Undergraduate Module Descriptor

POL2117: Great Power Politics

This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.

Module Aims

This module will provide you with:

Theoretical understanding of the causes of great power competition and cooperation, including both the comparison of theories to explore their explanatory utility and the application of theory to contemporary debates in great power relations;
Empirical knowledge of past and present great power interactions, thereby providing an evidence base with which to assess the competing claims of different explanatory theories as well as the background knowledge that informs our understanding of contemporary problems; and
Applicable insights for national security strategy/policy.

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 Skills	1. Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of key issues around great power politics and international relations. 2. Apply this awareness to contemporary problems of strategy and statecraft.
Discipline-Specific Skills	3. Display an understanding of the evolution of international relations and strategic theory, and their utility for contemporary decision-making. 4. Exercise informed judgement about change and continuity in international politics.
Personal and Key Skills	5. Conduct independent research, exercise critical judgement, and write clearly and persuasively. 6. Demonstrate the ability to work independently, within a limited time frame, and without access to external sources, to complete a specified task.

Module Content

Syllabus Plan

While the content of this module is likely to change from year to year, to reflect advances in the field, it is envisaged that we will cover all or some of the following topics:

What are “great” powers, how do we define them, and why does it matter?
Why do great powers sometimes cooperate yet sometimes compete (and even fight)?
What are the causes and consequences of shifts in the interstate balance of power?
Which states are great powers today, and what does the future hold?
What does technology (such as nuclear weapons) and geography (such as oceanic separation) do to great power relations?
What does contemporary great power competition mean for UK/Western foreign and defence policy?

Learning and Teaching

This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:

Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	Guided independent study	Placement / study abroad
22	128	0

...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:

Category	Hours of study time	Description
Scheduled Learning & Teaching Activity	22	11 x 2hr lecture-seminars
Guided Independent Study	128	Seminar preparation, assessment completion, and other related reading/research

Online Resources

This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).

How this Module is Assessed

In the tables below, you will see reference to 'ILO's. An ILO is an Intended Learning Outcome - see Aims and Learning Outcomes for details of the ILOs for this module.

Formative Assessment

A formative assessment is designed to give you feedback on your understanding of the module content but it will not count towards your mark for the module.

Form of assessment	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
In-class participation	Weekly lecture-seminars	1-6	Verbal, in-class

Summative Assessment

A summative assessment counts towards your mark for the module. The table below tells you what percentage of your mark will come from which type of assessment.

Coursework	Written exams	Practical exams
50	50	0

...and this table provides further details on the summative assessments for this module.

Form of assessment	% of credit	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
Exam	50	1.5 hours	1-6	Mark
Essay	50	2,000 words	1-6	Written

Re-assessment

Re-assessment takes place when the summative assessment has not been completed by the original deadline, and the student has been allowed to refer or defer it to a later date (this only happens following certain criteria and is always subject to exam board approval). For obvious reasons, re-assessments cannot be the same as the original assessment and so these alternatives are set. In cases where the form of assessment is the same, the content will nevertheless be different.

Original form of assessment	Form of re-assessment	ILOs re-assessed	Timescale for re-assessment
Exam	Exam (1.5 hours)	1-6	August\September reassessment period
Essay	Essay (2,000 words)	1-6	August\September reassessment period

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.

(This reading list is indicative– 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.)

John J. Mearsheimer, The Tragedy of Great Power Politics (New York: Norton, 2001)
Paul Kennedy, The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers: Economic Change and Military Conflict from 1500 to 2000 (New York: Random House, 1987)
Dale C. Copeland, The Origins of Major War (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2000)
Robert Jervis, The Meaning of the Nuclear Revolution: Statecraft and the Prospect of Armageddon (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1990)
Robert Gilpin, War and Change in World Politics (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981)
Stacie E. Goddard, When Right Makes Might: Rising Powers and World Order (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2018)
Paul K. MacDonald and Joseph M. Parent, Twilight of the Titans: Great Power Decline and Retrenchment (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2018)
David M. Edelstein, Over the Horizon: Time, Uncertainty, and the Rise of Great Powers (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2017)
David M. McCourt, Britain and World Power since 1945: Constructing a Nation’s Role in International Politics (Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2014)
Michael Beckley, Unrivaled: Why America Will Remain the World’s Sole Superpower (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2018).