China’s Rise, Diplomacy and the Future of International Relations Course

The course “China’s Rise, Diplomacy and the Future of International Relations” utilizes the classical board game Diplomacy (a negotiation simulation), as a teaching platform. However, game-play options and win rules have been expanded for teaching purposes, to allow for teaching a broader variety of International Relations (IR) theories, and to more accurately reflect current international relations. Students will learn about international relations and diplomacy, as well as about the history of IR as an academic discipline. The course melds discussions of IR history, topical current issues in international relations and discussions about the future, with a particular emphasis on how China’s rise impacts world politics.

Students are active participants in knowledge-creation, and a variety of learning methods are employed throughout the course: lecturing, game negotiations, independent reading, regular small group discussions, online discussions, learning diary etc. In particular, students will get to ‘act’ the foreign policy decision-maker and diplomat, by negotiating their way through the Diplomacy game. After successful completion of the course, students should have gained a broad overview of international relations (both real-world and academic theories), the role of diplomacy in it, and how China’s rise affects world politics.