Geopolitics of the Twenty-First Century

The world seems to change faster than ever in geopolitical and economic terms, thereby raising uncertainty in business, politics and media. How does the New Silk Road reflect and affect the power relations between China and other states? Has President Donald Trump strengthened or weakened the United States? And what will be the role of states such as Brazil, India and Russia in this century’s global balance of power? This course offers you a sound theoretical and practical basis to answer these questions and join related debates in a better-informed way. The course starts with a discussion on what geopolitics means, including geopolitical scholars that stretch across 120 years and several states. Some of their ideas link geopolitics to geo-economics and geostrategy as well. The course further helps you work with concepts such as national power, the global balance of power and the world order in an engaging way. Through a group assignment, you will compare the ways in which states (e.g. China and United States) project power over other states (e.g. South/North Korea or some African states). Interactive lectures and roundtable discussions help you prepare for your assignment. Based on the assignments, we explore various directions in which the world order may develop in the twenty-first century.

Course leader

L. Efferink

Target group

▪ Strong motivation and good command of English are essential to get a pass for the course;
▪ Basic knowledge of (geo)political ideas and/or trends is recommended;
▪ Aimed at Bachelor/ Master/ PhD students in Political Sciences/ International Relations/ Geography/ History/ Economics/ Business/ Media Studies/ Journalism/ Cultural Studies/ Linguistics. If in doubt, please contact Leonhardt for personal course selection advice.

Course aim

▪ Becoming familiar with different schools of thought in geopolitics.
▪ Understanding the complex relationship between geography and power.
▪ Distinguishing between different conceptualizations of the concept power and how they relate to states such as China and the United States
▪ Designing a framework to map the ways in which a state projects power over another state and assess the (un)intended impact of these efforts.
▪ Developing the critical thinking skills required to nuance the many claims about national power, global balance of power and the world order.

Credits info

2 EC
Maastricht Summer School awards academic credit (ECTS) for courses successfully completed during the programme. To include these credits in the curriculum of your degree, you need to obtain official approval from the responsible department at your home institution.

Upon completion of a course, the Maastricht Summer School issues a transcript. The transcript states the student’s name, student ID-number, the grade or Pass/Fail and the number of ECTS credits.

Fee info

EUR 600: This 1-week course costs 600,-.