About this course

This course is part of the IPSAMOOC project, a joint venture Federica Weblearning – IPSA, the International Political Science Association

The course explores global order and local disorders to explain why International Studies in the West are moving towards a planetary approach to World politics. Thinking globally helps explain new links between changes in the natural environment (demographics and climate) and changes in governing Institutions. Will societies and peoples find a way to get along together despite intractable conflicts and divergence of social and national interests? Will States delegate enough sovereignty to universal organizations, rather than keeping power within national borders? Will the world ever be governed, and more democratically governed? This course in global politics aims to explore these key questions. It draws on a mix of disciplines – anthropology, history, sociology, economics and psychology – and a mix of paradigms, as no one approach is sufficient to explain the complexity of global issues today. Combining various ways of thinking creates a more complete picture of the myriad transactions that make the planet evolve towards a more complex equilibrium.

What you’ll learn

• Understand the links between nature and politics
• Learn the significance of universal organisations vs local power structures
• Explore how a complex equilibrium that aims at a sustainable future for humanity might be achieved