Week 14 — International Relations
Why this matters
A business major whose company will sell across borders and an environmental science student watching countries share a fishery both meet the same puzzle: how states cooperate and clash with no one above them.
In plain language
This week moves from politics inside countries to politics between them. Inside a country, a government can make rules and enforce them; between countries, no world government sits on top. Political scientists call that condition anarchy (no authority above the states), and it does not mean chaos. You will meet three paradigms (broad schools of thought about why states act as they do) and read the founding text of the United Nations with each one in turn. You will not be told which paradigm wins; you will be shown how each one reads the same facts.
- Already covered: Week 2 defined sovereignty; Week 13 compared countries.
- This week: anarchy, the security dilemma, three paradigms, and the U.N.
- How they connect: no state answers to a higher power, so order needs explaining.
- Where we're going next: Week 15, Political Economy & Global Issues.
Focus
With no world government, what explains conflict and cooperation?
By the end of this module, you should be able to:
- [ ] explain anarchy without calling it chaos
- [ ] trace a security dilemma step by step
- [ ] read one U.N. Charter article through all three lenses
- [ ] tell collective security from an alliance
To-do
Plan your week
- Read Chapter 14 (50 minutes), then the lecture and slides.
- Do the lecture tutorial (60–90 minutes) and practice set (20 minutes).
- Do the Political Analysis Workshop (90 minutes), the discussion, and the assignment.
- Take the quiz.
This week's checkpoint: read Article 2(1) of the U.N. Charter through the realist, liberal, and constructivist lenses, one sentence each.
You've got this
Take it in order, and ask your instructor early.
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