Description

This course examines the structure, dynamics, issues, key players, main variables, and leading challenges of security in the Pacific region. After a brief survey of the history of international relations in the region and the various theoretical approaches to the study of world and regional politics, the course will focus on the intensifying competition between the PRC (People’s Republic of China) and the United States and its allies. The aim is to ascertain the nature, magnitude, character, strengths, and weaknesses of the rising PRC power and its implications. Topics to be discussed include Chinese worldview, the action and the record of Chinese foreign policy, the incompatibility and the overlapping interests between the PRC and the United States, and the ways and means for the US to cope with the Chinese challenge. Students will also attempt to speculate about the future of security, peace, and order in the Pacific and beyond.

Pre- &/or Co-Requisites

None