This certificate is designed for students seeking an understanding of many of the political, ideological, religious, legal, institutional, and larger cultural influences on the behavior of various states and non-state actors in the world. It is intended to shed light on the ideas, values, and belief systems that animate the intentions and purposes of these political actors, as well as increase sensitivity to the "otherness" of other cultures, partly by contrasting them with our own. These general objectives can be achieved in different ways by taking different sets of courses within the program, some of which are principally theoretical and others of which address policy issues that are strongly affected by political/cultural questions.