PART I: THEORIES OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
WEEK 1 - The Basics of International Relations
January 19: Introduction to the Course
January 21: Levels of Analysis
Readings:
· Genest, pp. 1 - 28
· Rourke and Boyer, pp. 55 – 85; 132 – 166
· David Singer, “The Level of Analysis Problem in International Relations,” World Politics 14:1 (October 1961), pp. 77-92. [JSTOR]
Week 1 Discussion Questions (GROUP A)
1. What is the “international system”?
2. What are the problems and /or weaknesses of the notion of an “international system”?
3. What is meant by “levels of analysis”?
4. How is state “power” measured? What is the nature of power in the international system?
WEEK 2 – The Realist Tradition
January 26: Classical Realism
Readings:
· Rourke and Boyer, pp. 16 – 19
· Genest, pp. 41 – 87; 495 - 498
January 28: Neo-Realism (Structural Realism)
Readings:
· Genest, pp. 99 -115
· Jeffrey Legro and Andrews Moravcsik, “Is Anybody Still A Realist?” International Security 24:2 (Fall 1999) pp. 5-55 [JSTOR]
Week 2 Discussion Questions (GROUP B)
1. Describe the realist tradition in IR. What are its key assumptions?
2. What concepts do realists employ to analyze the international system?
3. Which individuals in the modern-era would you describe as having a realist world-view? Why?
WEEK 3 – The Liberal Tradition
February 2: Foundations of Liberalism in IR
Readings:
· Rourke and Boyer, pp.19 - 22
· Genest, pp. 123 - 175
· Woodrow Wilson’s 14 Points, http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/wilson14.asp
February 4: Liberalism in World Politics
Readings:
· Genest, pp. 176 – 190
· Michael Doyle, “Liberalism and World Politics.” American Political Science Review 80: 4. (December 1986), pp.1151–-1169. [JSTOR]
· Andrew Moravcsik, “Taking Preferences Seriously: A Liberal Theory of International Politics,” International Organization 51:4 (Autumn 1997) pp. 513-553. [JSTOR]
Week 3 Discussion Questions (GROUP C)
1. Can the state of anarchy be overcome? Why or why not?
2. How would a liberal theorist view the international system?
3. In what ways to liberalism and realism differ?
WEEK 4 – Critical & Class-Based Theories
February 9: Marxist Class Systems
Readings:
· Genest, pp. 191 – 256
· Rourke and Boyer, pp. 288 – 289
· Andres Velasco, “Dependency Theory,” Foreign Policy 133 (Nov-Dec 2002), pp. 44-45 [JSTOR]
February 11: Power in the Global System
Readings:
· Theotonio dos Santos, “The Structure of Dependence” The American Ecomomic Review 60:2 (May 1970), pp. 231 -236 [JSTOR]
· Franz Kohout, “Cyclical, Hegemonic, and Pluralistic Theories of International Relations: Some Comparative Reflections,” International Political Science Review 24:1 (Jan 2003), pp. 51 – 66 [JSTOR}
· Douglas Lemke, “The Continuation of History: Power Transition Theory and the End of the Cold War,” Journal of Peace Research 34:1 (Feb 1997), pp. 23-39 [JSTOR]
Week 4 Discussion Questions (GROUP D)
1. Is the Marxist perspective still relevant to International Relations today?
2. Can a link be made on the basis of security between class struggle and the anarchic nature of the international system described by Hans Morgenthau in “Politics among Nations”? Explain.
3. What is meant by the core and peripheral zone in the capitalist world system?
4. How would a realist respond to the Marxist perspective of international relations?
5. What is dependency theory? Power transition theory? Long-cycle theory? How do they differ?
WEEK 5 – The Post-Modern Tradition
February 16: Constructivism
Readings:
· Rourke & Boyer, pp. 25 – 28
· Genest, pp. 257 – 260; 281 - 311
February 18: Feminism
Readings:
· Genest, pp. 312 – 372
Week 5 Discussion Questions (GROUP A)
1. What does Wendt mean by the phrase “social structures”?
2. How does Wendt explain the construction of the Cold War?
3. According to Tickner, why does the feminist perspective on IR theory continue to remain outside the mainstream approaches?
4. How would a feminist analysis of global politics differ from a realist? A liberal? Why?
5. What are the fundamental assumptions shared by both constructivists and feminists?
WEEK 6 – International Political Economy - Part I (Realist Approaches)
February 23: Mercantilism and Structuralism
Readings:
· Rourke and Boyer, pp. 282 – 312
· Jean-Christophe Graz, “Transnational Mercantilism and the Emergent Global Trading Order,” Review of International Political Economy 11:3 (Aug 2004), pp. 597-617 [JSTOR]
February 25: Hegemonic Stability Theory
Readings:
· Genest, pp. 88-98
· Michael Webb and Stephen Krasner, “Hegemonic Stability Theory: An Empirical Assessment,” Review of International Studies 15:2 (Apr 1989), pp. 183 -198 [JSTOR]
Week 6 Discussion Questions (GROUP B)
1. Who are the most important actors in the global political economy? Why?
2. Is there a link between economic globalization and democratization?
3. What is hegemonic stability theory? Do you agree? Disagree? Why?
WEEK 7 – IPE – Part II (Liberal Approaches)
March 1: Economic Cooperation
Readings:
· Rourke and Boyer, pp. 314 - 347
March 3: Complex Interdependence Theory
· Rourke and Boyer, pp. 109 – 118; 286 – 287
Week 7 Discussion Questions (GROUP C)
1. What are the key concepts of economic liberalism?
2. How do the views of the mercantilists/statists differ from economic liberals?
3. According to the economic internationalists, what are the economic and noneconomic advantages of free economic interchange and support for new development?
4. Which international organizations are at the forefront of economic internationalism?
WEEK 8 – Midterms
March 8: Midterm Prep / Review (GROUP D)
**News Journals Due**
March 10: Midterm
WEEK 9– Alternative Theories of International Relations, Part I
March 15: Bureaucratic Decision-Making
Readings:
· Genest, pp. 444 – 488
March 17: Neo-Classical Realism
Readings:
· Colin Dueck, “Ideas and Alternatives in American Grand Strategy, 2000 – 2004,” Review of International Studies 30:4 (Oct 2004), pp. 511-535 [JSTOR]
· Randall Schweller, “Unanswered Threats: A Neoclassical Realist Theory of Underbalancing,” International Security 29:2 (Fall 2004), pp. 159-201 [JSTOR]
Week 9 Discussion Questions (GROUP A/B)
1. How does neo-classical realism differ from classical realism and neo-realism?
2. How does neo-classical realism compare to liberalism? Constructivism?
3. How would a Marxist critique neo-classical realists?
WEEK 10 – Alternative Theories of International Relations, Part II
March 22: Peace Studies Theory
Readings:
· Genest, pp. 547 – 583
March 24: Democratic Peace Theory
Readings:
· Rourke & Boyer, pp. 40 –41
· Sebastian Rosato, “The Flawed Logic of Democratic Peace Theory,” The American Political Science Review 97:4 (Nov 2003), pp. 585-602 [JSTOR]
· Colin Elman, “Introduction: History, Theory and the Democratic Peace,” The International History Review 23:4 (Dec 2001), pp. 757-766
Week 10 Discussion Questions (GROUP C/D)
1. Do you agree or disagree with Gandhi’s assertion that economic war is no better than armed conflict?
2. What are the fundamental values associated with peace studies?
3. Do democracies go to war with each other?
4. Would increasing democracy in the Middle East make the region less conflict-prone? Why or why not?
5. Should democracy be promoted? Why or why not?
PART II: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS IN PRACTICE
****SPRING BREAK****
WEEK 11 – Security, Alliances, and Organizations
April 5: Security Alliances
Case Study: NATO vs. the Warsaw Pact (Group A)
Readings:
· “North Atlantic Treaty Organization,” International Organization 9:3 (Aug 1955), pp. 442 -445. [JSTOR]
· Paul E. Zinner, “Soviet Policies in Eastern Europe,” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 303 (Jan 1956), pp. 152 – 165 [JSTOR]
· Harrison E. Salisbury, “Characteristics of Soviet Foreign Policy,” International Journal 11:4 (Autumn 1956), pp. 243 – 250 [JSTOR]
· Mark N. Katz, "The Decline of Soviet Power" Survival 32:1 (1990), handouts in class/ [Taylor & Francis]
Recommended:
Zoltan Barany, The Future of NATO Expansion: 4 Case Studies
April 7: Ethnic Conflict and Intervention
Case Study: 1999 Kosovo Crisis (Group B)
Readings:
· Rourke and Boyer, pp. 240 – 281
· Genest, pp. 116 – 122
· Javier Solana, “NATO’s Success in Kosovo,” Foreign Affairs 78:6 (Nov-Dec 1999), pp. 114-120 [JSTOR]
· Michael Mandelbaum, “A Perfect Failure: NATO’s War against Yugoslavia,” Foreign Affairs 78:5 (Sept-Oct 1999), pp. 2 – 8 [JSTOR]
Week 11 Discussion Questions (GROUP A/B)
1. Why do intergovernmental organizations form?
2. What is the role of international law in international relations?
3. Is NATO an effective organization? Why or why not?
4. Should NATO have disbanded after the fall of the Soviet Union?
5. Is war ever ‘rational’? Why do otherwise rational actors go to war when it is not in their interest to do so?
6. Was NATO’s intervention in Kosovo legal?
7. What were the motives of the international community?
WEEK 12 – International Economics in Practice
April 12: Economic Globalization
Case Study: China’s WTO Accession, 2001 (Group C)
Readings:
· Rourke and Boyer, pp. 318 – 339
· Nicholas R. Lardy, “Sweet and Sour Deal,” Foreign Policy 129 (Mar-Apr 2002), pp. 20 – 21 [JSTOR]
· Hongyi Harry Lai, “Behind China’s World Trade Organization Agreement with the USA,” Third World Quarterly 22:2 (April 2001), pp. 237 – 255 [JSTOR]
· Michael Pettis, “Will Globalization go Bankrupt?” Foreign Policy 126 (Sept-Oct 2001) pp. 52-59 [JSTOR]
April 14: European Integration and the European Community
Case Study: The Euro (Group D)
Readings:
· Willem Duisenberg, “Europe and the Euro,” The World Today 54:11 (Nov 1998), pp. 284-285 [JSTOR]
· Rudi Dornbusch, “Euro Fantasies,” Foreign Affairs 75:5 (Sep-Oct 1996), pp. 110 – 124 [JSTOR]
· Dominick Salvatore, “The Euro, the European Central Bank, and the International Monetary System,” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 579 (Jan 2002), pp. 153 – 167 [JSTOR]
· Stewart Fleming, “The Euro: Tenth Anniversary: Euro Weighs-In,” The World Today 65:1 (Jan 2009), pp. 28 – 29 [JSTOR]
· Max Watson, “The Euro and the Global Financial Crisis: Surviving Strain,” The World Today 65:7 (Jul 2009), pp. 29 – 31 [JSTOR]
Week 12 Discussion Questions (GROUP C/D)
1. As China’s economic power grows, is conflict inevitable? Why or why not?
2. Is it possible to have a harmony of interests and mutual gains as the Chinese economy expands?
3. What are the challenges to economic globalization in light of the 2008- 2009 global economic crisis?
4. How has the European Union changed over time?
5. What are the hazards and opportunities created by a common currency? Explain.
6. What are the key similarities and differences between the EU and NAFTA?
WEEK 13 – Transnational Issues
April 19: Environmental Issues
Case Study: The Kyoto Protocol (Group A/B)
Readings:
· Rourke & Boyer, pp. 348 – 383
· Stuart Eizenstat, “Stick With Kyoto: A Sound Start on Global Warming” Foreign Affairs 77:3 (May-Jun 1998), pp. 119 – 121 [JSTOR]
· John Browne, “Beyond Kyoto,” Foreign Affairs 83:4 (Jul-Aug 2004), pp. 20 – 32 [JSTOR]
· “U.S. Rejection of Kyoto Protocol Process,” The American Journal of International Law 95:3 (Jul 2001), pp. 647-650. [JSTOR]
· Elena Mclean and Randall Stone, “The Kyoto Protocol: Two-Level Bargaining and European Integration,” International Studies Quarterly 56:1 (Mar 2012), pp. 99 – 113 [JSTOR]
April 21: Human Rights
Case Study: Human Trafficking (Group C/D)
Readings:
· Lindsey King, “International Law and Human Trafficking” Topical Research Digest Available: http://www.du.edu/korbel/hrhw/researchdigest/trafficking/InternationalLaw.pdf
· James Giguere, “Human Trafficking: A Security Perspective,” International Affairs Review 21:2 (Spring 2013) Available: http://www.iar-gwu.org/sites/default/files/articlepdfs/Human%20Trafficking-%20James%20Giguere.pdf
Recommended:
· Bishop, Rebecca A., Charlie V. Morgan, and Lance Erickson. “Public Awareness of Human Trafficking in Europe: How Concerned Are European Citizens?” Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies 11, no. 2 (2013): 113-35.
· Bressan, Serena. “Criminal Law against Human Trafficking within the Eu: A Comparison of an Ap- proximated Legislation?” European Journal of Crime, Criminal Law & Criminal Justice 20, no. 2 (2012): 137-63.
Week 13 Discussion Questions (GROUP A/B/C/D)
1. Is it possible for the world to cooperate on environmental issues?
2. Can the world agree to one standard of human rights? Why or why not?
3. Which environmental issues may lead to international conflict? What about human rights issues?
4. Can environmental standards be enforced?
5. How have contending theories of international relations been modified or changed to accommodate transnational issues?
WEEK 14 – Policy Debate
April 26: Group A/B : NATO Expansion
April 28: Group C/D : NATO and Russian Intervention in Iraq and Syria
News Journals due: 28 April 2016
WEEK 15
April 30- May 6: Final Exam (Look for Announcements)