Review carefully all course instructions.

Description: Introduction to the course, explanation and division of research projects, introduction to the history of international organizations. Topic: History and typology of international organizations. Description: Introduction to the course, explanation and division of research projects, introduction to the history of international organizations. Reading: Gutner_p.5-10. Assignments: Choose one research topic from the Presentation Guidelines document available on My Learning.

Topic: Theoretical approaches to international organizations. Description: Introduction to main theoretical approaches to the international organizations including realism, liberalism, feminism and Marxism. Reading: Pease_6-12, Gutner_p.13-27. Assignments: n/a

Topic: International law; states and inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations. Description: Introduction to international law, the creation and recognition of states and international organizations. MNCs and NGOs as actors in IR - their rights and obligations and the impact of their activities. Reading: Karns, Mingst & Stiles_p.1-19; Weiss & Wilkinson_p.35-45. Assignments: Submit: 1) the title, 2) the research question, 3) citations of three academic sources (including at least one recent peer-reviewed article), and 4) the draft table in the My Learning assignment, by 16.2.

Topic: Global governance - UN system. Description: The main UN organs and their core activities. Security Council paralysis due to veto politics (in relation to Ukraine and Gaza, etc.), selective enforcement of international law, the politicization of the Human Rights Council, funding dependence on a small group of donors, legitimacy gaps between the Global North and South, and the UN’s limited capacity to address armed conflicts, humanitarian crises, climate change, and mass displacement in an increasingly multipolar and conflictual international system. Reading: Karns_p.109-159. Assignments: Presentation 1.

Topic: Regional governance I – European Union (EU) Description: The main EU bodies and their key activities. Analysis of challenges including democratic backsliding in the CEE and Balkans, tensions over burden-sharing in asylum policy, security concerns linked to the war in Ukraine, enlargement fatigue, and growing legitimacy gaps between EU institutions and national governments. Reading: Bomberg_p.4-21, 48-71, 99-140. Assignments: Presentation 2.

Topic: Regional governance II – Organization of American States (OAS) Description: The principal organs of the OAS and their core activities. Examination of contested democracy promotion in Venezuela, Nicaragua, and El Salvador, politicization of election observation missions, regional migration pressures, declining consensus among member states, and the role of U.S. funding and political leverage in shaping organizational priorities. Reading: Karns_p.195-205, Meyer_p.1-16. Assignments/deadlines: Presentation 3.

Topic: Regional governance III – African Union (AU) Description: The main organs of the AU and their central policy areas. Examination of weak responses to military coups, limited enforcement of human rights norms, persistent authoritarian governance, ethnic and communal conflicts, the influence of external actors such as China and Russia, the role of multinational extractive companies, and structural dependence on external funding. Reading: Karns_p.220-229. Assignments/deadlines: Presentation 4.

Topic: Midterm Exam. Description: My Learning online test from 15.00 to 16.00 p.m. (details in Sec. 7). Covers Weeks 1–8 (lectures, readings, quizzes). Reading: Readings from Week 1 to 8. Assignments/deadlines: Review of all material from Weeks 1 to 8 (lectures, presentations, readings, discussions). The mid-term exam will assess students' progress in the first half of the course – covering material from weeks 1 to 8 inclusive. For the purposes of the midterm and final exam, “course materials” include the required readings, presentations, and discussions conducted in class. The midterm exam will be an online test that combines multiple choice and true/false questions. There will be 30 questions for a maximum of 30 minutes, which is the standard format used in competitive EU tests. Students should demonstrate a good understanding of the most important problems and concepts and should be able to provide quick and correct answers. The test will be home-based, online, and will take place during the first-class hour of Session 8 (24 March 2026), i.e., between 11.15 and 12.15 p.m. To ensure full use of the allotted time, students must begin the test within the first 30 minutes of the one-hour time block. Students can familiarize themselves with the test format by taking the sample test available under the Midterm Test module; it can be taken at any time.

Relax :)

Topic: Regional governance IV – League of Arab States (LAS) Description: The main LAS organs and their core activities. Examination of structural weaknesses in collective decision-making, limited enforcement capacity, and persistent divisions among member states, with focus on responses to authoritarian governance and civil wars in Syria, Yemen, and Libya, the Palestinian question, regional power rivalries, external intervention, and the organization’s marginal role in addressing human rights and democratic reform. Reading: Karns_p.229-234, Hafez_p.1-12, Hartmann_p.1-4. Assignments/deadlines: Presentation 5.

Topic: Regional governance V – Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Description: The core institutions of ASEAN and their primary functions. Analysis of the organization’s inability to address the Myanmar military junta, marginalization of AICHR, strict adherence to non-interference despite mass atrocities, internal divisions among member states, and constraints imposed by great-power competition between the USA and China. Reading: Karns_p.205-220. Assignments/deadlines: Presentation 6.

Topic: Human rights - UN, Council of Europe, International Criminal Court (UN, COE, ICC). Description: The UN, the COE and the ICC as the main institutions and mechanisms of international human rights protection. Comparative examination of their mandates, enforcement tools, and interaction, with attention to contemporary challenges such as politicization, selective compliance, sovereignty-based resistance, and limits of accountability for serious human rights violations and international crimes. Reading: Smith_p.65-57; Rittberger_p.193-208 Assignments/deadlines: Presentation 7.

Topic: Security issues - UN, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Description: Examination of the limits of UN collective security exposed by veto politics and unilateral military actions by major powers. Analysis of NATO’s role in deterrence and collective defense, U.S. leadership and burden-sharing debates, controversies surrounding unilateral signaling and territorial claims (e.g. Greenland), responses to war in Ukraine, and tensions between multilateral security frameworks and unilateral power projection. Reading: Pease_p.105-152; Weiss & Wilkinson_p.488-499 Assignments/deadlines: Presentation 8.

Topic: Economic issues – World Trade Organization (WTO), World Bank (WB), International Monetary Fund (IMF), and BRICS. Description: Examination of contemporary economic challenges such as trade disputes and paralysis of the WTO dispute settlement system, conditionality and austerity policies of the IMF and WB, debt crises in the Global South, development financing, and the rise of BRICS as a platform challenging Western-dominated global economic governance and promoting alternative financial and development models. Reading: Weiss & Wilkinson_p.265-277. Assignments/deadlines: Presentation 9.

Topic: Final Exam. Description: My Learning online test from 15.00 to 16.00 p.m. (details in Sec. 7). The final exam covers whole semester. Reading: All readings. Assignments/deadlines: Review of material covered throughout the whole semester (lectures, presentations, readings, discussions). The final exam will be comprehensive, and students will be responsible for all topics covered, including student presentations and assigned literature (with an emphasis on Semester 2). The final exam will be an online test combining multiple choice and true/false questions. There will be 30 questions for a maximum of 30 minutes. Students should demonstrate a good understanding of the most important problems and concepts and should be able to provide quick and correct answers. The test will be AAU-based, online, and will take place during the first-class hour of Session 14 (12 May 2026), i.e., between 15.00 and 16.00 p.m. To ensure full use of the allotted time, students must begin the test within the first 30 minutes of the one-hour time block.