Undergraduate Module Descriptor

POL3282: World Orders: Past, Present, and Future

This module descriptor refers to the 2022/3 academic year.

Module Aims

This module aims to provide students with the analytical tools to critically examine the past, present and future of world order(s). The module will be divided into three parts. The first part addresses the importance of thinking in terms of grand theories and grand narratives about international relations. We will furthermore explore a number of key concepts such as world order, power, and time.

In the second part we will address multiple perspectives on the histories and present characteristics of world orders. We will reflect on how different perspectives are profoundly shaped, among others, by distinct theoretical assumptions about what constitutes order and progress, who are the main actors and social forces in the international system, what constitute key forms of power, and what are the main sources of international change and stability.

In the third part of the module we will interrogate, in critical as well as imaginative ways, the future. We will start by reflecting on how to think about ‘the future’, also through an engagement with ideas of utopia/dystopia and methodologies like scenario planning. Students will carry out case studies and present their visions and scenarios of future world orders to the rest of the class.

This is a highly theoretical module. However, we will not simply approach theory for theory’s sake, but always relate it to the empirical reality around us. The purpose is to unpack how different conceptual and normative assumptions lead to distinct interpretations of world order and what our own place and agency within it is. The starting point is that if we are to “make the world a better place”, as so many aspire to do, we first need to make sense of what this very world we inhabit and are constituted by looks like.

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 an in-depth understanding of key concepts and different perspectives on world order
2. Critically assess and evaluate distinct histories and theories of world order
3. Apply the acquired conceptual tools and theoretical frameworks to interpret and explain world ordering dynamics and changes taking place in the international system
Discipline-Specific Skills4. Critically reflect on the advantages and disadvantages of thinking in ‘systemic’ ways about international relations and world politics
5. Analyse and place contemporary issues in the context of larger theoretical frameworks and historical trends
6. Evaluate and problematise conventional narratives and assumptions about international relations
Personal and Key Skills7. Communicate effectively by articulating a clear point of view whether in written format, group presentations, or seminar discussions
8. Work independently and as part of a team
9. Understand, summarise, and evaluate complex arguments and events

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.

Acharya, Amitav (2018), The End of American World Order (2nd edn.; Cambridge: Polity).

Bull, Hedley (2012), The Anarchical Society: A Study of Order in World Politics (4th edn.; London: Macmillan).

Buzan, Barry and Lawson, George (2015), The Global Transformation: History, Modernity and the Making of International Relations (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).

Cooley, Alexander and Nexon, Daniel (2020), Exit from Hegemony: The Unraveling of the American Global Order (New York: Oxford University Press).

Dalby, Simon (2020), Anthropocene Geopolitics: Globalization, Security, Sustainability (University of Ottawa Press).

Deudney, Daniel (2020), Dark Skies: Space Expansionism, Planetary Geopolitics, and the Ends of Humanity (Oxford: Oxford University Press).

Getachew, Adom (2019), Worldmaking after Empire: The Rise and Fall of Self-Determination (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press).

Huntington, Samuel P. (1996), The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order (New York: Simon and Schuster).

Ikenberry, G. John (2011), Liberal Leviathan: The Origins, Crisis, and Transformation of the American World Order (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press)

Mearsheimer, John J. (2014), The Tragedy of Great Power Politics (Updated edn.; New York: WW Norton & Company).

Phillips, Andrew and Reus-Smit, Christian (2020), Culture and Order in World Politics (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).

Sassen, Saskia (2008), Territory, Authority, Rights: From Medieval to Global Assemblages (Updated edn.; Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press).

Spruyt, Hendrik (2020), The World Imagined: Collective Beliefs and Political Order in the Sinocentric, Islamic and Southeast Asian International Societies (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).

Tickner, Arlene B. and Smith, Karen (eds.) (2020), International Relations from the Global South: Worlds of Difference (London: Routledge).

Wallerstein, Immanuel (2004), World-systems Analysis: An Introduction (Durham, NC: Duke University Press).

Zarakol, Ay?e (2022), Before the West: The Rise and Fall of Eastern World Orders (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).