Development of the International System

Instructors

Assistant Professor Dr. Kasira Cheeppensook [kasira.c@chula.ac.th]

Assistant Professor Dr. Teewin Suputtikun [teewino@hotmail.com]

Dr. Pongphisoot Busbarat [pongphisoot.b@chula.ac.th]

Course Description

This course aims to build an understanding of the making of the modern international system. It explores transitions and transformations of sovereignty and relationships between states from the collapse of late antiquity to the establishment of the "Westphalian System" in the early modern period, and the subsequent post-World Wars order. Students will learn critical historical phenomena that impact the contemporary world order in both conflict and cooperation.

Learning Outcomes

● Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the development of the international system;

● Relate historical contexts that help shape the present international order to current issues;

● Critically analyse issues and phenomena related to international politics based on historical perspective;

● Engage in well-informed academic debates on relevant actors' behaviours in the international system

● Make a reasonable assessment of the trajectory of the ongoing international politics;

● Evaluate Thailand's role within the changing international dynamics

Course Contents

Week 1: Transition and Transformation 250-900

This week we discuss the legacy of the late antiquity which laid the foundations for state establishment in the Medieval Eurasian world. We will be exploring the foundation of law, conceptual boundaries, and the rise of charismatic figures and religious hegemony which defined governance and relationships in the Medieval Period.

Week 2: The Medieval World 900-1300: Medieval Christendom

This week will be looking at the Medieval world in two parts: Medieval Christendom and The Global South. We will discuss the categorisation of histories, the emergence of European transformation, and its intellectual interactions with the world.

The medieval world is characterised by robust city and town economies, population growth, reformed political organisation, gender relations, and martial culture. In this unit, we will explore the ideas of cities, state, mobility, and warfare that affected different political cores and relationships with its neighbours. We will look at the emergence of Medieval Christendom and the foundation of western ethnocentrism that came to define latter school of political thinking while investigating cases of urban-based empires and their 'systems' in Africa and Eurasia.

Week 3: The Medieval World 900-1300: Civilisation Recast, the Global Medieval Problem

This week is an extension from Week 2. We will be looking at the idea of global middle age or in some cases referred to as the Eurasian middle age. This week explores the notion of intricacies and connections between urban-based empires outside Europe that are often ignored by scholars. We will be exploring the idea of Caliphate governance, Medieval India, and the emergence of the Song Dynasty and its power. Lastly, we will discuss how the 20th century thinking affected the perception of statecraft and relationships in the extra-western European world.

Week 4: Renaissance, Recovery, Reform 1450-1650

This period is marked by a reduction in population and agricultural production had been sharply reduced by the plague; it saw both rises to new levels. At the same time, the development of cross-European trade began the process of economic specialisation. Explorers, adventurers and merchants were opening up the New World of America, Africa and Asia, laying the basis of a future world economy. Expansion of the material world was matched by enlargement of intellectual and cultural horizons. Rising mercantilism, sovereign debt and conflict marked this period in European history. Subsequently, this led to a new breakthrough in international systems, orthodoxly defined by the Peace of Westphalia. In this unit, we will discuss the idea of 'early modern Europe' particularly problems and challenges that emerged with the 1950s and 1960s thinkers which heavily influenced modern scholarship and policymakers. We will be focussing on the consequences of 'Westphalia’ myth and historiographical traditions surrounding early modernism.

Week 5-7: Europe in the 19th Century: The Concert of Europe

Toward the end of the 18th Century, the international order of Europe was shaken by political transformation in France. The French Revolution had multiple implications to relations among European states. As the product of Enlightenment, it spread liberal value across nations and challenged the status quo of monarchy. Europe’s international politics in the 19th Century was another interesting and eventful episode worth devoting our time and intellect to examine. This is because it was the wellspring of many precedents that became parts of today’s international institutions. Shaken by the turmoil of French Revolution and the subsequent French Empire, the European great powers sought ways to ensure that such a threat to their sovereignty would not recur. They thus formed a system that marked an early attempt of “collective security.” The so-called Concert of Europe was to counter the incessant tide of liberalism and nationalism that swept across Europe since the French Revolution and threatened the monarchic regimes as well as the territorial status quo. It was born out of the consensus that cooperation was needed to deal with this common threat. Despite inherent challenges, the system arguably maintained stability of Europe well unto the early 20th Century. We will take a look at the motive and rationale behind the order and explore how the system persisted, how it crumbled, and what it contributed to the creation of today’s international relations.

Week 8-10: Post-World Wars Orders

This bloc will explore the peacebuilding efforts in the forms of two international organizations: the League of Nations and the United Nations: the second great international effort to establish the lasting peace in the world. We will look at the events leading to the founding of the League, and pay particular attention to the key functions the League was aimed to be responsible for, as well as the succeeding series of inactions contributing to its demise. The Period of Total War and Reorganization (1939-1946), in a way a search of a new international system, preceded another attempt at international organization creation lasting till today. From the League to the UN, what are the lessons to be learned? What are the legacies from the collapsed peace-building efforts? We will explore the road to UN as well as the Charter key principles and organs. The UN political functions and operational functions will be studied to understand peacebuilding project in the contemporary world.

Weeks 11-14: Contemporary International System after WWII – Cold War, Post-Cold War Order, the Rise of China, and the Current Major Power Competition

The last four weeks will explore the contemporary international system after WWII. The discussion will not only be specific to Europe but also expand to East Asia as another important region in world politics. The class will examine four broad themes:

● The confrontation between the Free World and the Communist bloc during the Cold War and its impacts on security, politics and economy of East Asia;

● The post-Cold War international system; the role of the United States and the changing regional order in East Asia;

● The rise of China, its foreign policy intentions, strategies, and impacts on contemporary international politics; and

● The current power competition between the United States and China.

Learning and Teaching Methods

This course (3 hours per week) is lecture based. However, students are highly encouraged to participate actively in class. Class activities including small group discussion, debates, brainstorming, and prior self-research are integrated into teaching to promote an active-learning experience. Reading materials are mostly available online. Students are also able to make an appointment with lecturers for further discussion and clarification.

Learning Resources

Full reading lists available in course syllabus. Students could familiarize themselves with some of the literatures; for instance,

Banaji, J. 2002. Agrarian Change in Late Antiquity: Gold, Labour, and Aristocratic Dominance: Gold, Labour, and Aristocratic Dominance. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Bisson, T. 2009. The Crisis of the Twelfth Century: Power, lordship and the origins of European Government. Princeton; Oxford: Princeton University Press.

The New Cambridge Medieval History (NCMH) often provide good starting points, especially for the Latin West, but also includes chapters on eastern Europe, Byzantium and to a lesser extent the Islamic world.

Croxton, D. 1999. The Peace of Westphalia of 1648 and the Origins of Sovereignty. The international history review, 21(3), pp.569-591.

Buzan, B. and G. Lawson. 2013. The Global Transformation: The Nineteenth Century and the Making of Modern International Relations. International Studies Quarterly 57: pp. 620-634.

Bennett, A. Leroy and James K. Oliver. 2002. International Organizations: Principles and Issues, 7th ed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. [Esp. Ch. 2]

Yahuda, M. 2011. The International Politics of the Asia-Pacific, 3rd Ed. London: Routledge.