Politics 12800-01
Introduction to International Relations
Prof. Chip Gagnon
Fall 2009

Daily Assignments

Go to reading assignments for:
Tu 8/27 - Tu 9/22, Introduction and Theory | Th 9/24 - Tu 9/29, Media and IR | Th 10/1 - Tu 10/27, Security: Terrorism and the Future of War | Th 10/29 - Tu 11/17, The International Economy | Th 11/19 -Th 12/10, Culture and the global community & Conclusion

I. Introduction: Thinking about the international

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.
 

Th 8/27 Introductions. Questions of War and Peace. Is peace a good thing? How do we come to see the world in particular ways?


Tu 9/1 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, and why some argued for US intervention while others argued against.
Clip of Albright's testimony:
Required reading:
- Madeleine Albright, "US and NATO policy towards the crisis in Kosovo", pp.1-7 (or Link to video of entire hearing at which Albright spoke, including questions from Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Albright's answers to them)
- Kucinich, "What I learned from the War", pp.8-14
- Dimitrijevic, "The Collateral Damage is Democracy" , pp.15-16
To think about: According to Albright, why was the US involved in Kosovo? What specific reasons did she give? Are you convinced by them? Why are Kucinich and Dimitrijevic 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?

Th 9/3 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?

Tu 9/8  Thinking about World Politics: Perspectives and Approaches
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:
What is a theory? Why are there competing theories in the social sciences? What is an assumption? How can we understand the complexity of the international? How do we define the international?
 

Th 9/10 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?
 

Tu 9/15 International Politics: Liberalism
Required reading:
- Russett & Oneal, "The Kantian Peace in the 21st Century", pp.54-64
- Rhodes, "The Imperial Logic", pp.65-70 (up to the top of the second column on page 70)
- 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? What different assumptions do multilateral and unilateral liberals have that lead them to see the world so differently?
Links of interest:
- Debate: Realist vs. Unilateral liberal (neoconservative)
- President Obama's Guiding Principles on Defense (White House website)
- Bush's National Security Strategy of the US, March 2006
- Bush's National Security Strategy of the US, Sept 2002
- George Bush's June 1, 2002 speech at West Point

Th 9/17 International Politics: Global Humanism
Required reading:
- Gurtov, "World Politics in Global-Humanist Perspective", pp.76-84
- Hobden and Jones, "The US, The United Fruit Company, and Guatemala", p.85
- 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 Global humanist perspective?

Tu 9/22 International Politics: Critical gender theory & Conclusion of Theories section
Required reading:
- "Critical Theory, Constructivism, and Post-modernism", p.86
- Miedzian, "'Real Men,' 'Wimps,' and Our National Security," pp.87-97
- "Threatened men more pro war, SUVs", p.98

II. The Media and International Relations

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?

Online link to The Panama Deception
(1 hr, 31 mins, at Google Videos)
Th 9/24 - Tu 9/29 Democracy, the media, and foreign policy
- In class: Film, The Panama Deception
Discussion of film: Democracy, media and foreign policy
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"

Essay #1 Due Tuesday 9/29 by 3pm (30 percent of final grade)

III. Security: Terrorism and the Future of War

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

Th 10/1 Historical background: The Cold War and its aftermath
Required Reading:
- Klare, "The Geopolitics of War", pp.99-102
- Cooley, Unholy Wars, "Introduction", pp.103-108

Tu 10/6 Terrorism: Strategic or Pure rage?
Required reading:
- Lemann, "What Terrorists Want: Is there a better way of defeating Al Qaeda?", pp.109-114
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)Th 10/8 Terrorist motives
Required reading:
- "The Logic of Suicide Terrorism," Interview with Robert Pape, pp.115-120
- Bergen & Lind, "A Matter of Pride", pp.121-128
Suggested Reading:
- Collins, "Suicide Bombers: Warriors of the Middle Class"
To think about:
What assumptions underlie the arguments in these two articles? What are the logical policy implications, given those assumptions?

Tu 10/13 The Future of War: "The Revolution in Military Affairs"
- Lemann, "Dreaming About War", pp.129-134
- Alexander, "Afghanistan signalled start of robotic warfare era", pp.135-138
- Robertson, "How robot drones revolutionized the face of warfare," pp.138a-138d
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?

Th 10/15 Fall Break, no class

Interview with Lt.Col.John Nagl, one of authors of US Army Counterinsurgency Manual

(Link to video)

Tu 10/20 The Future of War: Counterinsurgency
Required reading:
- Record, "Why the Strong Lose," pp.139-154
- Lieven, "Soldiers before missiles: Meeting the challenge from the world's streets" (pdf link), pp.155-161
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 Record's underlying assumptions about warfare? How doe they differ from those of the RMA proponents? How do his assumptions drive his views on policy?

First 25 minutes of Frontline special "Obama's War, with footage from Afghanistan, illustrating US counterinsurgency strategy there