The Westphalian system of states and how relevant is it today

The objectives of this assignment are to help students learn how to put together a coherent and convincing argument about one or more theories of international relations. The assignment combines skills in research and writing that have been foreshadowed and/or practised in the bibliographic assignment.

The essay questions are available here.

1. What is the Westphalian system of states and how relevant is it today?
2. Explain the role of the United Nations in world politics using one of the theories
   covered in this course (plz check the lecture notes i sent).
3. Is peace between powerful states possible? Evaluate using either a liberal or
   neorealist approach.
4. Why do states want nuclear weapons? Critically discuss this question, applying a
   neorealist analysis. (demonstrate in two perspective)
5. How does a Marxist approach to IR help us to understand underdevelopment? Use
   one or more examples from contemporary IR to illustrate your point.
6. How does feminist IR approach questions of power? Outline one issue in IR using a
   feminist approach.
7. What roles do norms play in the reduction of conflict? You may refer to issues such
   as crimes against humanity, war crimes, R2P in your response.
8. What is poststrustructuralist international relations, and does it afford a better
   understanding of power in international relations than the other approaches? (This
   question can be answered by choosing a contemporary issue and demonstrating the
   power of poststructuralism, or by comparing poststructuralism to alternative theories) (200words)

Here are some required reading, You can use them as reference:

Required Readings

Neil Smith, ‘The Geography of Uneven Development’, in Bill Dunn and Hugo Radice (eds) 100 Years of Permanent Revolution. London: Pluto Press, 2004.
Andreas Bieler and Adam David Morton, ‘Historical Materialism and International Relations: the social relations of production’, Theorising the International, Class 6, https://sites.google.com/site/irtheoryresource/home (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site..

Required Readings

Cox Michael. (2017) From the end of the cold war to a new global era. In: Baylis J, Smith S and Owens P (eds) The globalization of world politics: An introduction to international relations. Seventh ed. Oxford, United Kingdom; New York: Oxford University Press, 68-82.
Hoffman Frank G. (2007) ‘Conflict in the 21st Century: The Rise of Hybrid Wars (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.’, Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, pp. 7 – 17.

Required Readings

Dunne Tim. (2017) Liberalism. In: Baylis J, Smith S and Owens P (eds) The globalization of world politics: An introduction to international relations. Seventh ed. Oxford, United Kingdom; New York: Oxford University Press, 116-128.
Doyle Michael. (2005) Three Pillars of the Liberal Peace. The American Political Science Review 99(3): 463-466.
Panic Mica. (1995) The Bretton Woods System: Concept and Practice. In: Michie J and Grieve Smith J (eds) Managing the Global Economy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 37-54.
Oxfam. (2017) An Economy for the 99% – Executive Summary (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.. Oxfam Briefing Paper, accessed 5 February 2017, 1-8.

Required Readings

Best Anthony, Hanhimaki Jussi, Maiolo Joseph A and Schulze Kirsten E. (2014) The First Cold War in Europe. In: International history of the twentieth century and beyond. Routledge, 229-260.
Gaddis John Lewis. (1992) International relations theory and the end of the Cold War. International Security 17(3): 5-58.
Hara Kimie. (1999) Rethinking the ‘Cold War’ in the Asia-Pacific. The Pacific Review 12(4): 515-536.

Sample Solution