Dear learners, a warm welcome to the courses in the subject of Political Science. The
online course 3, Contemporary World
Politics, introduces the major events and
processes in world politics since the end
of the Second World War. The course
begins with a comprehensive overview of
the Cold War era from 1945 to
1991 including the Non-aligned Movement, that is NAM, which was the bedrock of
India's foreign policy for a long time.
Then it explains the disintegration of
the Soviet Union, the end of bipolarity
involved politics and relations between
India and Russia. Subsequently you will
study about the contemporary world
politics beginning from the end of the
Cold War. So you will study about hegemony
of the USA in world politics,
significance of alternative centres of
power such as the European Union,
Association of Southeast Asian Nations,
that is ASEAN, China and Japan and also
relations between India and China. Then
you will study about democracy in
contemporary South Asia in all the
neighbours of our nation then
India's relations with its neighbours and
role of the South Asian Association for
Regional Cooperation, that is SAARC. Then
the course describes the functioning of
various international organisations
especially the United Nations,
traditional as well as non-traditional
notions of security in the contemporary
world. You must have heard about climate
change. The course explains the role of
environment and natural resources
in world politics to give you an idea
about how climate change has become a
major issue in contemporary world
politics. The course concludes with a
discussion of political, economic and
cultural dimensions of globalization and
its impact on India as well as the
role that India has been playing in this
process. Hope you thoroughly enjoy learning about
the dynamic nature of the contemporary world politics!
