Global affairs focuses on broad issues, such as international relations, world trade, poverty, and the environment. It also considers more specific events and topics in the news, such as war, terrorism, genocide, and human rights abuses. The field draws on the perspectives of many disciplines in the social sciences and humanities, including political science, history, sociology, economics, anthropology, and literature.
The era of decolonization and the end of the Cold War dramatically transformed global affairs as newly independent states sought recognition and legitimacy, formed alliances with established powers, and competed for influence in an increasingly interdependent world. How have these shifts continued to shape global politics?
A belief that countries may intervene in the sovereign territory of other states to pursue liberal aims, such as stopping a war or a genocide, and saving civilians. It has been associated with the idea of a “responsibility to protect” and was especially prominent in the years around the turn of the millennium.
The major in global affairs provides students with a multidisciplinary training to understand the challenges that they will face as citizens of the world. It prepares students for careers in diplomacy, development and humanitarian aid, business, law, journalism, or government, and allows them to tailor their curriculum according to their interests. Students accepted into the major must take GLBL 3101, three global affairs electives (as approved by their advisor), and either two courses in quantitative analysis (GLBL 2121 and/or GLBL 2221) or one course that covers game theory, intermediate micro- or macroeconomics, or an advanced qualitative methods course (all of which carry the YC GLBL Qualitative Methods attribute). In addition, a capstone project, usually completed in the fall of their senior year, is required for graduation.
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