This course is designed to introduce students to the major theoretical approaches to international politics, to explore important historical and contemporary questions and debates in international affairs, and to teach students to think critically about international relations. After defining what the study of international relations involves and discussing the how and why of thinking theoretically, we will discuss the major theoretical approaches, concepts, and debates in the field. We will then turn to security issues looking at both World Wars and the Cold War. The next section of the course looks at issues of political economy including questions of development, rich-poor country relations, and globalization. Finally we examine a number of contemporary issues of global governance including human rights, ethnic conflict, humanitarian intervention, and environmental issues. We end the semester looking at shifting power dynamics internationally including the rise of China.