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Semester 2

International Relations of the Asia Pacific (PLIT10109)

Subject

Politics

College

CAHSS

Credits

20

Normal Year Taken

4

Delivery Session Year

2023/2024

Pre-requisites

Visiting students must have completed 4 Politics courses at grade B or above. We will only consider University/College level courses, and we cannot consider interdisciplinary courses or courses without sufficient Politics/Government/International Relations focus. **Please see Additional Restrictions below**

Course Summary

This module focuses on East and South East Asia as well as the Asia Pacific in the twenty-first century, but with attention to how these modern day regional affairs are both increasingly global in significance and heavily shaped by voices and events of the past. Students will explore, among other things, the much debated contemporary "rise" of China and India; the territorial disputes of the Yellow and South China Seas; the organisations and institutions of Asia and the Pacific including ASEAN and the East Asia Summit; the diversity of local regime types from democracy to absolute monarchy to military junta; and the future of American power and influence. Key issues of the International Relations discipline will also be examined and revisited throughout, such as security and conflict; the nature of power; diplomacy; cooperation and multilateralism; development; sovereignty; law; and trade.

Course Description

This comprehensive course examines arguably the most dynamic and rapidly evolving regions of the world. Parts of the Asia Pacific boast economic growth rates far exceeding those of the West, not only transforming the region itself, but ensuring that in recent years countries across Europe, North America, Latin America, Africa and elsewhere have adapted their global outlooks and foreign policies to target and accommodate the opportunities and challenges that have emerged. **Politically, Asian nations are also now far more active and influential in the workings of modern day global affairs, including in existing multilateral organisations such as the United Nations and World Bank, but also in the formation of new ones such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation. So too are Asian nations now more integral to global discussions about the most pressing contemporary issues, including climate change and the environment; poverty and development; trade; finance; and security. **In the realm of security itself, the Asia Pacific is becoming increasingly sensitive, as its rapidly developing economies expand and upgrade their military capabilities amidst long-standing regional disagreements and tensions. The United States' traditionally dominant security position is now increasingly tested by the capabilities of a "rising" China, with implications for a region whose recent history has been comparatively stable and free from major conflict. **This course examines each of these interconnected realms in both historical and contemporary contexts. It is empirical in focus but offers students an additional theoretical understanding of the workings of the Asia Pacific region. Students will, therefore, be exposed to the contributions of the more mainstream International Relations interpretations of the international politics of the Asia Pacific, such as the "great power politics" of US-China relations as interpreted by realists and liberals. In addition, they will utilise contributions of the more critical IR approaches such as social constructivism and postcolonialism, to understand what they may additionally help to explain. **In such a way the module will interrogate the role of forces central to the broad workings of global affairs, and which hold particular resonance in the dynamics of the Asia Pacific. These include distributions of military power and the interdependencies of economies, as well as (neo)colonialism and (neo)imperialism; discourse, imagery and representation; the politics of memory; and nationalism.

Assessment Information

Written Exam 0%, Coursework 100%, Practical Exam 0%

Additional Restrictions

Unless you are nominated on a Politics exchange agreement, visiting students are only permitted to enrol in one Politics course each, per semester, before the start of the relevant semester’s welcome period – and spaces on each course are limited so cannot be guaranteed for any student. Enrolment in a second Politics course will depend on whether there are still spaces available in the January Welcome Period, and cannot be guaranteed. It is NOT appropriate for students to contact staff within this subject area to ask for an exception to be made; all enquiries to enrol in these courses must be made through the CAHSS Visiting Student Office. This is due to the limited number of spaces available in this very popular subject area.

view the timetable and further details for this course