Course Description: This course provides an advanced examination of the world’s leading international institutions and the geopolitical forces that shape them. Participants will gain expertise in how power is distributed and exercised through bodies like the United Nations, NATO, the World Bank, and regional blocs. The course highlights institutional design, diplomacy within bureaucracies, the politics of representation, and influence strategies within global governance systems. Learners will be equipped to navigate, engage, and lead within these institutional power structures.
Course Length: 6 weeks (36 total instructional hours)
Proficiency Level: Advanced
Prerequisite: Completion of a lower-intermediate ESL course or equivalent language proficiency
Course Objectives:- Map the global structure of key international institutions.
- Analyze the historical formation and political mandates of global organizations.
- Evaluate power dynamics within multilateral institutions.
- Assess decision-making procedures in global governance structures.
- Compare the roles of regional and global diplomatic organizations.
- Explain the role of diplomacy within international bureaucracies.
- Identify key state and non-state actors influencing institutional policies.
- Design a strategy to represent national interests within a multilateral body.
- Interpret institutional reform proposals and their global implications.
- Apply geopolitical thinking to institutional engagement planning.