Hard Power_(LHEEI312)

This course examines the nature and tools of hard Power in international relations. We will study in what contexts and in what ways this approach has been used, whether in the economic or military realm. We’ll take a closer look at the U.S. as it has been the first military power since the end of WW2.
The course is divided into five sections. Part I reviews the nature of power in international and global politics. The class will look at how scholars have theorized about the nature of power and hard power. Part II examines the Economic face of hard power, first reviewing the requirements to resort to that tool, then covering and assessing instances of economic sanctions and finally taking a closer look at two pendants of economy combined with hard power, ie the arms trade and the military industrial complex. Part III will explore hard power in its military form. Through selected examples we will study how some countries have resorted to the use of military force and the consequences of this choice on I.R. Part IV will focus on how perceptions of hard power are voiced but also shaped in movies. In Part V of the course students will present and discuss their own investigation on instances of use of hard power.