Emerging Powers in World Politics

• Credit value: 30 credits at Level 7
• Tutor: Dr Ali Burak Güven
• Assessment: a 1500-word essay (25%) and take-home test (75%)

The accelerated rise of a group of large developing nations, the 'emerging powers', represents a fundamental shift in the make-up of contemporary world politics. Countries such as Brazil, Russia, India, China, and others in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, are augmenting their weight in the global economy. Many also pursue more assertive foreign policies than before and seek a stronger voice in global governance. In the process they inevitably encounter novel domestic problems and produce unique challenges for global policy coordination.

In this module we provide a detailed account of this phenomenon from an interdisciplinary perspective. We try to capture the diversity of emerging country experiences while also highlighting instances of common trajectory and collective systemic impact. Following a brief overview of current approaches to late development, we discuss the most pressing issues that crop up in the fields of comparative politics, international political economy, and international relations with regard to emerging countries.

Major themes include:

• political continuity and change, especially issues such as authoritarianism and elite politics, populism and clientelism, and processes of democratisation
• the enduring problems of economic development and integration in these countries, such as market governance and institution-building, the evolving role of international organisations, problems of income distribution and inequality, and strategies of regional and global economic integration
• the 'rise of (some of) the rest' from the standpoint of international politics, especially enhanced emerging country involvement in platforms of global governance and coordinative failure in various domains ranging from international security to global trade.

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

• demonstrate knowledge of the evolution of the major approaches to economic and political development
• understand distinct historical problems and patterns that have characterised the emerging regions of the world (emerging Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and the European periphery)
• apply insights from various theories to comparatively assess the political and economic circumstances as well as developmental prospects of several major emerging countries
• understand the workings and problems of international cooperation in the context of large middle-income economies
• combine the learning outcomes above to critically evaluate the implications of the rise of new powers for global politics, the global economy and global governance.