Tilmelding sker via stads selvbetjening indenfor annonceret tilmeldingsperiode, som du kan se på Studieadministrationens hjemmeside

Når du tilmelder dig kurset, skal du være opmærksom på, om der er sammenfald i tidspunktet for kursusafholdelse og eksamen med andre kurser, du har valgt. Uddannelsesplanlægningen tager udgangspunkt i, at det er muligt at gennemføre et anbefalet studieforløb uden overlap. Men omkring valgfrie elementer og studieplaner som går ud over de anbefalede studieforløb, kan der forekomme overlap, alt efter hvilke kurser du vælger.

Registration is happing through stads selvbetjeningwithin the announced registration period, as you can see on the Studyadministration homepage.

When registering for courses, please be aware of the potential conflicts between courses or exam dates on courses. The planning of course activities at Roskilde University is based on the recommended study programs which do not overlap. However, if you choose optional courses and/or study plans that goes beyond the recommended study programs, an overlap of lectures or exam dates may occur depending on which courses you choose.

Knowledge

• Specialised knowledge of a particular topic within one of the three themes of Global Studies.
• Advanced knowledge of academic and methodological debates relating to the topic.

Skills

• Skills in selecting and critically applying relevant theories and methods.
• Skills in communicating and discussing theories and empirical results.

Competencies

• Competency to take responsibility for and reflect on one’s own learning and that of colleagues by actively participating in group work, presentations and discussions.
• Competency to critically, independently and creatively select and utilise academic literature that is relevant to a particular issue.

The object of the advanced study course is to provide students with advanced knowledge in a specific research area within one of the three themes of Global Studies: Global Politics, Global Sociology or Global Political Economy.

At least two advanced study seminars are offered each semester. The range of courses will change each semester, within the following topics:

Global Politics: • International state institutions and global governance • Regionalisation and regional integration in international politics • International security • International law and human rights

Global Sociology:

• International mobility and information flow
• International political movements and social change
• International civil society, law and defence
• Contentious identities and new global players

Global Political Economy:

• Work and globalisation
• Natural resources and geopolitics
• Trade, investment and global production networks
• International financial economics

Overall content

The course aims at providing students with an in-depth understanding of theories, developments and concepts central to ongoing changes in global security provision patterns and the distribution of associated capabilities. We start out expanding on core concepts such as strategic studies, great powers, grand strategy and balancing. We conclude the conceptual bloc of the course by exploring different predictions on global and regional security provision departing from the main IR schools. Tracking and understanding global and regional security provision patterns of seven major actors constitute the largest teaching bloc. Besides key states such as the US, China, Russia, France, India and the United Kingdom the European Union is also singled out for scrutiny. The final session endeavours to map cross-regional patterns and assess the utility of central concepts and theories on capturing and explaining current developments while reflecting on methodological issues and practices in relation to power ranking exercises etc.

Lecture 1 - Strategic Studies and Security Studies – introducing the field (MFK)

Modern Security Studies have its origins in the field of Strategic Studies which flourished during the Cold War. Under the benign security environment of unipolarity, Western academic attention increasingly shifted to broader security challenges facing humanity such as e.g. climate change, gender violence and insecurity stemming from growing technological complexity manifest in cyber-crime. As unipolarity is coming to an end with the rise of new powers and US retrenchment, state rivalry is once again coming to the fore. Strategic Studies remained a viable research stance during the era of liberal internationalism and is now staging a comeback as balancing endeavours between major states and alliances is returning as a prevailing feature of international politics.

Lecture 2 - Grand Strategy and major power behavior (MFK)

In this course we deal with the major security actors of the international system. By implication we zoom in on states which occupy commanding positions in the international arena. But do states simply ascend to such a position due to their possession of various capabilities or do they need to make an effort to qualify as 'Major Actors'? Why do states bother to become major actors as it is evidently risky and rarely profitable (the Trump administration suggest that big states do not automatically aspire to exercise global leadership!). States vying for a commanding position in international security affairs employ grand strategy. In this session we shall explore this concept in depth and investigate different manifestations of grand strategy from around the globe.

Lecture 3 - Security, Strategy and IR theory (GRO)

Strategic studies analytically operate at the systemic level but decisions about state actions, postures and grand strategies are decided on the national level. Who are the key players in domestic foreign and security policy making and how can we theoretically link actor level analysis with the wider systemic conditions framing state behaviour. This session will provide an in-depth elaboration of neo classical realism’s attempt to link domestic and structural variables while presenting and demonstrating the utility of key concepts for analysing foreign policy making.

Lecture 4 - USA I (GRO)

The United States assumed global leadership in the aftermath of World War II under the aegis of intense bipolar rivalry. After emerging victoriously from the Cold War, the country engaged in a unipolar orchestration of an elaborate liberal global order. However, this did not spell the ‘End of History’ and US policy makers were far more divided on the issue of what role the country should play in global affairs than the structural narrative suggest.

Lecture 5 - USA II (GRO)

The global war on terror represent a watershed event in the unipolar era while also being illustrative of the tensions permeating Washington policy makers on how to utilize US preponderance. This has been reflected in changing appetites for US interventions across the different post-911 presidencies. But until the inauguration of the Trump administration, the country had also witnessed considerable foreign and security policy continuity. In this session we shall discuss how profound the recent changes in Washington’s posture and dealing with rivals and allies is in comparison with general post-Cold War patterns.

Lecture 6 - China (MFK)

Are rising powers pro-actively seeking to alter the global power distributions or do they just happen to be successful societies with growing riches? Does China aspire to re-create bipolarity or is its focus mainly regional? To what extend has Beijing devised a Grand Strategy? Which indicators suggest China primarily seeks to become a responsible member of the global security system and what is the evidence suggesting a more future assertive posture?

Lecture 7 - France (GRO)

France has endeavoured to counter unipolarity in conformity with a foreign and security policy tradition dating back to Charles de Gaulle. But how does Paris deal with prospects of US disengagement with European security, Brexit, an assertive Russia and Chinese intrusion into its African ‘spheres of influence’?

Lecture 8 - EU I (GRO)

The European Union is about to part ways with one of its two globally recognized major powers and is struggling with internal division partly rooted in migrant movements conditioned by conflicts in its ‘near-abroad’. Where is the EU heading in light of these challenges and how does it affect transatlantic relations and practices of military intervention?

Lecture 9 - EU II (MFK)

How may Brexit and the rise of populist governments in major member states such as e.g. Italy and Poland affect the future direction of European security integration? This lecture will reflect on ‘Grand Strategy’ implications of both changing membership and domestic political trends and relate the current state of apparent integrative crises with the seemingly contradictory pattern of accelerated collaborative armament.

Lecture 10 - India (MFK)

India has higher growth rates than China and her population is roughly the same size. Yet they rank below their eastern neighbour as evident in their failure to secure a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council. But India has maintained a regionally focussed posture for longer than China and have made great strides in acquiring a credible second strike capability. To what extend has Delhi devised a Grand Strategy and is India in the process of extending its regional focus to encompass the entire Indian Ocean and Beyond?

Lecture 11 - Russia (MFK)

The collapse of the Soviet Empire produced acute decline in Russia’s global power and subsequent retrenchment. But in spite of humiliating military adventures in Chechnya, rampant corruption and signs of profound state weakness in the nineties compounded by sovereign default, Russia maintained the world’s largest nuclear stockpile. Moreover, the country seems to be staging a comeback on the international stage evident by the intervention in Syria. The annexation of Crimea has been meet with sharp responses but was preceded by the 2008 war with Georgia and a massive military re-capitalization programme. Does Russia follow a Grand Strategy as it re-enters the realm of pre-eminent global powers and is its ascend towards a ‘pole position’ sustainable?

Lecture 12 - The Challenges to the Global Liberal Order (GRO)

The changing patterns of major actor behaviour uncovered in the preceding sessions constitute one of many challenges to the global liberal order. In this session we shall take stock of where developments are heading while identifying other drivers of change to the post-Cold War order.

Lecture 13 - Measuring power in IR – Ranking major actors (MFK)

In this concluding session we shall look at the metrics employed when trying to establish how major powers are ranked. While the US is clearly still the leading power it is not that straight forward to determine the order of the next places. Should Russia with its vast natural riches, land mass and nuclear arsenal be ahead of China? Is it reasonable to omit the UK and Brazil from the sample of countries covered by this course? Is France and India really ahead of them and how do we assess the global, position of the European Union?

Lectures, student presentations and class discussions. Students will be divided into groups. Each group will be responsible for selecting a journal articles on a key actor and make a short presentation in class containing two key questions for discussion

The examination is in two parts:

1. Assignment written during the course. The first part of the examination is an answer to a question handed out at the start of the course. The assignment is submitted during the final course session. The maximum length of the assignment paper is 14,400 characters, including spaces. The size specifications include the cover, table of contents, bibliography, figures and other illustrations, but exclude any appendices. Assignments that fail to meet the size specifications will be refused assessment, and one examination attempt will be deemed to have been used up.
2. 48-hour written assignment. The student is given 48 hours to write the second part of the examination. The assignment is set after the final course session. The maximum length of the assignment paper is 14,400 characters, including spaces. The size specifications include the cover, table of contents, bibliography, figures and other illustrations, but exclude any appendices. Assignments that fail to meet the size specifications will be refused assessment, and one examination attempt will be deemed to have been used up.

The assignments will be refused examination if one or both of them exceed the maximum size. A single overall grade is awarded. The two assignments have equal weight in the assessment. Failure to submit the first assignment on time will result in the student not being allowed to take the 48-hour examination, and one examination attempt will be deemed to have been used up.

Re-examination: The student must submit the first assignment within two weeks of the conclusion of the course. Previous assignments cannot be reused, and new questions may be set.

The second assignment in the examination is a 48-hour written assignment, and is taken in the re-examination period.

Re-examination otherwise has the same size requirements as the ordinary examination.