Whether it be the war in Ukraine, pandemics, climate change, debt crisis or SDGs, debates in international affairs often focus on interventions and their adequacy. But before reaching the stage of intervention, a range of expert knowledge has already been wielded to characterize problems in selective ways, identify solutions and determine who should take action. This course interrogates expert knowledge and especially the political economy underlying its production. We will examine the intersection of political, economic and epistemic power in global governance to illuminate how entrenched historical – often colonial - legacies and hierarchies shape contemporary policies. We will read case studies on a variety of different topics in international affairs including international economic policy, climate change, disaster management, and global health. In each instance, we will ask how some knowledge becomes authoritative and gets translated into policy, while other knowledge gets sidelined. We will pay particular attention to seemingly objective processes of measurement to reveal how matters of metrics and data reflect power structures and orientations of institutions. In each instance, we will also consider how extant knowledge structures can be challenged, and how alternatives can be introduced.