• Offered by School of Politics and International Relations
  • ANU College ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences
  • Classification Advanced
  • Course subject Political Science
  • Academic career PGRD
  • Mode of delivery In Person
Norms & Ideas in International Security (POLS8022)

This course will explore the promise, power and limitations of ideas and norms in contemporary international security.  It will include an exploration of theoretical underpinnings of norms and ideas, examination of case studies in which norms and ideas played important roles in international security, and an evaluation of the future potential of normative factors in our international system.   Specifically, the course will look at different ways non-material factors can shape international security, including concepts such as identity, security communities, emotions, and norms.  Students will then apply these concepts to a number of case studies, such as nuclear proliferation and nonproliferation, terrorism, security challenges in the Middle East, the coming challenge of China, humanitarian intervention, civil conflict, and resource wars.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

  1. Comprehend the importance of non-material factors in international security
  2. Explain the ways in which non-material factors shape both elite and popular conceptions of what it means to be a successful state
  3. Hypothesize about how non-material factors can become part of the policy maker cost-benefit calculation in making international security decisions
  4. Apply non-material factors to key areas of international security, including nuclear politics, terrorism, regional security challenges, the role of emotions and identity in global conflict, and more.
  5. Debate the limitations of using non-material factors (especially exclusively) in analysing international security issues 

Indicative Assessment

Analytical presentation report (1500 words) (25%) (LO 1, 2, 4)

2 critical reading reflections (750 words each) (25%) (LO 1, 2, 3)

Research essay (3000 words) (50%) (LO 3, 4, 5)

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Workload

Two hour seminar per week (12 weeks), individual meetings with lecturer (1 week), and 8-10 hours of independent reading/writing per week (13 weeks)

Fees

Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.  

If you are a domestic graduate coursework or international student you will be required to pay tuition fees. Students continuing in their current program of study will have their tuition fees indexed annually from the year in which you commenced your program. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.

Student Contribution Band:
1
Unit value:
6 units

If you are an undergraduate student and have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). You can find your student contribution amount for each course at Fees.  Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.

Units EFTSL
6.00 0.12500
Domestic fee paying students
Year Fee Description
1994-2003 $1542
2014 $2478
2013 $2472
2012 $2472
2011 $2424
2010 $2358
2009 $2286
2008 $2286
2007 $2286
2006 $2286
2005 $2286
2004 $1926
International fee paying students
Year Fee
1994-2003 $3618
2014 $3762
2013 $3756
2012 $3756
2011 $3756
2010 $3750
2009 $3618
2008 $3618
2007 $3618
2006 $3618
2005 $3618
2004 $3618
Note: Please note that fee information is for current year only.

Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links

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There are no current offerings for this course.

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