DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE

FACULTY OF SOCIAL AND MANAGEMENT SCIENCES

BAYERO UNIVERSITY, KANO

P.M.B. 3011, KANO-NIGERIA

IRS 2207 THEORIES OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

COURSE OUTLINE
OBJECTIVES

The aim of this course is to introduce the students to the basic knowledge and understanding of the
theories of international relations and to develop high skill of analysis and their applications in
interpreting and explaining the reality of complex global issues and events surrounding international
politics and international relations. To critically evaluate the scholarly debates, both methodological
and theoretical in explaining the International system and give students a broad understanding of the
context within which particular IR’s debates have emerged and within which they continue to take
place. To assess and demonstrate how theory provides a road map and lens by which to examine
international events and processes.
FACILITATORS : ABDULAZIZ SANI ZANGO Ph.D, Mukhtar Bello Dr. SANI SUFYANU

THEORIES OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

1- Realism and Neo-realism

2- Liberalism and Neo-liberalism

3- Marxism and Neo-Marxism

4- Constructivism

5- Feminism

6- System Theory

7- Balance of Power and the Pole Systems

8- Integration Theory

9- Deterrence Theory

10- Game Theory

11- Personality Theory

12- Globalization and International relations

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13- Power Transition Theory

READINGS
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Andrew Linklater (2007) Critical Theory and World Politics, London: Routledge.

Ashley, R., (1996)‘The Achievements of Post-Structuralism’ in Smith, Booth & Zalewski (eds.),
International Theory: Positivism and Beyond, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

Baldwin, D.A. (ed) (1993) Neorealism and Neoliberalism: The Contemporary Debate, New York,
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Biersteker, Thomas J. & Weber, Cynthia (eds.) (1996) State Sovereignty as Social Construct
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Booth, Ken (2007), Theory of World Security, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Booth, K. & Smith, S. (1995) IR Theory Today, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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Buzan, B. and O. Waever (2009) ‘Macrosecuritisation and Security Constellations’, Review of

International Studies 35(2) pp 253-276.

Buzan, B. and Hansen, L. (2009), The Evolution of International Security Studies, Cambridge,
Cambridge University Press.

Buzan, Barry (2004) From International to World Society, Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.

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Standpoint’, International Studies Review, Vol. 4, No. 3, pp:152-165.

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Chris Brown (2006), ‘From International to Global Justice’, in Oxford Handbook of Political
Theory, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Chris Brown (2010) ‘Rules and Norms in a Post-Western World’ in Rules, Politics and Knowledge,
ed. Oliver Kessler et al, New York: Macmillan.
Chris Brown and Kirsten Ainley, Understanding International Relations (2010) 4th edition,
London, Palgrave Macmillan.

Christian Reus-Smith and Duncan Snidal (eds.),(2010) The Oxford Handbook of International
Relations, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

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Press.

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London: Routledge.

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International Relations, Albany: State University of New York Press.

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David, Held. (1995) Democracy and the Global Order, Cambridge: Polity.

Daniel, Deudney. & John, Ikenberry. (1999) ‘The Nature and Sources of Liberal International
Order’, Review of International Studies 25: 179-196.

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Norton.
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Fred, Chernoff, (2005)The Power of International Theory, London: Routledge.

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Foreign Policy, Princeton.

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George, Kennan, (1952) American Diplomacy.

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George, Lawson, (2010) ‘The “What”, “Where” and “When” of the Global 1989’, in The Global
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Immanuel, Wallerstein, ‘The Inter-State Structure of the Modern World System’, in Smith, Booth
and Zalewski (eds), International Theory: Positivism and Beyond, pp. 87–107.

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University Press.

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International Relations 17(4), pp. 497-503.

Jennifer, Sterling-Folker,(2005) Making Sense of IR Theory, Boulder: Lynne Reiner.

Johan Galtung, ‘A Structural Theory of Imperialism’, Journal of Peace Research, 13 1971: 81-94.

John Baylis, Steve Smith and Patricia Owens eds. (2010), The Globalization of World Politics 5th
edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

John J. Mearsheimer,(2001) The Tragedy of Great Power Politics.

Jones, A., ‘Does “Gender” Make the World Go Round? Feminist Critiques of International
Relations’, Review of International Studies, Vol. 22, No. 4, 1996: 405-429.

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Keohane, R, Tickner, J. A. et al ‘Conversations between IR and Feminist Theory’, International

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Contemporary Reassessment, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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Little, Richard. (2000) ‘The English School’s Contribution to the Study of International Relations’,
European Journal of International Relations, 6:3, 395-422.

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(MIT Cambridge 2005).
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London: Routledge.

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49Vol: 19(3).
Mearsheimer, J.J. (2001) The Tragedy of Great Power Politics, New York, Norton.

Michael J. Smith (1992) ‘Liberalism’ in Terry Nardin & David Mapel eds. Traditions of
International Ethics, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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Nancy Fraser (2005) ‘Reframing Justice in a Globalizing World’, New Left Review 36: 69-88.

Patrick Jackson, The Conduct of Inquiry in International Relations,(2010) London, Routledge.

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Scott, Burchill et al eds. (2009), Theories of International Relations 4th edition, London: Palgrave.

Shepherd, Laura J. (ed.) (2010) Gender Matters in Global Politics, London: Routledge.

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Positivism and Beyond, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Tarak Barkawi & Mark Laffey (1999) ‘The Imperial Peace: Democracy, Force and Globalization’
European Journal of International Relations (5) 403-434.

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and Diversity 2nd edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

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Watson, Adam (1992) The Evolution of International Society, London, Routledge.

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Wendt, A.(2000) Social Theory of International Politics, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

Whitworth, S., (1994) Feminism and International Relations, London: Macmillan.

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Youngs, G.(2006) ‘Feminist IR in the Age of the War on Terror’, International Feminist Journal of
Politics, 8(1),pp 3-18.
Youngs, G. (2004)‘Feminist IR: Contradiction in Terms?, International Affairs 80(1): 101-14. 25