Globalization Autocracy

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

This course exams the dynamics of has been called “global authoritarianism.” This term captures a number of processes and interactions including the following: 1) The rise of a loose coalition of authoritarian states including Russia, Iran, Venezuela, and North Korea, and the efforts of these states to build economic, diplomatic and security linkages across the globe. 2) The impact of these efforts on processes of change in developing states, and on the capacity of Western leaders in diverse democracies to defy, manage or thwart local, regional and global pressures for authoritarianism. 3) The impact of global authoritarian on the maintenance of regional security, diplomatic and political structures such as the European Union, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and the South Asian Treaty Organization. Special attention will be given to two phenomenon: First, democratic “decline” or “recession” as it has manifested itself countries such as Turkey, Hungary, the Ukraine, and perhaps the US as well Second, processes of enhanced autocratization in the Middle East and other regions. How these national struggles are influence by global authoritarianism is a key theme in this course.