Deconstructing geopolitics in the classroom. Grasping geopolitical codes through active learning

Abstract

This article describes an activity I designed to allow students to grasp critical approaches in Geopolitics better. The activity is focused on the deconstruction of the US’ geopolitical code regarding the 2003 intervention in Iraq. The article describes the activity, and then evaluates students’ learning through four different kinds of review and assessment. Overall, the different assessments show that students managed to achieve the main learning outcomes of the activity—i.e., being able to reflect on this geopolitical code as a social construction legitimizing militaryaction. These assessments also show that students are able to apply what they learned in this specific activity to other geopolitical discourses —thus showing how the activity helpsthem develop critical thinking outside the classroom. In this sense, the article concludes that active learning can be helpful for instructors teaching critical approaches in International Relationsor other similar fields. Having students working with their knowledge allows learners to understand better how to produce critical analyses and to grasp their political weight.