Pol. Sci. 170	Mr. Grow
Winter, 2001	Carleton College

The Political Science Department's course in Introduction to International Relationsand World Politics introduces methods for analyzing the relationships between groups that act on the world stage--nations, states, tribes, empires, etc.. The goal of the course is to introduce the student to a set of themes and definitions that can be used to analyze and evaluate world political activity. Students are expected to master a series of arguments, learn how to apply these arguments to situations in world politics and, hopefully, develop a set of values and preferences that will guide thinking about the role of our community in international affairs.

Political Science 170 is divided into four sections and each of these sections is based on a question that is at the heart of the study of international relations. Part I looks at the variety of ways that people see the world and asks what the factors are that push communities to take action, and the condition that bring them into conflict with one another. Part II evaluates policy making in different situations and asks how policy comes about. Part III focuses on theories of conflict and the tendency of the system to resort to war, and asks what it is about the human condition that leads so often to communal violence. Part IV examines the different ways that nations, states, and empires interact with one another, concentrating on topics such as military and economic power, world trade, nuclear deterrence, and war, and asks about theories of conflict resolution.

Readings:

The following books will be used as texts:

Joshua Goldstein, International Relations, (Longman, 4rd Edition)

Michael Roskin and Nicholas Berry, New World of International Relations, (Prentice-Hall, 4th Edition)

John Stoessinger, Why Nations Go To War (St. Martins, 7th Edition)

Thomas Friedman, The Lexus and the Olive Tree, (Anchor, expanded edition)

Handouts will also be distributed during the term.

Grading:

Grades for the course will be based on a combination of two exams, four short written essays, a number (about 20) one-page ungraded "daily exercises," and class attendance and participation.

1st Exam	25%
2nd Exam	25%
Short Essays #1,2,3 (2-3 pages each)	15%
Final Essay $4 (8 pages)	15%
Ungraded daily exercises (20), participation, attendance	20%

Attendance is required in all classes; reading assignments should be completed before coming to class; daily exercises due on date listed on exercise assignment.

Jan 3 INTRODUCTION

Jan 5 NATIONS, STATES, AND WORLD CONFLICT

  Goldstein, International Relations, Ch. 1, pp. 3-37

Roskin and Berry, New World of International Relations, Ch. 1 ("Are States Here to Stay?")

PART I: WAR, PEACE, AND THE INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM: WHY OUGHT WE ACT?

International relations investigates the relationships between the world's governments. But these relationships are influenced by a number of factors including the nature of economic systems, moral and cultural values, and the arrangement of domestic institutions. In this section, we look at the role of the state and ask questions about the importance of other actors. What factors structure the interaction of states? What causes them to act? What values influence the ways they act?

Jan 8 WORLD WAR II AND THE ORIGINS OF THE CURRENT SYSTEM

Regular Session: (Assigned Classroom)

Goldstein, International Relations, Ch. 1, pp. 38-52

Mearsheimer, Why We Will Soon Miss the Cold War (separate handout)

Evening Session: (6:30-8:00 p.m. Boliou 104) Time Magazine, Articles, (Oct. 2, 1939) Carletonian, Articles, 1939-40 FILM: The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich

Jan 10 LESSONS OF WAR: Just and Unjust Wars

Essay #1 Due (complete the essay, then read the following)

Hitler (separate handout)

Stoessinger, Why Nations Go to War Ch. 2 ("Hitler's Attack on Russia")

Thomas Aquinas, Of War, p. 1

Woodrow Wilson, The World Must Be Made Safe for Democracy and The Fourteen Points, p. 2

Jan 12 THE REALIST POSITION

Goldstein, International Relations, Ch 2, ("Power Politics") pp. 56-108

Thucydides. The Melian Dialogue , p. 6

Machiavelli, The Prince, p. 9

Hume, Of the Balance of Power, 12

Hans Morgenthau, A Realist Theory..., p. 20

Jan 15 THE LIBERAL RESTATEMENT

Goldstein, International Relations, Ch 3 ("Alternatives to Power Politics") pp. 109-124

Kant, Morality, Politics, and the Perpetual Peace, p. 28

Moravcsik, A Liberal Theory of International Relations, p. 32

Grotius, War, Peace, and the Law of Nations, p. 35

Jan 17 THE RADICAL CRITIQUE

Goldstein, International Relations, Ch. 3 (pp. 124-159) "Alternatives to Power Politics"

Tickner, A Critique of Morgenthau's Priciples of Political Realism, p. 53

Leo Tolstoy, Address, p. 43

Gandhi, Means and Ends and Passive Resistance, p. 46

PART II: FOREIGN POLICY FORMATION: TWO CASE STUDIES

Foreign policies are the strategies used by governments to guide their acts in the international arena. These policies derive from a number of sources: the actions of state leaders, the influence of important bureaucracies and political groups, and the perceptions and fears of important community constituencies. In this section we ask which of these actors is most important? How does policy come about? What options are available to policy makers?

Jan 19 AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY PERSPECTIVES

Goldstein, International Relations, Ch. 4 "Foreign Policy" (pp. 163-178)

Roskin and Berry, New World of International Relations, Ch. 2 ("America's Changing National Interests")

Stoessinger, Why Nations Go to War, Ch. 7

Jan 22 CASE STUDY: CENTRAL AFRICA IN THE 1990's

Roskin and Berry, New World of International Relations, Ch. 7 "South Africa….."

The War in Central Africa (separate handout)

Jan 24 COMPETING VIEWS OF FOREIGN POLICY

Goldstein, International Relations, Ch. 4 ("Foreign Policy") pp. 179-193

Roskin and Berry, New World of International Relations, Ch. 4 ("Can the U.S. Lead the World?")

Waltz, The Anarchic Structure of World Politics, p. 22

Howard and Donnelly, Human Rights and World Politics, p. 38

Howard Zinn, Vietnam: The Moral Equation

Cohn, Sex and Death in the Rational World of Defense Intellectuals, p. 57

Jan 26 GREAT POWER CONFRONTATION

Roskin and Berry, New World of International Relations, Ch. 5 ("From Russia to the Soviet Union")

The Russian Crisis (separate handout)

Jan 29 CASE STUDY: RUSSIA, KOSOVO, AND THE 1999 WAR

Roskin and Berry, New World of International Relations, Ch. 6 ("From the Soviet Union Back to Russia")

Jan 31 THE DEBATE OVER POLICY

Essay #2 Due

Feb 2 1st EXAMINATION: Bluebook

Feb 5 Mid-Term Break

PART III: POWER, CONFLICT, AND WAR

Disagreement and conflict are at the heart of international relations. States have different needs and goals, and these differences structure the interaction of governments with one another. In this section we ask how conflict comes about, how these conflicts tend to be resolved. How important is the use of violence and war in this conflict resolution? Why is war such a common feature of conflict resolution? Is it learned behavior? Or, is it endemic to the human condition?

Feb 7 POWER

Goldstein, International Relations, Ch. 5 ("International Conflict") pp. 197-231

Roskin and Berry, New World of International Relations, Ch. 18 ("Diplomacy")

Hans Morgenthau, The Future of Diplomacy, p. 64

Feb 9 THE EXERCISE OF POWER

Goldstein, International Relations, Ch. 5 ("International Conflict") pp. 231-239

Roskin and Berry, New World of International Relations, Ch. 9 "Oil and Turmoil"

Stoessinger, Why Nations Go To War, Ch. 6 ("Saddam Hussein's Two Wars")

Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations, p. 90

Feb 12 WAR AND THE BREAKDOWN OF THE SYSTEM (1)

Goldstein, International Relations, Ch. 6 ("Military Force") pp. 243-269

Kagan, On the Origins of War… (separate handout)

von Clausewitz, On the Nature of War, p. 67

Waltz, Explaining War, p. 70

Feb 14 WAR AND THE BREAKDOWN OF THE SYSTEM (2)

Regular Session: (Assigned Classroom)

Hobbes, On the Natural Condition..., p. 78

Freud, Thoughts on War and Death, p. 80

Mead, War Is Only An Invention...,p. 83

Evening Session: (6:30-8:15 p.m. Boliou 104) FILM: Lord of the Flies

Feb 16 WAR AND THE BREAKDOWN OF THE SYSTEM (3)

Essay #3 Distributed

Gilpin, War and Change in World Politics, p. 86

Hartsock, Masculinity, Heroism, and Making of War (separate handout)

Feb 19 WAR AND THE BREAKDOWN OF THE SYSTEM (4)

Essay #3 Due

PART IV THE SEARCH FOR ORDER AND STABILITY

This section looks at the ways government might use to short-circuit the slide into violence and to bring about desired goals. These methods include the formation of international regimes, the creation of military balances, the development of economic orders, and the struggle to achieve hegemonic position. Which are most effective? Which are most commonly used? Which have the greatest chance to move beyond the kinds of cataclysmic meltdown that have characterized the great 20th century confrontations?

Feb 21 MILITARY BALANCES, ECONOMIC INTEGRATION, AND TRADE REGIMES

Goldstein, International Relations, Ch. 8 ("Trade")

Friedman, The Lexus and the Olive Tree, pp.

Gilpin, No One Loves a Political Realist, p. 95

Krasner, The Accomplishments of International Political Economy, p. 99

2nd Exam: Take Home Question Distributed

Feb 23 ECONOMIC POWER AND POLITICAL POWER

Goldstein, International Relations, Ch. 9 ("Money and Business") pp. 392-434

Friedman, The Lexus and the Olive Tree, pp. xi-xxii, 1-100

Roskin and Berry, New World of International Relations, Ch. 17 ("The U.S. in the Global Economy")

Feb 26 POWER TRANSITION: ECONOMIC CHANGE, POWER, AND WAR

Goldstein, International Relations, Ch. 10 ("Integration") pp. 439-474

Friedman, The Lexus and the Olive Tree, pp. 101-142

Organski, The Power Transition, p. 111

2nd Exam Due

Feb 28 THE NEW GLOBAL ECONOMY (1)

Goldstein, International Relations, Ch. 12 ("The North-South Gap") pp. 527-572

Friedman, The Lexus and the Olive Tree, pp.

Roskin and Berry, New World of International Relations, Ch. 11 ("The Rich and the Poor")

Mar 2 THE NEW GLOBAL ECONOMY (2)

Goldstein, International Relations, Ch. 13 ("International Development") pp. 577-626

Friedman, The Lexus and the Olive Tree, pp.

Wade, Globalization and Its Limits, p. 106

Mar 5 BALANCE OF TERROR: BASIC CONCEPTS

Goldstein, International Relations, Ch. 6 ("Military Force") pp. 265-285

Kahn, Three Types of Deterrence, p. 118

Mar 7 BALANCE OF TERROR: EVOLUTION OF THE THEORY

Roskin and Berry, New World of International Relations, Ch. 13 ("Nuclear Politics")

Mueller, The Irrelevance of Nuclear Weapons, p. 121

Waltz, Peace, Stability, and Nuclear Weapons, p. 114

Mar 9 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS IN A CHANGING WORLD

Goldstein, International Relations, Ch. 14 ("IR in A.D. 2049")

Roskin and Berry, New World of International Relations, Ch. 21 ("Peacekeeping Beyond War")

Kagan, On the Origins of War…. (again)

Bull, Does Order Exist in World Politics?

Stoessinger, Why Nations Go To War, Ch. 8 ("Why Nations Go To War")

Essay #4 Due

Pol. Sci. 170 Mr. Grow

Winter, 2001 Carleton College

You will complete about 20 "daily exercises" during the course of the term. Many of these exercises involve a critical reading of a scholarly work or popular article. Following is a list of articles required for this part of the course. Most are in the photocopied handout volume; all must be considered part of the "required readings" for the 2nd exam and the final paper.

Cyrus Vance, "The Human Rights Imperative," Foreign Policy, (Summer, 1986)

George Schultz, "Morality and Realism in American Foreign Policy," Dept. of State Bulletin, (1985)

Madeline Albright, "The North Atlantic Treaty Organization: Partnership for Peace," Vital Speeches, March 1997

Walter Clemons, "An Alternative to NATO Expansion," International Journal (Spring 1997)

Zbigniew Brzezinski, "A Plan for Europe," Foreign Affairs (January/February, 1995)

Robert Keohane, "Realism, Neorealism and the Study of World Politics" in Keohane, Neorealism and Its Critics, pp. 1-26

Robert Keohane and Joe Nye, "Realism and Complex Interdependence," World Politics in Transition, pp. 23-37

Ken Waltz, "Reflections on Theory of International Politics" in Keohane, Neorealism and Its Critics, pp. 301-321

James Lee Ray, "The Democratic Path to Peace" Journal of Democracy, (April 1997)

John Owen, "How Liberalism Produces Democratic Peace" pp. 87-125

Richard Ashley, The Poverty of Neorealism, in Keohane, Neorealism and Its Critics, pp. 255-300

Garett Hardin, "The Tragedy of the Commons" Science, December 1968, pp. 1243-67

Michael Doyle, "Liberalism and World Politics," pp. 233-245

Joseph Grieco, "Anarchy and the Limits of Cooperation" pp. 70-74

Francis Fukuyama, "Women and the Evolution of World Politics," Foreign Affairs, (Sept.-Oct 1998)

Barbara Ehrenreich, "Men Hate War Too," Foreign Affairs (Jan/Feb 1999)

Carol Cohn, "Emasculating America's Linguistic Deterrent," in Rocking the Ship of State, pp. 133-152

Catherine Marshall, "Women and War," in Militarism versus Feminism, pp. 35-43

Patrick Glynn, "The Age of Balkanization," Commentary (July, 1993)

Francis Fukuyama, "Against the New Pessimism," Commentary, February, 1994

Sam Huntington, "The Lonely Superpower," Foreign Affairs, (March/April, 1999

Joe Nye, "Redefining the National Interest," Foreign Affairs (July/Aug. 1999)

Amitai Etzioni, "The Evils of Self-Determinism" Foreign Policy (Winter 1992-3)

James Kurth, "The Real Clash," The National Interest (Fall, 1994)

Michael Mandelbaum, "A Perfect Failure," Foreign Affairs (Sept./Oct., 1999)

Aryeh Neier, "Asia's Unacceptable Standard" Foreign Policy (Fall, 1993)