International Development Cooperation

Bachelor 2024/2025

Type: Elective course (International Relations)

Area of studies: International Relations

Delivered by: School of International Affairs

Where: Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs

When: 4 year, 1, 2 module

Mode of studies: offline

Open to: students of all HSE University campuses

Instructors: Bartenev Vladimir

Language: English

ECTS credits: 3

Contact hours: 36

Full Syllabus

Abstract

This course will expose the students to international development cooperation as a multidimensional realm of international relations with a distinctive anthology of milestone documents and terminology. It will help the class navigate through a dynamic ecosystem of international development cooperation of the XXI century, familiarize with its core elements – both state and non-state - and differentiate between modalities of their interaction. The students will learn to think critically about the agendas and actions of bilateral and multilateral donors and understand the complexity of interlinkages between politics, economics and humanitarianism in development policies. They will gain the knowledge about management models, strategic priorities and practices of the leading Western and non-Western providers of development cooperation – the United States, the European countries and the EU as a collective donor, China and other participants in the South-South cooperation, as well as the Russian Federation. They will also acquire skills to identify and explain variations in sectoral and geographical allocation of development finance by a given actor and to track development finance flows from/to any country or region on the globe. The course will include a tailored set of assignments implying the use of both qualitative and quantitative methods: colloquiums, debate participation, tests and several tasks on exploring statistical data. Collectively, these assignments will help acquire the skills which might be useful for any other educational or career trajectory but might have particular relevance for those students who will choose international development as their area of specialization.

Learning Objectives

To gain knowledge and understanding of ideological and strategic underpinnings of international development thinking, policy agendas and practice
To operationalize critical thinking about development policy agendas and activities of the leading bilateral (Western and non-Western) and multilateral donors
To master the skills of exploring international development cooperation policies using qualitative and quantitative methods

Expected Learning Outcomes

Understands the logic of evolution of international development thinking and policy agendas
Knows core state and non-state elements of international development cooperation architecture, modalities of their interaction, and the structure of international development finance
Shows awareness of the interlinkages between politics, economics and humanitarianism in the policies of leading bilateral and multilateral donors and the essence of the key policy debates
Understands the principles of country comparisons and demonstrates the ability to reveal commonalities and differences between the policies of various Western and non-Western providers
Is capable of explaining Russia’s role and priorities in international development cooperation
Has the skills to generate, export and analyze relevant statistical data on international development finance flows

Course Contents

Theme 1. Development Theory and International Development Doctrines: Tracing the Evolution
Theme 2. International Development Cooperation Architecture of the XXI Century: Naming the Actors, Navigating the Labyrinths
Theme 3. Official and Private Development Finance: Structuring the Flows
Theme 4. Bilateral Development Cooperation: Blending Politics, Economics and Humanitarianism
Theme 5. Multilateral Development Cooperation: Shedding the Stereotypes
Theme 6. Western Providers of Development Cooperation: Revealing Commonalities and Differences
Theme 7. Non-Western Providers of Development Cooperation: Mapping the Expanding Cluster
Theme 8. Russian Federation’s International Development Assistance: Explaining the Trends, Envisaging the Prospects
Theme 9. Regional Maps of Official Development Assistance: Drawing New Insights from Aid Allocation Data
Theme 10. Opportunities and Risks in International Development Cooperation: Learning to Be Realistic (Structured discussion).

Assessment Elements

Seminar Participation
The grading for ‘in-class participation’ is done based on the student’s attendance and substantive qualitative contribution to the discussion of a given topic based predominantly on the readings, assigned for each topic. Each student is expected to: - attend the seminars; - provide correct and comprehensive answers to direct questions (addressed to him/her directly or to the group as a whole); - demonstrate the understanding of the information obtained from the readings (facts, cause-and-effect linkages etc.) and the ability to think critically about the discussed topic, - react in a constructive manner to other students’ comments. - operationalize the skills of extracting information from relevant statistical databased during practicum in a computer class.
Mid-Term Test
Test consists of 20 questions (16 closed and 4 open). Time limit is 15 minutes. Platform: Smart LMS. Closed questions may have more that 1 correct answer. (In this case the response is graded positively only if all correct answers are selected)
Analytical Brief
Students will have to use skills acquired at the practicum on aid statistics in a computer class ‘Seminar 3 ‘Statistics on International Development Cooperation: Learning the Fundamentals’ The main source for the calculations is the OECD Data Explorer (available at: https://data-explorer.oecd.org/) Each student is to make requested calculations for his/her ‘Focal Provider’, assigned by the instructor based on the topic of the student’s Bachelor thesis (except for the students whose theses are devoted to policies of the countries who do not report data on development finance to the OECD). The results of calculations have to be presented in the form of Tables (the exact samples and Guidelines will be provided to students not less than 30 days before the deadline). Sample Parameters, calculated in Tables: -Overall volume of ODA allocated by a given Provider X to a Region Y in a given period (yearly averages) - Top 5 recipients of ODA allocated by a given Provider X to Region Y in a given period (yearly averages) - Distribution of ODA by Provider X, allocated to a Region Y among different financial instruments (flows) in a given period (year averages) - Distribution of ODA by Provider X, allocated to a Region Y among major sector categories in a given period (yearly averages) - Distribution of ODA by Provider X, allocated to a Region Y, among different Channels of delivery in a given period (yearly averages) Each table has to be accompanied by a description and interpretation of the results (no less than 3000 characters with spaces).
Final Exam
Final exam is conducted in an oral format (without preparation). It consists of three distinctive parts, each of which is graded separately. Part 1 (Theory) – a student has to clarify the meaning of one pivotal concepts for international development cooperation Part 2 (Comparison of Development Cooperation Providers’ Profiles) – a student is to describe and explain the differences in aid allocation of several random DAC donors (using the graphs and diagrams from the OECD Development Cooperation Profiles) Part 3 (The impact of geopolitical polarization on international development cooperation) – a student is to explain the impact of geopolitical polarization on a given ‘dimension’ of international development cooperation assigned by the Instructor (time allocated to organize the thoughts = 5 minutes)

Interim Assessment

2024/2025 2nd module
0.25 * Analytical Brief + 0.25 * Final Exam + 0.2 * Mid-Term Test + 0.3 * Seminar Participation

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

Bruce Currie-Alder, Ravi Kanbur, David M. Malone, & Rohinton Medhora. (2014). International Development : Ideas, Experience, and Prospects: Vol. First edition. OUP Oxford.
Jean Grugel, & Daniel Hammett. (2016). The Palgrave Handbook of International Development. Palgrave Macmillan.

Recommended Additional Bibliography

Brezhneva, A. (2013). Russia as a humanitarian aid donor / Anna Brezhneva and Daria Ukhova. Oxford: Oxfam. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edswao&AN=edswao.407208801
Carothers, Thomas, and Gramont, Diane de. Development Aid Confronts Politics : The Almost Revolution, Brookings Institution Press, 2013. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/hselibrary-ebooks/detail.action?docID=1167366.
Dollar, D., & Alesina, A. (2000). Who Gives Foreign Aid to Whom and Why?
Haan, A. de. (2009). How the Aid Industry Works : An Introduction to International Development. Lynne Rienner Publishers.
Introduction to international development approaches, actors, and issues ed. by Paul A. Haslam; Jessica Schafer; Pierre Beaudet. (2012).
Oldekop, J. A., Fontana, L. B., Grugel, J., Roughton, N., Adu, A. E. A., Bird, G. K., Dorgan, A., Vera Espinoza, M. A., Wallin, S., Hammett, D., Agbarakwe, E., Agrawal, A., Asylbekova, N., Azkoul, C., Bardsley, C., Bebbington, A. J., Carvalho, S., Chopra, D., Christopoulos, S., & Crewe, E. (2016). 100 key research questions for the post-2015 development agenda. Development Policy Review, 34(1), 55–82. https://doi.org/10.1111/dpr.12147
WOODS, N. (2008). Whose aid? Whose influence? China, emerging donors and the silent revolution in development assistance. International Affairs, 84(6), 1205–1221. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2346.2008.00765.x

Authors

BARTENEV VLADIMIR IGOREVICH

Course Syllabus