Foreign Policies of Great, Middle, and Small Powers

O.P. Jindal Global University via Coursera

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Coursera
Pricing

Paid Course
Languages

English
Certificate

Certificate Available
Effort

7 weeks, 3 hours a week
Sessions

Self-Paced
Level

Beginner
Subtitles

English, Arabic

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Why do some countries shape the global order while others punch above their weight? Learn how power, national interests, domestic politics, and the international system shape foreign policy—and apply these ideas to real-world cases across major regions. In Foreign Policies of Great, Middle, and Small Powers, you’ll develop a practical framework for understanding international relations and why states behave differently according to their position in the global power structure. Explore hard power, soft power, smart power, foreign policy, national interest, and changing international power configurations, then put these concepts into context through focused case studies. Go beyond theory with in-depth analysis of the United States and China as great powers; India and Nigeria as middle powers; and North Korea and Qatar as small powers. Examine US-China strategic competition, India’s rise and regional strategy, Nigeria’s leadership ambitions in Africa, North Korea’s nuclear deterrence and regime survival, and Qatar’s energy diplomacy, mediation, and soft power. Through videos, readings, discussions, role plays, and graded assignments, you’ll learn to analyze how states pursue influence, respond to constraints, manage rivals and partners, and adapt their foreign policies as global power shifts. Build the international relations and foreign policy expertise you need to make sense of a changing multipolar world. Enroll now and deepen your understanding of how power shapes world politics.

Syllabus

Power and Foreign Policy – The Inseparable Twins
- In this module, you will learn about what power means in international relations and how it is measured in terms of specific attributes of a nation-state. You will also learn about core concepts such as international power configuration and international order and the role of units (nation-states and non-state actors) in these structures. The module also analyzes what foreign policy means, how it is formulated on the basis of national interests, why a nation-state adopts a particular type of foreign policy, and how all this is inextricably linked to its power position in the international system. By the end of this module, you will gain an insight into why a great power behaves in a manner that is different from the behavior of a middle power or a small power.
Foreign Policy of Great Powers: Case Study 1 – The United States of America
- In this module, you will build upon the earlier awareness of power and foreign policy behavior. You will closely examine the conduct of the USA, which has been a key great power since the end of World War II and how it shaped the post-World War II international system through a variety of strategies and means. You will also gain an insight into how there was a shift in the policies of the USA in tandem with the changes in the international power configuration from the Cold War era of bipolarity to the post-1991 unipolar period, and then again from bipolarity to the present emergent multipolar world order. By the end of this module, you can appreciate how the USA has dealt with fellow great powers and weaker powers and what kind of grand strategy has motivated the USA since 1945.
Foreign Policy of Great Powers: Case Study II – China
- In this module, you will apply the insights gained from the earlier conceptual learnings about the links between power and foreign policy by closely studying the case of China, which has rapidly risen in the past two decades to be universally accepted as a great power today. You will evaluate how a once backward and weak China began its ascent in acquiring hard and soft power from the 1970s onward and how its international strategy has shifted from the Cold War era to the post-Cold War unipolar period to the present emerging multipolar age. This module looks especially at China’s relationship with the USA, which has become increasingly conflicted and competitive, and what kind of strategies China has adopted to enhance its relative power vis-à-vis the USA. You will also gain an insight into China’s relationships with middle and small powers in the current era of renewed great power competition.
Foreign Policy of Middle Powers: Case Study I – India
- In this module, you will learn about concepts like power and foreign policy in the context of an emerging middle power, India, which is estimated to have the potential of becoming a great power. You will also learn how India’s rise in the past two decades is closely associated with its high economic growth, its international multilateral alignments and strategic partnerships, and the vision of its political leadership to attain the status of a leading power in the world. The module will take you along India’s journey from being a sub-regional power in South Asia to an Asian regional power and an important balancing power in present times in the broader Indo-Pacific. Finally, you will gain an insight into the factors pushing India up in the international power configurations and the domestic political obstacles to its rise.
Foreign Policy of Middle Powers: Case Study II – Nigeria
- In this module, you will get acquainted with Africa’s most populous and consequential power, Nigeria, which shares the mantle of continental leadership with South Africa. The module discusses Nigeria’s rise from a sub-regional power in West Africa to a pan-African power with abilities to also speak as a voice for the Global South. You will evaluate the mechanisms and methods Nigeria adopted since independence to assert its international influence and the obstacles posed to its rise by domestic challenges and the neo-colonial presence of France in West Africa. The role of oil wealth, the problem of political instability, and violent extremism will all help bring into focus the centrality of Nigeria and its unfulfilled potential as a middle power heralding an African renaissance.
Foreign Policy of Small Powers: Case Study I – North Korea
- In this module, you will learn about the case of a small power, North Korea, which has outsized importance for security and governance in East Asia. The module analyzes the evolution of North Korea’s foreign policy from the Cold War to the post-Cold War and the present emerging multipolar order under the long dictatorship of the Kim dynasty. You will gain an insight into how this small power, which has been mostly isolated from the rest of the world, survives despite international sanctions and why efforts to denuclearize and contain its missile programs have met with limited success thus far. Finally, the module highlights the strategies of a so-called “pariah state” to preserve its regime through unorthodox means and reliance on one significant external benefactor.
Foreign Policy of Small Powers: Case Study II – Qatar
- In this module, you will learn about the tiny Persian Gulf monarchy of Qatar, which has adopted a foreign policy mix of alliance with the USA while simultaneously pursuing an independent and ambitious form of assertiveness vis-à-vis its regional competitors. The module discusses the rise of Qatar as a fossil fuel colossus and how it parlayed its natural resource abundance to punch above its weight in the Middle East and global energy institutions. You will also learn why Qatar moved to a policy of supporting Islamist political groups in the region and beyond and how it capitalized on being a small power to become a moderator and mediator in multiple armed conflict zones. Finally, the module also explains how regime survival is a critical driver of foreign policy in this authoritarian country.