DIPL 6105 AA/NA International Political Economy

This course is an advanced, graduate level seminar about international political economy (IPE) and global political economy. The course covers many topics related to international economics and finance but brings to light the rational and sometimes irrational political action and ethical ideas that drive economic decision making. Unlike a mainstream economics course, global political economy is a heterodox approach to economic thinking, analyzing normative ideas more than perhaps positive truths governing economic course work. The course materials and requirements assume that the students have a solid understanding of economic principles and theories, particularly price theory, monetary and fiscal policy and the basics of international trade. Commensurate with economics, the students should have a solid understanding of international relations, global affairs and the understanding of global governance institutions. This course will be managed as a discussion group; however each class will have a 30-60 minute lecture, followed by a 60-90 minute discussion - led by the students. The lectures will touch upon the economic ideas, of the topic at hand, and whenever possible, graphical representation and analytics will be provided. It is my belief and experience that IR scholars are well versed in critical analysis pertaining to international relations and comparative politics, yet many times fail to understand the economic intricacies of the ideas in which they criticize or support. Unlike many other international political economy courses, this course not only analyzes the intersection between economics and secular political ideas but also brings to light the important ideas of religious governance. The course is structured in two sections. Section 1 focuses on IPE philosophy and history, exploring the rise of modem economic and political structures that govern today. Here we will explore the impact that some faiths and religions had on the evolution of reason and science. We will look at the rise of Christianity and its changing ideology. On the other end, we will analyze the Islamic faith, exploring why so many Islamic countries have not advanced with the rise of science and reason. In Section 1, we will review the history of economic and political ideas from the 14th century and ending in the 21st century. Section 2 focuses on topics of relevance related to international trade, finance, monetary policy, globalization and security. This section is predicated on various readings from many scholars. It is my intent to take the readings and interweave them into a patchwork that helps the IPE and IR scholar benefit from such eclectic works from economists, political scientists, sociologists, philosophers, anthropologists and theologians. Considering this is a graduate course, class participation and reading of the materials is expected. You are required to come to class each week with questions that you want to ask the class. Each week a student will be assigned to come with questions to start the dialogue. To the extent that peers can answer your questions, they will be provided the time to do so. I will try to outline the economic and political theory, at hand, prior to the group discussion each week. The materials chosen for this course are broad and numerous. Our materials include books, papers and podcasts. Although a substantial amount of reading, I have benchmarked the reading on 5-9 hours per week, plus 0-2.5 hours per week of independent research for your paper