Current course offerings

Please Note: Course profiles marked as not available may still be in development.

Course description

The increasing integration of the world driven by globalisation has created a growing number of issues that can no longer be dealt with at the national level by states alone. Issues such as climate change, weapons control or the regulation of the global economy can only be addressed globally, facilitating the emergence of a global governance structure intended to manage this globalised world order. This course explores this structure, its origins, its formal and informal actors and its processes. First, we examine the key theoretical frameworks in the field, including the realist, liberal and critical conceptions of global governance. Second, we explore the historical evolution of global governance since World War II, including the emergence of the United Nations and the Bretton Woods System, its crises, and the `New World Order of the post-Cold War period. We also explore the rationale for the formation of the European Community (now the EU) and its functions, regionally and globally. Finally, the course analyses some of the key contemporary issues facing global governance. The course concludes by reflecting on the future of global governance in an increasingly multipolar world.

Archived offerings