Order and Disorder: International Relations from 1989 to the Present

Module code: PL1016

1989 was the year that changed the world. Democracy returned to Brazil, mass political protest in China was violently suppressed, and South Africa began the process of moving away from apartheid.

But nothing shook the world quite like the scenes in Eastern Europe. Revolution swept through the Eastern Bloc, and Communism fell in Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, East Germany, and Romania. And, in Malta on the 3rd December, US President George H. W. Bush and Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev came together to declare the end of the Cold War; unthinkable just years before.

Many of the tensions and ruptures in today's geopolitical arena stem from the events of 1989. In this module, you'll examine international relations since the year that changed everything.

You'll examine the key actors and events that have affected international relations and evaluate their impact and relationships with each other. Plus you'll assess the order and disorder that has pervaded international relations since 1989, including examples of integration and cooperation (such as the continued integration of the EU) and those of disintegration and conflict (such as the bloody break-up of Yugoslavia in the 90's).