Essay
#1 Due Friday 2/24 by 4pm (30 percent of final grade)Politics 12800-01
Introduction to International Relations
Prof. Chip Gagnon
Spring 2012
Go to reading assignments for:
M 1/23 - W 2/15 Introduction
and Theory | F 2/17 - F 2/24, Media and IR |
M 2/27 - F 3/23, Security: Terrorism and the Future
of War | W 3/28 - M 4/23 The International
Economy | W 4/25 - W 5/4, Culture and the global
community
In this first section we pose the questions we hope to answer
in the course. We look at the assumptions that underlie how people think about
international politics, examine a number of approaches to understanding international
relations and world politics, and relate them to issues of interest.
M 1/23 Introductions. Questions of War and Peace. Is
peace a good thing? How do we come to see the world in particular ways?
W 1/25 Thinking about the international: The war in Kosovo
In class we'll think about the different ways that the 1999 war in Kosovo, including
US involvement, can be explained.
Required reading:
- Madeleine Albright, "US
and NATO policy towards the crisis in Kosovo", pp.1-7
To think about: According to Albright, why was the US involved in Kosovo?
What specific reasons did she give? Are you convinced by them?
F 1/27 Kosovo continued
Required reading:
- Kucinich, "What
I learned from the War", pp.8-14
- Dimitrijevic, "The
Collateral Damage is Democracy" , pp.15-16
To think about:
Why were these two writers opposed to NATO bombings over Kosovo? How did they
differ from Albright's arguments? Can you pick out how their assumpions and
/ or beliefs differ from Albright's?
M 1/30 Health issues as international issues?
Required reading:
- Kidder, "The Good Doctor", pp.17-32
Suggested reading:
Web site of Partners
in Health; the Zanmi
Lasante project run by Paul Farmer (online)
Farmer, "Whither
Equity in Health? The State of the Poor in Latin America" (online)
To think about:
As you read this article, think about how health issues such as AIDS are international
issues. Can AIDS be understood through traditional ways of looking at international
relations? What kind of framework could help us understand the international
politics of AIDS? How does Paul Farmer understand it? Think about the moral
and ethical aspects as well as security aspects of the issue. Does morality
have a place in international relations?
W 2/1 Thinking about World Politics: Perspectives and
Approaches
To think about:
What is a theory? Why are there competing theories in the social sciences? What
is an assumption?
F 2/3 Introduction to theories of international relations
Required reading:
- Goldstein, "IR as a Field of Study", pp.34-38
- Also take a look at the table on p.33
To think about:
How can we understand the complexity of the international? How do we define
the international?
Interview
with Mearsheimer
on realism (58 mins)
M 2/6 International Politics: Realism
Required reading:
- Mearsheimer, "Anarchy and the Struggle for Power", pp.39-52
- Mearsheimer and Walt, "Keeping
Saddam Hussein in a Box", p.53
To think about:
How do Realists see world politics? What do they consider as important, and
what do they see as less important? How is Mearsheimer and Walt's argument in
the second article an illustration of a Realist world view?
W 2/8 International Politics: Liberalism
Required reading:
- Russett & Oneal, "The Kantian Peace in the 21st Century", pp.54-64
- Reread Albright, "US
and NATO policy towards the crisis in Kosovo", pp.1-7
To think about:
How do Liberals see world politics? What makes a country liberal? How does the
liberal view of domestic society influence their view of international relations?
How is Albright's argument based on a liberal perspective?
F 2/10 Liberalism cont'd: unilateralists vs.
multilateralists
Required reading:
- Rhodes, "The Imperial Logic", pp.65-70 (just to top of second column;
stop at "A dissent")
- Bush, Intro
to 2002 National Security Strategy, pp.76-78
- Bush, Intro
to 2006 National Security Strategy, pp.79-80
- Obama, Intro
to 2010 National Security Strategy, pp.81-83
To think about:
What different assumptions do these different groups of liberals have that lead
them to see the world so differently? Think about how Bush's introductions embody
a unilateral liberal perspective. How would you characterize Obama's?
Links of interest:
- Debate: Realist
vs. Unilateral liberal (neoconservative)
- National
Security Strategy of the US, 2002
- National
Security Strategy of the US, 2006
- National
Security Strategy of the US, 2010 (pdf)
-
George Bush's June 1, 2002 speech at West Point
M 2/13 International Politics: Global Humanism
Required reading:
- Gurtov, "World Politics in Global-Humanist Perspective", pp.84-92
- Hobden and Jones, "The US, The United Fruit Company, and Guatemala",
p.93
- Reread Kidder, "The Good Doctor", pp.17-32
To think about:
How do Globalists see world politics? What is more important, and what is less
important for them than for Realists and Liberals? How is the worldview of Paul
Farmer reflective of a Globalist perspective?
W 2/15 International Politics: Critical
theory & Conclusion of Theories section
Required reading:
- "Critical Theory, Constructivism, and Post-modernism", p.94
- Miedzian, "'Real Men,' 'Wimps,' and Our National Security," pp.95-105
- "Threatened men more pro war, SUVs", p.106
To think about:
The ways in which identity, beliefs, experiences affect the way we understand
the world and how we interact with others.
Most people get most information about international politics and US foreign policy from the mass media, especially television. What is the impact of media on international relations? What gets covered and why? What are the links between government and the media? What is the impact on how we think about the international? What kind of information is available on the world wide web?
F 2/17 Background: Democracy and the media
M 2/20 - W 2/22: Film
The Panama Deception
Suggested readings:
- Mark Cook and Jeff Cohen, "The
Media Goes to War: How TV Sold the Panama Invasion"
- Cook and Cohen, "The
'Objective' Reporter's Lexicon: We, Us, Our"
F 2/24 Discussion of film: Democracy, media and foreign policy
Essay
#1 Due Friday 2/24 by 4pm (30 percent of final grade)
This section of the course considers the term "security," which
is one of the focuses of traditional international relations. We consider several
definitions of the term and ways in which it has been extended to cover non-military
issues. We discuss in particular the issues of terrorism and the future of war
Links of interest:
- Go
to Chip's links on nuclear weapons and military security
-
World and US military spending
Documentary
by Michael Klare,
"Blood and Oil," part 1
(For parts 2-6 click here)
M 2/27 Historical background: The aftermath
of the Cold War
Required Reading:
- Klare,
"The Geopolitics of War", pp.107-110
- Cooley, Unholy Wars, "Introduction", pp.111-116
- Campos, "Undressing
the terror threat," pp.117-119
W 2/29 Terrorism: Strategic or Pure rage?
Required reading:
- Lemann, "What Terrorists Want: Is there a better way of defeating Al Qaeda?",
pp.120-125
Suggested reading:
- Hoffman, "Defining
Terrorism,", Chapter 1 of Inside Terrorism, for historical background
on the term (online; if you can't access this directly, google
"hoffman" and "defining terrorism" and click on the link
for "Inside Terrorism" at nytimes.com, it should work for you)
To think about:
What is the definition of terrorism? What are the causes of terrorism? What
2 views of terrorism's causes and solutions does Lemann identify in the article?
Interview
with Robert Pape
(not same as reading. 28 mins)
(Link
to video)F 3/2 Terrorist motives
Required reading:
- "The Logic of Suicide Terrorism," Interview with Robert Pape,
pp.126-131
- Bergen & Lind, "A Matter of Pride", pp.132-139
To think about:
What assumptions underlie the arguments in these two articles? What are the
logical policy implications, given those assumptions?
M 3/5 The Future of War: "The Revolution in
Military Affairs"
Required reading:
- Lemann, excerpts from "Dreaming About War", pp.140-142
- Williams, "The Great Transformation," pp.143-144
- Robertson, "How
robot drones revolutionized the face of warfare," pp.145-148
In class:
-
Clip from 60 Minutes on drones
Suggested reading:
- Schachtman, "Taking
Aim at Military Technology" (online)
Link of interest:
Revolution
in Military Affairs (RMA) resources from the Project on Defense Alternatives
To think about:
What are the underlying assumptions of the RMA proponents about the future of
war? What are the threats they assume? How do these assumptions drive their
support for RMA? In the 60 Minutes clip we'll watch in class, the perspective
is very much a US one. What do you think is missing from this report? We'll
also discuss other countries' moves to adopt RMA strategy.
Interview
with Lt.Col.John Nagl, one of authors of US Army Counterinsurgency Manual
(Link to
video)W 3/7 The Future of War: Counterinsurgency
Required reading:
- Lieven, "Soldiers
before missiles: Meeting the challenge from the world's streets" (pdf link),
pp.149-155
- Record, "Why
the Strong Lose," (pdf) pp.156-171
Link of interest:
- US military field manual,
US Military Counterinsurgency Manual, Dec 2006
- Office of the Under Secretary of Defense For Acquisition, Technology, and
Logistics, "Defense
Science Board Study on Transition To and From Hostilities"
To think about:
What are Lieven's and Record's underlying assumptions about warfare? How do
they differ from those of the RMA proponents? How do their assumptions drive
their views on policy?
F 3/9 Counterinsurgency: Afghanistan
In class:
Frontline
special "Obama's War", with footage from Afghanistan, illustrating
US counterinsurgency strategy there.
To think about:
From what you see in this documentary, what are the main challenges to the counterinsurgency
strategy? Think about the arguments for it from Lieven and Record.
3/12- 3/16 Spring Break
M 3/19 The Future of War: "Air-Sea Battle"
Required readings:
-Cobb, "Good-Bye
Counter-Insurgency, Hello Air-Sea Battle" pp.172-174
- van Tol, "AirSea
Battle: A Point-of-Departure Operational Concept" pp.175-184
(we will also check out the power
point slide show that accompanies this article)
- Lacey, "Air-Sea
Battle" pp.185-187
-Glain, "By
Choosing Arms Over Diplomacy, America Errs in Asia" pp.188-190
- Bumiller, "Obama
Puts His Stamp on Strategy for a Leaner Military" pp.191-193
To think about:
The different premises and assumptions this strategy is based on; what
are the main points of critique presented by Lacey and Glain? How do they differ?
Interview
with Thomas Barnett
(57 mins)
(Link
to video)W 3/21 War and peace
Required reading:
- Barnett, "The
Pentagon's New Map," pp.194-200
- Yglesias, "The Space Race," pp.201-202
To think about:
What are the assumptions implicit in Barnett's analysis? What are the main values,
priorities, and motivations of key actors in his analysis? How do Yglesia's
assumptions lead him to such a different conclusion than Barnett?
Link of interest:
- Barnett's
blog
F 3/23 War, history, and empire
Required reading:
- Barkawi, "On the Pedagogy of 'Small Wars'", pp.203-221
To think about:
How does Barkawi's approach differ from those we've read already? What are his
assumptions regarding wars fought by the US and other great powers? How do his
conclusions differ from the ones we've discussed to date?
Link of interest:
- War fighting grid
M 3/26 China and the international system: A new international
order?
Required reading:
- Jacques, "A
new sun rises in the east" pp.222-226
W 3/28 no class
The globalization of the international economy seems to be one
of the main features of the international system since the end of WWII, and
especially in the past few decades. In this section we look at the development
of the international economic system and discuss some issues linked with globalization
of the economy.
Links
of interest on the global economy
F 3/30 The Global Economy: Traditional Background
Required reading:
- "International Political Economy," excerpts, pp.227-250
M 4/2 Globalization and the Third World
In Class: The
New Rulers of the World
To think about:
How and why does the analysis of the film differ from Rosecrance's and Friedman's
analyses?
W 4/4 The Global Economy: Liberal views
Required reading:
- Rosecrance, "The Virtual State", pp.251-260
To think about:
Notes/outline
of Rosecrance article
Rosecrance is writing in the mid-90s. What does Rosecrance see as the future
role of the state? How does he define security? What is his argument in
favor of the liberal global economy.
Thursday
4/5
Essay
#2 Due Wednesday 4/4 Thursday 4/5 by 4pm (25 percent of final
grade)
Interview
with Thomas Friedman
(23 mins)
(Link
to video)F 4/6 Global Economy:
21st century
Required reading:
- Friedman, "It's
a Flat World, After All", pp.261-265
To think about:
What are the assumptions implicit in Friedman's analysis? What are the main
values, priorities, and motivations of key actors in his analysis? How does
his argument differ from Rosecrance? What has changed over the previous 10-15
years?
Note: April 6 is the last to to withdraw from the course
M 4/9 The Global Economy: Other views
Required reading:
- Chang, "The Lexus and the Olive Tree Revisted" pp. 266-279
To think about:
Contrast the claims about the benefits of globalization made by Rosecrance and
Friedman with Chang's argument.
W 4/11 Free trade as US foreign policy
Required readings:
-
"Trade wars and morals" (The Economist) pp.280-281
- Gucciardi, "Leaked:
US to start 'trade wars' with nations opposed to Monsanto, GMO Crops"
pp.282-283
- Vidal, "Wikileaks:
US targets US over GM crops" pp.284-285
- Cable
07PARIS4723, "France and the WTO AG Biotech case" pp.286-287
To think about:
Are states justified in pressuring others to adhere to their notion
of free trade? Is protectionism ever justified?
F 4/13 Free trade, development and migration: The case
of Mexico and the US
Required reading:
- Bacon, "How
US Policies Fueled Mexico's Great Migration" pp.288-301
To think about:
The ways in which trade changes societies, and the unintended consequences of
economic efficiency.
M 4/16 Global economy: what's missing?
Required reading:
- Gray, "The
World is Round", pp.302-305
To think about:
What is Gray saying is important that Friedman (and Rosecrance) is missing?
Why does he disagree so strongly with Friedman's analysis?
W 4/18 Global economy: China as an economic
superpower
Required reading:
- Jacques, excerpts from When China Rules the World, pp.306-313
- Jacques, "The
citadels of the global economy are yielding to China's battering ram"
pp.314-316
- Barboza, "China's
Industrial Ambition Soars to High-Tech", pp.317-318
- Seligson, "American
Graduates Finding Jobs in China" pp. 319-320
To think about:
If the international economic order is determined by the most economically powerful
actor, what might a Chinese-dominated global economy look like?
F 4/20 Global economy,
democracy, and multinational corporations
Required reading:
- Reich, "How
Capitalism is Killing Democracy," (pdf) pp.321-325
- Greider, "Pro
Patria, Pro Mundus: It's Time to Ask 'Borderless' Corporations: Which side are
you on?" pp.326-329
To think about:
what is the tension Reich describes between a capitalist economic system and
a democratic political system? Should corporations be loyal to their home states
in any way? To the communities in which they work? To their workers? To democracy?
M 4/23 Globalization and the First World
Required reading:
- Lynn, "Unmade
in America", pp.330-338
To think about:
Why does Lynn disagree so fundamentally with Rosecrance and Friedman?
One of the striking aspects of the current international scene is that concurrent with globalization and removing borders, there are also growing numbers of violent conflicts at local and regional levels in which cultural themes (ethnic, religious, etc.) are prominent. Why this apparent contradiction? Is there a relation?
Interview
with Samuel Huntington
(Link
to video)W 4/25 Civilizations and Cultures in
Conflict?
Required reading:
- Huntington, "Clash of Civilizations?", pp.339-351
To think about:
What are Hungtington's assumptions about culture and conflict? Why does
he think that the nature of international relations is shifting in such a fundamental
way? Does consuming western goods change a culture? Is that a good thing?
What are the causes of violence? To get peace does everyone have to become like
us? What would Huntington say about Rosecrance's argument?
F 4/27 Clash of Civilizations: Another view
Required reading:
- Sen, "Civilizational Imprisonments", pp.352-357
- Sen, "Universal Truths: Human Rights and the Westernizing Illusion",
pp.358-362
To think about:
What is a culture? What do you have in common with those who share a culture
with you? Why do we so easily accept arguments ethnicity and cultural diversity
cause violent conflict? What does Sen mean by culture?
M 4/30 Islam: Another view
Required reading:
- Esposito, excerpts from The Islamic Threat: Myth or Reality?, pp.363-373
- Mehio, "How Islam and Politics Mixed," pp.374-375
- Friedman, "Turkey Wings It", p.376
To think about:
How does the way Esposito, Mehio, and Friedman talk about Islam differ from
Huntington's use?
W 5/2 Ethnic mobilization and conflict
, and Conclusion
In class showing of excerpt from "Beauty and the Beast"
Required reading:
- "Bystanders," Maas, p.377
- "What Ivan Said," Drakulic, pp.378-383
- Gagnon, "Serbia's Road to War", just read the introductory section (pp.384-385,
up to section head "reformists vs. conservatives")
- Bonner, "Rwandans in Death Squad Say Choice Was Kill or Die," pp.392-393
Suggested reading:
- Bowen, "The
Myth of Global Ethnic Conflict"
Suggested viewing:
"Bosnia: We are all neighbors" (DVD)
To think about:
What are the motivations of the participants in this violence? Think about the
power of fear.
Essay
#3 due Wednesday May 9, 4pm (25 percent of final grade)
Return to Intro to International
Relations syllabus
Return to Chip's page
Last revised 3/25/2012