Content (Syllabus outline):

History (development) of international relations:

• From rudimentary international relations to the first international system (Mesopotamia, Egypt, Indian and Chinese international communities, Greek international community as the first international system).
• Creation of a strong state, European colonial expansion, breakthrough of the capitalist mode of production, and emergence of the universal (global) and hierarchically structured international community.
• The Congress of Westphalia: definition of the territorial boundaries of the European states and dynamic conception of balance of power.
• The French Revolution and incursion of the ideological element into international relations.
• The Holy Alliance, the Concert of the European Great Powers; rigid alliances and outbreak of the First World War.
• International relations between the two World Wars: the League of Nations as the first attempt to introduce a system of collective security; the Kellog-Briand Pact; creation of the Soviet Union and consequent “ideologization” of international relations.
• International relations after the Second World War: bipolarity and the Cold War; decolonization; the United Nations (UN) and setting up of the system of collective security.
• International relations after 1989: emergence of multipolarity; domination of the capitalist socio-economic system; social tensions and rise of the religiously motivated revolutionary movements (e.g. Islamism).

The structure of the international community:

• Factors (spatial, demographic, scientific-technological, ideological).
• Actors (states, international governmental and non-governmental organizations, peoples, minorities, liberation movements, the Roman Catholic Church, multinational companies and others).
• Processes and relations (co-operation and conflict; development and underdevelopment).
• Norms (international law).

Theories of international relations:     

• Realism.
• Idealism.
• The English School (International Society Approach).
• Structuralism/World-System Theory.
• New Approaches to International Theory.

Problems:

• Globalization and domination of the neo-classical (neoliberal) socio-economic paradigm.
• Humanitarian intervention (Responsibility to protect).
• Role of Civilizations (culture, religion).
• International relations in regions (Europe and the Russian Federation; the Middle East; Africa; Asia and the Pacific).