The purpose of this course is to introduce you to the study of world politics from analytical and historical perspectives. Its primary goal is to help you acquire the tools needed to understand and analyze past and present world political events, and possibly to predict future events. Its core theme is conflict. The course introduces you to traditional ways of explaining and analyzing international politics, including liberal, realist, constructivist, and Marxist analytical approaches. You will be expected to become familiar with these analytical approaches, and to apply them accurately to historical and contemporary global issues presented in class, including World Wars I and II, the Cold War, conflict in the Middle East including the Iraq War, nuclear arms, and terrorism.