In this class we aim to better comprehend, analyze and evaluate various phenomena (natural and man-made), theoretical frameworks, principles, key concepts and case studies that make up the emerging "sustainability sciences" discipline as well as the field of "sustainable development". Particularly, we will critically analyze the twin notions of "sustainability" and "development", and their implications in the midst of the gravest and rapidly escalating man-made ecological degradation in recorded history. We will attend to several structural concerns that characterize life in the 21st century, including poverty, hunger and all forms of malnutrition, accessible education and healthcare, inequality and natural resources management, energy and water security, and economic development, among others.

Introduction to Earth Systems Science is meant to lay the foundations for sustainability studies. It deals with the structure of our planet and describes the sub-systems and their inter-relationships: The lithosphere (solid Earth), the atmosphere, the hydrosphere (oceans and water bodies), the cryosphere (ice-caps) and the biosphere (living things). The course describes the different bio-geochemical cycles of materials and energy between the various systems. Students will be presented with basic concepts of naturals sciences in order to describe in a qualitative manner the processes taking place in the world around them. The main goal is to understand how mankind affects and is affected by the changes occurring in the present century. The course makes intensive usage of daily events and news items which are relevant to the main topics.

Ecology is the scientific study of the interactions and relations between organisms and their environment. Among the topics that ecology seeks to describe are the diversity, abundance, and distribution of organisms. How organisms interact with each other and their physical (abiotic) parts of nature. This course serves as an overview of ecology, exploring its core concepts. We will cover topics such as evolutionary processes, adaptation, population dynamics, interactions between and among communities, and ecosystems. We will examine these issues on multiple scales, from the individuals to entire systems. We will also learn how ecological systems affect and are affected by abiotic nature and by humanity.

The course explores diverse intellectual traditions and perspectives on the mutual relations between people and their environments - natural and human, local and planetary. We will examine key ideas concerning the environment, nature and culture, space and place, and more - from the humanities, social and natural sciences. We will review some milestones in modern environmental thought, including the emergence of ideas on nature preservation, the growth of an organized environmental movement alongside a growing awareness of an environmental crisis. We will study different ethical positions regarding the environment: anthropocentric, biocentric, ecocentric, the land ethic, deep and social ecology. We will survey some ideas linking environmental ethics and natural science, such as the Gaia hypothesis, the Anthropocene, biodiversity, the great extinctions and more. We will engage with different perspectives on human-environment relations: anthropology and human geography (how different cultures have adapted to their local environments), sociology (relations between race, class, gender and the environment), economics (dilemmas of common resources, capitalism and its environmental effects, ecological modernization), political science (the rise of green politics, the global environmental movement). Throughout the course, we will try to connect these ideas and perspectives to contemporary environmental debates around the world and in Israel.

Humans’ ability to generate energy on a large-scale from fossil fuels enabled the industrial revolution, and therefore marks the beginning of the Modern era. Today, in the developed world (and increasingly in emerging economies) energy in its different forms is used for nearly everything: from heating and cooling to manufacturing, trading, cooking, commuting, communicating and more. In other words – we have become an energy dependent society. At the same time, about 70% of the anthropogenic greenhouse gases (GHG) are emitted by our energy system, making it the greatest man-made contributor to climate change. Hence, mitigating climate change and becoming a sustainable low carbon society imply some socio-techno-economic fundamental changes to our energy systems. These changes include a sharp increase in the deployment and use of low carbon and renewable energy sources; a much greater efficiency of energy production and consumption; the development of new energy storage technologies; as well as the development of innovative demand side management programs. The course will introduce the students to the fundamentals of the 21st century energy world and the challenges it faces.

For the first time in human history, most of the world's population lives in cities. In addition, more than half of the world's pollution is a direct result of human urban settlement. These facts coupled with future predictions require a reassessment of urban development patterns and a recognition of the major part urbanism plays in the global environmental changes. Urban settlements are far from being disconnected from the natural environment. In fact, they share a great deal of cross points and resources with the natural environment. Being major cultural, economic, social and political hubs, cities constantly influence and are influenced by the natural environment. Whether it is by extracting food, materials and energy from it, or by producing pollution and waste; and whether simply by the basic human need to spend time in nature and to breath fresh air. The main challenge facing architects and urban planners today is twofold - how to design cities which can provide their inhabitants a high standard of living and at the same time conserve natural systems and ensure their survival for future generations. This course will present different theories relating to urban sustainability as well as different examples of design solutions which succeed in combining continued urban development alongside overcoming urgent environmental and planning challenges, such as: air pollution, waste management, renewable energy solutions, mobility solutions, open space development, urban crawl and suburbia, green buildings, mixed use planning, strengthening local economy & industry, public involvement in planning, transparency in planning, and more.

The acknowlegement of the development of the environmental administration in Israel and its Governmental, Municipal and NGO's structure. Presenting the core Environmental topics including Regulations, Air Pollution, Solid waste and Recycling, Radiation, Hazardous Materials e.c. and their implementation in Environmental Planning considerations. Learning and understanding the environmental planning principles of Sustainable development, Through case studies.

The Advanced II course for Sustainability students focuses on reading strategies, aiming to assist the students in becoming more efficient and effective academic readers. The course also develops oral and writing skills, so that students can express their viewpoint on a topical issue and summarize academic articles. The syllabus includes strategies for reading comprehension, writing skills (such as outlining, taking notes and summaries), listening comprehension strategies and presentation skills, in addition to improving academic vocabulary in the field of sustainability.

his course introduces the students to several of the central topics in Comparative Politics. We will begin with core concepts, theories and ideas central to our understanding of politics. We will then cover topics such as the definition and measurement of democracy, the differences between democracies and other types of regimes, the process of state formation, mobilization and collective action, the role of ethnicity and identity in creating conflict and civil wars, civil-military relations, political parties and party systems and economic development of state institutions. In each of these topics we will discuss central theories and compare and contrast their utility in various parts of the world.

A student of government, diplomacy, and strategy attempting to understand current global, regional, and national challenges must acquire historical understanding and possess a solid knowledge in modern history and the evolution of Zionism. Understanding history – the ability to analyze, assess, and define key drivers, processes, and trends – influences our capacity to comprehend the present day and to think about shaping the future. Focusing on the diplomatic history of the 19th and 20th Centuries – from the end of the Napoleonic Wars to the end of the Cold War – this course seeks not only to offer knowledge and information on the evolution of modern history and Zionism. Rather, the course will also encourage and provide tools to reflect upon, and understand, the trends and processes that have molded the world, as we know it today. Notably, the 19th and 20th Centuries were the era of Western predominance. The rise of the West was the key driver of this period, which in its last quarter enabled the rise of the rest of the world to a point at which many proclaimed the inevitable decline of the West. Although unique in many ways, the very idea of Zionism – the aspiration for Jewish national self-determination and statehood in its own ancestral land – and its realization are integral and inseparable of the historical evolution of the Western Civilization and the world order, as we know it today.

This course will introduce students to some of the major ways of understanding contemporary global politics, and some of the most important issues which are at stake. We will discuss the main theories such as realism, liberalism, constructivism as well as the more critical theories of Marxism and feminism. We will try to understand the similar and the unique in each of them and how they help us better understand the relationship between states and other international actors. From globalization, inequality and financial crises, international trade, trafficking, to terrorism, nuclear weapons and war, students will develop a more sophisticated understanding of the roots of political struggle, conflict and cooperation on a global scale.

This course will address central issues in Israeli politics and society. We will study Israel’s political system, its origins, its formal structure, institutions and the way it functions. We will discuss main issues and critical rifts in Israeli society. First, we will deal with politics, highlighting Israeli parties, the electoral system and state institutions, political leadership and political elite and political behavior. During the second part of the course we will analyze various dimensions of the Israeli most crucial rifts, such as the socio-economic one, the ethnic, national, ideological, religious, gender. Finally, we will examine future challenges facing Israeli society and politics. Throughout the course, we will focus on public policy and its impact on Israeli society, while asking ourselves is Israeli society in crisis and if so what should and can be done to deal with the problems and improve the situation?

The course provides a comprehensive examination of politics and societies in the Middle East focusing on the modern era. It explores the dynamics of the state-building process which took place in the course of the twentieth century and examines the major ideologies, the geopolitical changes and socio-political trends in the contemporary Middle East. In the ideological realm, the course will evaluate the impact of pan-Arabism, nationalism, Islamism and sectarian divides and analyse the role of the major players in this region. The discussion will conclude with assessing the significance of the Arab Spring in relation to national, regional, ethnic and sectarian disputes.

This class is an introduction to both the logic and the mathematics of statistics, with an emphasis on social-science applications. Topics include: basic descriptive statistics, the logic of causal order, confidence intervals, significance testing, simple linear regression.

This course will not be a timeline course :) It will, however, consider both the notion of "History" and the Middle East as mutually dependant concepts. We will explore the ways in which the Middle East was provided a history by the West over the past 2 centuries and how it has sought to frame its own history during the past century. The great majority of our readings will be conducted in class together.

The intention of this course is to review the sources and canonic literature that form the development of western political thought. The course will move between classic Greece through pre-modern Europe to the modern age and the twentieth century. Political thought therefore is taught and studies on two parallel routes: the historical and the political-philosophical route. Both practical and cultural aspects are examined. The main focus will be ideas and their contribution to present political and ethical questions. As an Introduction to political thought this course has two parallel proposes. First, it lays down an essential foundation for basic learning of political thought as the foundation of western culture. Second, it teaches philosophy as a language and hence practices reading, writing and speaking of this language. Practicing philosophy is crucial to the study of politics and political discourse.

In this course students learn the fundamentals of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), the backbone of digital mapping and spatial sustainability sciences. Students will acquire experience with GIS in and outside the computer lab through hands-on practice with various GIS applications, including mobile phone-based platforms, Google Earth, and the professional level ArcGIS application suite. Students will practice GIS using examples and case studies from various fields, including environment, society, urban studies, ecology, history, and so on. Among the terms and concepts covered in the course are: mapping, data layers, databases, projections and coordinate systems, data input from various sources, georeferencing, geoprocessing, querying, and analysis of spatial data.

Sustainability in Water Resource Management The aim of the course is to provide the student with basic knowledge of the water sector in Israel in its various aspects, with an emphasis on environmental impacts. The course will provide the student with knowledge of the operation and management of the water sector with its various players, its main problems and the processes it undergoes, based on the practical experience of the lecturer in the management of the Israeli water sector. The course program will consist of three parts. In the first part, the basic data of water sources in Israel, the various uses of water for basic needs, and the promotion of national goals will be studied. The scarcity problem will be raised from the national, regional and global perspectives. It will be learned how these facts influenced the determination of the legal principles, physical infrastructures and organizational framework of the water sector. In the second part, we will study about the water sector management policy, the crises that the water sector has undergone in Israel, and the processes that lead it to become sustainable for us and for next generations. The objectives of the water sector and the actions taken to achieve these goals will be studied, quantitative, qualitative and organizational points of view. In the third part, the International Water Resources Management Law and rules will be taught. The Water Chapter in the Peace Agreements will be studied ( the permanent peace agreement between Israel and Jordan and the interim agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority).

This course deals with processes affecting our health and quality of life. We will study how pollution spreads in different areas (air, rivers, oceans, soil) and evaluate the potential impacts on the air we breath, the water we drink and use to irrigate our fields and produce our food. We will learn how monitoring of different types of pollutants is done, and gain experience with actual measurements and analysis of data using the Web and smartphones. The course describes national and internationals standards for air quality (Air Quality Index) and deals with regulations and laws to protect against pollution. The social, health and environmental aspects will be discussed, with focus on relevant event in Israel and abroad.

The course explores two key pillars at the critical interphase of business and sustainability. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and impact investments. The course will discuss the concept of CSR, its terminology and development and how it relates to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It will then introduce reporting platforms and approaches such as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standard, the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TFCD) and the CDP, as well as different case studies with the themes of impact and transparency at the center of the discussion. The course will then focus on impact investment, explore the concept, how it developed, key terminology, characteristics and its ecosystem and the type of players involved. It will then provide an overview of how impact investments relate and compare to other types of investments, the current regulatory framework of impact investment and how practices are currently shaping around the world.

The aim of the course is to systematically educate students about the development of various information and communication technology (ICT) platforms, and to understand the principles underlying databases obtained from various detectors (sensors). The course deals with the questions of how these platforms and detectors may be used to create databases of "Big Data" and how they are organized. We will focus on the insights obtained from analyzing the data from these platforms. The course will deal directly with the analysis of data from a number of databases individually, we will focus on a limited number of sustainable development goals of the UN. On the opportunity and new challenges inherent in information processing, for example on the role that technologies play in supporting decision-making processes, in automating systems by artificial intelligence while addressing specific issues such as the future of food production, natural resource management, and urbanization.

The course discusses the transition to a low carbon society and the various socio-techno-economic challenges for such a transition in the energy system. It focuses on energy security and the need to provide available, reliable, cheap and sustainable energy to all. Topic covered by the course are the energy trilemma, the various components of energy security in the traditional (centralized and fossil fuels based) energy system and the future (low carbon and distributed) system, the water-food-energy nexus, geopolitics of energy, energy poverty, energy services, energy policy, and others.

The course will provide theoretical and analytical background on economic analyses of environmental protection and management. The course will provide knowledge on causes for environmental market failures, tools for analyzing economic regulation measure for environmental protection, valuation methods for non-tradeable good or resources (e.g. biodiversity valuation, ecosystem services, value of life, landscape and air quality).

Welcome to Urban Worlds! In this course, we will be tracing the contours of our 21st urban century, and how it is shaped in different regions of the world. From gigantic mega-cities to urbanizing villages, from poor slums to privileged enclaves, from the global North to the global South - an ever-increasing majority of the planet is residing in urban settlements. We will see how urbanization took place in the past, and how it is continuing in a much more dramatic way today. We will study how cities have always been part of a world system, and how global cities today are running the global economy. We will understand some of the economic advantages of cities and their amazing capacity to generate wealth, as well as the social challenges they create, through urban poverty, inequality and exclusion. We will dig deep into the role of cities in the current processes of climate change, and understand how they are at once part of the problem and our best shot at a solution to our environmental crisis. And we will conclude by looking at some of the political issues at stake in our cities, and how we can govern and manage them in more technologically smart ways, but also more socially just ways. All in all, this course is an invitation for you to become “urbanists”, and better understand the complex human, economic, social, political and environmental dimensions of cities all over the world.

In the relatively new and constantly changing field of terrorism and counter-terrorism studies, it is critical to establish comprehensive understandings of phenomenon of terrorism and the options available to counter the phenomenon. Such analyses and insights should help policy makers and counter-terrorism officials develop more effective policies and practices in the campaign against terrorism, and likewise ensure the myths and misconceptions surrounding terrorism among the public are corrected. This course will present both practical and theoretical perspectives on a range of topics and activities related to terrorism and counter-terrorism, including: the definition of terrorism; lone wolf terrorism; suicide attacks; hostage barricade attacks; CBRN terrorism; hybrid terrorist organizations as well as coping with the threat on an offensive, pre-emptive, and defensive level; intelligence gathering; deterrence; and the challenges of international cooperation.

The course will provide an overview analysis of the Arab-Israeli conflict including of the main milestones and developments in it. Psychological and cultural aspects of the conflict will be described and analyzed as well as policies and strategies conducted by the sides throughout the years. Peace initiatives, rounds of negotiations and mediation efforts will be overviewed as well.

The course will review major issues in the field of conflict resolution. Different types of conflicts will be discussed, including their definitions and components. We will explore theories explaining how conflicts erupt, ways to manage them, tactics and strategies to resolve them, and more. The course will be taught from a variety of perspectives, including social psychology, sociology, political science and international relations. It will present different models of understanding in the field of conflict research, analyzing various levels of dispute: the personal, the communal, and the international.

The purpose of this course is to provide students with the foundations for empirical political research. Students will learn the fundamentals of scientific inquiry, research design, and various types of research methodology including regression analysis, network analysis, process tracing, and others.

This class provides both a historical survey and a contextual analysis of Israel’s foreign policy from 1948 to our days. We will address the foreign policy dilemmas of Israel’s founding fathers; the evolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict; Israel’s foreign policy toward Europe, the United States, the Soviet Union/Russia, Asia, Africa and Latin America; and topical issues such as Israel’s relations with the Jewish Diasporas and the UN, as well as Israel’s strategy in the global geopolitics of energy.

The class is an introduction to public international law – the body of law traditionally understood as governing state-to-state relationships. The course will address the fundamental question of whether international law is really law and, if so, what it consists of. Other areas covered in this course include the notion of international legal personality, the relationship between national and international law, an overview of the rules governing resort to force, as well as international courts and tribunals. Discussion is an inherent part of the class, in particular discussion of case studies and news items. The final grade consists of an exam and mid-term assignment.

The course will review traditional energy sources with special emphasis on fuel choice policy issues – petroleum, natural gas, electricity, refining and renewable energies, including hydrogen, that will play a growing role in the 21st century. Cost-benefit analysis studies will be reviewed and the impact on the economy and the environment as a result of the shift to low carbon economy will be discussed. The shift of the transportation fleet to electric cars that will be based on renewable electricity and hydrogen in the coming decades will be reviewed. The impact of the Coronavirus crisis on the energy economy will also be analyzed.

As part of the final project, students will deal with practical issues from the domain of sustainability and the environment. They are expected to offer original solutions and promote initiatives according to their personal interests. Students will work in teams and present ideas for independent projects, or projects that are in collaboration with nonprofit organizations, business companies and public entities. With the help of the staff, a number of potentially beneficial projects will be selected that may aid the community and the environment. Priority will be given to projects with potential for further action and impact even after completing the course.

In this class we will gain a more profound understanding of food systems and food crises. Mainly, we will appreciate, and critically appraise, the emergence of our contemporary food networks and supply chains; their underpinnings, structures, dynamics, dependences, distortions and asymmetries; the risks they may engender and the risks to which they are exposed. Employing basic system dynamic principles and causal-loop models, we will analyze and explore pathways to intervene in dynamic systems and particularly, how high-tech, bio-tech and food-tech could improve systems of food production, processing and provision.

Urbanization trends at the beginning of the 21st century led humanity to an "urban revolution". For the first time, most of the world's population lives in cities - whether in metropolitan areas, huge cities of millions of inhabitants or small cities growing at a tremendous speed. The rush to the cities brings along new complexities and result in new dilemmas such as a housing crisis, the aging of infrastructure, a climate crisis, the depletion of resources, the reduction of mutual responsibility and privatization of government roles. Today more than ever the municipal realm is the enabler for cities and countries to provide quality living conditions for residents and an economic climate for promoting business and sustainable urban growth. However, this opportunity comes with its fair share of challenges, creating a wider gap between resident groups and within unique resident clusters in our society. Moreover, the new urban realm brings along new opportunities due to the convergence and mutual strengthening of social media, mobility, cloud computing and information patterns (known as the Nexus of Forces, a model developed by Gartner) - this leading to a development in the use of urban information systems and analytics with the ability to cross-pollinate data from multiple sources. In the course we will cover:

• Better defining city challenges - moving from an infrastructure focus to a resident focus

• The behavioural aspects of resident engagement

• Technical implementation for working on data platform to solve city problem

• Working with a single data methodology around solving city problems – enabling more consistency and transparency around leadership decision making processes

• Learning how to derive clear insights and communication of results for leaders/executives

The complex realities of modern production and consumption form challenges to sustainability. In this course we will track the life cycles of products and their constituent materials from mining and extraction, through production, manufacturing, use, and end-of-life treatment. We will examine products' material and energetic requirements and environmental footprints at different life stages and learn the challenges of comparing these aspects between products. We will address questions faced by industry, consumers, policy makers, regulators, and other parties. We will become familiar with methods used in the study of these impacts, including material flow analysis and life cycle assessment. Among the topics covered in this course are concepts widely used in the field of sustainable production and consumption, including linear and circular production systems, circular economy, waste hierarchy, industrial symbiosis, resource efficiency, material footprints, and related concepts. There are no prerequisites for this course, but familiarity with Excel and a refresher of high school maths are required.

We are living in a Digital Era. Smart Mobility services are created as a result, changing transportation systems fundamentally. Today's data-rich environment enables mobility to become even more data-driven and dependent on Artificial Intelligence (AI). This course will introduce students to a broad range of topics related to Smart Mobility. In today's rapidly urbanizing world, mobility in general and Smart Mobility in particular, present substantial challenges. All indicators point to continued growth in global mobility demand. The transport sector is responsible for the largest portion of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and the largest proportion of energy consumption. Digital and technological advances have forced cities around the globe to undergo radical changes in their transportation systems, and mobility service providers alike must adjust to this new reality. Creating more efficient mobility options that are accessible, inclusive, and environmentally friendly requires a shift in how people and goods are transported. Solutions for smart and sustainable mobility must be designed to benefit the communities they serve while respecting environmental, social, and economic concerns. The course aims at providing students with the knowledge and skills necessary to understand the opportunities and challenges of Smart Mobility. The course main goals are to 1) Familiarize students with the background, the fundamentals, and the concepts of smart mobility; 2) Identify the role of transportation and its importance to the urban system; 3) Investigate the current challenges in mobility through various models and theories; 4) Provide students with exposure to cutting-edge research and developments in the field of Smart Mobility, including Mobility as a Service (MaaS), micro-mobility, on-demand and shared economy services, dynamic infrastructure, vehicle automation and electrification, real-time traffic management and optimization, Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), as well as Digital Twins, Big Data and AI in mobility towards better transportation performance and resolving issues related to mobility.

What place does law have in addressing the unprecedented environmental challenges humanity faces today? We will look at the values and principles that guide environmental law, and their assimilation into legal frameworks. We will discuss, looking at international and regional law, national legislation, case-law and case-studies, the way sustainability and environmental issues have been translated into specific legal instruments, and will question whether these provide effective mechanisms for addressing the challenges we face.

The nature and scope of Transatlantic relations - between North America and Europe - will continue to have a distinctive mark on world affairs in the 21st Century. Although not exclusively, the focal point of this relationship is NATO that was established in the early days of the Cold War. Current relations are characterized by a broad range of common values and interests, alongside different outlooks and not insignificant disputes. Despite the emergence of new centers of power in global politics and the possible "End of the West", this unique relationship still matters. The basic question is: what role could the best alliance in history play today and in the foreseeable future? To offer plausible answers to this question and other policy issues, the purpose of the course is to review and analyze the main political and strategic issues on the current transatlantic agenda, the role of this relationship on the world stage, and its relations with third parties, including Russia, China, and the Middle East.

The course aims to give students the opportunity to experience the dynamics of international negotiation. Negotiation has become the most widely used means of conflict management and resolution in international affairs. At the same time, negotiation practice itself is undergoing many changes related to the changing patterns of conflict and intervention, new and urgent issues on the global agenda, new actors and new emerging norms. The course combines theory and practice and the students will simulate negotiating international conflicts between states, regional organizations and international bodies with the aid of moderators. The course is designed to give students an introduction to key concepts, theories and strategies in negotiation, an understating of the negotiation process, complexity in negotiation, an overview of different actual cases of international negotiation and various negotiation role-play exercises.

One of the questions we pose in this course is whether the conceptual axiom that took root in the last twenty years, i.e. the end of ideologies and the triumph of liberal democracy is really true. Although the number of democracies had increased considerably in the last decades, still, we witness the beginning of a setback not only in the non-western world, but also in Europe. The increasing number of Radical Right-Wing movements in Europe and their growing influence in the respective countries has led several scholars to rethink and wonder on whether some of the political phenomena of the last 20 century is not back. With the financial crisis in the European Union we are beginning to witness the return of nationalism, of populism and some would even say of Neo-Fascism. This course strives to put some order in that conceptualization, while tracing the origins of nationalism, fascism and populism. We will deal with historical phenomena, ideological roots and political practice, and will try to analyze whether we are heading towards a more liberal world or back to the dark times of the 20th century. We will further discuss whether the very idea of liberal democracy is viable or is it in a steady process of decline.

This course will begin by acquainting the student with China’s history, both ancient and modern, followed by the early communist period and the 1980s era of reform. While touching on the relevant decision-making structures, we shall subsequently delve into a range of currently relevant issues, such as the Taiwan-question, Tibet, and the lingering impact of the Tiananmen events. The course will conclude with an in-depth examination of China’s increasingly assertive role in the regional arena, and its relations further away from home, such as in Africa and the Middle East.

How do we make decisions in the field of National Security? How do we approach a complex problem in a global and dynamic world? How do we identify broad range of stakeholders that can influence a decision or impact its implementation? What are their clear objectives and underlying interests? How do we shape a stable national security strategy in a turbulent world, manage a security crisis or a state of emergency? This course is designed to challenge future leaders in the public, diplomatic, military or business spheres to engage with the dynamic complexities and challenges of today’s rapidly evolving geo-political environment. The past few years have been a reminder that stability is not the natural state of the international environment. The global and dynamic world requires us to review our basic assumptions, define our interests and priorities, explore various alternatives and lay out policies in a coherent fashion that may offer the best prospects for success. In this still fast-changing world we also need to shape consensus-building procedures, identify winning coalitions, negotiate vis-a-vis other states, multinational companies, NGO's or international organizations, and build legitimacy or support for important policy choices on wide and diverse array of challenges. This course aims to broaden students’ strategic perspective, while fostering critical thinking, develop language and analytic skills that will help them to recognize the political, organizational, legal, security or diplomatic, leadership and ethical factors influencing decision making environment. It hopes to increase understanding of the attributes of an effective strategic leadership needed in order to perform effectively as they take leadership positions in the years to come.

This course focuses on the motivations of states to develop and acquire nuclear weapons, and international efforts to control the dangers that arise in this regard – especially the spread of nuclear weapons to additional states – through different forms of diplomacy and negotiations. The course will highlight the strategic significance of nuclear weapons, and the strategic dilemmas that states face when they attempt to negotiate arms control and disarmament agreements in the nuclear realm, highlighting the particular dilemmas faced by the international community when trying to curb the nuclear ambitions of determined proliferators. The Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) is a key international agreement that was negotiated to control the spread of nuclear weapons, but other forms of diplomacy and negotiations assume center stage when states break the rules. How prepared is the international community to deal with nuclear non-compliance through negotiations? The primary case studies for considering this question are North Korea and Iran. We will also study attempts to negotiate different forms of control in the nuclear realm in both bilateral (superpower) and regional settings. With regard to the latter, particular attention will be focused on past and current efforts pertaining to the Middle East.

African states are new states. Most of them exist merely half a century. But are these states "normal" states only young, or are they different kind of states? The course will help students to appreciate the unique characteristics of African states and understand better issues such as international marginalization, poverty, political instability and migration in and from Africa.

Why are people willing to sacrifice themselves for group-based goals? Are conflicts inherent to human nature? How do cognitive biases interfere with leaders' decision-making? And can processes of political radicalization be averted? These questions, among others, are the province of political psychology, an interdisciplinary field inspired by a broad range of disciplines, including psychology, political science, international relations, media, sociology and economics. This course will focus on the psychological dynamics of diverse political phenomena such as voting behavior, decision making processes and inter-group conflicts. Throughout the course we will conduct critical discussions of major theoretical approaches and empirical research on the interaction between political and psychological processes, and how they impact human behavior in various contexts, particularly in ongoing local and global political conflicts.

The course will describe the interrelationships between Russia’s domestic and foreign policy over the last millennium, including detailed discussion on core formative factors, guiding logics, and leading figures, as well as prominent doctrines and means o

This course provides a historical overview of the principal theories that have characterised the political economy from medieval times until the present, while touching on the effects these theories have had on the economic welfare of the world population. We will first look at how Mercantilism, Liberalism (Smith and Ricardo), Marxism and Utilitarianism (Jevons) rose as logical historical reactions to each other within the political and economy parameters of the era, with special emphasis given to the link between said theories and the major economic developments that were occurring simultaneously on the ground. Next, we shall turn to the era of the 1930s Great Depression, and how a decade of sustained economic stagnation reignited the pre-existing 19th century debate, this time largely along the lines of Keynesianists vs. Communists (e.g. Hobsbawm and Jessop). We will then turn to the rise and development of the Social Welfare State in different parts of the world, mainly during the latter half of the 20th century (Esping Andersen and Offe). Some time will also be dedicated to Dependency Theory, in an attempt to examine the links between the world’s economic centre (i.e. “The First World”) and its periphery (i.e. the “Third World”), while equally discussing its critics. This takes us to the rise of the Neo-Liberal paradigm (Von Mises and Friedman), which will be discussed while dealing with both its theoretical underpinnings and practical effects. We will conclude the course with the latest new currents in the field, namely Post-Modern views on the political economy (in the broad sense of the word), and the input given by Feminist economic analysts. The course strongly encourages lively, free and open participation with a non-dogmatic outlook.

This course introduces students to the geo-politics and economics of the Gulf. It examines the role of the Gulf in international energy markets and in the Middle East political system. Students will be required to make a class presentation (30 percent of the grade) and take a final exam (70 percent).

The course provides a comprehensive examination of national movements and Islamic trends in the contemporary Middle East. It focuses on the major ideologies and their influences on the geopolitics and sociopolitical developments. The course will present theoretical perspectives to follow visions, environments, preferences and verities of modes of action of states and non-states entities, movements and organizations that play a significant role in shaping the Arab world politics and societies.

Over the past five years, Egypt has functioned as an exceptional social and political laboratory, counductinf experiments which would shape itself and the Middle East over the short and long term. We will examine these events through various materials and media types. We will explore Egyptian political history and discover how the past and the future compose each other in modern Egypt.

The course discusses the history of the Palestinian society since WWI, the emergence of its national movement and its struggle for nation building and for statehood. It examines the development of Palestinian society and politics, after 1948, under three regimes (Jordan, Egypt and Israel) as well as in their Diasporas, especially in Europe and the Gulf. We will explore the reemergence of the Palestinian organizations as a political factor in the 1960s and the 1970s and the military role they have played ever since. Special Emphasis in our course given to the post Oslo accords period, The Establishment of the Palestinian Authority and its complicated relationship with the Islamic factions of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad.

An important, if not the most important, basis of conflicts on all levels is the need for recognition. This need, and its satisfaction or otherwise is a culture-dependent matter. Hence, any attempt to address conflict must start from a cultural approach. In this class the above hypothesis will be presented and discussed. It will further be analyzed according to the following sample of criteria: Identity, Time-perception, Religion and Values, Language, Trust, and Means of Conflict Resolutions. Finally, some practical applications of the course will be discussed.

The Islamic Republic's geostrategic aims as they developed over the past thirty five years reflect the complexity of the Iranian identity that incorporates nationalism, Shi'i sectarianism and universal Islamic aspirations. Accordingly, the importance of the Iranian nuclear project is linked to the country's revolutionary agenda but also its desire for regional hegemony. The nuclear negotiations with the five world powers demonstrate the dynamism of this regime and the centrality of Iran in an unstable region. This course will evaluated the current relations between Iran and the region, while exploring questions of identity, resources, interests and strategy. The aim is to understand the unique elements of the Iranian model, but also the potential for flexibility and change, in order to assess Iran's regional policy. Iran will also serve as case-study to discuss regime stability under authoritarian countries, as well as rationalism and irrationalism in decision-making in these regimes, in the national and geostrategic levels.