Foreign Policy in the Third World

3 credits · Undergraduate

This seminar offers a comparative perspective on the political economy of foreign policy in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and South America at the end of the twentieth century. Its focus is how such state and non-state actors in the South relate to the New International Divisions of Labour and Power given the demise of both Bretton Woods and Cold War global regimes. In addition to selective case studies of both large and small states - from Brazil, India, Indonesia, and Nigeria to Botswana, Jamaica, Kuwait, and Singapore - it treats formal and informal external relations, from regional intergovernmental institutions to non-governmental coalitions. It also examines new forms of regional conflict and cooperation, including guerrilla struggles and civil societies. It emphasizes the incidence and impact of structural adjustment programs and conditionalities along with the emergence of “new” issues such as debt, democracy, ecology, gender, refugees, and technology. A range of alternative approaches is identified and evaluated appropriate to the contemporary period of revisionism. PREREQUISITES: POLI 2520 or POLI 2530 recommended FORMATS: Seminar