Welcome to POL299!

This is the core second year module for the BA International Relations, and one of the most important modules you will study with us. It is concerned with the significant questions that confront all students of international politics: how do we explain the persistence of war and suffering in international politics? Can we hope for a better future? If so, how might we get there? What can we really know with any certainty about international politics? These are the kinds of questions that, I hope, interest all of you. The course explores these questions by examining the different traditions of thought about the character and possibilities of international politics.