Welcome to Week 2, where we’re doing a bit of an Introduction to International Relations as a field, to some essential concepts we’ll be working with all semester: sovereignty, the state, and anarchy, and the first two schools of international relations theory- realism and liberalism.  The random google is not your friend in this class- anarchy has lots of meanings, but we’re using the very specific world politics one, and when we say states in IR, we don’t mean New Jersey or Connecticut!  

This week, we’ll be covering the oldest two theoretical schools in International Relations- Realism and Liberalism.  While you are reading keep an eye out for the assumptions each school makes- what do they both agree on?  What do they differ about?  Can you think of events that each school explains well, as well as events that each school does not explain well?  What (who?) is missing from each theory?  This week, you’ll write your first blog post related to international relations, so don’t forget to cite/link to your reading or outside sources as appropriate.   

 So try your best to stay on top of the work for this week, which is mainly reading and getting started on your blog. The more of the reading you can do before our class on Wednesday, the more you will get out of class (I know the reading is a bit challenging, but I promise, you will get used to it if you keep at it, and I am here to help).  

I see most of you have joined our group and some of you have started blogging already, which is AWESOME.  For those who are a little behind, that’s okay- all due dates are flexible this semester.  We want to make sure no one falls behind, so try to get started this week.  I have office hours on Wednesday after class on zoom (or send me an email to make an appointment that is more convenient for you) if you want to talk through anything about the course or getting started.  

I know that getting started is a lot, so do your best, and let me know how I can help you.  

Cheers,

SB