Author:
Josh Franco
Subject:
Political Science
Material Type:
Module
Level:
Community College / Lower Division
Tags:
License:
Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial
Language:
English

Thinking Analytically in International Relations

Overview

Module on thinking analytically in international relations. Intended for community college students and aligned with the requirements for POLS 140: Introduction to International Relations within the California Community College system. Includes lesson plan, readings, and ancillary materials (lecture slides).

Lesson Plan and Readings: Thinking Analytically in International Relations

Lesson Plan Thinking Analytically

Topic: Thinking Analytically in International Relations

Week #: 1

Estimated Time: 150-180 minutes

 

Lecture Slides: Available

Required Readings:

  1. “One World, Many Actors” by Carmen Gebhard in International Relations edited by Stephen McGlinchey. https://www.oercommons.org/courses/international-relations/view. CC BY-NC
    1. 14 pages
  2. Individual Level: Longo, Matthew, and Bernardo Zacka. 2019. “Political Theory in an Ethnographic Key.” The American Political Science Review 113 (4): 1066–70. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003055419000431. CC BY-NC-SA
    1. 5 pages
  3. State Level: Guild, James. 2019. “Feed‐in‐tariffs and the Politics of Renewable Energy in Indonesia and the Philippines.” Asia & the Pacific Policy Studies 6 (3): 417–31. https://doi.org/10.1002/app5.288. CC BY
    1. 15 pages
  4. System Level: Meulenbelt, Stephanie. 2018. “Assessing Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Threats to the Food Supply Chain.” Global Security: Health, Science and Policy 3 (1): 14–27. https://doi.org/10.1080/23779497.2018.1509675. CC BY
    1. 13 pages

Total Page Count: 47

Optional Readings and Resources:

  1. Bonanno, Giacomo. 2019. “Game Theory: An Open Access Textbook.” n.d. Accessed December 1, 2019. https://www.freetechbooks.com/game-theory-an-open-access-textbook-t1213.html. CC BY-NC-ND
  2. “Periodic Table of 2x2 Games” by Bryan Bruns, CC-BY-SA

Learning Objectives:

By the end of this lesson plan, students will be able to:

  1. Remember the 4 levels of analysis
  2. Analyze examples of levels of analyses
  3. Evaluate the utility of game theory to explain strategic interaction between countries

Misconceptions of Topic:

  1. International relations does not use a rigorous analytical framework
  2. International relations only focuses on country-to-country issues

 

Lesson Component

Ancillary(ies)

Levels of Analysis

Reading 1

Lecture Slides

Exploring the Individual Level

Reading 2

Exploring the State Level

Reading 3

Exploring the System Level

Reading 4

Strategic Interaction

Lecture Slides

Optional Resource 5

Optional Resource 6

Required Readings: Thinking Analytically

Required Readings:

  1. “One World, Many Actors” by Carmen Gebhard in International Relations edited by Stephen McGlinchey. https://www.oercommons.org/courses/international-relations/view. CC BY-NC
    1. 14 pages
  2. Individual Level: Longo, Matthew, and Bernardo Zacka. 2019. “Political Theory in an Ethnographic Key.” The American Political Science Review 113 (4): 1066–70. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003055419000431. CC BY-NC-SA
    1. 5 pages
  3. State Level: Guild, James. 2019. “Feed‐in‐tariffs and the Politics of Renewable Energy in Indonesia and the Philippines.” Asia & the Pacific Policy Studies 6 (3): 417–31. https://doi.org/10.1002/app5.288. CC BY
    1. 15 pages
  4. System Level: Meulenbelt, Stephanie. 2018. “Assessing Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Threats to the Food Supply Chain.” Global Security: Health, Science and Policy 3 (1): 14–27. https://doi.org/10.1080/23779497.2018.1509675. CC BY
    1. 13 pages

Total Page Count: 47

Introducing the readings:

The unit's readings introduce students to four major concepts: actors, individual level, state (aka country) level, and system level. These concepts work together as a framework for thinking analytically about international relations.

"One World, Many Actors" by Carmen Gebhard describes the levels of analysis and explains how levels affect our findings of political phenomenon. Additionally, she explains how the study of international relations is looking "Beyond the state".

The following three readings, Longo and Zacka 2019, Guild 2019, and Meulenbelt 2018 are readings to help students operationalize individual, state, and system levels in international relations. 

Ancillary Materials: Thinking Analytically

Attached are CC-licensed lecture slides to accompany the lesson plan for Thinking Analytically in International Relations.