong research paper includes a well-defined research question, solid theoretical framework, rigorous analysis, credible sources, and logical structure. It should also contribute to the existing body of knowledge.

How can I narrow down my international relations research topic?

Consider specific regions, actors, theories, or policy areas within international relations. Narrowing down your topic will allow for a more focused and manageable research paper.

Can I use case studies in my international relations research paper?

Yes, case studies can be valuable in providing empirical evidence and in-depth analysis. They help illustrate theoretical concepts and offer real-world examples to support your arguments.

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International Relations and Organisations (BSc)

Are you interested in international organisations, issues of peace and security, or current changes in global political relations? Would you like to study the causes of terrorism and the resolution of violent conflicts? Develop your scholarship and skills in international affairs in The Hague.

• Political Science (BSc)

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Global affairs and the dynamics of international cooperation and conflict

The international, English-taught 3-year programme of IRO is part of Leiden University’s Political Science curriculum and is based in The Hague, the city in which politics and international relations converge.

In this specialised bachelor’s programme you'll address transboundary issues from a social sciences point of view. IRO has a strong focus on diplomacy and current world problems, with particular attention paid to the role of major powers such as China, Russia, the USA and the EU, and organisations such as the IMF, NATO, UN, and the World Bank.

It is the right choice for you if you are fascinated by global affairs and the dynamics of international cooperation and conflict. Themes such as war and peace, poverty, refugee crises, humanitarian cooperation, nuclear weapons reduction, and globalisation are covered in detail.

Studying International Relations and Organisations means:

• understanding the real story behind today’s headlines;
• working with excellent academic teachers and researchers;
• developing skills in research, writing and presenting;
• being part of an international classroom and community;
• experiencing The Hague: the third UN city and host to many international organisations, embassies, and NGOs.

› Why Leiden University?

Siebe de Roest

I have always found international relations very intriguing; it is a hot topic in the news and everyone likes to form an opinion of it.

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Do you have a question about student life in Leiden or in The Hague, studying at Leiden University, or do you want more information about International Relations and Organisations? You can get in contact with a student directly !

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Writing your thesis at the Chair of International Relations

The Chair of International Relations is looking forward for students interested in writing their bachelor or master thesis in the field of international and European politics.

For further information please consult our thesis guidelines (89.0 KB) .

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Bachelor Program in  International Relations (Bachelor of Arts)

DURATION    3 years (6 semesters)

LANGUAGE  English 

PROFILE  The BA Program offers  multidimensional study of contemporary global system .  It is designed for students interested in various aspects of international and transnational relations including politics, society, security, environment and culture. Curriculum includes courses on global, regional and national level of international relations. Course work in the BA Program includes  core curriculum as well as elective courses  which are chosen by students according to their individual interests and preferences. Program also includes such as important possibilities professional workshops, foreign languages courses, diploma seminars  where students have possibility to acquire analytical and practical competencies and skills important in their future professional work (incl. public speaking, academic writing, professional presentations, debating and discussions) The BA Program includes  3 specializations:  1)  Global Economy and Business,  2)  Regional Studies – Central – East Europe,  3) , Regional Studies – Asia and Pacific  which allow students to specialize in a chosen area and  prepare for careers in specific sectors of international relations. Main professional areas students are prepared for include: international organizations both multilateral and bilateral, trans-border structures and cooperation, global and transnational business and economic organizations, public policy bodies active in foreign policy and diplomacy, non-governmental organizations and global civil society networks, global and transnational media.

CURRICULUM 

CORE COURSES   - required from  all students in the program 

ELECTIVE COURCES   -  chosen by students acording to their individual  preferences and interests

SPECIALIZATIONS   - concentrations of cources focusing on one area of study within the field of International relations,  students choose one  out of  3 specializations  the Program offers (only specializations with 15 persons enrolment will open).

• Global Economy
• Regional Studies Asia and Pacific
• Regional Studies – Central-East Europe

BA SEMINAR    -  choosen by students from the number of seminars and advisors, during 3 semester seminars students research and write BA diploma thesis under supervision of an advisor

BA Program in International Relations CURRICULUM.docx

CORE COURSES

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• ADMISSIONS 2022/2023
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Bachelor Project International Relations and Organisations 2020-2021

Admission requirements.

Participation in the Bachelor's Project is only permitted if the propaedeutic phase has been passed and at least 40 EC of the second year have been obtained, including the course Research Methods in Political Science. The successful completion of the Academic Skills course: Research Design is also an entry requirement for the Bachelor Project.

Bachelor Project Information Meetings The Hague

Semester I: The information on the Bachelor Projects for semester I, will be shared with you digitally in May. Semester II: The information on the Bachelor Projects of semester II, will be shared with you digitally in November.

Enrollment Bachelor Project

Semester I: The information on the Bachelor Projects for semester I 2020-2021, will be shared with you digitally in May 2020. Semester II: The information on the Bachelor Projects of semester II 2020-2021, will be shared with you digitally in November 2020.

Although we do our utmost to consider the preferences of all students, it can happen that you will not be placed in your preferred Project.

The thesis for the Bachelor Project IRO will be written in English.

Description

Goal 1: Learning to apply concepts, theories and methods in a research project that fits within a framework that has been formulated by the teacher in advance; Goal 2: Conducting, and reporting on, a limited empirical or literature study. Content: The bachelor project is a course that offers substantive instruction, followed by a research part within which students carry out an individual study. Various projects are offered that are structured around different themes. Students first follow substantive instruction for a number of weeks in which they deepen their knowledge of a specific subject within a subfield of political science. After that, students learn to formulate a research question, to design research to answer that question, to conduct their own research, and to report correctly and clearly on that research. The final report - the Bachelor's thesis - completes the Bachelor's degree in Political Science. The thesis is an individual final paper based on at least partly the student’s own, original research.

Mode of Instruction

Workgroup meetings, walk-in meetings, library instruction, and above all self-study.

Library Instruction

On Brightspace you will find more information on the digital module 'Library instruction'.

Study materials

Halperin, S. & Heath, O. (2017). Political research: Methods and practical skills. Oxford: Oxford University Press. is assumed to be known. The core literature can be found on the Brightspace page of the Bachelor's Project. Further information about the bachelor project and the subprojects will also be available there. The core literature can be found in the syllabus of each bachelor project.

Assessment Method

Students either pass or fail the entire BAP (16 weeks) worth 20 ECTS. In addition, students need to pass both parts of the BAP in order to receive the ECTS.

The assignments made in the first, substantive part of the BAP (week 1-6) will jointly generate a first partial grade. This grade counts for 40% of the final BAP grade. It is rounded to one decimal and passed with a 5,5 or higher.

The full thesis written in the second, thesis-specific part of the BAP (week 7-16) will generate a second partial grade. This counts for 60% of the final BAP grade. It is rounded to whole and half numbers and passed with a 6 or higher.

Final product:

The thesis. It should be between 7,000-8,000 words. Note that this is the actual required length of the thesis and not 7,000-8,000 plus/minus 10%. Regarding the word count: Everything from introduction to conclusion counts (as picked up by the count in MS Word). The following elements do not count: front page, abstract, table of contents and list of references. Concerning the abstract and table of contents: these are optional.

BAP semester 1: Friday December 18, 2020, 17:00 hrs. BAP semester 2: Friday May 21, 2021, 17:00 hrs.

Students who get an insufficient grade for their bachelor thesis – and so fail the entire BAP – have the right to improve their thesis and submit it for a second time. They do so on the basis of the feedback given by the supervisor during a feedback meeting. Note, however, that students are not entitled to any further supervision. The submission deadlines for the second chance are: BAP semester 1: Monday February 8, 2021, 17:00 hrs. BAP semester 2: Tuesday July 6, 2021, 17:00 hrs.

There are two important caveats to this:

Students do not have the right to submit their thesis for a second time if their first attempt resulted in a sufficient grade.

Students do not have the right to submit their thesis as part of the second chance if they did not submit a completed version of their thesis during the first chance (See Rules and Regulations of Board of Examiners, art. 4.8.2).

Leiden thesis repository

Approved theses are stored in the Student Repository of the Leiden Repository after completion of the Bachelor Project. Students will have to sign a statement for this. Read more

Bachelor Project themes:

01: Justice in a Globalised World - Verschoor The idea of justice occupies a central place both in our daily lives and in political philosophy. We apply it to actions of individuals and groups as well as to laws and public policies. When confronted with unjust actions, laws or policies, we take this to be a strong reason to reject them. Generally speaking, a situation can be called “just” if everyone involved in it has received “their due”. This means that the study of justice is essentially concerned with the following normative question: What do we owe to each other?

For a long time, political philosophers considered it to be their “core business” to develop plausible principles of justice. As such, they focused primarily on the question “What is owed?” and ignored the (equally important) question “Who belong to the group of individuals who owe justice to each other?”. In fact, they simply took it for granted that the notion of justice – stipulating what is owed – applies to the domestic sphere only. If justice requires that individuals be treated as equals in some respect (for instance, by according them equal welfare, opportunities, resources, or capabilities), then surely, many assumed uncritically, the scope of this requirement is limited to the domestic context. According to this statist view, justice is something that co-nationals, i.e. citizens belonging to the same state, owe to each other. It is, however, not something that co-nationals owe to foreigners.

Recently, however, political philosophers have started to wonder whether the notion of justice could – or, to put it more strongly, should – also be invoked at the international, and perhaps even global, level. They raise this question because they have come to realise that the assumption of the statist view – the idea of a world divided into independent states – is a fantasy. Even if there ever existed a world of independent states, then, or so they claim, it certainly no longer exists nowadays. Instead, we live in an age of globalisation; an age in which states and individuals are becoming increasingly more interdependent. As (former and the late) UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan once said: “The world truly shares a common fate.” What makes our world one of “overlapping communities of fate” are the shared problems and challenges we face in our globalising age. During the last fifty years we witnessed an enormous increase in transboundary problems, such as climate change, economic crises, immigration flows, epidemics, terrorism, and other violent political conflicts. Indeed, as Kant in his Perpetual Peace already noticed, “the peoples of the earth have thus entered in varying degrees into a universal community, and it has developed to the point where a violation of rights in one part of the world is felt everywhere.”

These observations have led many political philosophers to reject the statist view of justice and instead embrace a cosmopolitan view. Given that human beings affect each other’s lives on an unprecedented scale, it makes no sense to limit the scope of justice to the domestic sphere of a set of independent states. Instead, principles of justice ought to be applied globally. Others, however, think that the effects of globalisation are exaggerated or otherwise morally insignificant and therefore do not change the scope of justice. Consequently, they remain committed to their statist view.

In this bachelorproject students explore the relationship between globalisation and the scope of justice. In the first phase of the project, students analyse the main statist and cosmopolitan views as well as various aspects of the academic debate on the scope of justice in a globalised world. In the second phase, students develop a philosophical perspective connected to one of the aspects of the academic debate on justice in a globalised world as discussed in the first phase of the project.

02: Strategy and Warfare: Historical and Contemporary Challenges - van Willigen Strategy is often described as being essentially about linking ends, ways and means in such a way that you are able to win a war. That sounds very easy and straightforward, but it is not. The famous strategist Carl von Clausewitz aptly stated that ‘Everything in war is simple, but the simplest thing is difficult’. And as you will discover; he was right. In this bachelor project we focus on the subfield of strategic studies, which is aimed at understanding and explaining the use of force in world politics. In the first block you are introduced to the main concepts, theories and debates in the field of strategic studies. The course will address the history of strategic thought and, furthermore, elaborates on the causes and conduct of war and the frameworks and theories that have been developed to understand and explain it. Expect the first block to read a lot of literature and to think about, reflect upon and write about this literature. Based on the substantive readings in the first block, you are expected to develop your own research question related to the theme of this bachelor project. Subsequently you are expected to write an individual bachelor thesis by finding, reading and reviewing relevant literature, developing a research design, and by collecting and analyzing sources and/or data while following a sound methodology. The seminar is open to a variety of research methods, although there will be a focus on qualitative research methods and designs.

Literature:

Baylis, J., Wirtz, J.J., and Gray, C.S. (2019, 6th edition) Strategy in the Contemporary World. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Thomas Mahnken and Joseph Maiolo (eds.) Strategic Studies; A Reader (London: Routledge 2014).

Howard, M. (2002). Clausewitz. A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

03: Political Behaviour: Can we trust Democracy to the Voters? The Origins of Public Preferences and Citizen Competence - Robison Why do democracies succeed or fail? One important answer is that the qualities of citizens—their values, attitudes, and “customs”—are crucial for the maintenance and success of a democracy. But, what qualities are required of democratic publics? Do democratic publics “pass the test”? And, does it matter if they don’t? Students in this Bachelor Project explore the nature of public attitudes to understand fundamental questions about democratic politics. In the first phase of the project, students will learn how political scientists have attempted to answer these questions. We will pay attention to three crucial topics:

Information and Preferences: what type of knowledge do democratic publics require?; can people make good decisions even if ignorant of political facts; how worried should we be about “fake news” and misinformation?

Democratic Values and Norms: who adopts democratic values such as support for civil liberties and political tolerance?; when and why do people violate democratic norms and can they be persuaded not to?; and, do we need the public to internalize democratic norms or can we rely on elites as “carriers of the [democratic] creed”?

Trust: what types of trust are necessary in democracy?; is rising distrust problematic for democratic governance or a necessary component of democracy?; where does trust come from and can trust levels (between citizens, between citizens and their governments or other institutions) be bolstered?

The first phase of the project will introduce you to core theories and evidence regarding public attitudes and preferences. Students in the second phase of the project will use this information as a bedrock for developing their own explanatory research question focused on public attitudes using quantitative methods (e.g. analysis of existing social surveys). Students in a previous version of this BA Project developed projects on a diverse array of specific questions including the relevance of personal values for issue preferences, and pro-democracy attitudes, in China and Hong Kong; the predictors of partisan animosity in Finland; why some people think economic inequality is a societal problem using cross-national survey evidence; and the influence of messages from parties and interest groups on public attitudes in the United States.

04: Agenda setting and policy-making in the European Union - Elias Carillo The European Union (EU) is a complex political system. Its setup includes 27 members states with different interests and ideas on what issues to attend and how to do so. The roles of its political institutions are not clearly separated and many are shared. How are then policies created in the EU? In this course we will study the policy-making process in this system and more specifically agenda setting. Some of the questions that we will address are: how does the EU deal with policy problems? Who participates? How do issues arrive on the agenda? Why do EU policy makers devote attention to some issues and ignore others? Can the EU deal with all sorts of problems to begin with? We will discuss relevant analytical approaches to better understand the European Union. We will examine general characteristics of policy making and then focus on agenda setting. We will study theoretical perspectives, concepts and classic literature on the topic. We will identify main features of this policy stage, such as key actors and driving factors. We will also examine empirical work on agenda setting dynamics in diverse policy domains. All in all, in the first part of the course we will learn how the EU determines its priorities, by studying ‘what’ (issues come on the agenda), ‘how’ (issues enter it), ‘who’ (takes them up) and why. In the second part, you will write an individual thesis related to a theme on agenda setting within the scope of the general framework studied in the previous part. You are free to select any policy domain(s) to conduct your empirical analysis. Research methods can be qualitative, quantitative, or mixed. Note that you must come prepared to the first session, by reading the following literature: - Lelieveldt, H. and Princen, S. (2015), The politics of the European Union, 2nd Ed, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Chapter 1: The historical development of the EU - Cini, M. and Pérez-Solórzano Borragán (2019), Introduction, in Cini, M. and Pérez-Solórzano Borragán (eds), European Union Politics, 6th Ed, Oxford: Oxford University Press. You can consult other book editions than those indicated here, if the title of the chapter is the same. The books are available in the library of the university. In case you do not manage to have access to the literature, contact me in advance before the course starts. And of course you can also contact me if you have questions on the bachelor project

10: The Politics of Authoritarian Regimes - Koehler The global advancement of democracy notwithstanding, about 40 percent of countries around the world remain dominated by non-democratic regimes. Recent discussions on democratic backsliding, moreover, suggest that non-democratic forms of political rule might become more, rather than less prominent in the years to come. Some even see the contrast between democracy and authoritarianism as a structuring feature of the contemporary international system. What do we know about the politics of authoritarian rule? Why are some countries autocratic and others not? What determines the durability of autocracy? What can we say about transitions from or to authoritarian rule? Why do different autocracies rely on different institutional configurations? What role do processes and institutions such as elections, ruling and opposition parties, social movements and protest groups play under non-democratic conditions? These are some of the questions we will discuss in this BAP. Geographically speaking, authoritarian and hybrid regimes tend to cluster in less developed areas of the world, sometimes (rather imprecisely) referred to as the Global South. While my own research focuses on the Middle East and North Africa, the BAP will draw on cases from different world regions, as well as on available large-N studies. The substantive part will also include and introduction to different datasets which are routinely used by scholars of autocratic regimes. Participants are encouraged to develop their own thesis projects in relation to the topics covered in the course, drawing on either small-N comparative or quantitative methods. Thematically, the BA project focuses broadly on the dynamics of non-democratic political rule, including hybrid regimes and closed autocracies. The substantive part in Block 1 addresses core conceptual and empirical debates around the politics of non-democratic rule. We will rely on Democracies & Authoritarian Regimes by Andrea Kendall-Taylor, Natasha Lindstaedt and Erica Frantz (Oxford UP, 2019) as the main text, supplemented by more specific readings as appropriate. Specific topics include autocratic and hybrid regimes and regime typologies, the consequences of non-democratic rule, the dynamics of autocratic durability, regime change from and to autocracy, as well as democratic backsliding.

20: International Collective Action; its Problems and Solutions - Hagen When a certain issue affects people across borders solely a national solution is oft ineffective or inefficient. Climate change, armed conflict or COVID-19 are examples whereby actors across the globe have to come together to find solutions. The ‘international community’ does, however, not consist of uniform countries or organizations. Each has its own preferences and capabilities, which makes it difficult to achieve cooperation. Why would a country invest in costly climate change measures when large polluters do almost nothing to limit their emissions?

International collective action is hard to achieve and can easily break down. Why this occurs is a central theme in Global Public Goods and Global Commons literature. Both of these schools have different explanations and thus find different solution to achieve collective action. Can collective action only work when it is carried by (local) participants, or is a higher authority needed to implement viable solutions? The answer to these questions are oft influenced by political considerations.

In this Bachelor Project you will each focus on an individual topic or problem whereby collective action on an international level plays, or can play, an important role. You will use either a public goods or commons framework to understand the issue. In your empirical research you are free to use quantitative or qualitative measures.

In Block I you will (re)acquaint yourself with the relevant literature and with several individual writing exercises you will create your literature review, theoretical framework and methodological section. We will mostly work in class room settings where you will be able to discuss your work with your peers as well as with your instructor. You will also be asked to present on your progress in class.

In Block II you will execute your empirical research and the emphasis is put on individual meetings.

Please read the following articles before the first class:

Brando, N., Boonen, C., Cogolati, S., Hagen, R., Vanstappen, N., & Wouters, J. (2019). Governing as commons or as global public goods: two tales of power. International Journal of the Commons, 13(1). Kaul, I. (2012). Global Public Goods: Explaining Their Underprovision. Journal of International Economic Law 15(3): 729–750. Kaul, I. (2012). Global Public Goods: Explaining Their Underprovision. Journal of International Economic Law 15(3): 729–750. Ostrom, E (1998). A Behavioral Approach to the Rational Choice Theory of Collective Action: Presidential Address, American Political Science Association, 1997. American Political Science Review 92(1): 1–22.

Semester II

05: Sovereignty, Secession and Unrecognized States - Fliervoet In 2011, South Sudan was the latest country to become a member of the United Nations. The South Sudanese had fought a long and bloody secessionist war with Sudan until 2005, when a peace agreement was reached that allowed the South Sudanese to vote in a referendum on independence six years later. But independence did not bring peace: Since 2011, South Sudan has been embroiled in both internal and external conflict, leaving some to ask: “What was the point of independence if we are still destitute and in chaos?”

In this Bachelor project (BAP), we will investigate the role of secessionist movements in transforming the international system. Secessionist movements challenge the sovereignty, authority and legitimacy of the state of which they are part, while simultaneously trying to reproduce those very same characteristics in an effort to achieve international recognition.

Three central themes will be covered in this BAP. First, we will revisit the principle of sovereignty that is at the heart of the modern state, and investigate under which circumstances state sovereignty is challenged. How do states emerge, and how do they disappear? Why do some groups refuse to recognize the authority of the state of which they are formally part? And how do states and international organizations respond when this happens?

Second, we will examine theories and practices of secession. Recognizing the tension between the principles of territorial integrity and self-determination, we will debate whether there is such a thing as a ‘right to secession,’ and look critically at partition as a solution to ethnic war. We will further examine the peaceful and violent strategies of secession that are used by those pursuing statehood, and investigate why some succeed in achieving recognition while others fail.

Third, we will explore the phenomenon of unrecognized states and take a closer look at their internal and external politics. After gaining an understanding of the difference between de facto and de jure statehood, we will study empirical examples of cases that achieved the former, but not the latter.

We will explore these themes in a seminar format in Block III; in Block IV, we will shift mostly to individual meetings as students work on their individual research projects and write their Bachelor thesis.

06: Democracy in Latin America - Davila Gordillo Latin America is one of the most unequal regions in the world. In 2019 protesters took to the streets of Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela (amongst others) to call for a change in the system. “El pueblo” (the people) needed to be heard, they claimed. The current global pandemic has underscored the pervasiveness of unequal systems particularly in Latin America (and across the globe). In the region, the entrenched inequalities have meant that only few can effectively and safely shelter in place and follow the higher levels of personal hygiene required; many have faced precarious and cramped housing conditions and limited – if not inexistent – access to piped water. The particular crisis in the region provides an opportunity to rethink many aspects of its existing democratic systems.

This Bachelor’s project (BAP) will focus on democracy in Latin America widely defined and the main historical and more current issues that determine and alter it. During Block 3 – the substantive part of the BAP – we will start by reading and discussing current literature on the impact of the global pandemic in the region. Afterwards we will focus on authoritarian politics in the region; social movements (including armed groups, indigenous groups and gender equality movements) and their impact on the politics of the region; party politics and party systems, including the pink tide of leftist governments as well as the right wing movements in the region; electoral politics and how politicians and parties connect to their voters; populism; and corruption, clientelism, and patronage. The assigned readings use empirical examples from numerous countries in the region. Sessions will be centred on discussing the cases and theoretical arguments alongside an overview of historical context. During Block 4 the focus will shift to individual supervision and the development of students’ theses. Students will be expected to finalize and pursue their research questions (connected to any of the topics discussed during Block 3), conduct more detailed literature reviews (the literature should go well beyond what was assigned for Block 3), and collect and use appropriate evidence to answer their research questions. In short, you will apply the knowledge obtained in the first part of the course, as well as during the first two years of your studies, to actually write your thesis.

07: Cooperation on Global Challenges and Crises - (Bayramov) As the world becomes ever-more interconnected (economically, ecologically, infrastructurally, and so on), the potential incidence and impact of international crises grows. We see one clear example of just how rapidly such crises can cross national borders and impact multiple policy sectors with the recent pandemic, but one can also think of many other cases: climate change, biodiversity loss, financial implosions, waves of mass migration, food chain and animal disease crises, abrupt resource shortages (such as the 2009 Ukraine-Russia gas crisis which cut off heating oil supplies to much of Europe), natural disasters with far-reaching effects like the 2010 volcanic eruption in Iceland, terrorism, and large-scale citizen evacuations due to natural disasters or the outbreak of violence (e.g. Libya in 2011, Mumbai after the terror attacks in 2008, Lebanon in 2006, and following the 2004 tsunami in Asia). Everyone talks about these events when they occur, but oddly and unfortunately, relatively few people are researching them in an analytically meaningful way. This bachelor’s project brings together a multi-disciplinary array of literatures in order to provide students with a broad foundation upon which to develop and answer research questions on (non-)collaborative responses to such international crises and global challenges. We will review the literature on international collective action / cooperation; discuss works on global challenges and the provisioning of global public goods and common-pool resources to address those challenges; consider theories of regional integration (as a way of thinking about why certain types of transnational crises are managed collectively rather than unilaterally); and study the literature on crisis management. The latter introduces the complex challenges inherent to crisis management, offers relevant analytical frameworks, identifies the common pitfalls and best practices of crisis management, and allows one to think critically about the roles and performance of a range of actors – from individual leaders to international organizations – in times of crisis. Following the bachelor’s project format, we will survey the topics mentioned above together in seminar format during the initial weeks of this course (most of Block 3). Each of these literatures is broad in its own right, so the intention is not to conduct a detailed review of each but rather to provide an overview of the various approaches that will then allow students to zoom in on what interests them in the second half of the bachelor’s project. For this first part of the course, students are expected to read and actively discuss notable works from each of the literatures surveyed, as well as to complete a couple of assignments that will further the development of their research projects (see ‘assessment’ below). In Block 4 the focus will shift to individual supervision and the development of students’ theses. Students will be expected to finalize and pursue their research questions, conduct more detailed literature reviews, and collect and use appropriate evidence to answer their research questions. In short, you will apply the knowledge obtained in the first part of the course, as well as during the first two years of your studies, to actually write your thesis. This bachelor’s project will concentrate on qualitative research methods (primarily because quantitative approaches are rare in this research field – large N studies are difficult to construct due to limited case numbers and the rarity of relevant databases), but other approaches – requiring substantial time investment and creative research design – may be possible.

Assessment Student performance in the first part of the bachelor’s project will be assessed on the following:

Participation

At least one in-class presentation

Two written assignments

Literature Prior to the start of the course students should (re-)familiarize themselves with the key points of: M. Olson (1971). The Logic of Collective Action. Harvard University Press. E. Ostrom (1990). Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action. Cambridge University Press. And it would be worthwhile to read through the following (relatively short) book: A. Boin, P. ‘t Hart, E. Stern and B. Sundelius (2016). The Politics of Crisis Management (second edition). Cambridge University Press. Course readings for each session will be detailed in the syllabus and consist of easily accessible articles and book chapters.

08: International Interventions in Conflicts: Balancing Peace and Justice- Buitelaar Can there be justice without peace? Can there be with peace without justice? These questions have confronted states and communities alike as they sought to end civil wars. This course deals with how the ‘international community’ has sought to answer them as they engaged collectively in efforts to manage and resolve violent conflict. Apart from the many other challenges that states and international organizations face as they intervene in a conflict – from stopping violence, to building a rule of law, sustainable peace, democracy, and many things in between – they often also encounter a situation where atrocities have been committed and the perpetrators occupy powerful roles. With the establishment of the International Criminal Court and other international criminal tribunals, the call to prosecute war criminals has increased. But at the same time, negotiators, conflict parties, and even victim populations, have argued that an uncompromising emphasis on criminal justice is prolonging conflicts and, thus, suffering. As the world continues to face violent conflict, the key dilemma therefore remains pertinent: How do we balance peace and justice? In this course, students will become familiar with various perspectives on the relationship between peace and justice, and how they might oppose or complement each other. We will address how policymakers have changed their approaches (or not) and how global expectations with regard to transitional justice have altered. We will also address the empirical evidence on the effect of international judicial interventions on peace, and discuss several case studies into how criminal prosecutions (allegedly) solidified or undermined peace in conflict-affected countries. In the second part, students are invited to reflect on the interactions between peace and criminal justice as conflicting or complementary policy goals in international interventions into conflict. They can approach this question quantitatively, qualitatively, or normatively.

09: Social Movements and Political Violence - Jentzsch This Bachelor’s project (BAP) focuses on the links between civil resistance, social movements and political violence. Civil resistance can take on a variety of forms and social movements engage in different activities to achieve their goals. This BAP seeks to study the linkages between these different forms to analyze processes of escalation and radicalization of contentious collective action. The substantive component of the BAP is divided into three parts. The first part introduces students to the general topic of civil resistance and social movements: Why do social movements and civil resistance campaigns emerge? Why do people join such campaigns? What do social movements do? The second part then focuses on the dynamics of state-movement interactions: Under what conditions does civil resistance remain peaceful? Why do states sometimes accommodate and why sometimes repress protest? Under what conditions does nonviolent civil resistance “work” to achieve a movement’s goals? The third part of the course focuses on the dynamics of intra-movement competition and transformation. How and why do movement tactics evolve? Under what conditions do social movements turn to violence to achieve their goals? What types of violence do they engage in? Under what conditions do social movements produce armed groups? The types of political violence we will discuss include state repression, riots, political assassinations, terrorism, and civil war. Empirical examples will primarily come from Latin America and Africa, but also from the US and Europe, and include historical and contemporary examples, ranging from the Dutch resistance against German occupation during World War II to the Arab Uprisings in 2010/2011. The assignments during the substantive component of the BAP ask students to make use of a variety of primary and secondary sources, including visual media, and include both individual writing assignments and group presentations. During the thesis-writing component of the course, students will learn how to plan and write case studies and develop a case study for the Bachelor’s thesis. For the thesis, students are asked to choose one theme studied during the substantive component of the BAP, develop a well-identified research question relevant to that theme, and apply appropriate concepts and theories to a social movement of their choosing. The research for the thesis should go well beyond course readings and include a range of primary and secondary data, including visual media where appropriate.

11: Civil Wars in Theory and Practice - Schulhofer Wohl This course explores the dynamics of civil wars. It draws on literature in political science and other fields in the social sciences to understand how civil wars are conducted. We begin at the level of the armed actors. We analyze the structure of government armed forces and rebel groups, their tactical effectiveness, the recruitment of fighters, violence against civilians, military engagements between armed rivals, and the role of resources (including external support), ideology, and ethnic and religious identities in shaping their actions. We study violence from the perspective of the armed organization and the interactions of opposing and allied armed organizations, examining what leads to success in warfighting and the causes and consequences of violence against civilians. We then move to the level of individual, studying who participates in armed organizations, the factors that shape continued participation and sacrifice, and the process by which individuals become accustomed to using violence. For each topic, we will identify common policy-making assumptions and assess their evidentiary basis. Readings cover conflicts around the world, from wars in the aftermath of WWII to contemporary Syria.

In Block III, the course will be taught as a seminar. By the end of Block III, students will have developed skills necessary to answer complex questions about civil wars – both on trans-national issue areas and individual civil wars – and with an eye towards the relevance of those questions for policy. Students will be graded on participation, two written assignments, and one in-class presentation.

In Block IV, under the supervision of the instructor, each student will conduct original research on a question identified during Block III and write a bachelor’s thesis presenting this research. While Block IV will consist mostly of individual research and supervision thereof, we will also meet several times as a group to discuss projects-in-progress.

The syllabus will be distributed at the first meeting of the course.

BEFORE the first meeting, please read: 1: O’Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. “How to Tell a True War Story,” pp.67-80. 2: Armitage, David. 2017. Civil Wars: A History in Ideas. New York: Knopf. Introduction, “Confronting Civil War,” pp.3-30.

12: Small States in World Politics - Veenendaal Existing academic studies of international relations (IR) primarily focus on a handful of large powers like the United States, China, Russia, and India. In classical IR theories, small states are mostly regarded as objects in world politics, which cannot have a meaningful independent impact on international affairs. Being limited in in population size, territory, natural resources, and military capabilities, small states are seen as vulnerable and weak, and their survival permanently dependent on the goodwill of larger countries. But if this is the case, how can we explain the economic influence of small countries like Luxembourg and Singapore? How can it be that a country like Qatar is not only able to host the FIFA World Cup, but also to sponsor Islamic insurgency groups throughout the Middle East? How do countries like Estonia, Georgia, and Moldova deal with mounting Russian assertiveness in central and eastern Europe? Why have Cyprus and Malta recovered so fast from the global economic crisis, while larger Mediterranean countries continue to face economic stagnation? What role do Caribbean countries play in transnational drugs trafficking networks, and how have tiny Pacific island states succeeded in putting climate change and rising sea levels on the agenda of the United Nations? As these questions demonstrate, the position of small states in global politics is not as insignificant as scholars have generally assumed. Small countries certainly can play an important role in international affairs, and many small states make creative use of their sovereignty to compensate for their relative weakness in the international system. In this bachelor project, students will study the foreign policies and international relations of either one or a limited number of small states with less than 1,5 million inhabitants (there are 46 of them in total). In the substantive part of the course, we will first pay attention to the views of the mainstream IR theories on small states. Subsequently, we will discuss more specific literature on the international security, economic development, and foreign policies of small states, as well as the participation of small states in international organizations. In the second part of the course, students will focus on writing their individual bachelor’s thesis. Students are free to choose any particular focus of their project, and bachelor theses could for example focus on small state foreign policy, small state behavior in international organizations, domestic determinants of small state foreign policy, or economic development strategies and (international) economic policies of small states. While single-case or small-N comparative research designs are most practicable, students are also free to choose a quantitative or mixed methods design if they desire so.

13: The European Union in Crisis: Challenges, Compromises, Results - Maricut-Akbik In the last decade, the European Union (EU) has been confronted with multiple crises. The nature of crises was diverse, affecting key policy areas such as the economic and monetary union, justice and home affairs, common foreign and security policy, environmental and health affairs, as well as crucial constitutional aspects. As a supranational polity with a complex multi-level governance system, the EU was not equipped to deal with emergency politics. The EU response to crises was often slow, fragmented, and incomplete, attracting criticism both from a problem-solving and democratic legitimacy perspective. Against this background, Eurosceptic parties have gained ground across Member States, making it even more difficult for governments to reach compromises on collective solutions.

This bachelor project will explore specific challenges faced by the EU in recent years. The substantive part of the course will cover different crisis episodes in detail: the euro crisis, the refugee crisis, the Ukraine crisis, the CETA trade crisis, Brexit and the rule of law crisis, climate change and the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. The emphasis will be on 1) institutional responses to crisis situations, 2) decision-making under time pressure and domestic constraints, and 3) outcomes for the European integration process more generally.

In the second part of the course, students will write individual theses on an EU crisis of their choice. Research questions can address explanations for EU responses to a crisis (drawing on European integration theory), agenda-setting and EU leadership during crises, decision-making and intra-/interinstitutional negotiation dynamics, but also governance results of EU crisis management. Supervision will focus on case study design and qualitative methods, although the course is open to all methodological approaches.

Learning goals:

Understand EU responses to recent crises in different policy areas

Gain in-depth knowledge of a particular crisis episode and its treatment in the specialised literature

Identify research question(s), write literature review, and conduct own empirical analysis of a specific crisis

Background Literature: Dinan, Desmond, Neill Nugent, and William E. Paterson, eds. 2017. The European Union in Crisis. London: Palgrave Macmillan Education.

14: Institutions, History and Development - de Zwart This bachelor project aims to acquaint students with institutionalist explanation in political science. We shall study and discuss various institutionalist traditions and focus especially on historical-institutionalism, a prominent and influential institutionalist approach. We use Acemoglu and Robinson’s Why Nations Fail (2013) as a key publication in the first half of this course. This study is an influential contribution to the discussion about causes of development and underdevelopment. The authors use the comparative method and provide an interesting and challenging historical institutionalist explanation. We do not use a handbook but besides Acemoglu and Robinson we read and discuss various articles that will help to position Acemoglu and Robinson’s Why Nations Fail theoretically and empirically. Besides introducing students to institutionalist explanation, this course aims to enable students in designing, conducting, and reporting their own research. The second half of this course the second half of this course concentrates research and writing the BA thesis. We shall follow Acemoglu and Robinson’s comparative approach, and apply, criticize, elaborate, or test their claims. Within this general frame, students are free to choose a subject, region, area, and period to research. A variety of subjects is possible. Topics that evoke themes like ‘the effects of colonial heritage on political and economic development today’; ‘the durable influence or direct and indirect rule’; ‘the relationship between (economic) development and democracy’; ‘the primacy of politics in matters of development’; ‘democratization and backsliding’, for instance, fall well within the realm of this course.

Educational goals To deepen students’ knowledge of institutionalist theory. Train capacity to critically work with this theory, especially in the field of development and democratization. To train students in the use of comparative method and in conducting research and writing.

Teaching Seminars: close reading, discussion, presentations, ‘mini-lectures,’ individual supervision (especially in the final writing of the BA thesis).

Assessment Part I (week 1-6): two writing assignments 30% (1500 words) and 50% (2500 words) and a presentation (20 %). Part II (week 7-16): Thesis Proposal; BA thesis (between 7,000-8,000 words, exl. references).

Literature Acemoglu, Daron and James A. Robinson. 2013. Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity and Poverty. London: Profile Books.

Selected articles, to be announced.

15. International Cooperation and The Design of Global Economic Institutions - Sampson Following the financial crisis of 2008, the role of global economic institutions has become more important than ever in facilitating and sustaining international economic cooperation in areas from financial regulation to international trade. These institutions also increasingly shape the domestic economic and political policies available to states. Given the crucial role of such institutions in the contemporary international system, a great deal of important research in international political economy has focused on describing the various factors shaping the design and evolution of these institutions as well as the consequences of such choices. This bachelor’s project will begin by exploring and evaluating broad analytical approaches to international cooperation, as well as questioning the role of power, timing, and ideas in shaping the design of global economic institutions. Related questions focusing on the distributional consequences of particular institutional designs will also be addressed. In this project global economic institutions are broadly defined to include not only organizations such as the WTO, IMF, and World Bank but also governance arrangements, regulations, and international agreements.

16: International Law, use of Force, and Protection of Human Rights -Kinacioglu This thesis seminar is designed to support bachelor students in conceptualizing, structuring and writing their projects on topics related to the law of the use of force in international relations, and the instruments and institutions for protection of human rights. It provides for key conceptual foundations of resort to force and human rights, and introduces main theoretical debates with special emphasis on questions related to the current practice, legitimacy and efficiency. The seminar also includes methodological aspects with a focus on normative research design. It invites project proposals that involve several aspects, diverse issues and current debates regarding the use of force and human rights.

Learning Outcomes Knowledge: Upon successful completion of this course, students are able to:

Reflect on key debates in the law of the use of force and in relation to both multilateral and unilateral military interventions;

Have a solid knowledge of how international legal norms on the use of force and humanitarian intervention have evolved and implemented by international organisations and states;

Identify the principle instruments of human rights at the international level;

Assess efficacy of the major international enforcement mechanisms and international human rights norms.

Skills: Upon successful completion of this course, students are able to:

Conduct research in legal-normative issues with substance and structure;

Think analytically and critically, and present and support rigorous, well-developed arguments;

Compare and contrast different cases of the use of force;

Discuss dilemmas in the protection of human rights;

Mode of instruction The course consists of 14 two-hour interactive seminars, which involve lectures, discussions and group work, exploring the research on the use of force and human rights. Students are expected to participate actively by raising questions and developing ideas based on the readings, class discussions and lectures. Lectures will also focus on designing research, formulating research questions, drawing conceptual framework and research strategies.

Reading list The list of readings will be made available upon commencement of the course.

17: The Welfare State in International Perspective - van Reuler How can we explain the development of welfare states in different countries? This is the question that will take centre stage during this bachelor project. Since the Second World War, many western states introduced extensive provisions to guarantee a minimum standard of living for their citizens. Health care, education, income security, and public housing are all among the functions of the welfare state. Since the 1970s, many governments have attempted - though with mixed results - to scale back their welfare state. The great recession formed a strong impetus for renewed debates and reforms, which often unfolded at an unprecedented scale and pace.

During the first block, we will start with discussing the historical development of welfare states and the major academic debates surrounding them. We will also have sessions on topics such as the influence of globalisation on the welfare state and the ‘Nordic model’. Once this foundation has been laid, we will look into the welfare state from a comparative and transnational perspective. The comparative perspective means that we will analyse and compare developments in various countries. The transnational perspective involves looking at policy transfer, including the impact of international organisations, such as the World Bank, on the development of welfare states.

The welfare state is generally considered an inherently western concept. Therefore, the focus of the seminars during block 3 will mostly be on this group of countries. However, students are allowed to work on topics related to social policies in non-western countries for their thesis.

This bachelor project will have a focus on qualitative methods, but a mixed methods approach is also an option.

This project has only room for 10 participants

During the seminars we will discuss the following book (digitally available through University Library): Van Kersbergen and Vis (2014). Comparative welfare state politics: Development, opportunities, and reform. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

In addition to this book, we will use various articles and book chapters. A full list will be included in the syllabus.

Please read the following - as the title says very short - book before the first seminar: Garland, D. (2016). The welfare state: A very short introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

18: Politics and Development in Southeast Asia - Loughlin Southeast Asia is a dynamic region of around 650 million people encompassing a variety of political, economic, ecological, cultural, and religious structures and systems. This course focuses on the political economy of development in this fast-changing area of the world. Engaging with key concepts and theories in political science and development studies at the domestic and international levels, we will cover topics such as human rights and the environmental impacts of development, land dispossession, gender and development, labour politics, the politics of international aid, and the influence of China’s growing economic and political power on political and development outcomes in the region. In the process we will also consider how domestic political systems and settlements in the countries of the region shape their development trajectories. The course will be taught mainly from a qualitative methodological perspective and students will also be given guidance in research design. Seminars and discussions in the first part of the course will prepare students to undertake an independent bachelor thesis/project on a topic of their interest in the second part of the course.

Literature The Political Economy of Southeast Asia: Politics and Uneven Development under Hyperglobalisation. Toby Carroll, Shahar Hameiri and Lee Jones (eds) (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2020).

19: The Environmental Causes of Conflict - RezaeeDaryakenari How does the environment affect peace and conflict? An emerging consensus within the policy circles recognizes the effects of climate change as a severe threat to international security and world peace. There are, also, plenty of reports and research on how rebel groups all around the world finance their operation using the revenue from natural resources such as oil, gold, diamond, and Coca. In this course, we will explore the relationship between climate and natural resources on one side and political conflict and violence on the other side. The first part of the course (Block III) starts with unpacking the meaning of environment and conflict as two rather elusive concepts, which scholars conceptualized and measured differently. Then, we will discuss the literature on environmental security aiming to answer three main questions. First, how do climate change and weather anomalies as well as resource scarcity and abundance start and amplify conflict? Second, how does conflict affect the environment and exacerbate environmental issues? Finally, how can we ease and possibly resolve environment-related conflicts? We will conclude the first part of the course (Block III) by discussing the different methodological approaches that scholars and practitioners use for studying environmental security threats. In addition to lectures, the course is designed to encourage students to participate in class discussions and group activities. Also, each student is expected to turn in two written assignments in Block III. One is a response essay (2-3 pages double space) that critiques the assigned readings to one session of the course. The second assignment is a short essay (3-5 pages double space) on the research question that you will explore in the second part of the course (Block IV). This assignment asks you to discuss the importance of your question and explain the feasibility of exploring it. Building on this proposal, you will formulate your research question and develop a research design to conduct your inquiry and write the bachelor thesis in the second part of the course (Block IV). We will schedule several individual meetings during Block IV so that you can report the progress of your research to the instructor and receive his feedback as well as discuss the challenges you may face in writing your bachelor thesis. Reading list: The readings list includes academic articles and policy reports. Once it is finalized, the instructor will share the reading list and syllabus on his GitHub page for this course: https://babakrezaee.github.io/Leiden_BAP2020 In the meantime, feel free to contact the instructor if you had any questions about this project.

21: International Organisations and Complex Global Challenges - DeRock Since the mid-twentieth century, states have attempted to coordinate global affairs through international organisations (IOs) such at the United Nations (UN), the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Today, IOs are in a paradoxical situation. On the one hand, multilateral cooperation is urgent – perhaps more than ever – in the face of the climate crisis, a global pandemic, economic inequality, and other challenges. On the other hand, many citizens and policymakers are expressing distrust of IOs. Contestation comes from multiple directions, including from nationalist and populist leaders, critics of neoliberalism, and those who simply think IOs are not effective enough. In this Bachelor Project, we will investigate the roles of IOs in this complex global landscape. The seminar explores IOs from historical, contemporary, and forward-looking perspectives. We will address questions such as: Why have states decided to create and join IOs in the first place? Are IOs the ‘puppets’ of powerful states, or are they powerful actors in their own right? Do developing countries have an equal say in IO policies, and if not, why not? And are the IOs of today capable of meeting the immense governance challenges of tomorrow? Substantively, the first part of the course will emphasize themes related to (a) global economic policy, (b) environmental governance, and (c) sustainable development (the intersection of the first two themes). Examples of topics covered in the readings include poverty reduction, the Sustainable Development Goals, and climate policy. In terms of theory, we will consider a range of perspectives, including constructivist, rationalist, and critical approaches. For the Bachelor thesis, students are free to choose from a much wider range of topics – anything from peacekeeping to artificial intelligence, as long as international organisations are at the center of the research. Regarding research methods, students will learn how to make use of a variety of qualitative primary data sources, including: online archives of IOs; publicly available interview transcripts and oral histories; official documents; and the minutes and reports of meetings. This project is best suited for qualitative methods. The reading list will be available before the start of the course. This will include both required and recommended articles and book chapters. BEFORE the first meeting, please read the following article (published more than twenty years ago, but still highly influential): Barnett, M., & Finnemore, M. (1999). The politics, power, and pathologies of international organizations. International Organization, 53(4), 699–732.

22: The Return of Great Powers in Politics - Haigh In the early post-Cold War years, many experts predicted an end to the kind of great power rivalry and conflict that had more or less characterized the conduct of international relations over the preceding centuries. The collapse of the Soviet Union, the seeming triumph of liberal democracy and free-market economics, increasingly complex interdependence, a rising global civil society, the idea of a shared or common human fate: these things and more led most commentators to believe that we had entered a new, more cooperative era.

That sense of optimism has largely disappeared. As it already was back then, China is on the rise--but in many circles China is currently perceived more as a revisionist adversary that needs to be contained, than a notionally willing partner in a rules-based international order. Russia now seeks to disrupt that order by various means, with a view (according to many) to re-establishing itself in something like its former Soviet glory. At the same time, widespread populist movements, often coupled with increasingly strident nationalism, are now arguably in the ascendent, to the extent that previously unexamined assumptions about the virtues of globalization, multilateralism, and a liberal international order are now under serious question.

In this BAP, we will analyze these developments and their implications through an interpretivist lens, in which the emphasis is placed on critical analysis of texts and discourse, but also of existing datasets, and of emergent phenomena in the form of "facts on the ground

23: Security and Peace Building - Rrustemi In the current global order, many states are confronted with difficulties in fulfilling their central functions vis-à-vis its citizens, leading in the worst cases to violence, hybrid warfare, organized crime, poverty, massive flows of refugees, internally displaced people, child soldiers, grave abuses of women and the destruction of world culture and heritage. In an interconnected world, state and peace weakness and failure have thus been identified as one of the central threats to global peace and stability and their prevention has become a main priority of the international community.The approach adopted by the international community, international organizations, to prevent state and peace failure and decrease security threats include measures as diverse as military (humanitarian) intervention, and state, nation and peace building missions. Therefore, the course provides an analysis of interventions on security and peace building processes, and ultimately aims to understand how to construct sustainable and inclusive security and peace. The following questions are raised: What are the theoretical lenses that we can study peace and security building processes? How are security and peace building interventions developed and implemented? What is their impact (read effectiveness) in the targeted countries/communities? How can we anticipate spoilers of peace and security building and how can we counter them in a timely and appropriate manner to create a more secure world and sustainable peace? The course outlines the main theoretical underpinnings, various methodologies and relevant societal challenges. More specifically, it addresses the main theoretical frameworks on post-conflict reconstruction, such as military interventions, early warning mechanisms, peacekeeping, liberal and post liberal peace, peace infrastructures, nation building, state building, religion and reconciliation. It also focuses on the role of different actors in shaping the post-war states and current theoretical and societal debates, including states (the role of the US, China, Russia), local communities (grassroots), international community (international organizations), networks (organized crime, illegal migration/trafficking of human beings, violent extremism, and countering and preventing violent extremism), individuals (dictators, oligarchs) and companies (technological, artificial intelligence). The methods employed in the course are diverse: quantitative and qualitative. Special attention is paid to state-society-industry and local-international relations in the post-conflict reconstruction by assessing different case studies from Africa, Middle East, Asia and Europe.

IP03: Agenda setting and policy-making in the European Union - Elias Carillo This Project is available to both IP and IRO students The European Union (EU) is a complex political system. Its setup includes 28 members states with different interests and ideas on what issues to attend and how to do so. The roles of its political institutions are not clearly separated and many are shared. How are then policies created in the EU? In this course we will study the policy-making process in this system and more specifically agenda setting. Some of the questions that we will address are: how does the EU deal with policy problems? Who participates? How do issues arrive on the agenda? Why do EU policy makers devote attention to some issues and ignore others? Can the EU deal with all sorts of problems to begin with? We will discuss relevant analytical approaches to better understand the European Union. We will examine general characteristics of policy making and then focus on agenda setting. We will study theoretical perspectives, concepts and classic literature on the topic. We will identify main features of this policy stage, such as key actors and driving factors. We will also examine empirical work on agenda setting dynamics in different policy domains. All in all, in the first part of the course we will learn how the EU determines its priorities, by studying ‘what’ (issues come on the agenda), ‘how’ (issues enter it), ‘who’ (takes them up) and why. In the second part, students will write an individual thesis related to a theme on agenda setting, as identified in the previous part. Research methods can be qualitative, quantitative, or mixed. The thesis must be written in English.