This course is an introduction to "global politics." Global politics, it is important to understand, is not the same as International Relations, or IR for short. IR gives primacy to states, to inter-state relations, and to issues that revolve around state interests—e.g., war, diplomacy, security, and international economic relations. IR, in this sense, is a narrowly defined field. Global Politics, on the other hand, sees states as one of many potentially significant actors operating in a context that is truly global and transnational rather than merely international. While this distinction may not seem immediately important or relevant, as we will learn, it denotes a profoundly different way of understanding and analyzing world politics. Global politics also differs from and overlaps with another major field in political science: Comparative politics. Traditionally, comparative politics focused on the "inner-workings" of countries and societies, but the increasing intensity and scope of globalization suggests that there is no longer a meaningful boundary between the domestic and international/global. This means, in part, that all politics is global and local at the same time. Global politics, in sum, is a concept that incorporates, but also transcends and integrates the traditional disciplines of IR and comparative politics.. Click on the icon to download a printable PDF version of the syllabus