Essay
#1 Due Friday 10/5 by 4pm (30 percent of final grade)Politics 310-12800-01, 02
Introduction to International Relations
Prof. Chip Gagnon
Fall 2007
Go to reading assignments for:
W 8/29 - W 9/26, Introduction and Theory
| F 9/28 - M 10/8, Media and IR | W
10/10 - M 10/29, Security: Terrorism and the Future of War | W
10/31 - F 11/30, The International Economy | M
12/3 - W 12/12, Culture and the global community | F
12/14, The future of 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.
W 8/29 Introductions. Questions of War and Peace. Is
peace a good thing?
F 8/31 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?
M 9/3 Labor Day, no class
W 9/5 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?
F 9/7 TBA
M 9/10 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 9/12 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 9/14 Human nature, politics and the state
Required reading:
Schweizer, excerpts, pp.33-47
"Perils of
Complacency" (on "liberalism"), pp.48-52
To think about:
Schweizer's thought experiment about abolishing the police (bottom of p.36).
Why do states (governments) exist? What is a liberal?
M 9/17 Introduction to theories of international relations
Required reading:
Take a look at the table on p.53
To think about:
How can we understand the complexity of the international? How do we define
the international?
W 9/19 International Politics: Realism
Required reading:
Mearsheimer, "Anarchy and the Struggle for Power", pp.54-67
Mearsheimer and Walt, "Keeping
Saddam Hussein in a Box", p.68
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?
F 9/21 International Politics: Liberalism
Required reading:
Rosenau, "The Liberal Paradigm", pp.69-77
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?
M 9/24 Liberalism cont'd: unilateralists vs. multilateralists
Required reading:
Rhodes, "The
Imperial Logic", pp.78-88
To think about:
What different assumptions do these different groups of liberals have that lead
them to see the world so differently?
Links of interest:
- National
Security Strategy of the US, March 2006
- National
Security Strategy of the US, Sept 2002
-
George Bush's June 1, 2002 speech at West Point
W 9/26 International Politics: Globalism
Required reading:
Gurtov, "World Politics in Global-Humanist Perspective", pp.89-97
Hobden and Jones, "The US, The United Fruit Company, and Guatemala",
p.97a
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?
F 9/28 International Politics: Critical gender theory
& Conclusion of Theories section
Required reading:
"Critical Theory, Constructivism, and Post-modernism", p.98
Miedzian, "'Real Men,' 'Wimps,' and Our National Security," pp.99-109
"Threatened men more pro war, SUVs", p.110
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?
M 10/1 Background: Democracy and the media
W 10/3 - F 10/5 The
Panama Deception
Required Reading:
"Media Complicity in a 'Fine Little War'", pp.111-123
Essay
#1 Due Friday 10/5 by 4pm (30 percent of final grade)
M 10/8 - W 10/10 Discussion of Panama and
media
Required Reading:
Skocox and Woodger, "The Military and the Media," pp.124-128
Bush, "State
of the Union: Excerpts on Defending Peace and Security at Home" (2003), pp.129-132
Massey, "Now
they tell us", pp.133-149
To think about:
What are the premises and assumptions of the film? What are the assumptions
of the readings? Does it matter if the reasons given by the White House for
going to war in Panama and in Iraq were not the truth? Why or why not? Do the
points Massey is making really matter? Why or why not?
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
F 10/12 The aftermath of the Cold War & background
to terrorism
Required Reading:
Klare,
"The Geopolitics of War", pp.150-153
Cooley, Unholy Wars, "Introduction", pp.154-159
M 10/15 Terrorism: Strategic vs. Pure rage
Required reading:
Lemann, "What Terrorists Want: Is there a better way of defeating Al Qaeda?"
in CR, pp.160-165
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?
W 10/17 Terrorism as symbolic act
Required reading:
Juergensmeyer, "Understanding the New Terrorism", pp.166-171
To think about:
What reasons does Juergensmeyer identify as the causes of violent terrorism?
What does he mean by "performative"?
F 10/19 Fall Break, no class
M 10/22 The Future of War? "The Revolution in Military Affairs"
Lemann, "Dreaming
About War", pp.172-177
Alexander, "Afghanistan signalled start of robotic warfare era", pp.178-181
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?
W 10/24 The Future of War? High-tech street fighting
Required reading:
Lieven, "Soldiers
before missiles: Meeting the challenge from the world's streets" (pdf link),
pp.182-188
Link of interest:
Jeffrey Record, "Why
the Strong Lose," Parameters (US Army War College Quarterly),
Winter 2005-06 (pdf)
To think about:
What are Lieven's underlying assumptions about the future of war? How doe they
differ from those of the RMA proponents? How do his assumptions drive Lieven's
views of the future of war?
F 10/26 War and peace
Required reading:
Barnett, "The
Pentagon's New Map," pp.189-195
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?
Link of interest:
Barnett
on why China is not a threat
Barnett's
blog
M 10/29 Nationalism and War
Required reading:
Barkawi, "On the Pedagogy of 'Small Wars'", pp.196-213
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?
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:
WTO website
IMF website
World Bank website
PBS Newshour,
"Fair Trade?"
PBS Newshour,
"Pros and cons of globalization"
The Economist on the
World Trade Organization (WTO)
Official US government site
on WTO
Global Trade Watch (critical
of WTO)
Other links on global economy
W 10/31 The Global Economy: Background
Required reading:
Mingst, "International Political Economy," pp.214-229
F 11/2 Workers in the Third World
Required reading:
Hilton, "Made in China," pp.230-250
To think about:
The principles of free tradebvs. the conditions Hilton describes.
M 11/5 Globalization and the Third World
In Class: The New Rulers of the World
Essay
#2 Due Monday 11/5 by 4pm (25 percent of final grade)
W 11/7 The Global Economy: Liberal views
Required reading:
Rosecrance, "The Virtual State", pp.252-261
To think about:
Notes/outline of Rosecrance
article
What does Rosecrance see as the future role of the state? How does he
define security? What are the points of agreement between Rosecrance and Korten?
How and why do they disagree?
F 11/9 Global Economy: 21st century
Required reading:
Friedman, "It's
a Flat World, After All", pp.262-266
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?
Note: November 9 is the last to to withdraw from
the course
M 11/12 Global economy: alternative view
Required reading:
Gray, "The
World is Round", (also to be handed out in class)
To think about:
What is Gray saying is important that Friedman is missing? Why does he disagree
so strongly with Friedman's analysis?
W 11/14 The Global Economy: Other views
Required reading:
Stiglitz, "What
I Learned at the World Economic Crisis," (also to be handed out in class)
Mander, "The
Root of the Problem: Why Globalization Needs to be Thrown Out," pp.276-278
To think about:
What is the basis of Stiglitz's and Mander's critiques of globalization? How
and why do they differ?
F 11/16 TBA
M 11/19 - F 11/23 Thanksgiving Break, no classes
M 11/26 Globalization and Security,
another look
Required reading:
Finnegan, "The
Economics of Empire," pp.279-292
Herbert, "Nike's
Boot Camps", p.293
To think about:
What are Finnegan's assumptions? How and why does his analysis differ from Barnett's?
From Rosecrance's?
W 11/28 Globalization and Multinational Corporations
Required reading:
Korten, "Corporations beyond National Interests," pp.294-297
Greider, "It's Time
to Ask 'Borderless' Corporations: Which side are you on?" pp.298-301
F 11/30 Globalization and the First World
Required reading:
Lynn, "Unmade
in America", pp.302-310
To think about:
Why does Lynn disagree so fundamentally with Rosecrance?
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?
M 12/3 Civilizations and Cultures in Conflict?
Required reading:
Huntington, "Clash
of Civilizations?", pp.311-323
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?
W 12/5 Clash of Civilizations: Another view
Required reading:
Sen, "Civilizational Imprisonments", pp.324-329
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?
F 12/7 Islam: Another view
Required reading:
Esposito, excerpts from The Islamic Threat: Myth or Reality?, pp.330-340
Mehio, "How Islam and Politics Mixed," pp.341-342
Friedman, "Turkey Wings It", p.343
To think about:
How does the way Esposito, Mehio, and Friedman talk about Islam differ from
Huntington's use?
M 12/10 Bosnia: Islam in Europe
In class:
Bosnia: We are all neighbors
W 12/12 Ethnic mobilization and conflict
In class showing of excerpt from "Beauty and the Beast"
Required reading:
Bonner, "Rwandans in Death Squad Say Choice Was Kill or Die," pp.344-345
"Bystanders," Maas, p.346
"What Ivan Said," Drakulic, pp.347-352
Gagnon, "Serbia's Road to War", just read the introductory section (pp.353-354,
up to section head "reformists vs. conservatives")
Suggested reading:
Bowen, "The
Myth of Global Ethnic Conflict"
"In Bosnia, 'Disloyal Serbs' Share Plight of Opposition", pp.361-362
To think about:
What are the motivations of the participants in this violence? Think about the
power of fear.
F 12/14 What about the future?
We consider some arguments about the nature and the future of the international
system, and review concepts and issues covered in the course.
Essay
#3 due Thursday Dec 20, 10am (25 percent of final grade)
Return to Intro to International
Relations syllabus
Return to Chip's page
Last revised 10/8/2007