Back to Anarchy? The rebirth of global power politics

After the Cold War, the US was dominant on the world scene, militarily, economically and ideologically. ‘Dog-eat-dog’ geopolitics was replaced by the ‘Rules Based World Order’, whereby international business was conducted through multilateral negotiation and the application of international law. Political confrontation was replaced - in principle - by the joint pursuit of globalisation and the solution of common problems such as climate change. We are now seeing the chaotic breakup of that order. The US has lost interest in maintaining it; rival powers (notably China and Russia) now challenge US hegemony; and war is firmly back on the international agenda. How has this come about, and what next? This is a 10-session course and must be taken with W210Am01 in Week 2.