Great Powers in a World of Disorder

IGA 116 Subject & Catalog Number

Description

This course will focus on the weakening of the old global order—of rules, guardrails and strong international institutions—that served the world well for eight decades following the Second World War—and the advent of a new, less orderly and unstable world of disorder for the years ahead.

We will focus first and foremost on the changing leadership role of the United States—now more unilateral, less tied its allies and partners and implementing trade, immigration and environmental policies that are making global cooperation much more challenging.  We will also pay close attention to the rise of China’s power, its expanding global influence, and its difficult and competitive relationship with the United States. 

We will debate whether the U.S. and China, along with India, Japan, Brazil, South Africa, the European Union and other global powers can effectively address major challenges in the decade ahead—the promise and potential peril of A.I., quantum computing and other technologies, nuclear proliferation, climate change, cyber, the wars in Ukraine and Iran, and other threats to global stability and peace. 

We will examine the changing role Middle Powers are exercising in the global system and assess whether they will gain or lose power in a new world of disorder. Finally, we will conclude the course by investigating what the world power balance may look like in 2050 and determine whether there may even be promising economic and technological trends ahead to give us hope about the global future.

Course Notes

The class will be limited to 50 students. A few students from other Harvard schools (including Harvard College), Tufts, and MIT may be admitted, as well as a small group of auditors.