This course aims to present the main issues in contemporary world politics and how the discipline of international relations tackled them.  Of course, it is impossible in a short course as this one to discuss thoroughly all relevant contemporary issues in world politics. Hence, I have selected a handful of topics covering four regions: Asia, Europe, Africa and the Middle East. In each of them, special attention will be paid to the main issues on the regional agenda and the effects they have on the international system. In addition, I added a section on the effect of the pandemic on world politics. In this way, the course provides students with basic knowledge to understand the evolution of the main aspects of contemporary international relations in the aforementioned regions.