STRD2001

STRD2001: Great Power Competition

Humanities

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About this Unit

This unit explores great power competition as the defining condition of today's international order, examining how major powers pursue security, influence, and advantage in an environment marked by rivalry rather than hierarchy or cooperation. It introduces students to competing understandings of what “great power competition” means and why it has re‑emerged, before analysing how great powers actually operate through strategy, grand strategy, and the application of political, military, economic, and ideational instruments. Through historical and contemporary lenses, the unit traces recurring cycles of rivalry and change. Students learn about an analytical framework centred on actors, mechanisms, and territorial and non‑territorial domains, showing how shifting technologies, regions, and rules continually redraw the competitive map. Case studies of the United States, China, and Russia are complemented by analysis of rising and middle powers. The unit also examines geo‑economic rivalry, grey‑zone strategies, influence without war, and soft balancing, before concluding with futures and scenario thinking to assess how current competitive dynamics may shape global order in the years ahead.

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Unit Details

Credits25

Contact Hours3 Weekly

Result TypeGrade/Mark

AreaSchool of Media, Creative Arts and Social Inquiry (1081)

Field of Education090101 Political Science

Handbook View Official Handbook Page →

Tuition Pattern

Lecture1 x 1 hour weekly
Tutorial1 x 2 hours weekly

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