One of the defining features of international relations at any point in history has been the distribution of power among the major states and the character of the political, economic, and military relationships among them. This course draws from the major schools of international relations theory to explore the underlying causes of war and peace among great powers, from the clash between Athens and Sparta in the 5th Century B.C., to great power politics of the 19th Century, the World Wars of the early 20th Century, and the Cold War between the United States and the USSR. The course concludes by examining how we might apply the theoretical and historical lessons of earlier periods to the challenge of great power politics among the United States, China, and Russia in the 21st Century.
