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Political Science 160 - International Politics
| Beth K. Dougherty |
| Fall 2007 |
TTh 9-11am |
| MI 112B |
x2084 |
Course Content and Objectives
This course examines the workings of the international political and economic systems from both a practical and theoretical perspective. The first several weeks of the course offer a brief introduction to the structure of the international political system and its main actors. The next section introduces the major theoretical approaches to the study of international relations, including realism, idealism, and feminism. We then turn to an exploration of the system’s mechanisms for conflict and cooperation.
Course Reading
There are two texts for this course, both available at the bookstore. All other readings are only available on reserve. RESERVE READINGS ARE REQUIRED.
Joshua Goldstein & Jon Pevehouse. International Relations (8th edition). New York: Longman, 2008.
Stiles, Kendall. Cases Histories in International Politics (5th edition). New York: Longman, 2008
You are also expected to read a major daily newspaper, preferably The New York Times, Washington Post or Christian Science Monitor. All three papers are available on-line.
Course Requirements
- Two exams, worth 40% of your grade.
| EXAM I |
OCTOBER 11 |
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| EXAM II |
DECEMBER 14 |
9AM-NOON |
Each exam covers the class material up to that point; they are not cumulative. The questions will be identifications, lists, and short answer essays. The material will be drawn from the readings, lectures and current events discussions. Failure to show up for an exam will result in an “F” (ie, zero points), unless prior arrangements have been made with me.
- News analysis project, worth 45% of your grade.
You will write two 5-page papers, each one describing and analyzing an ongoing international story (there must be recent coverage in one of the major papers). The first analysis is due in class on September 21, no later than 2pm. The second analysis is due in class on November 20. Failure to follow ALL the rules on the final page will result in deductions. All papers must include both citations and a bibliography; without both, you will not receive a grade on the paper. Please follow the Chicago Manual of Style. Late papers will be subject to a substantial grade penalty for each day late, unless prior arrangements are made with me. Students caught plagiarizing will fail the course. See the end of the syllabus for additional information.
- Class participation, worth 15% of your grade.
You are expected to make informed contributions to discussions of current events, which will generally take place once a week. Frequently we will discuss the cases from the Stiles book; you will be expected to be able to answer the questions at the end of each case and to defend your position. Several other classes will be solely devoted to student analyses of a particular question or reading. This portion of your grade will also include a map quiz, as well as participation in small group class activities. Please remember that class attendance is vital - failure to attend will lower your participation grade, and in the event of repeated absences I reserve the right to fail you for the course.
If you have a disability and would like to speak to someone about possible accommodations, please visit the LSSC (Learning Support Services Center) located on the first floor of 635 College St. You will need to provide appropriate documentation of your disability to the Director of the LSSC. If you wish to receive accommodations in my class please provide me the LSSC Accommodation Verification Letter, dated for this semester, as soon as possible so your learning needs may be appropriately met.
Course Outline
| Aug 28 |
The first day of class / terminology |
| Aug 30 |
Reading: G&P, Chapter 1. |
| Sept 4 |
States & nations |
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Reading: Hutchinson & Smith, Nationalism reader: Renan, Stalin, Weber, Connor; Michael Lind, “In Defense of Liberal Nationalism,” Foreign Affairs (May/June 2005): 87-99 (ASAP); Stiles, Chapter 8 – Chechnya; Robert Jackson, “Sovereignty in World Politics,” Political Studies (1999): 431-456 (Academic Search Elite). |
| Sept 6 |
Foreign-policy decision-making |
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Reading: G&P, Chapter 4; Stiles, Chapter 4 – The Cuban Missile Crisis & Chapter 7 - Vietnam and public opinion. |
| Sept 11 |
International organizations /NGOs |
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Reading: Stiles, Chapter 19 – Pandemics & NGOs; Abbott & Snidal, “Why States Act Through Formal International Organizations,” in Paul Diehl, The Politics of Global Governance, pp. 9-43. |
| Sept 13 |
The United Nations system |
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Reading: G&P, Chapter 7 (pp. 230 - 252); Yoder, “The League of Nations Experiment,” pp. 7-23; Ramesh Thakur, The United Nations, Peace and Security, pp. 291-319. |
| Sept 18 |
The end of the Cold War: new system, new threats |
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Reading: Stiles, Chapter 3 – U.S. Role After the Cold War; Samuel Huntington, “The Clash of Civilization?” Foreign Affairs (May/June 1993): 22-49 (ASAP); Bruce Riedel, “Al-Qaeda Strikes Back,” Foreign Affairs (May/June 2007): 24-40 (ASAP); Laurie Garrett, “The Lessons of HIV/AIDS,” Foreign Affairs (July/August 2005): 51-64 (ASAP); “The Failed States Index 2007,” Foreign Policy (July/August 2007): 54-63 (ASAP). |
| Sept 20 |
Collective security in the post-Cold War era – the U.N. role |
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Reading: Stiles, Chapter 5 – the Persian Gulf War; Bellamy, Williams, and Griffin, Understanding Peacekeeping, pp. 59-92. |
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| SEPT 21, 2pm - NEWS ANALYSIS I DUE |
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| Sept 25 |
Collective security in the post-Cold War era – humanitarian intervention |
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Reading: Stiles, Chapter 1, Yugoslavia; Kenneth Roth, “Setting the Standard: Justifying Humanitarian Intervention,” Harvard International Review (Spring 2004): 58-63 (ASAP); Alex Bellamy, “Responsibility to Protect or Trojan Horse? The Crisis in Darfur and Humanitarian Intervention After Iraq?” Ethics and International Affairs 19, 2 (October 2005): 31-54 (ASAP). |
| Sept 27 |
Idealism & Realism |
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Reading: G&P Chapter 2; Stiles, Chapter 2 – Sino-Soviet-American relations; Hans Morgenthau, Politics Among Nations, excerpts. |
| Oct 2 |
Neo-realism |
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Reading: John Mearsheimer, “Anarchy and the Struggle for Power.” |
| Oct 4 |
Liberalism & democratic peace theory |
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Reading: G&P, Chapter 3, pp. 83-93; Michael W. Doyle, “Liberalism and World Politics Revisited,” pp. 83-106. |
| Oct 9 |
Feminism & constructivism |
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Reading: G&P, Chapter 3, pp. 93-121; J.A. Tickner, “Searching for the Princess,” Harvard International Review (Fall 1999): 44-48 (ASAP); Swanee Hunt, “Let Women Rule,” Foreign Affairs (May/June 2007): 109-120 (ASAP); Martha Finnemore, “Constructing Norms of Humanitarian Intervention,” (in Mingst & Karns): pp. 102-118. |
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| OCT 11 - EXAM I |
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| BREAK OCT 15 – 21 |
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| Oct 23 |
War |
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Reading: G&P, Chapter 5. |
| Oct 25 |
Weapons of mass destruction / Non-proliferation issues |
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Reading: G&P, Chapter 6. |
| Oct 30 |
Terrorism |
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Reading: Stiles, Chapter 9 – al-Qaeda & Chapter 10 – the 9/11 report. |
| Nov 1 |
International law / International Court of Justice |
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Reading: G&P, Chapter 7, pp. 252-263; Malcolm Shaw, “Diplomatic Law,” in International Law (5th edition), pp. 668-693. |
| Nov 6 |
Diplomacy / Conflict resolution |
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Reading: Stiles, Chapter 6 – Camp David; Zartman & Touval, “International Mediation in the Post-Cold War Era,” in Turbulent Peace, pp. 427-443; Mark Leonard, “Diplomacy by Other Means,” Foreign Policy (September/October 2002): 48-56 (ASAP). |
| Nov 8 |
The role of morality: just war theory |
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Reading: Christian Enemark and Christopher Michaelsen, “Just War Doctrine and the Invasion of Iraq,” Australian Journal of Politics and History 51, 4 (December 2005): 545-564 (ASAP); Colin H. Kahl, “How We Fight,” Foreign Affairs 85, 6 (November / December 2006): 83-101 (ASAP); Audie Klotz, “Norms Reconstituting Interests,” International Organization 49, 3 (Summer 1995): 451-478 (JSTOR). |
| Nov 13 |
Human rights |
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Reading: G&P, Chapter 7, pp.263-275; Stiles, Chapter 12 – Trafficking & Chapter 14 – Apartheid; David Forsythe, Human Rights in International Relations, Chapters 1-2. |
| Nov 15 |
Mass killing / Responses to international crimes |
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Reading: Stiles, Chapter 13 – International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda; Scott Straus, “Darfur and the Genocide Debate,” Foreign Affairs 84, 1 (Jan / Feb 2005): 123-133 (ASAP). |
| Nov 20 |
Theoretical approaches to IPE |
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Reading: G&P, Chapter 8. |
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| NOV 20 - NEWS ANALYSIS II DUE |
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| Nov 27 |
Bretton Woods system |
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Reading: G&P, Chapter 9 |
| Nov 29 |
The North-South Gap |
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Reading: G&P, Chapter 12; Stiles, Chapter 16 – Sweatshops & Chapter 17 – Regionalism. |
| Dec 4 |
Debt & development |
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Reading: G&P, Chapter 13. |
| Dec 6 |
Environment |
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Reading: G&P, Chapter 11; Stiles, Chapter 15 – Kyoto Protocol. |
| Dec 11 |
Catch-up / wrap-up & evaluations |
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| FINAL EXAM – Friday, Dec 14, 9am-noon |
NEWS ANALYSIS GUIDE
TOPIC: You may choose any ongoing international story which interests you. You should have an absolute minimum of four separate news items for the story; these items can all be from the same source, or they can be from several different newspapers and/or news magazines. If you would like to gain a non-American perspective on your story, there are many international papers and magazines available in English on-line (for example, the BBC and the Economist). You may also use foreign language sources, provided the sources are “prestige press” in that country. At the end of your analysis, you must include a list of the stories you relied upon in writing the paper. Appropriate US sources: New York Times, Washington Post, Christian Science Monitor, LA Times. I prefer you not use the Wall Street Journal as your sole source as its international coverage is limited.
CONTENT: The emphasis in these papers is on your analysis of the situation. The following are some suggestions for the sort of information/analysis you should provide. Explain the story - give the relevant facts and provide the necessary background information. What are the short/long term causes of the event? Explain the significance of the story - Why is this matter worthy of international attention? Does it illustrate a pattern or general trend in international politics? If so, briefly explain what larger issue the story illustrates. Whose interests are involved and why? How is the event being handled by the relevant government and by the international community? What do they hope to accomplish by pursuing this policy? Do not be afraid to present your own assessment - for example, you could argue that the United Nations should strengthen sanctions on Iran, or that the international community needs to set firm targets for the emission of greenhouse gases. The key to writing a quality news analysis is presenting an organized argument/explanation, and backing that up with evidence.
REMEMBER THESE RULES!
- it’s = it is.....its = possessive pronoun
A simple way to avoid this mistake is to avoid the use of contractions in a formal paper.
- states are singular nouns, and therefore take singular pronouns
Example: Iraq = it, its.....Iraqis = they, their
Make sure that your subjects and pronouns agree!
- ALWAYS spellcheck AND proofread your papers. Spellcheck cannot catch every mistake.
- Document your sources. Citations are required whenever you use a direct quote, borrow ideas from a source, paraphrase, or cite statistics / numbers (the number killed in an attack in Iraq, GNP, inflation rate, population, electoral results, etc). You do not need a citation if the information is considered “common knowledge” (the name of the Iraqi prime minister, the date of the election) or is reported in multiple sources. If you are quoting directly from a source, you must enclose the quote in quotation marks and include a citation. Quotes of four or more lines should be indented and single-spaced, and do not require quotation marks. Using someone else’s words either verbatim or with only minor changes without a citation constitutes plagiary. Students caught plagiarizing will fail the course.
- Please follow the Chicago Manual of Style (use either footnotes or endnotes). The names of newspapers, books, magazines, and journals are italicized.
SAMPLE CITATION: Sidney Crosby, “Canadian Prime Minister Resigns,” New York Times, 13 January 1998. (after the first cite: Crosby, 13 January 1998.)
SAMPLE BIBLIOGRAPHY ENTRY: Crosby, Sidney. “Canadian Prime Minister Resigns.” New York Times, 13 January 1998.
The bibliography includes articles you read on the subject but did not cite in the text of the paper. It is organized alphabetically.
- Please paginate your paper, and staple it. You do not need to include a separate title page. Put your name, the course, and the date of submission at the top of the first page. The bibliography does not count towards the page limit.
MAP QUIZ
| Iraq |
Japan |
Iran |
Sudan |
Venezuela |
Bolivia |
| Korea |
Indonesia |
Syria |
Chile |
Nepal |
France |
| Ukraine |
Afghanistan |
Liberia |
Haiti |
Turkey |
Pakistan |
| Serbia |
DRC |
Angola |
Malawi |
Austria |
Belgium |
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