Political Science and International Relations

With Thesis:  

• The total number of credits required to be taken for a Master's Degree: 21, ECTS: 63 + 8 + 60  
• Number of must courses to be taken: 3 Courses
• Number of elective courses to be taken: 4 Courses  

Without Thesis:  

• The total number of credits required to be taken for a Master's Degree: 30, ECTS: 90  
• Number of must courses to be taken: 3 Courses  
• Number of elective courses to be taken: 7 Courses  

COURSE CONTENTS  

MUST COURSES  

ULU 501 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS THEORIES
The objective of this course is to provide the students with knowledge and insight about the theories and theoretical approaches related to the discipline of international relations, and to ensure that the students gain novel instruments to examine and analyze international developments. In that regards; classical approaches such as the Idealist, Realist and Behavioral theories as well as the the new and current approaches of the theory of international relations such as the post-modern readings, feminist approaches and other novel understandings and philosophical analyses will be covered.  

ULU 503 RESEARCH METHODS
The objective of this course is to provide the students with the philosophical foundations of social research and with the knowledge of introductory nature to the objectives of the course, and to study and analyze the qualitative and quantitative research methods. Accordingly; data collection and classification techniques and analysis methods will be studied and discussed. Another objective of this course is to provide the students with the methodological and writing skills, which they can employ through the course of writing their thesis.  

ULU 508 HISTORY OF DIPLOMACY
The objective of this course is to study the history of international relations. Specifically, the relations among the actors of the international system that emerged after the Peace of Westphalia will be studied and the transformation of the system will be discussed. Through this course, the students are expected to gain knowledge about the historical context and background and the course is expected to positively affect the thesis and project works of the students.

ELECTIVES

ULU 502 REGIONALIZATION THEORY AND REGIONAL STUDIES
The objective of this course is to ensure the students to gain conceptual and theoretical knowledge about the regional studies, and to improve their analytical capabilities so that they can study the regions that concern Turkish foreign policy with priority. To that end, the regionalization theory will be studied and discussed profoundly, and the importance of the phenomenon of regionalization in international politics and economics will be examined closely by way of comparative examples from various regions in the world. The increasing importance of regional powers in today's world as well as the relations between the processes of regionalization and globalization will also be one of the main topics of the course.  

ULU 504 CRITICAL THEORY
The objective of this course is to set up an infrastructure for discussions on the social and political conclusions of the Enlightenment process. The discussions regarding the nature and content of the concept of 'criticism' from Kant and Hegel, who celebrated the virtues of Enlightenment, to Nietzche, who brought his rationalism into question, from the critics about capitalism by Marx to the cultural hegemonia suggested by Gramsci, from the concept of cultural industry as suggested by Adorno and Horkheimer to the Freudian civilization depiction by Marcuse, from the genealogical studies of Foucault to Derridaist deconstructivism and from Debord's society of spectacle to Baudrillard's consumerist society will be determinant on the outlines of this course.  

ULU 505 INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL ECONOMY
In this course, the international political economy will be studied and discussed in theory and in practice.   It is, hence, aimed for the students to understand the relations between politics and economics, power and wealth and state and market at international level.   In this framework; different theoretical approaches to international political economy will be studied and discussed profoundly, and the historical evolution of international economic relations in the modern world system will be analyzed.  

ULU 506 INTEGRATION THEORY AND EUROPEAN INTEGRATION PROCESS  
The objective of this course is to study and discuss the European integration process comprehensively on the basis of the general literature regarding the integration process. The course will begin with the profoundly coverage of the integration literature. The main topics to be studied and discussed subsequently include the initial ideological and political environment and the subsequent phases of European integration. Also planned to be addressed and deliberated are the political, economic, legal and social aspects of the integration and the processes and mechanisms of the formal as well as the informal integration.  

ULU 507 FOREIGN POLICY ANALYSIS
The objective of this course is to make sure that the students gain knowledge about the theoretical discussions about the making of foreign policy on the basis of and with respect to the examples of practical implementation of foreign policy. In this framework; the theoretical approaches and sample cases that explain the development of foreign and security policies will be studied and discussed profoundly, whereby the students will be provided with the analytical skills as necessary to analyze the processes and the outcomes of foreign policy. Moreover; focus shall be given to such topics as the history and terminology of foreign policy analysis as a field of study, close analyses of decision-making processes and the strengths and weaknesses of alternative policies.  

ULU 510 INTERNATIONAL SECURITY
The other topics to be studied in this course, throughout which the main conceptual discussions about international security, the threats encountered by the international society and the measures taken by the international society against such threats as well as the historical origin of strategic theory and the theories of strategy will be covered, are as follows: strategic behavior in international relations, power, influence and pressure, the world state system and problems with contemporary strategy, impact of nuclear arms, nuclear deterrence theory, crisis management and limited warfare, control of arms and mutual deterrence.   In this course; the relation between the conventional security paradigm and the new security approaches will be analyzed through a comparative approach.  

ULU 511 EUROPEAN SECURITY
The objective of this course is to study the security structures in Europe and the security policies of such structures in detail. Accordingly; the security policies of the European Union as well as the policies developed by international organizations for the security of Europe, the reflections in Europe of such security issues as the international terrorism, ethnic nationalism and international migration and the measures developed to address such problems will be analyzed.  

ULU 512 TERORISM and POLITICAL VIOLENCE
This course is intended to provide the students with an introduction to the facts of terrorism and political violence, which have increasingly gained importance in the field of security studies. The students will closely study and analyze the discussions regarding the the history of terrorism, the reasons of the same, the types of the same and its role in the international system, and will then be ensured to gain the knowledge necessary to gain insight of place within international security of terrorism and terrorist movements, which interact with media, freedoms, globalization, technological advancements and diversification. To that end, the first section of the course will cover the definitions and descriptions. Then, the course will focus on the classification of terrorism. The following section will cover modern terrorism, motivations of terrorism, organizational structures, strategies and the examples in the world. The final section will cover the policies and strategies of combating against terror and political violence.  

ULU 513 EVOLUTION OF GEOPOLITICAL THINKING
The objective of this course is to study the nature of the evolution of geopolitical thinking since the historical origin of the same, and the potential impacts of such evolution on the interpretation of the topics of the international discipline of the present time. The subject matter of the course will be addressed within a chronological framework, as a part of which, primarily, the perception of geopolitics in the nineteenth century and in the early years of the twentieth century, the final era of empires, will be studied. The primary stage will be followed by the analysis of the German geopolitical concept, which was developed in the continental Europe, especially by German geographers, and which laid the foundation for the Nazi expansionism, and the transformation of the perception of geopolitics after the World War II, during the conflict and détente periods of the Cold War. In the subsequence of the aforesaid historical background; the transformation of geopolitical perceptions in the aftermath of the Cold War and especially after the 9/11 attacks and the emergence of new geopolitical theories that criticize the classical perception of geopolitics will be studied, and the course will be concluded with a theoretical discussion, within the scope of which geopolitical concepts such as power, area and border will be analyzed.  

ULU 514 WAR STUDIES
The objective of this course is to conduct analytical studies of wars. In this course, the theories and approaches set forth as to why the wars broke out, continues and how they ended are compared. Also, emphasis will be put on the assessment of the war on both individual and state basis and how wars could be analyzed at different levels. The scope of the course will contain empirical study to a certain extent, and wars will be studied analytically through different perspectives.  

ULU 515 ENERGY POLICIES IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
The objective of this course is to familiarize the student closely to the geopolitical struggle in the international relations that is shaped on the axis of the extraction, operation and transportation of energy resources, and especially the hydrocarbons. In this scope, the political economics of the energy resources of the Middle East, the Caspian Basin and the Central Asia, where the prominent energy producers in the world are located, will be examined closely, and the alternative pipelines developed for the transportation to the Western markets of such resources will be studied closely.   Also within the scope of the course; the impact of energy resources to conflict and cooperation in international relations as well as the matter of energy economy will be addressed, and the place of energy geopolitics in Turkey's foreign policy will be studied and discussed briefly.  

ULU 520 CURRENT PROBLEMS OF INTERNATIONAL LAW
The objective of this course is to review the fundamental institutions, rules and main sources of International Law, and to discuss the new developments in the field of international law in today's world and the reflections of the same.  

ULU 521 CURRENT PROBLEMS OF TURKISH FOREIGN POLICY
The objective of this course is to provide the students with the knowledge that would enable them to analyze the chronic and emerging problems of Turkish Foreign Policy in the post-Cold War era and the policies developed to address such problems.   In that regards, the new position of Turkey in the international domain will be assessed, following which such topics as the relations of Turkey with various regions in the world as well as the Cyprus question, the Armenian question, the international terrorism, energy security etc. will be studied and discussed.  

ULU 522 DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
The objective of this course is to provide the students with knowledge about the meaning, the historical development and the emergence as an agenda item in the world politics and evolution of the concept of human rights, which has been becoming increasingly important in the international relations and becoming effective in foreign policy making at present. The international mechanisms and practices, which have emerged in today's world for the protection of human rights, and the methods of operation of the same will be studied and discussed profoundly. Also, the regulations that have been developed in the international domain with regards to human rights, and the issues encountered in the enforcement of such regulations will be analyzed and studied by way of case studies.  

ULU 523 NATIONALISM IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
approaches that describe and explain nationalism will be examined profoundly, and the types and relations with other ideologies of nationalism will be studied. Also discussed within the scope of the course will be the implementation of nationalism in different regions and the manner such implementation affects the international political and economic relations, and the relations of nationalism with such concepts as the nation-state, decolonization, self-etermination, human and minority rights, genocide, recism and humanitarian intervention.  

ULU 524 MIGRATION POLICIES AND SECURITIZATION OF MIGRATION
The objective of this course is to understand the management of the matter of migration within the framework of international cooperation and national policies and to study the same within the context of the theories of migration policy.   In this course, which will cover the study and discussion of the international cooperation about migration policies and the international organizations and their relations with the national policies in respect of securitization of migration; focus will be given to the results of migration in respect of globalization and the management of the same within the framework of the rules of international law. Also, the manner such events, which could be considered as historical turning points, such as wars, economic crises and terrorist activities, affect the cooperation about the matter of migration and the extent, in which the emerging structure matches up with the liberalizing world economy, will be studied and deliberated.   Ultimately; the social consequences of migration and the conflicts created by the same will be addressed by way of references to the public surveys conducted on the matter.  

ULU 525 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND MINORITY QUESTION
The objective of this course is to conduct historical, theoretical and practical studies about the minority question, which has become a concept of the international political literature as a result of the process of emergence of modern nation-states. The essentials of the course, within the scope of which views from other disciplines such as sociology, social psychology and anthropology as well as International Relations and Political Science will be discussed in combination, will be determined by the phases of the questions of minority rights and protection of minorities, which, at the beginning, were perceived as an issue of the modernization of Europe, becoming a global issue, and the identity-building models activated through the course of such phases and the explanation of the new monitory concepts, which have evolved today in the form of supranational structures.  

ULU 526 OTTOMAN EMPIRE IN THE WORLD SYSTEM
The objective of this course is to analyze the history of six centuries and the diplomatic system of the Ottoman Empire, which has generally been perceived within the literature as isolated from its place in the world system and as a regional power, within the perspective of the history of the world through comparative approach. In that regards; following an introduction, within which the understanding of diplomacy of the Ottoman Empire will be discussed, the diplomatic and non-diplomatic relations established by the Ottoman Empire with the political entities in its region and in the other regions of the world will be studied, through the course of which the Empire will be compared to the political entities, with which it establishes relations, within a chronological framework. The diplomatic relations of the Empire will be studied on the basis of and with reference to the translations of the authentic sources of the time (chronicles, itineraries and records of embassies), whereby the students will enabled to familiarize themselves with the primary sources.  

ULU 527 SEMINAR ON CURRENT ISSUES IN WORLD POLITICS
The objective of this course is to provide an opportunity for the students to share the research conducted thereby about a major issue in world politics. The students are expected to conduct a research under the supervision of a faculty member, to share the outcomes of the research and to organize a debate in the class. This course has been designed to enhance the academic interactions and research, presentation and debating capabilities of students.  

ULU 529 GEOPOLITICAL READINGS ON MIDDLE EAST
The objective of this course is to analyze Middle East through the perspective of geopolitical approaches.   The employment of different geopolitical approaches to interpret the transformation in the Middle East has been neglected or such approaches have been absorbed into the international relations theory. On the other hand; the course is intended to focus on the fundamental texts authored about the Middle East and to endeavor to interpret the Middle East within the framework of "geopolitical discourse". Doing so, the course will embed the Middle East into a discursive analytical framework.   Instead of characterization of the Middle East as a conflict zone, attention will be drawn to the alternative readings of the Middle East and the "security issue" in the Middle East. In the course; the history of the Middle East will be reassessed with references to the geopolitical theories in the first section, while the Arab - Israel conflict, the Arab Spring, Europe - Mediterranean partnership, the war against terrorism, Iran nuclear crisis and Turkey's changing Middle East policies will be discussed and studied within a critical geopolitical framework in the second section.

ULU 530 BALKANS DURING THE OTTOMAN ERA
The objective of this course is study the Balkans, which remained under the Ottoman rule between late 14th century, when the Ottoman Empire began to penetrate into the Balkans, and the World War I.   In that framework; the administrative structure established by the Ottoman Empire in the Balkans, the settlement policy for the Balkans, and the political, economic, social and cultural impacts of the same on the Balkan societies and cities will be studied, and the perception of the Ottoman rule by the Balkan peoples and in parallel to that, anti-Ottoman stance of Balkan nationalism will be analyzed.  

ULU 531 HISTORY OF BALKANS
In this course; the course of development of the Balkan peoples and political structures since the ancient eras until the present day will be analyzed.   The political structures that have emerged in the Balkans since the Ancient Greek period to the present day have significantly affected the developments in Europe in specific, and the course of change of the international society in general.   In the scope of this course, the major developments in the Balkans will be addressed and discussed on both actor and international system basis.   Also, emphasis will be put on the changes in the political evolution of the Balkans from past to the present and on the main elements of continuity.  

ULU 532 SOCIAL AND CULTURAL STRUCTURE IN BALKANS
The objective of this course is to analyze the social and cultural structures of the Balkan states.   The Balkan societies, which are comprised of multi-ethnic communities, experience the political results of both the complex nature of their local cultures and of their exposure to the influence of the Ottoman culture under the Ottoman rule, and the cultural diversity.   In this course; the political and social results of the situation will be studied within the framework of the multi-religious, multilingual and multi-ethnic structure of the Balkans, and the impacts of the social/cultural structure on the domestic and foreign policies of the Balkan states will be analyzed.  

ULU 533 CONTEMPORARY POLITICAL SYSTEMS IN BALKANS
In the scope of this course; the political structures established in the Balkan states since 1990 will be addressed and discussed through a comparative perspective. The dynamics that influenced the countries whilst establishing their political systems as well as the functioning of the currently established systems and the pros and cons of the same will be studied. Also, the current discussions related to the changing of the currently existing systems will be addressed.  

ULU 534 BALKANS IN THE INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM
This course has been designed to be a two-stage course.   In the first stage, the students will be familiarized with the geopolitical theories. In that framework; the classical geopolitical theorists (Mahan, Mackinder, Haushofer), the American geopolitical theorists (Bowman, Kissinger, Brzezinski) and the critical geopolitical theorists (Tuathail, Agnew, Dodds) and their theories will be studied.   In the second stage; the extent, in which such theories are useful in understanding the Balkan geography, will be discussed.   In that framework; the perception of the Balkans by such global powers as the USA, the EU, Russia and China, and the geopolitical foundation of such perception will be studied.  

ULU 535 POLITICAL ECONOMY OF BALKANS
The Balkan countries attempted to harmonize with the dynamics of the global system by eliminating the socialist structures and build a neo-liberal system following the cessation of the bipolar world era. The conflicts that occurred consecutively in the region through the said process dramatically impaired the economic potential. In this course; each country in the region will be discussed and assessed through the perspective of political economy, and also the place of the region within the international political economic system.  

ULU 536 NATIONALISM THEORIES AND BALKAN NATIONALISM  
The basic dynamic that have broken out in the Balkans since the 19th century have been nationalism.   In the scope of this course; primarily, different approaches related to nationalism will be discussed, and then, the phenomenon of nationalism in the Balkans will be studied and discussed within the framework of different theoretical perspectives.   Hence, both the phenomenon of nationalism that is at issue in the region will be discussed and the perceptions within each country will be assessed.  

ULU 537 BALKANS AND EUROPEAN INTEGRATION
Currently, one of the main common points of the foreign policies of the Balkan countries is the European Union perspective. The European Union has become the major international actor in the region in both economic and political terms. In this course; the basic reasons for the efforts of convergence of the countries in the region to the European Union will be studied and discussed, and the EU integration process of each country will be analyzed.  

ULU 538 REGIONAL COOPERATION IN BALKANS
Even though the Balkans have been a region that has been identified with intensive conflicts since the Balkan Wars; the countries in the region have begun to cooperate and establish regional organizations as of the first half of the 20th century.   The countries attempt to establish partnerships especially when they encounter external threats and defiances.   In this course; the examples of cooperation, which the countries in the region have so far established, will be studied and discussed, and the points where such efforts have become successful or not will be analyzed along with the relevant reasons.  

ULU 539 TURKISH FOREIGN POLICY AND BALKANS
In this course; the place of the Balkans in Turkish Foreign Policy since 1923 to the present day.   In this framework; Turkey's bilateral relations with the countries in the region as well as the efforts to seek security and economic cooperation in the Balkans within such international organizations as the Balkan Entente, the Balkan Pact, the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization and the Southeast European Cooperation Process. Turkey's effectiveness in the crisis that occurred in the Balkans such as the Bosnia and Kosova crises will be studied and discussed, Turkey's efforts to improve its relations with the Balkans will be addressed.  

ULU 540 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS OF THE MIDDLE EAST
The objective of this course is to study and discuss the emergence and evolution of modern Middle East and to provide the students with a holistic approach about the region.   Middle East, being a subsidiary system of the international politics, has a fairly important place in the world politics on account of its natural resources.   Accordingly; the foreign policies of the Middle Eastern states will be discussed and the major topics of international relations in the Middle East will be studied.   Such matters as nationalism, religious movements, energy geopolitics and integration tendencies will be examined closely within the scope of the course.  

ULU 541 BALKAN STUDIES
The objective of this course is to study the emergence and development of the modern Balkan countries through the course of history, to address and discuss the characteristics of the Balkans as a sub-system of the international politics, and to make efforts to analyze the foreign policies of the Balkan states. Accordingly; the social, econom ic and political developments that take place in the Balkans will be studied and discussed with consideration of the radical changes in the international arena. Throughout the course; particularly the transformation and conflicts, which the Balkans have experienced following the cessation of the Cold War era, will be analyzed profoundly.  

ULU 542 EURASIA SECURITY
The objective of this course is to provide the students with the knowledge and background as necessary for them to be capable of analyzing the political structures and the foreign policies of the republics founded in the Caucasus and Central Asia following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the domestic and foreign factors that affect the same. The historical development of the region, the dynamics that currently determine the regional politics, the potential future of the region and the geographical and geostrategic importance of the region will be addressed and deliberated. In that framework; the analysis of the socio-economic problems and ethnic structures and nation-building processes of the countries in the region as well as the positive or negative impacts of the legacy of the Soviet system on the social and cultural transformation of the peoples of the region is also important. Also, the recent developments, possible transformations and developments and Turkey's position will be taken into consideration within the scope of the course.  

ULU 543 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS OF EASTERN ASIA
The objective of this course is to study and discuss increasing importance of Eastern Asia in the international system. Following the study of the political structures of the region; the economic and socio-cultural structure of the region will be analyzed, the intra-regional conflicts as well as the place of the region within the world economy will be discussed, and particularly the dynamism introduced to the region by such countries as China, Japan and Korea, which have been coming to the fore in the new international system, and their place in the international system, the ASEAN integration and other matters related to Eastern Asia will be addressed and deliberated, collectively.  

ULU 544 TURKEY-EU RELATIONS
The objective of this course is to study the outlines of the Turkey-EU relations, which started officially upon the signing of Ankara Agreement in 1963.   In this framework; the historical course of the relations, and the political, economic and socio-cultural dimensions of the Turkey-EU relations currently will be analyzed, and the problems currently encountered in the relations between Turkey and the EU as well as the negotiation process will be discussed.   In the scope of the course; Turkey's EU policies and the policies toward Turkey of the EU states will be assessed comparatively.  

ULU 545 AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY
The objective of this course is to provide the students with knowledge about the policy-making processes of the foreign policy of the United States of America, which is characterized as the sole superpower of the present day, and the major issues on the American foreign policy agenda. To that end, the course of the USA's becoming a major power in the world politics and the development of America foreign policy within the international system throughout the Cold War era and in the aftermath will be studied and deliberated within a historical and analytical framework. In that context; the culture and the priorities of American foreign policy as well as the role of interest groups, the elites, political parties and the public opinion in the determination of American foreign policy will be addressed.  

ULU 546 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS OF LATIN AMERICA
The objective of this course is to provide the students with knowledge about the role in the world politics of the Latin American region. In the first section of the course; the general political and socio-political developments in the region following the era of independence of Latin America (1810-20) will be studied through a historical perspective, and the infrastructure and background necessary to analyze the basic problems encountered in the 20th Century are established.   In the second section of the course; the Cold War era and the main problems (development, democratization, military-civilian authority relations, relations with the USA etc.) encountered by the regimes in the prominent countries of the region (Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Chile) are addressed and deliberated.  In the final section of the course; the activism and importance of Latin America, which have increased in the global scale following the end of the Cold War, will be studied through certain special case studies   (Brazil's becoming a BRIC country, Mexico and NAFTA etc.).  

ULU 580 SECOND FOREIGN LANGUAGE- I
The objective of this course is to provide the students with introductory knowledge of a second foreign language to be selected thereby in relation to the respective fields of specialization of their choice.  

ULU 581 SECOND FOREIGN LANGUAGE- II
The objective of this course is to provide the students with intermediary knowledge of a second foreign language to be selected thereby in relation to the respective fields of specialization of their choice.  

ULU 585 STATISTICS IN SOCIAL SCIENCES
This course is the continuity of the Graduate Program course Research Methods. The course attaches priority to the characteristics of scientific work and research, the analytical methods as well as the quantitative and qualitative analyses. The objective of the course is to study and discuss numerous topics that will lay the basis of the future research activities of the students from how to formulate the research question to how to collect data and to how to conduct statistical analyses. The course has been designed to assist the students with their research activities both in the academic life and in the business society.  

ULU 586 PROJECT MANAGEMENT
The objective of this course is to provide the students with a basic understanding regarding the fundamental principles of project management and with practical knowledge that they can use in the field.   The objective of this course is to introduce the students to the concept of project management professionally and to assist them in understanding the strengths of real-life application of the fundamental principles of project management.   Each student, who completes this course, will be able to gain insight about (i) the methodological foundations of professional project management, (ii) project management process groups and knowledge areas, (iii) the methodology with case studies derived from Project Management buiness and (iv) the tools used in the project management business such as MS Project.