Admission requirements
This course is designed for the minor Global Affairs. It is not possible to follow single courses of this minor. You need to be enrolled in Usis for the minor to be accepted to this course. There are 200 places open for registration, on a first come first serve basis, where LDE students are given priority.
This course is also open for inbound exchange students if they wish to take the entire minor Global Affairs; it is not possible to take single courses from this minor. Exchange students must be admitted by the FGGA International Office prior to the start of the minor; priority will be given to direct exchange partners of FGGA. For more information about the application procedure for exchange students, please contact the FGGA International Office at international@fgga.leidenuniv.nl.
Description
This course addresses the main features and limitations of instruments of power at the international level. It investigates in detail the recourse to military power and/or economic sanctions in the cases of, for instance, Libya, Kosovo, or Syria, together with the resulting political backlashes and legitimacy questions. It also investigates the impact of the new policies of the presidents Biden, Putin and Xi and puts those policies in a broader geopolitical framework.
The course also examines shortcomings arising from soft power usage, especially against the background of regionally diverging norms and values, and discusses new concepts such as hybrid warfare and strategic deterrence. The dilemmas and implications arising from the employment of specific power instruments will also be addressed from a practical perspective of decision-making.
Course objectives
The course objectives are:
To provide students with a theoretical knowledge of instruments of power and the practical challenges arising from their usage
To ensure students have a substantial knowledge of the pillars of power so as to be able to participate constructively in debates on global affairs
To enable students to conduct independent research and to critically assess and apply the literature
To enhance students’ analytical abilities in combination with their skills in writing, presenting and debating
Timetable
The timetable will be displayed with a link on the website, Brightspace and on the front page of this minor programme.
The schedule 2021 will be published asap.
Mode of instruction
The class will consist mainly of lectures and class debates in which current affairs pertaining to the course content will be discussed and analysed.
The total study load for this course is 140 hours, consisting of:
21 hours attending lectures and seminars
30 hours writing papers
89 hours studying the compulsory literature
Participation in lectures, discussions and exercises is required in order to obtain a grade. For each missed class, an extra assignment needs to be made.
Assessment method
Research paper
25% of total grade
Resit not possible
Grade must be compensated
Exam
75% of total grade
Resit possible
Resit will take the same form
Grade must be 5.50 or higher to pass the course
Students will be permitted to resit the 75% final exam if they have a calculated overall course grade lower than 5.50 or with permission of the Board of Examiners. The research paper needs to be compensated.
Late hand in penalty: 0,5 minus per day, and after seven days we do not accept papers any longer.
The Course and Examination Regulation Security Studies and the Rules and Regulation of the Board of Examiners of the Institute of Security and Global Affairs apply.
Reading list
TBA on Brightspace
Registration
Registration in uSis is possible from August 16th, after registration for the entire minor.
Register for every course and workgroup via uSis. Some courses and workgroups of the minor have a limited number of participants, so register on time.
Leiden University uses Brightspace as its online learning management system. Important information about the course is posted here.
After enrolment for the course in uSis you are also enrolled in the Brightspace environment of this course.
Contact
globalaffairs@fgga.leidenuniv.nl
Remarks
All sessions will be in English.
Essays need to be written in English.
Please note that the resit will be organised in January.