IR445     
China and the World

This information is for the 2019/20 session.

Teacher responsible

Prof William Callahan CBG.9.05

Availability

This course is available on the MSc in China in Comparative Perspective, MSc in International Relations, MSc in International Relations (LSE and Sciences Po) and MSc in International Relations (Research). This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.

All students are required to obtain permission from the Teacher Responsible by completing the Student Statement box on the online application form linked to course selection on LSE for You. Admission is not guaranteed. Preference will be given to students on the MSc in International Relations programmes. 

Course content

This course will provide students with an historical overview of the development of Chinese foreign and security policy, the theoretical concepts used for analysing the making of Chinese foreign policy, and an up-to-date survey of China's evolving relations around the world. The first five weeks will be dedicated to providing a long historical perspective, and use a number of case studies to show how basic factors used in foreign policy analysis shape policy outcomes, including economic factors, the role of perception, geopolitical influences, bureaucratic politics, nationalism, and socialisation into the international system. The remainder of the course will involve analysing case studies on China's relations with the United States, Japan and Korea, Southeast Asia, South Asia, Russia and Central Asia, Australasia and the Pacific Islands, the EU, Africa, Latin America, the Middle East.

Watch a short introductory video on this course: http://www2.lse.ac.uk/internationalrelations/video/IR445-CFSP-video.aspx

Teaching

10 hours of lectures and 12 hours of seminars in the MT. 18 hours of seminars in the LT.

Students on this course will have a reading week in Week 6, in line with departmental policy. 

Formative coursework

Students will complete three 2,000 word essays during the course and will make two presentations to the seminar. It is permissible for the presentations to be on the same topics as the essays.

Indicative reading

• Yahuda, Michael, The International Politics of the Asia-Pacific, 4 edn. London: Routledge, 2019.

• French, Howard. Everything under the heavens: how the past helps shape China's push for global power. London: Scribe UK, 2017.

• Christensen, Thomas J. The China Challenge: Shaping the Choices of a Rising Power. New York: W.W. Norton, 2015.

• Shambaugh, David. China Goes Global. New York: Oxford University Press, 2013.

• Johnston, Alistair Iain. Social States: China in International Institutions, 1980-2000. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2008.

• Liao, Xuanli Chinese Foreign Policy Think Tanks and China's Policy Towards Japan. Hong Kong: Chinese University Press, 2006.

Assessment

Exam (100%, duration: 3 hours) in the summer exam period.

Student performance results

(2015/16 - 2017/18 combined)

Classification % of students
Distinction 34.7
Merit 52
Pass 12.2
Fail 1

Key facts

Department: International Relations

Total students 2018/19: 35

Average class size 2018/19: 12

Controlled access 2018/19: No

Value: One Unit

Guidelines for interpreting course guide information