Home

International Relations

View courses in

  • CAS IR 452: Topics in European Politics and Culture
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing and consent of instructor. - Meets with CAS PO 539. Explores European politics through the lens of culture, focusing on critical moments and memory across time in Spain, Germany, Austria, France, Italy, Eastern Europe, Balkans, UK, and more, using materials from literature, film, the arts, humanities, and social sciences.
  • CAS IR 453: Forced Migration and Human Trafficking: Virtual Policy Incubator
    Causes and impact of forced migration and human trafficking. Role of conflict and state formation; emergence of international human rights and domestic asylum laws; role of international organizations, private sector and security forces in both combating and enabling human trafficking.
  • CAS IR 461: American Grand Strategy
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120); junior standing o r consent of instructor. - Traces the United States' engagement in world affairs by evaluating U.S. grand strategy - its theory of how to 'create' security for itself in an often-threatening world. Using history and theory, identifies changes in U.S. strategy and evaluates policies today. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Writing-Intensive Course.
    • Social Inquiry II
    • Writing-Intensive Course
  • CAS IR 468: War and Revolution
    Explores crises of legitimacy that led to six world altering revolutions and wars that changed the international system: the Protestant Reformation and wars of religion, and wars of revolution in France, Russia, Nazi Germany, China, and Iran.
  • CAS IR 480: Political Economy of Human Development
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing or consent of instructor. - Examines human development in low- and middle-income countries from applied economics perspective. Topics include: (1) economic growth, inequality, and poverty; (2) health, nutrition, and education; (3) agriculture, environment, and resource management; and (4) social and political factors in economic development. Also offered as GRS IR 680 A1. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Quantitative Reasoning II, Critical Thinking.
    • Critical Thinking
    • Quantitative Reasoning II
    • Social Inquiry II
  • CAS IR 491: Directed Study
    Directed study in international relations.
  • CAS IR 495: Internship in International Relations and Regional Studies
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: successful completion of the application and acceptance into an internship. This course complements an internship opportunity outside of Boston University and provides a framework for understanding the relationship between academic studies, pre-professional development, and work experiences. Course is repeatable for credit for a maximum total of 4 units, of which only 2 can be counted toward the major.
  • CAS IR 500: Topics in International Relations
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing or consent of instructor. - Examines aspects of international relations. May be repeated for credit if topics are different. Topic for Fall 2025. Section A1: Financing Development in Africa. Introduces the role of development finance institutions in fostering economic and social development. Examines the operating model for development finance institutions (DFIs) and the changing operating environment with special focus on DFIs operating in Africa.
  • CAS IR 501: Conflict and Cooperation in Asia
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing or consent of instructor. - Meets with CAS PO 554. Investigates patterns of conflict and cooperation in South and East Asia surrounding issues ranging from water resources and health to borders and war. Analyzes how such issues contribute to instability in the region, as well as methods of cooperation.
  • CAS IR 502: Latin American Political Parties
    Meets with CAS PO 561. Parties and party systems of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, and Venezuela. Historical origins and labor incorporation. Populist, working-class, and hegemonic parties. Market reform and party system transformation or collapse. Ethnic parties, clientelism, rise of a new Left. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Social Inquiry II, Research and Information Literacy.
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
    • Research and Information Literacy
    • Social Inquiry II
  • CAS IR 503: The U.S. in the Middle East
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: senior standing. - Meets with CAS PO 503. Examines the historical development and present status of the United States' association with the Middle East: American commercial, economic, political, military, and humanitarian interests in the area and their interaction.
  • CAS IR 504: Politics of the Arabian Peninsula and Persian Gulf
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: Limited to juniors, seniors, and graduate students. First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120) - Graduate Prerequisites: Limited to juniors, seniors, and graduate students. First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120) - Meets with CAS PO 577. An in-depth examination of the political, economic, and societal evolution and interactions of states and non-state actors in the Persian Gulf and Arabian. Critically assesses dominant political narratives. Considers factors ranging from politics and history to demography and resources. Effective Spring 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Critical Thinking.
    • Critical Thinking
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
    • Writing-Intensive Course
  • CAS IR 505: Arms Control and Proliferation of Weapons
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing or consent of instructor. First Year Writing Seminar ( e.g., WR 100 or WR 120). - Examines why and how arms control, disarmament, and non-proliferation have become important issues in modern diplomacy. Analyzes the progress made in concluding global and regional agreements, verification and compliance techniques, and their role in post-Cold War security issues. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Ethical Reasoning, Social Inquiry II.
    • Ethical Reasoning
    • Social Inquiry II
    • Writing-Intensive Course
  • CAS IR 509: Islam in Middle East Politics
    Meets with CAS PO 556. Analysis of Islam in the classical and popular forms; examination of the role of the Muslim religion in the international politics of the modern Middle East, especially Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Libya; their interrelationships and their attitudes toward the West.
  • CAS IR 510: Comparative Immigration and Racial Politics
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: Senior Standing or consent of instructor. - Examines immigration policies and domestic racial hierarchies across world regions and regime-types. Role of immigration and racial hierarchy in economic development, state formation, nationalism, and electoral politics in three largest migrant-receiving regions: North America, Western Europe, and the Persian Gulf.
  • CAS IR 516: Intelligence and Homeland Security
    Introduces students to the interplay of intelligence and homeland security by answering questions such as: Who threatens' How and why do they threaten' Who protects the homeland' How do they protect us' What ethical framework should we apply' Effective Spring 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Oral and/or Signed Communication, Ethical Reasoning, Historical Consciousness.
    • Ethical Reasoning
    • Historical Consciousness
    • Oral and/or Signed Communication
  • CAS IR 517: Balkan Politics and International Relations
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing or consent of instructor. First-Year Writing Seminar ( e.g., WR120) - Examines history and current state of international relations and security issues in the Balkans. Addresses both intra-Balkan relations and Balkan states' security options, with particular focus on EU, European security architecture, NATO, and the role of Russia and China. Effective Spring 2022, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Oral and/or Signed Communication, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Writing-Intensive Course.
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
    • Oral and/or Signed Communication
    • Writing-Intensive Course
  • CAS IR 519: People Power in Global Politics
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing or consent of instructor. - Explores how everyday people shape global politics, drawing on classic studies of political anthropology as well as more recent examples of transnational and digital activism.
  • CAS IR 520: The State and Public Purpose in Asia
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: juniors & seniors in Internat'l Relations, Pol. Science, and Asian Stu dies who have completed the 1st-Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR100 or 1 20) & Writing, Research & Inquiry (WR150, 151, 152). - Meets with CAS PO 550. Comparative exploration of the economic and political institutions of Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, drawing on political and economic theory. Addresses how relationships among state, business, and labor have affected industrial development and contemporary economic activity. Effective Spring 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Social Inquiry II, Critical Thinking.
    • Critical Thinking
    • Social Inquiry II
    • Writing-Intensive Course
  • CAS IR 521: Intelligence, Congress and the Formulation of National Security Policy
    Examines the role and influence of Congress on the intelligence agencies of the US, Congress's oversight of intelligence collection, counterintelligence, covert action and surveillance in relation to the executive powers. Explores the influence of espionage on national security policy. Effective Spring 2025, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Oral and Signed Communication.
    • Historical Consciousness
    • Oral and/or Signed Communication

Related Bulletin Pages

Beyond the Bulletin