Undergraduate Module Descriptor

POL2086: Strategy and Psychology in Foreign Policy

This module descriptor refers to the 2019/0 academic year.

Module Aims

This module will aim to:

  • To introduce you to basic concepts in political psychology.
  • Expose you to different decision-making models in foreign policy.
  • Introduce you to rational choice theory and help you understand how to apply it to topics that are currently important in international relations.
  • Provide you with an understanding of the psychological opportunities and barriers faced by key decision-makers, as well as how employing a rational choice framework can help governments design effective policies.
  • Provide you a dynamic learning environment in which to develop and test ideas interactively.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

This module's assessment will evaluate your achievement of the ILOs listed here – you will see reference to these ILO numbers in the details of the assessment for this module.
On successfully completing the programme you will be able to:
Module-Specific Skills1. Demonstrate knowledge of the effects of psychological factors in foreign policy and international relations and basic concepts from rational choice theory.
2. Apply concepts from political psychology and rational choice theory to current international strategic problems.
Discipline-Specific Skills3. Analyse empirical and theoretical material.
4. Examine how political psychology and rational choice theory change the way in which current international and foreign policy problems are conceptualized (and thus how we need to resolve them).
Personal and Key Skills5. Self-organization under time pressure.
6. Think critically.

Indicative Reading List

This reading list is indicative - i.e. it provides an idea of texts that may be useful to you on this module, but it is not considered to be a confirmed or compulsory reading list for this module.

The Feeling of Rationality: The Meaning of Neuroscientific Advances for Political Science Rose McDermott (2004)

Jack S. Levy. 1997. "Prospect Theory, Rational Choice, and International Relations." International Studies Quarterly 41, 1 (March), 87-113

Lake, David, and Robert Powell, “International Relations: A Strategic-Choice Approach”  (1999) Princeton University Press. Chapter One: International Relations: A Strategic-Choice Approach David A. Lake and Robert Powell 3-38 

Thomson, Catarina. “Public support for Economic and Military Coercion and Audience Costs” (2016) British Journal of Politics and International Relations” Vol 18 (2): 407–421

Bueno de Mesquita, Bruce, “Testing Novel Implications from the Selectorate Theory of War,” World Politics 56(3) 2004 368-388.

Geddes, Barbara, “What do we know about democratization after Twenty Years?”, Annual Review of Political Science 1999 2:115-44.

Pape, Robert. 2003. “The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism,” American Political Science Review 97(3), 343-361.

Baum, Matthew A. and Philip B. K. Potter. 2008. “The Relationship Between Mass Media, Public Opinion and Foreign Policy: Toward a Theoretical Synthesis.” Annual Review of Political Science 91-109.