Due date: Wednesday January 13th (Week 12), 12:00 noon
Students are asked to submit essays both electronically and as a hardcopy
Length 4000 words

Guidance:

The purpose of essays is to enable you to research, analyse and reflect upon certain key issues identified in the module independently. You are to choose one question from the list below and respond to it in detail.

IMPORTANT: Remember, this is a course in IR theory and the role of these essay questions is to evaluate your capacity to critically engage in the theoretical debates in this field. As such, each question will require a broad engagement with competing theories of International Relations. While you will probably have insufficient space to discuss every theory, it is important that you identify the most relevant theories within your response and use them to address possible criticisms to your argument.

Questions: Answer ONE of the following 10 questions.

1. Is security the primary preoccupation of a state's foreign policy? What other considerations might a state have to balance, and to what extent are these concerns capable of evolution and change?

2. Is globalization simply imperialism by another name? Engage with both Critical Theory and its critics in formulating your response.

3. Does English School theory provide a solid basis for determining the legitimacy of humanitarian intervention? Utilize empirical examples to substantiate your argument.

4. “The philosophers have only interpreted the world, the point is to change it”. Discuss the pertinence of this statement in the context of the rise of post-positivist theories of IR.

5. What constitutes a ‘critical’ approach to International Relations theory? Discuss in relation to the critical potential of both critical theory and poststructuralist approaches to IR.

6. Does a growing interest in human security represent a fundamental shift in the priorities of states?

7. Can traditional theories of International Relations sufficiently account for the political dynamics of the post-Cold War international system?

8. Is feminist IR theory an important challenge to the discipline? Drawing on a major event/practice of international politics, demonstrate how it is or is not.

9. Is order best maintained through hegemony or the balance of power? What are the implications of each for peace and justice?

10. ‘International relations theory must urgently confront its Eurocentrism.’ Discuss.