Course: World Politics

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Course title World Politics
Course code UHV/MSPOL
Organizational form of instruction Lecture + Seminary
Level of course Master
Year of study 2
Semester Winter
Number of ECTS credits 7
Language of instruction Czech
Status of course Compulsory
Form of instruction Face-to-face
Work placements This is not an internship
Recommended optional programme components None
Lecturer(s)
  • Vydra Zbyněk, Mgr. Ph.D.
Course content
1) Ideological and political origins of the Cold War. 2) The Soviet Union, the West and the World, 1945-1949. 3) The People's Republic of China and the Korean War. 4) Eisenhower, Kennedy and Khrushchev. Soviet-American relations, 1953-1963. 5) The USSR, the West and the World, 1963-1968. The Soviet-Chinese split. 6) Decolonization and the Cold War. Indochina wars. Africa. 7) Soviet-American relations and the politics of détente (1969-1975) 8) The crisis of the politics of détente (1975-1979). 9) Reagan and Gorbachev. The crisis of the Soviet bloc. The final phase of the Cold War (1980-1987). 10) The end of the Cold War and the demise of the USSR (1987-1991). 11) International politics and American hegemony (1991-2001). 12) World politics after 2001.

Learning activities and teaching methods
Monologic (reading, lecture, briefing), Dialogic (discussion, interview, brainstorming), Work with text (with textbook, with book)
  • Independent critical reading - 78 hours per semester
  • Home preparation for classes - 26 hours per semester
  • Contact teaching - 26 hours per semester
  • Preparation for an exam - 78 hours per semester
Learning outcomes
In lectures and seminars, students will learn about the development of international politics from the Second World War to the present.

Prerequisites
Ability to think critically and independently.

Assessment methods and criteria
Oral examination

Regular participation in lectures and seminars (80%). Work with texts and sources in seminars. Oral examination. For the oral exam, students will read a minimum of ten monographs.
Recommended literature
  • Brands, H. The Latin America's Cold War. Cambridge: Mass., 2010.
  • Cameron, Fraser. US foreign policy after the Cold War : global hegemon or reluctant sheriff?. London: Routledge, 2005. ISBN 0-415-35865-5.
  • CAUTE, D. The dancer defects: the struggle for cultural supremacy during the cold war. Oxford, 2005.
  • DOBSON, A. P., MARSH, S. U. S. foreign policy since 1945. London, 2006.
  • Dumbrell, John. Clinton's foreign policy . London ;: Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group, 2009. ISBN 978-0-415-59575-9.
  • DURMAN, K. Popely ještě žhavé: velká politika 1938-1991, díl 2., Konec dobrodružství 1964-1991. Praha, 2009.
  • DURMAN, K. Popely ještě žhavé?Velká politika 1938-1991, vol. 1, Světová válka a nukleární mír 1938-1964,. Praha: Karolinum, 2004.
  • GADDIS, J. L. Studená válka. Praha: Slovart, 2006.
  • Hanhimäki, Jussi M. The Cold War : a history in documents and eyeswitness accounts. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003. ISBN 978-0-19-927280-8.
  • Haslam, Jonathan. Russia's Cold War. New Haven, 2011.
  • Hopkins, A. G. American empire . Princeton ;: Princeton University Press, 2018. ISBN 978-0-691-17705-2.
  • LEFFLER, M. P. - PAINTER, D. S. (edd.). Origins of the Cold War: an international history. London, 2005.
  • LEFFLER, M. P., WESTAD, O. A. (edd.). The Cambridge History of the Cold War, 3 vols.. Cambridge, 2009.
  • MASTNÝ, Vojtěch. Studená válka a sovětský pocit nejistoty 1947-53: Stalinova léta. . Praha, 2001.
  • SCHULZINGER, R. D. U. S. Diplomacy since 1900. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.
  • Taubman, William. Gorbačov . Praha: Academia, 2022. ISBN 978-80-200-3343-7.
  • WESTAD, O. A. The global Cold War: third world interventions and the making of our times. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005.
  • ZUBOK, Vladislav M. A failed empire : the Soviet Union in the Cold War from Stalin to Gorbachev. Chapell Hill, 2009.


Study plans that include the course
Faculty Study plan (Version) Category of Branch/Specialization Recommended year of study Recommended semester