International Security

2022/2023

Academic Year

ENG

Instruction in English

3

ECTS credits

Delivered at:

Department of Political Science and International Affairs

Course type:

Elective course

When:

4 year, 3 module

Instructor

Sevastianov, Sergei

Course Syllabus

Abstract

The primary goal of the class is to provide students with an overview of the major contemporary issues in international security as well as with expanded knowledge in the field of “security studies”, including definitions, theories and concepts of the National, Regional and Global Security. By the end of the course, students will be familiar with a number of security-related topics, including nuclear proliferation, arms control, terrorism, cyber warfare, regional security patterns, etc. Class will also cover how policy-makers and scholars of IR approach most critical challenges and threats to global, regional and domestic security, and how they are addressed in different regions of the world.

Learning Objectives

• The primary goal of this class is to provide students with an overview of the major contemporary issues and tendencies in international security as well as complex understanding of the field of “security studies”.

Expected Learning Outcomes

• Able to conduct professional activities internationally
• Able to solve professional problems based on synthesis and analysis
• Able to outline the need for resources and plan its using for solving professional problems
• Is able to work in team
• Capable of analyzing the political phenomena and political processes by using political science methods and in support of practical decision-making process

Course Contents

• Introducing the contemporary security issues.
• International security organizations. Military conflicts. International armed humanitarian interventions and peacekeeping
• Weapons of mass destruction: nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. Nuclear deterrence.
• Arms race, control and disarmament in modern world. Space security. Revolution in military affairs. Comprehensive military deterrence.
• American and European patterns of global and regional security
• Russian and Chinese patterns of global and regional security.
• Students’ group presentations on case-studies in traditional security.
• Terrorism as a universal danger. Growth of nationalism, extremism.
• Climate change, medical pandemics, energy and food shortage).
• IT and cyber security. Course conclusion and evaluation

Assessment Elements

• Participation in class discussion
  Assessment will be based on preparation of the readings assigned to each tutorial, participation in class discussion with the focus on qualitative contribution to the discussion, ability to answer questions based on the readings, come up with own interpretations and react to comments made by the instructor and other students. Students are expected to be actively involved in discussions and in-class group assignments, read the literature assigned to the course and be ready to apply the information to their own research.
• Group PPT-based in-class presentation
  Group PPT-based in-class presentation (by duration of up to 8-10 minutes and by volume of 10 – 12 slides) on a case-study in traditional international security. Recommended list of case-studies, guidelines to and requirements for their preparation will be provided by the instructor. Students should propose the topic for this in-class presentation for approval by the instructor no later than by the class 3 of the course). Presentation must be prepared by a group of students (2 in a group) and made during the class 7 of the course. Each student must take part in the presentation. The topics of the PPT-based presentations should relate to one of the thematic issues as follows: - recent international military conflicts; - activities of international security organizations; - key powers’ global and regional security approaches; - recent territorial disputes with the use of force or with acute threat of the use of force; - emergence of new technologies and Revolution in military affairs; - nuclear proliferation issues and trends in selected countries or regions of the world; - other relevant traditional security topics. Recommended list of some possible presentations’ topics would be sent to students by the instructor.
• Essay
  The essay (2500 – 3000 words, including references) should relate to one or several aspects of the non-traditional aspects of international security world-wide or in any region. The topics of the PPT-based presentations should relate to one of the thematic issues as follows: - transnational terrorism, cyberterrorism, growth of nationalism, extremism; - climate change and environmental problems; - international migration, illegal trafficking; - medical pandemics; - resources’ security (energy, food, water shortage, etc.); - IT and cyber security; - other relevant non-traditional security topics. Recommended list of some possible but not all topics, guidelines to and requirements for the essays’ preparation will be provided by the instructor. Essay should be an original piece of research and also it may be a critical review of the existing literature on a chosen topic (students should propose the topic and format of the paper for approval by the instructor no later than by the class 8 of the course). The essay could be prepared individually or by a group of two students, and it should focus on one or several aspects of the second part of the course. The essay is due two days after the class 9 of the course. The topics of the essays should relate to one of the thematic issues, as follows: transnational terrorism, cyberterrorism, illegal trafficking; climate change, resources’ security (energy, food, water. etc.), international migration; medical pandemics and other relevant topics.

Interim Assessment

• 2022/2023 3rd module
  0.5 * Participation in class discussion + 0.25 * Essay + 0.25 * Group PPT-based in-class presentation

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

• Buzan, B., & Hansen, L. (2009). The Evolution of International Security Studies. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=304838
• Gheciu, Alexandra, and William C. Wohlforth, eds. The Oxford Handbook of International Security. Oxford University Press, 2018.
• The handbook of global security policy ed. by Mary Kaldor . (2014).

Recommended Additional Bibliography

• Behnke, A. aut. (2013). NATO’s security discourse after the Cold War representing the West Andreas Behnke.
• Chevrier, M. I. (2012). Arms Control Policy: A Guide to the Issues : A Guide to the Issues. Praeger.
• Cygankov, A. P. . (DE-588)124065627, (DE-627)085614912, (DE-576)185330452, aut. (2013). Russia’s foreign policy change and continuity in national identity Andrei P. Tsygankov.
• Eichler, J. (2016). War, Peace and International Security : From Sarajevo to Crimea. [Place of publication not identified]: Palgrave Macmillan. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1436736
• Enrico Fels, Jan-Frederik Kremer, & Katharina Kronenberg. (2012). Power in the 21st Century : International Security and International Political Economy in a Changing World. Springer.
• Goswami, N. (2021). The Proliferation of Space Weapons Among Asia-Pacific Nations. Global Asia, 16(2), 60–65.
• Miles Pomper, & Richard Pilch. (2021). Asia-Pacific Perspective on Biological Weapons and Nuclear Deterrence in the Pandemic Era. Journal for Peace and Nuclear Disarmament, 4(S1), 342–367. https://doi.org/10.1080/25751654.2021.1880787
• Schreier, F. (2009). WMD Proliferation: Vol. 1st ed. Potomac Books.
• Topychkanov, P. (2021). Myriad Risks: Nuclear Doctrines in the Asia-Pacific. Global Asia, 16(2), 22–25.