Course Information
SemesterCourse Unit CodeCourse Unit TitleT+P+LCreditNumber of ECTS CreditsLast Updated Date
2POLS 530International Political Economy3+0+03804.11.2025

 
Course Details
Language of Instruction English
Level of Course Unit Master's Degree
Department / Program MA Program in Political Science and International Relations (Thesis) (English)
Type of Program Formal Education
Type of Course Unit Elective
Course Delivery Method Face To Face
Objectives of the Course • Develop and deepen knowledge about political economy as an academic field. (1.1)
• Interpret the knowledge about political economy by integrating the information gathered from different disciplines and formulate new knowledge. (2.2)
• Communicate current developments and studies within the study of political economy to both professional and non-professional groups systematically using written, oral and visual techniques by supporting with quantitative and qualitative data. (3.3.1)
Course Content This course provides an introduction to the main themes of international political economy. We will discuss the history and theories of international trade, the idea of free trade and its critics, imperialism and colonialism. We will also discuss the international institutions set up in the wake of the Second World War, including the World Bank and the IMF. We will discuss neo-mercantilism, theories of development, the rise of East Asia, and growth theory, questions of poverty and development aid. We conclude the course by looking at several contemporary issues: financial crises, foreign direct investments, the role of tech giants, climate change and the limits of growth.
Course Methods and Techniques
Prerequisites and co-requisities None
Course Coordinator Associate Prof.Dr. Ali Aslan
Name of Lecturers Associate Prof.Dr. ALİ ASLAN
Assistants None
Work Placement(s) No

Recommended or Required Reading
Resources Gilpin, Robert. Global Political Economy: Understanding the International Economic Order. Princeton University Press, 2001.
Course Notes see webpage: http://ringmar.net/mycourses/index.php/international-political-economy/

Course Category
Social Sciences %100

Planned Learning Activities and Teaching Methods
Activities are given in detail in the section of "Assessment Methods and Criteria" and "Workload Calculation"

Assessment Methods and Criteria
In-Term Studies Quantity Percentage
Mid-terms 1 % 25
Assignment 1 % 25
Attendance 1 % 25
Final examination 1 % 25
Total
4
% 100

 
ECTS Allocated Based on Student Workload
Activities Quantity Duration Total Work Load
Course Duration 14 3 42
Hours for off-the-c.r.stud 14 9 126
Assignments 1 20 20
Mid-terms 1 20 20
Final examination 1 20 20
Total Work Load   Number of ECTS Credits 8 228

 
Course Learning Outcomes: Upon the successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
NoLearning Outcomes
1 As a result this course, the students will be able to: • Demonstrate understanding of facts and ideas by organizing, comparing, translating,interpreting, giving descriptions and stating main ideas.
2 Examine and break information into parts by identifying motives or causes. Make inferences and find evidence to support generalization. (D)
3 Compile information together in a different way by combining elements in a new pattern or proposing alternative solutions. (F)

 
Weekly Detailed Course Contents
WeekTopicsStudy MaterialsMaterials
1 • international economic relations and international relations • power and prosperity • wealth and poverty • war, peace and economics • governance of the world economy • terminology — the key concepts • Gilpin, Robert. Global Political Economy: Understanding the International Economic Order. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2001. • Graeber, David. “Against Economics.” New York Review of Books, December 5, 2019.
2 • The golden age of political economy. • The state and warfare. • The great geographical explorations • The commercial revolution • The beginnings of world trade • The mercantilist doctrine of trade • Columbus, Christopher. Select Letters of Christopher Columbus: With Other Original Documents, Relating to His Four Voyages to the New World. Edited by Richard Henry Major, Charles McKew donor Parr, and Ruth Parr. Translated by Diego Alvarez Chanca. London: Hakluyt Society, 1870. • Koerner, Lisbet. “A New World: Pepper, Ginger, Cardamon: Economic Theory.” In Linnaeus: Nature and Nation, 95–112. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2001. • Mun, Thomas. England’s Treasure by Forraign Trade. [1664]. New York: Macmillan, 1895. • Braudel, Fernand. “The Turkish Empire.” In The Perspective of the World, 467–84. London: Phoenix Press, 2002.
3 The idea of free trade. • What is Smith’s idea regarding “division of labor”? • Why is free trade supposed to produce economic growth? • Absolute and comparative advantage. • Is there a connection between free trade and the 19th century version of imperialism? • Smith, Adam. “Of Restraint upon the Importation from Foreign Countries of Such Goods as Can Be Produced at Home.” In An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, Vol. 2. London: Printed for W. Strahan and T. Cadell, in the Strand, 1776. • Suranovic, Steven. “The Theory of Comparative Advantage - Overview.” International Trade Theory & Policy, 1997-2001, January 26, 2006.
4 • American hegemony. • The institutional order of the post-war era. • The international political economy of the Cold War. • Ikenberry, G. John. “The Political Origins of Bretton Woods.” In A Retrospective on the Bretton Woods System, 155–98. University of Chicago Press, 2007. • “Marshall Plan.” In Wikipedia, September 8, 2021.
5 • The "developmental state" • Economic miracles in East Asia • The future of the developmental state • The Washington Consensus and its critics • Gilpin, Robert. “The State and Economic Development.” In Global Political Economy: Understanding the International Economic Order, 305–40. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2001. • Chang Ha-Joon. “Kicking Away the Ladder: Neoliberalism and the ‘Real’ History of Capitalism.” In Developmental Politics in Transition, edited by Chang Kyung-Sup, Ben Fine, and Linda Weiss. London: Palgrave Macmillan UK, 2012. • Williamson, John. “A Short History of the Washington Consensus.” In The Washington Consensus Reconsidered: Towards a New Global Governance, edited by Narcís Serra and Joseph E. Stiglitz. Initiative for Policy Dialogue Series. Oxford University Press, USA, 2008.
6 midterm
7 • The persistence of poverty • Traditional development theory - the rise and fall of development economics - the Cold War setting • International aid • The rise and fall of the New International Economic Order • Migration, "brain drain • Rostow, Walt W. “The Take-off into Self-Sustained Growth.” The Economic Journal 66, no. 261 (1956): 25–48. • Ogle, Vanessa. “State Rights against Private Capital: The ‘New International Economic Order’ and the Struggle over Aid, Trade, and Foreign Investment, 1962–1981.” Humanity: An International Journal of Human Rights, Humanitarianism, and Development 5, no. 2 (2014): 211–34. • OxfordUnion. Dambisa Moyo | Full Address and Q&A | Oxford Union, 2017.
8 • The historical development of world trade. • Gatt and the World Trade Organization • Trade negotiations and "rounds" • The rise of China • Trade wars • Oatley, Thomas H. “The WTO and the World Trade System; The Political Economy of International Trade Cooperation.” In International Political Economy. New York: Routledge, 2019. • Krugman, Paul. “Competitiveness: A Dangerous Obsession.” Foreign Aff. 73 (1994): 28.
9 • Foreign direct investments • Tax evasion and an international corporate tax code • Traditional left-wing critique of multilateral companies -- neoimperialism -- dependency theory • Statistics regarding the major corporations -- Turkish examples • Oatley, Thomas H. “Multinational Corporations in the Global Economy; The Politics of Multinational Corporations.” In International Political Economy. New York: Routledge, 2019. • The Centre for Investigative Journalism. The Looting Machine: Investigating Corruption in Africa, 2015. • Shih, Willy C. “Global Supply Chains in a Post-Pandemic World.” Harvard Business Review, September 1, 2020.
10 • The internet economy. • The rise of the tech giants. • Anti-monopoly legislation. • Economic implications of the new economy. • Political and social implications of the new economy. • Shaw, Tamsin. “Beware the Big Five.” Accessed September 15, 2021. • FRONTLINE PBS, Official. Amazon Empire: The Rise and Reign of Jeff Bezos (Full Film) | FRONTLINE, 2020.
11 • The IMF and its critics -- IMF induced uprisings • Dutch financing • The role of Wall Street and the City of London • Currencies and financing -- recycling of petrodollars -- Asian financial crisis • The euro and its problems • Optimal currency areas • Oatley, Thomas H. “The International Monetary System; Cooperation, Conflict, and Crisis in the Contemporary International Monetary System.” In International Political Economy. New York: Routledge, 2019. • “Paul Krugman: The Economic Failure Of The Euro.” Fresh Air. NPR, January 25, 2011.
12 • Globalization and its critics • Left-wing critique • Right-wing critique • Walls and bridges • Global warming and the limits of growth • GBH Forum Network. Dani Rodrik - Globalization Paradox: Democracy and the Future of the World Economy, 2012. • Russell Peterson. This Is What Democracy Looks Like [Seattle 1999 WTO], 2018. • podcasters, Omny Studio is the complete audio management solution for, and Radio Stations. “Life Below Sea Level: Bangladesh and Our Climate Future - The Take - Omny.Fm.” Accessed September 15, 2021. •
13 Summary
14 Final exam

 
Contribution of Learning Outcomes to Programme Outcomes
P1 P2 P3 P4 P5
All 5 4 5 5 4
C1 4 5 4 4 4
C2 4 4 4 4 5
C3 4 4 4 4 5

  Contribution: 1: Very Slight 2:Slight 3:Moderate 4:Significant 5:Very Significant

  
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