TRN350H1

TRN350H1: Scarcity, Sustainability, and the Future of International Relations

Course Description

International relations are changing, and changing quickly. Major challenges in global affairs, including the interrelated problems of climate change, resource scarcity, great power competition, and changes in mass politics, will shape our future in uncertain and possibly dangerous ways. This course evaluates the effect of these interconnected issues on our world today, and their implications for the future. Through a series of case studies, students will be encouraged to identify future international challenges and work to develop sustainable and innovative solutions to the problems that will confront our world in the next decades and beyond. To do so, students learn to critique and draft policy proposals related to contemporary pressing issues. Students also complete a comprehensive analytical essay covering the material learned in the course.

2023-2024 Course Instructor

Mark Nieman Mark Nieman, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science and Trinity College, as well as an affiliate of the Data Sciences Institute. His research and teaching focus on international security, political economy, and research design and methods. He is co-author of Rising Powers and Foreign Policy Revisionism (University of Michigan Press), and has published peer-reviewed articles in Journal of Politics, Political Analysis, Journal of Peace Research, and Statistica Sinica, among others.