Israelis probably are among the few peoples in the world who, even after several generations of independent existence, still ask: “who were we?,” “who are we?,” “who is we?,” “what are we?, “where are we?,” and “who will we become?” Attempting to show why this is so, this course introduces students to Israeli politics, society, institutions, and political practice from the distinctive perspective of the development of Israeli identity (identities). Special attention will be given to the sources of Israeli identity, the main players involved in its politics, and the role of regional war and the peace process in its development and inner conflicts. In particular, the course will trace the construction of Israeli identity, starting from the early times of Zionism and ending with the contemporary identity conflicts over the failed Oslo peace process with the Palestinians and the recent Intifada. I will try to show that there is a direct connection between Zionist constituting ideologies, the nature of Israel’s institutions and society, and the split soul of Israeli identity.

The basic purpose of this core course in international relations is to familiarize doctoral students with competing and complementary theoretical approaches to international politics; to develop students’ ability to assess these literatures critically; and to help students refine the theoretical foundations of their subsequent dissertations.

The course opens with an introductory section that provides an overview of some of the classic writings and overarching questions that drive the theoretical study of international politics. The second section of the course seeks to develop a meta-theoretical framework for the analysis of international relations theory. The third part builds on this framework by offering a structured survey of the leading theoretical schools of contemporary international relations theory. The last part of the course discusses a few examples of significant research programs in international security, international political economy, ethics, and change as examples of applied theory.

This International Relations (IR) theory seminar is dedicated to studying change in IR. While most IR theories implicitly evoke change in international relations, little attention has been given so far to theorizing change itself. The seminar will examine how change has implicitly and explicitly been studied in IR theory and will suggest new ways of thinking about change in international relations. We will conclude the workshop by asking whether change can be progressive and whether studying change in IR can contribute not only to IR theory more
generally, but also to addressing IR’s practical issues and problems. The students’ research papers will aim at applying theories of change in practice.