Print this page Venezuela: The Return of Great Power Politics and the End of Liberal Internationalism?

Venezuela sits at the centre of renewed global power rivalry. This course examines US intervention, regional politics and international responses to Venezuela’s crisis, asking whether we are witnessing a shift away from liberal internationalism toward renewed great power politics. Through historical context and contemporary analysis, participants explore what Venezuela reveals about the changing global order.

DELIVERY MODE

• Hybrid (F2F & Online simultaneously)

SUGGESTED READING

• Online Library of Literary, Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Essay (1917 ed.)
• Hedley Bull, The Anarchical Society: A Study of Order in World Politics, 3rd edn (New York: Columbia University Press, 2002), ISBN 0231127634

COURSE OUTLINE

• The idea of liberal internationalism: Kant’s programme for perpetual peace; C19th liberalism - economic ties as the basis for peace
• Liberal order in practice: Woodrow Wilson and the League of Nations; The post-WW2 international order - United Nations and its specialist agencies
• Post-Cold War developments: How the end of the Cold War revived international institutions
• After the Global Financial Crisis: the return of Great Power Politics?

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

1. Have an understanding of the ideas that have shaped the post-WWII international order
2. Gained insights from the history of attempts to construct a rules-based international order
3. Developed an awareness of the pressures that have built on that order
4. Assess the significance of recent US intervention in Venezuela for the future of the rules-based order