Superpower California asks the following questions: What role does the state of California - or any powerful subnational entity - perform in the world? What role can it play? What role should it play? And how does it work towards extending - or hindering - the global power, presence, and blessings of democracy of the United States of America? The answer is critical to defining the future of American power. California is now the world's fourth largest global economy. It is not, however, a sovereign nation state. It is both enriched and constrained by its federal structure, e.g., America's unitary foreign policy and its national security structures. This course will review the ways that power is afforded to and extended by subnational entities, how that power and influence manifests itself in the global commons, and how California asserts its interests and values with other nations and subnational actors.
5 units · Letter or Credit/No Credit
Superpower California asks the following questions: What role does the state of California - or any powerful subnational entity - perform in the world? What role can it play? What role should it play? And how does it work towards extending - or hindering - the global power, presence, and blessings of democracy of the United States of America? The answer is critical to defining the future of American power. California is now the world's fourth largest global economy. It is not, however, a sovereign nation state. It is both enriched and constrained by its federal structure, e.g., America's unitary foreign policy and its national security structures. This course will review the ways that power is afforded to and extended by subnational entities, how that power and influence manifests itself in the global commons, and how California asserts its interests and values with other nations and subnational actors.
Offered in Autumn 2025 at Stanford University.