International Politics of the Global South

Mainstream IR theory was built largely from a European vantage point, and this course pushes back by asking what concepts like sovereignty, security, war, and order actually look like when viewed from the countries on the receiving end of that system. The first half re-examines those core IR building blocks through a global South lens, and the second half applies that lens to live issues — globalization, inequality, migration, environmental politics, South-South relations. You'll do it through readings, in-class discussion, an essay, a midterm, and a final, with no heavy methods prerequisite. It pairs well with IR theory and political economy electives and is useful before any thesis work touching development, postcolonial politics, or non-Western foreign policy.