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Poslední úprava: RNDr. Jan Kofroň, Ph.D. (08.09.2016)
The course/seminar aims at introducing students to selected political issues of the contemporary world. As the title indicates, we will focus on political phenomena connected with space and geography. We will study these issues by reading and critically discussing key papers written on the selected issues by both political geographers and political scientists (including IR scholars). Thus the secondary goal of the course is to help students read high-quality texts, learn style and mode of academic communication. The course tries to offer two distinct perspectives to each problem in order to faciliate discusion and critical thinking. The bottom line is that our theoretical assumptions are importnat for our analysis as well as political recomendations quite often. |
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Poslední úprava: RNDr. Jan Kofroň, Ph.D. (05.11.2018)
Assessment: Class participation is obligatory – at least 75 %
Grade: in class participation: 20 % Presentation of a problem: 20 % Multiple choice test (based on mandatory readings): 60 %
In class participation – students are required to read all the assigned readings. It is expected that they will be active participants in the discussion on those readings. Presentation: 12 minutes presentation of a geopolitical problem or issue. The task is not to describe the situation, but to analyze it. A good idea is to engage with two opposing arguments about causes (or solutions) of a problem. Ideally, the presentation should be ended with a clear statement which perspective is better (more useful) and why.
Multiple choice test will be based on the obligatory reading. Only one of the provided answers is correct. Students with insufficient test score may retake the test if their score from the first attempt was at least 50 %.
Grades: A – 90 % and higher B – 80-89 % C - 70-79 % D – 60-69 % E - 50-59 % F - less then 50 % |
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Poslední úprava: RNDr. Jan Kofroň, Ph.D. (08.09.2016)
1) (i) Organizational issues, structure of the curse, requirements (ii) Approaches in geopolitical thinking and research, Klasical and modern approaches (Mamadouh 2003)
2-3) Globalization and its significance – is territorial state death? Ability of states to excercise control over territory under condition of modern globalization has been discussed fiercely from 1990. We will engage with two oposing views: Retreat of the state: Strange (1996) Why the state will not go away (easily) Waltz (1999 and 2000)
4-5) The effects of unipolarity – peace and stability or war and chaos? The end of the Cold War has ended bipolarity... and so far American prediminance is a matter of the fact. Zhis is quite unique configuration of power form the perspective of IR, therefore one can ask if unipolarity helped to promote peace and stability or not. Unipolarity – peaceful and stable (Wohlforth 1999) Unipolarity conflictual (Monteiro 2012)
6-7) State death While behaving of states has been discused widely, upt to recently we lacked systemic treatments of state death - which is quite important event not only for states, but even for people liveng in dying states. Interestingly, state death is affexted by geography to large extent. Being a buffer - dying soon (Fazal 2004) Territorial conflicts - the easiest way to disapear from the map (Valeriano, Benthuysen 2012)
8-10) Ascending China – new hegemon? Is Chinese growth inevitable? (Beckley 2012) Consequences of Chinese Growth (Mearshiemer 2011/Glaser)
11-12) Military power and geography – How technological progress affected the role geography plays in projecting military power? Technology, Air power and the RMA – decreasing significance of distance in modern warfare Rethinking the conventional wisdom (Biddle 2004, Montgomery 2015 ) |