Foreign Policies of Great, Middle, and Small Powers

Course Overview

Welcome to the Foreign Policies of Great, Middle, and Small Powers course! This course acquaints you with how power matters in the conduct of international relations and how it influences the strategies and tactics of a nation-state in dealing with other nation-states. It demonstrates the link between a country’s ranking in the international system and the means and methods it adopts to deal with the rest of the world. The course begins with introducing a few concepts on what constitutes power in world affairs, how it is calculated, and how the international power configuration changes over time. You will also learn about what foreign policy means and what its constituent elements, strategies, or activities are. Then, the course delves deeper into the case studies of two contemporary great powers, two contemporary middle powers, and two contemporary small powers. These empirical case studies raise your awareness about current developments and trends in foreign relations from different regions of the world. Lastly, the examples of foreign policy approaches and decisions of nation-states, based on world news events of recent times, help you figure out the essence of world politics as it is being practiced in present times, and prepares you to anticipate the future international orders to come. Once you complete your FGMS (Foreign Powers Great Middle and Small) certification, you have the option to continue your studies by enrolling in the MAIRSS (Masters in International Relations and Strategic Studies) degree program. The credits you've earned from the FGMS certification will be transferred into the MAIRSS degree program. To complete the MAIRSS degree requirement, you only need to finish a staff-graded assessment, which is the final requirement to demonstrate your knowledge and skills in the field.