Global Affairs

Minor

The minor Global Affairs is built on two pillars of International Relations: International Security and International Political Economy. This minor aims to provide students with the tools and knowledge to understand the most important global trends and challenges. In the minor students will explore the relationship between geo-political shifts and power instruments in International Relations: in the political/ military as well as in the financial/economic domain. We will address the current situation in international diplomacy and the solutions it could or should provide in this radically changed environment which continues to change rapidly.

Geo-political shifts have great consequences in a variety of ways: the balance between regions, the roles of institutions, the use and development of international law or the use of power instruments. The minor aims to offer students a balanced package of courses in which theory and practice in this extended field of international relations are combined. The lecturers will confront students with their academic knowledge and their practical experiences. We will pay attention to global trends and challenges such as: the shift of political, financial and economic power to the East and its consequences for existing international institutions; climate change; the new role of media in global events; scarcity of energy resources and the commodity markets. It will address both inter-state and intra-state conflict, as well as post-conflict nation building.

Amongst its teachers are: Prof.mr. Jaap de Hoop Scheffer (International Relations & Diplomatic Practice) will teach the course ‘Gateway to Global Affairs’. He is former NATO Secretary-General and former Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs. Prof.dr. Rob de Wijk (International Relations & Security) will teach the course ‘Power Instruments’. De Wijk is director of The Hague Center for Strategic Studies and director of The Hague Security Delta. Prof.dr. Edwin Bakker (Terrorism) will teach the course ‘Terrorism & Counterterrorism: Comparing Theory & Practice’. He is director of the Center for Terrorism & Counterterrorism and the first professor in the world who created a MOOC on this topic. Next to that we will invite practitioners – politicians, diplomats, experts and other officials – to join our ranks during the lectures.

Registration

You can register for this minor in Usis, code: 6000MGAN. You will also have to register for the individual courses, those Usis codes will be announced shortly. It is not possible to follow single courses, as the minor is a consistent package of courses designed to help you build your knowledge in a logical and connected way.

Courses

Vak	EC	Semester 1	Semester 2
Block 1
Gateway to Global Affairs	5
War, Media and Globalisation	5
Pivots and Partnerships: Transatlantic Relations in a New Era	5
Block 2
Geo-Economics	5
Terrorism and Counterterrorism: Comparing Theory and Practice	5
Power Instruments	5

Minor structure

The programme starts with an intensive three week course ‘Gateway to Global Affairs’ providing students with the basic knowledge about the topic. Following this course, students take 2×2 courses which focus on specific aspects of Global Affairs:

Pivots and Partnerships: Transatlantic Relations in a New Era – War, Media and Globalization – Geo-Economics – Terrorism & Counterterrorism: Comparing Theory & Practice

The minor ends with again an intensive 3 week course ‘Power Instruments’, bringing together the various perspectives in this one module. Finally, the students have a closing seminar where they present what they have learned and will be addressed by an esteemed speaker.

Registration
Registration for the minor Global Affairs, via Usis from 1 May 2014 onwards. The minor is to be found in Usis under the tab 6000MGAN

Target group

This English minor program aims at students who have a keen interest in, and are enthusiastic about global affairs, international relations, international political economy, international security and diplomacy. This minor is especially interesting for students from Public Administration, Political Science, Law and International Studies, but all students are welcome.