The schedule is the following:
Classes
1) Introduction
We will explain what does “World politics” mean and how to differentiate between different level of analysis. We will underline the centrality of uncertainty and complexity in international relations but we will still try to make sense of our world.
Stephen M. Walt, “International Relations: One World, Many Theories”, Foreign Policy, Spring, 1998, No. 110, pp. 29-46.
2) Making sense of Globalization
What is globalization? Is it only a change in communications, finance and technologies ? Beside trade, is it a specific Western idea that denotes power relations and domination over a Southern periphery? Are we witnessing the end of a globalized era?
BSO, Chap. 2.
Amartya Sen, “How to judge Globalism”, American Prospect, 2002, pp. 02-06.
Acharya, A., ‘Global International Relations (IR) and Regional Worlds: A New Agenda for International Studies’, International Studies Quarterly, 2014, Vol. 58, No. 44, pp. 647-59.
I. Insights from History
3) International History Part 1: The rise of the modern international order
From the emergence of the modern States to the Concert of Vienna, international orders have taken many forms. Technologies, trade, wars, imperialism and colonialism have all prompted far-reaching changes and deepened degrees of both interdependence and inequality.
BSO, Chap. 3.
Benjamin de Carvalho and Halvard Leira, “The Big Bangs of IR: The Myths That Your Teachers Still Tell You about 1648 and 1919”, Millennium: Journal of International Studies, 2011, Vol. 39, No. 3, pp. 735-758.
4) International History Part 2: The total wars of the 20th century
On June 28 1914, a bullet was shot in Sarajevo, a crown Prince died and WWI followed. In many ways, that assassination opened the area of total wars that marked the suicide of Europe and its retreat from world pre-eminence. The inter-war period was merely two decades long, and the second world war destroyed most of Europe. Decolonization further decreased European powers’ standing.
BSO, Chap. 4.
Keir Alexander Lieber, “The New History of World War I and What It Means for International Relations Theory”, International Security, Vol. 32, No. 2, Fall 2007, pp. 155-191.
Margaret MacMillan, “Which Past Is Prologue? Heeding the Right Warnings From History”, Foreign Affairs, Sept./Oct. 2020, Vol. 99, No. 5, pp. 12-22.
5) International History Part 3: The rise and fall of the Cold War
After WWII, the world was divided in two camps, the communist Soviet Russia and the free-market democratic United States. The Cold War was however a period of relative stability. Yet, in 1989, the velvet revolutions led to the dissolution of the Soviet empire and the domination of the American superpower.
BSO: Chap. 5
Jeremi Suri, “Explaining the End of the Cold War: A New Historical Consensus?”, Journal of Cold War Studies, Vol. 4, No. 4, Fall 2002, pp. 60-92.
Mary Elise Sarotte, “Perpetuating U. S. Preeminence: The 1990 Deals to ‘Bribe the Soviets Out’ and Move NATO In”, International Security, Summer 2010, Vol. 35, No. 1, pp. 110-137.
6) International History Part 4: The rise and fall of American Primacy
Without peer competition, the United States became the indispensable power. It intervened in Somalia, Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya… Some argued that US became overstretched and a retrenchment was thus unavoidable.
Charles Krauthammer, “The Unipolar Moment,” Foreign Affairs: America and the World, 1990/1991, Vol. 70, No. 1, pp. 23-33.
Stephen M. Walt, “American Primacy: Its Prospects and Pitfalls”, Naval War College Review, Spring 2002, Vol. LV, No. 2, pp. 09-28.
Charles Krauthammer, “The Unipolar Moment Revisited”, The National Interest, Winter 2002/03, No. 70 pp. 5-18.
Robert Jervis, “The remaking of a unipolar world, The Washington Quarterly, 2006, Vol. 29, No.3, pp. 5-19.
7) International History Part 5: The rise of the rest, the fall of the West?
Since the economic crisis of 2008, the supremacy of the Western liberal system has been questioned. The discontent of the South, the rise of powers such as China and the aggressiveness of others like Russia point to an emerging multipolar and probably unstable world.
BSO: Chap. 6
John J. Mearsheimer, “The Inevitable Rivalry: America, China, and the Tragedy of Great-Power Politics”, Foreign Affairs, Vol. 100, No. 6, (Nov./Dec. 2021), pp. 48-58.
Michael J. Mazar, “What Makes a Power Great: The Real Drivers of Rise and Fall”, Foreign Affairs, July/August 2022, Vol. 101, Vol. 4, pp. 52-63.
Stewart Patrick, Alexandra Huggins, “The Term “Global South” Is Surging. It Should Be Retired”, Carnegie, August 15, 2023, available at https://carnegieendowment.org/2023/08/15/term-global-south-is-surging.-it-should-be-retired-pub-90376
II- Insights from Theories
8) I.R. Theories Part 1: Liberalism
Liberalism in I. R. is often associated with the idealist moment that followed WW1, embodied by President Wilson’s vision of a world made safe by the principles of collective security and democracy enforced by a League of Nations. Revived after WW2 but largely frozen by the Cold War, this liberal ambition flourished since 1989 but it is now contested.
BSO, Chap. 7.
John J. Mearsheimer, “E. H. Carr Versus Idealism: The Battle Rages On,” International Relations, June 2005, Vol. 19, No. 2, 139-152.
G. John Ikenberry, “The Liberal International Order and its Discontents”, Millennium: Journal of International Studies, Vol.38, No.3, pp. 509-521.
Daniel Deudney and G. John Ikenberry, “Liberal World, The Resilient Order”, Foreign Affairs, July/August 2018, Vol. 97, No. 4, pp. 16-24.
9) I.R. Theories Part 2: Realisms
Power politics and great powers competition seem to be back. For the realist school, -however diversified it may be-, they never actually went away. The class will explore the basic assumptions behind and the main consequences of a realist world.
BSO., Chap. 9.
Sean Kay, “Globalization, Power and Security”, Security Dialogue, March 2004, Vol. 35, No. 1, pp. 9-25.
Daniel W. Drezner, “The Realist Tradition in American Public Opinion”, Perspectives on Politics, March 2008, Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 51-70.
Stephen Kotkin, “Realist World: The Players Change but the Game Remains”, Foreign Affairs, July /August 2018, Vol. 97 No. 4, pp. 10-15.
10) I.R. Theories Part 3: Constructivism
For the constructivists, the social construction of our international normative landscape is an essential part of world politics. The world of ideas is as important as the material sources of interests and behaviors. The focus should then be on the process leading to the constitution of rules and norms, however minimal they may be in an anarchical world.
BSO., Chap. 13.
Alexander Wendt, “Anarchy is what States Make of it: The Social Construction of Power Politics”, International Organization, Spring, 1992, Vol. 46, No. 2, pp. 391-425.
Robert O. Keohane, “Ideas part-way down”, Review of International Studies, 2000, Vol. 26, pp. 125-130
Charles A. Kupchan, “The Normative Foundations of Hegemony and The Coming Challenge to Pax Americana”, Security Studies, 2014, Vol. 23, No. 2, pp. 219-257
11) I.R. Theories Part 4: Decision-making, decision makers
Theories help us to make sense of the world, yet human agency remains an important dimension in world politics. Structures and frameworks cannot erase human freedom of choice, responsibility and thus tragedy. We will review the most important models of decision-making in I.R.
Neta C. Crawford, “The Passion of World Politics”, International Security, Spring, 2000, Vol. 24, No. 4, pp. 116-156.
Daniel Byman and Kenneth M. Pollack, “Beyond Great Forces: How Individuals Still Shape History”, Foreign Affairs, Nov./Dec. 2019, Vol. 98, No. 6, pp. 148-160.
Henry Farrell, Abraham Newman, and Jeremy Walla, “Spirals of Delusion: How AI Distorts Decision-Making and Makes Dictators More Dangerous”, Foreign Affairs, Sept./Oct. 2022, Vol. 101, No. 5, pp. 168-181.
12) Mid-Term Exam
The Mid-Term will have two parts. The first will about the definitions of concepts seen so far. The second will be a short essay. Further details will be provided.
III- Security: Conflicts and Wars
13) Old wars and current conflicts
The Russian aggression in Ukraine has represented an enormous shock to a large part of the international community. Yet the war came as no surprise to realists: the very nature of world politics means that we always live in the shadow of wars.
BSO., Chap. 14.
Timothy Snyder, “Ukraine Holds the Future, the War Between Democracy and Nihilism”, Foreign Affairs, Sept./Oct. 2022, Vol. 101, No. 5, pp. 124-141.
Michael Howard, “When are wars decisive?”, Survival, Spring 1999, Vol. 41, No.1, pp. 126-135.
Liana Fix, “Between Guilt and Responsibility: The Legacy of Spheres in Germany, The Washington Quarterly, 2022, Vol. 45, No. 2, pp. 75-91.
14) New wars and International Security
For some scholars, globalization has transformed the character of war. Failing and failed states as well as the redefinition of security have led to interventions to enforce peace and build state. These complex stabilization operations have, at best, a mix record, and we will try to understand why most have actually failed.
BSO, Chap. 15.
Colin M. Fleming, “New or Old Wars? Debating a Clausewitzian Future”, The Journal of Strategic Studies, April 2009, Vol. 32, No. 2, pp. 213-241.
Mats Berdal, “The ‘New Wars’ Thesis Revisited”, in Hew Strachan and Sibylle Scheipers (Eds.), The Changing Character of War, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011, pp. 109-133.
Carter Malkasian, “How the Good War Went Bad: America’s Slow-Motion Failure in Afghanistan”, Foreign Affairs, March/April 2020, Vol. 99, No. 2, pp. 77-91.
15) International terrorism
Terrorism is an old phenomenon. After 9/11, a new security paradigm emerged: the global war on terror. We will revisit the concept, assess its meaning and analyses its limits. We will review the nature and evolution of the threats of terrorism and the main component of a strategic approach to counter-terrorism.
BSO, Chap. 29.
Michael Howard, “What’s in a Name? How to Fight Terrorism”, Foreign Affairs, Jan./Feb. 2002, Vol. 81, No. 1, pp. 8-13.
David Omand, “Countering international terrorism: The use of strategy”, Survival, Winter 2005-06, Vol. 47, No. 4, pp. 107-116.
Audrey Kurth Cronin, “The “War on Terrorism”: What Does it Mean to Win?”, Journal of Strategic Studies, 2014, Vol. 37, No. 2, p. 174-197.
16) Nuclear Weapons
Since Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the world has discovered the power of atomic weapons. Yet, these were the only instances where nuclear weapons were used. And the number of nuclear powers remain limited. Is that relatively good story about to end?
BSO., Chap. 30.
Scott Sagan, “Why do States Build Nuclear Weapons? Three Models in Search of a Bomb”, International Security, Winter, 1996-1997, Vol. 21, No. 3, pp. 54-86.
Nina Tannenwald, “How Strong Is the Nuclear Taboo Today?”, The Washington Quarterly, 2018, Vol. 41, No. 3, pp. 89-109.
Jean Yves Haine, “Kindred Crises: Cuba 1962, Ukraine 2022”, Survival, Feb.-March 2023, Vol. 65, No. 1, pp. 97-114.
IV- Cooperation: Creating and Managing Peace
17) Democratic Peace
The class will review the arguments around the democratic peace. We will debate the rise of authoritarian regimes around the world, the increased partnership between them and its consequences for peace and stability.
John M. Owen, “How Liberalism Produces Democratic Peace.” International Security, Autumn 1994, Vol. 19, No. 2, pp. 87-125.
Freedom in the World 2022, The Global Expansion of Authoritarian Rule, Freedom House, Available at https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world
Alexander Gabuev, “China’s New Vassal: How the War in Ukraine Turned Moscow Into Beijing’s Junior Partner”, CFR Snapshot, 09 August 2022, https://www.foreignaffairs.com/china/chinas-new-vassal
18) Global Trade and finance
Economic globalization has certainly increased since the end of the Cold War. Since the financial crisis of 2008, then with the Covid pandemic, trade and finance have been perceived differently by major powers. The Russian aggression has further affected global market, most notably energy. The return of tariffs and sanctions as well as the weaponization of the dollar had changed the way the world trade. For good?
BSO., Chap. 28.
Robert B. Zoellick, “Before the Next Shock: How America Can Build a More Adaptive Global Economy”, Foreign Affairs, March/April 2022, Vol. 101, No. 2, pp. 86-102.
T. V. Paul, ‘Globalization, deglobalization and re-globalization: adapting liberal international order’, International Affairs 97: 5, 2021, pp. 1599-1620.
Nicola Bilotta, “The Weaponization of Finance and the Risk of Global Economic Fragmentation”, Istituto Affari International, April 29 2022, https://www.iai.it/en/pubblicazioni/weaponisation-finance-and-risk-global-economic-fragmentation
19) International Law
Despite the absence of world government and a global district attorney, states have established an increasingly large corpus of rules, laws and principles to guide their behaviors. Some argued that these reflect the interests and domination of the West, others call for a renewed Western commitments to international legality. We will assess the progress and limits of International law.
BSO., Chap. 19.
Martha Finnemore and Kathryn Sikkink, “International Norm Dynamics and Political Change.” International Organization, Autumn 1998, Vol. 52, n°4, pp. 889-917.
David Sloss, “Preserving a Rules-Based International Order”, in Sloss David (Ed.) Is the International Legal Order Unraveling?, Oxford University Press, 2022.
20) International Institutions: the UN
The United Nations appears to be in a state of permanent crisis. Yet, the UN system still performs unique tasks and no one seems keen to throw these institutions away. The class will review the limits of the UNSC, the pitfalls of UN peace operations and discuss potential reforms.
BSO., Chap. 21.
John Foster Dulles, “The United Nations: a Prospectus”, Foreign Affairs, October 1945, Vol. 24, No. 1, pp. 1-11.
Stanley Hoffmann, “World Governance: Beyond Utopia”, Daedalus, Winter 2003, Vol. 132, No. 1, pp. 27-35.
Peter Rudolf, “UN Peace Operations and the Use of Military Force”, Survival, June–July 2017, Vol. 59, No. 3, pp. 161-182.
V- Global Issues
21) Human Rights
The 21st century has seen the rise of human rights in foreign policies but also at the international level. The R2P norm has emerged but it remains contested. Several humanitarian operations were launched, few with success. The protection of human rights remain demanding and frustrating.
BSO., Chap. 32.
Leslie H. Gelb and Justine A. Rosenthal, “The Rise of Ethics in Foreign Policy: Reaching a Values Consensus”, Foreign Affairs, May/June 2003, Vol. 82, No. 3, pp. 2-7.
Michael Ignatieff, “Reimagining a Global Ethic”, Ethics & International Affairs, 2012, Vol. 26, No. 1, pp. 7-19.
Alex J. Bellamy, “The Responsibility to Protect and the problem of military intervention”, International Affairs, July 2008, Vol. 84, No. 4, pp. 615-639.
Walter Russell Mead, “The End of the Wilsonian Era: Why Liberal Internationalism Failed”, Foreign Affairs, Jan./Feb. 2021, Vol. 100, No. 1, pp. 123-137.
22) Refugees regimes and crises
Migrations have always been part of the world landscape. In many ways, the legal status of refugees translated this reality. Yet, since 9/11, the 2019 pandemic and the civil war in Syria, the securitization of immigration has dramatically increased in Europe and in the US, reducing the flow of refugees. We will try to understand the sources of these discourses and practices.
BSO., Chap. 26.
Meghan Benton and Demetrios G. Papademetriou, “COVID-19 Is Becoming A ‘9/11 Moment’ For Borders And Health”, Health Affairs, July 2021, pp. 1162-1169.
Sarah Léonard and Christian Kaunert, “The securitization of migration in the European Union: Frontex and its evolving security practices”, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 2022, Vol. 48, No. 6, pp. 1417-1429.
Desirée Colomé-Menéndez, Joachim A. Koops and Daan Weggemans, “A country of immigrants no more? The securitization of immigration in the National Security Strategies of the United States of America”, Global Affairs, 2021, Vol. 7, No. 1, pp. 1-26.
23) Climate change
Climate has probably become the most important issue facing the world today. Yet collective actions remain elusive, national targets in CO2 emissions are scaled down and denial of problem is rising. We will review the difficulties in climate change policies but also the progresses in clean energy.
BSO., Chap. 24.
Robert O. Keohane and Michael Oppenheimer, “Paris: Beyond the Climate Dead End through Pledge and Review?”, Politics and Governance, 2016, Vol. 4, No. 3, pp. 142-151
Kathryn Sikkink, “How International Relations Theory on Norm Cascades Can Inform the Politics of Climate Change”, PS: political science & politics, 2023, p.1-4
Arild Underdal, “Climate Change and International Relations after Kyoto”, Annual Review of Political Science, 2017, Vol. 20, pp. 169-88.
24) After globalization ?
For some, the rise of multipolarity and heterogeneity has produced fractures, fault lines and conflicts. Others have argued that the liberal architecture is still relevant and thriving. Are we at the dawn of Great Powers’ wars? Is globalization doomed?
Richard Haas, “The Dangerous Decade: A Foreign Policy for a World in Crisis”, Foreign Affairs, Vol. 101, No. 5, (Sept.-Oct. 2022), pp. 25-38.
François Heisbourg, “War and Peace After the Age of Liberal Globalisation”, Survival, Feb.-March 2018, pp. 211–228
Norrin M. Ripsman, “Globalization, deglobalization and Great Power politics”, International Affairs, Sept. 2021, Vol. 97, No. 5, pp. 1317-1333.
Evan R. Sankey, “Reconsidering Spheres of Influence”, Survival, April-May 2020, Vol. 62, No. 2, pp. 37-47.
Lindsey O’Rourke and Joshua Shifrinson, “Squaring the Circle on Spheres of Influence: The Overlooked Benefits”, The Washington Quarterly, 2022, Vol. 45, No. 2, pp. 105-124.