Course description: Contemporary Issues in Global Affairs (CIGA) is a non-credit bearing course, in  which students learn about how political scientists analyze contemporary challenges facing the world  with special relevance to Kazakhstan and Central Asia. The list of topics covered in the course may  consist of the following: 

∙ Lessons from the Soviet-Afghan War for Analyzing the Conflict in Syria 

∙ Regional Trade Agreements: Eurasian Economic Union 

∙ Globalization: Key Indicators, Trends and Challenges 

∙ International Monetary Fund: Lending and Conditionality 

∙ Multilateral Development Banks 

∙ Geography and Conflict (Interstate and Intrastate) 

∙ International Conflict Processes 

∙ The Security Dilemma: Alliances and Arms Races 

∙ Leveraging the United Nations General Assembly to Attract Foreign Aid 

∙ Sustainable Development and Trade Policy 

∙ Sustainable Development Goals and Foreign Policy 

∙ Soft Power and Emerging Economies

Course duration	5 days
Instructor	PSIR Faculty
Course date
Contact information	atrochev@nu.edu.kz
Cost	195 000 KZT

Course aims (CAs):  

1. To learn about how political scientists analyze contemporary challenges facing the world with special relevance to Kazakhstan and Central Asia
2. To learn about analytical approaches used by scholars of international relations 3. To learn about research designs used by scholars of international relations.

Course learning outcomes5(CLOs): By the end of the course, students will be able to: 

1. Be familiar with contemporary challenges in world politics with special relevance to Kazakhstan and Central Asia 

2. Be familiar with analytical approaches of scholars who study these challenges

3. Be familiar with the research designs scholars use for studying these challenges