Going into my final year of my undergraduate degree, I strongly believed (and still do) that taking a higher-level International Relations theory course such as the one offered by professor Robert Crawford was integral to my education as an International Relations major before graduating. Having had taken POLI 260 a couple of years ago, I knew that there was so much more to learn about the plethora of International Relations theories and about their values and limitations; I felt that I would not be able to continuously adapt and improve as an IR scholar without better grasping the theories that have been extensively assessed and vehemently adopted. This is why POLI 367B was one of the very first courses I registered for. Also, I was drawn to this course in particular because I took Professor Crawford’s course on Multinational Corporations and Globalisation last year and found that he was a very dynamic and engaging lecturer who effectively conveyed the intricacies and complexities of International Relations.

My first impression of POLI 367B exceeded my expectations (not to speak little of my expectations initially). Typically, courses on theory in any discipline tend to be very dry and hard to digest, but professor Crawford brought an atmosphere of realistic realism (as opposed to Realism), candidness, mixed with a little bit of sarcasm and a dash of dystopian humour to the class that allows him to present the history of how the discipline of International Relations came to be as well as how the different theories in IR gained popularity over time presented by IR scholars as if it were a fable. This was particularly astounding to me since the first chapter of Dunne, Kurki & Smith’s IR theory textbook shows how complex the history of the main arguments in IR and the many theories that were tested by them is. Moreover, it was refreshing to learn about a completely different take – namely Daniel Garst’s critique – than the often taken-as-truth narrative of the Neorealists regarding Thucydides’ The Peloponnesian War.

Coincidentally, our first day of class fell on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Despite of its political and historical significance on its own, we were reminded how 9/11 completely changed the academic discourse in International Relations. In particular, it was an event that demonstrated that non-state actors can be just as significant in global politics as states, discrediting Realists all over the world and giving more leverage to proponents of other IR theoretical worldviews.

Finally, I look forward to taking POLI367B this semester and to developing my own take on the many questions that are still up to debate in the scholarly discourse in IR.