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Objectives

The Global Politics Summer School China aims at enabling students to appropriately analyze problems of global politics at the beginning of the 21st century. To this end, students explore the fundamental changes taking place in international relations, such as the acceleration of globalization processes, the shrinking sovereignty of nations, and the increasing relevance of international regimes and organizations.  This focus on global politics seeks to encompass the new realities of political study in a world increasingly influenced and changed by globalization. Rather than simply focusing on politics and interactions between nations, the Summer School promotes the consideration and study of numerous emerging and non-traditional actors in global politics and examines the effect these actors have and will continue to have on the global political environment.

Furthermore, the project partners encourage the participants to question the existing body of International Relations theory and to critically assess its potential for analyzing today's world. Starting from this discussion, students are encouraged to develop awareness for the importance of cooperative relations in international politics and to develop new problem-solving strategies, in particular with regard to the role of multilateral institutions in coping with new and emerging global challenges.

This analytical stance further allows students to learn more about current developments in global politics, such as conflicts in Asia, European integration, and international environmental policy. For each of the topics, the Global Politics Summer School introduces the relevant actors and institutions and fosters students' understanding of the complex negotiation processes involved.

On a practical level, the summer school advances the students' abilities to make presentations, contribute to academic discussions, design research questions and write papers.