This course examines international politics in one of the most important and dynamic regions in the world: Europe. It will cover the countries of Western Europe, as well as their Central and Eastern European counterparts. A heavy emphasis will be placed on the dominant international organizations in the region—NATO and the EU—as well as those less familiar to Americans but potentially crucial to future security arrangements on the continent: OSCE and the WEU. The EU has become a powerful actor in international politics, sometimes acting as a single entity, sometimes showing clearly that is it is made up of various member states with often conflicting agendas. One question we will examine in the course will be the extent to which the EU has, or even can have, a coherent foreign policy. We will also spend time on the ongoing expansion of the EU and NATO to include new members, including some of the post-Communist states. International politics of one of the post-Communist states not being considered for NATO or EU membership in the near future—Russia—will be a focus of the latter part of the semester. Russia has challenged NATO expansion, though a fair question (especially in light of its economic problems recently) is whether it is too weak to challenge the West on issues such as NATO.

Requirements and Grades: You will write one paper and take “bluebook” midterm and final exams. You will also have a short assignment at the beginning and end of the semester. The specific topics for the paper will be handed out well in advance of the due date. The paper will be relatively short (under 10 pages) but will require you to write clearly and draw on the readings and lectures in the course as well as outside materials. The short assignments will count for 10% of your grade, the paper 25%, the midterm 25%, and the final exam 40%. Anyone ending the semester in the “gray area” between two letter grades will be bumped up or down depending on class participation.

Class attendance is mandatory. But, since certain situations may arise that make it difficult or impossible to attend a particular class session, you will be able to miss four sessions of this class during the semester without an effect on your grade. After that, I will lower your final, semester grade by one-half letter grade (B to BC, for example) with each additional absence.

You should do the corresponding readings before each lecture. You are welcome, and even encouraged, to read ahead. You are strongly discouraged from falling behind. It will be difficult to catch up, you will be responsible for knowing the readings for papers and exams, and we may discuss some of the readings during lecture. The amount of reading will vary from week to week. In addition, lecture will not simply restate or summarize the information in the readings. It will complement the readings, and both are required for doing well in the course.

            While generally a nice person, I take academic dishonesty very seriously. Academic dishonesty violates the principles of Marquette, and it is completely unfair to your fellow classmates. If you are caught copying during tests, plagiarizing on papers (representing someone else’s ideas as your own), or helping someone do either of these, I will make every effort to make sure that you receive an F in the class as well as any other punishments that are warranted.

            Readings: In an effort to cut down on the number of readings on reserve, you are required to buy four books for the course: Piening’s Global Europe (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1997), Kupchan’s Atlantic Security: Contending Visions (New York: Council on Foreign Relations, 1998), Mannin’s Puhsing Back the Boundaries: The European Union and Central and Eastern Europe (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1999), and Donaldson and Nogee’s The Foreign Policy of Russia: Changing Systems, Enduring Interests (M. E. Sharpe, 1998). A few other weekly readings will be on reserve. In addition to the required readings, you are strongly encouraged to read the New York Times every day during the semester (as well as after the course is finished) and/or subscribe to The Economist. From time to time, I may hand out an article from the Times or Economist for you to read before the next lecture, thinking about it in the context of the topics we have discussed in class.

Lecture and Reading Schedule

* = Reading from the book to be purchased. All other readings are on reserve.

PART I: INTRODUCTION: INTERNATIONAL POLITICS AND EUROPE.

Week 1 (Aug 28-30): Studying European International Politics: Approaches to and Topics in International Relations.

Readings:

Morgenthau, excerpt from Politics among Nations, in Vasquez, ed., Classics of International Relations,

(Upper Saddle River: NJ, Prentice Hall, 3^rd edition, 1996), pp. 24-27.

Wilson, “The World Must be Safe for Democracy” and “the Fourteen Points,” in Vasquez, ed.,

Classics of International Relations, (Upper Saddle River: NJ, Prentice Hall, 3^rd edition, 1996),

pp. 35-40.

“Spoiling World Trade,” The Economist, December 7, 1998, pp. 15-16.

“The Myth of the Powerless State,” The Economist, October 7, 1995, pp. 15-16.

Claude, excerpt from Power and International Relations, in Vasquez, ed., Classics of International Relations,

(Upper Saddle River: NJ, Prentice Hall, 3^rd edition, 1996), pp. 407-411.

NO CLASS: August 30. American Political Science Assn. Convention. Work on Assign. #1.

Week 2 (Sept 4-6): Europe and International Politics.

Readings:

*Piening, Global Europe, “Introduction” and ch. 1.

*Mannin, ed., Pushing Back the Boundaries, Appendix I.

“Preambles to the Treaty of Rome,” in Nelsen and Stubb, eds., The European Union, (Boulder:

Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1994), pp. 13-15.

“Preamble to the Treaty on European Union (The Maastricht Treaty),” in Nelsen and Stubb, eds.,

The European Union, (Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1994), pp. 65-66.

NO CLASS: September 4. Labor Day.

SHORT ASSIGNMENT #1 DUE: September 6, in class.

SHORT Assignment #1: Find 10 sites on the World Wide Web that you could use to follow international politics in Europe. In your write-up, list each site address (www.cnn.com), provide a brief description of what can be found on the site, and justify why the site would have reliable information. Do not count “sub-pages” of a web site (www.cnn.com/WORLD, for example) as part of your ten sites.

PART II: THE EU AND RELATIONS WITH OTHER REGIONS.

Week 3(Sept 11-13): The EU, Central Europe, and EU Expansion.

Readings:

*Piening, Global Europe, ch. 3.

*Mannin, ed., Pushing Back the Boundaries, chs. 1-2, 6, and Appendix II.

Week 4 (Sept 18-20): The EU and the United States.

Readings:

*Piening, Global Europe, ch. 5

*Kupchan, ed., Atlantic Security: Contending Visions, ch. 1.

Week 5 (Sept 25-27): The EU and Relations with Other Regions: Asia, Latin America, the Mediterranean/Middle East, and Africa.

Readings:

*Piening, Global Europe, chs. 4, 6-8.

Week 6 (Oct 2-4): International Political Economy of the EU, EMU, and EU Expansion: Trade, Subsidies, Currency, and Economic Relations.

Readings:

*Mannin, ed., Pushing Back the Boundaries, ch. 3.

Winkler, “The Political Economy of European Monetary Union: between Economic Logic and

Political Imperatives,” in Cafruny and Peters, eds., The Union and the World: The

Political Economy of a Common European Foreign Policy, (The Hague: Kluwer Law

International, 1998), pp. 191-208.

Reading on EMU, to be announced.

PART III: SECURITY IN EUROPE: NATO, OSCE, the WEU, and the Fate of the EU’s “Common Foreign and Security Policy” (CFSP).

Week 7 (Oct 9-11): European Security and Security Organizations.

Readings:

*Kupchan, ed., Atlantic Security: Contending Visions, chs. 2-4.

*Mannin, ed., Pushing Back the Boundaries, ch. 7.

Week 8 (Oct 16-18): The CFSP: Can the EU Produce a Coherent Foreign Policy?

Readings:

*Piening, Global Europe, ch. 2.

Welsh, Europe United?, (London: Macmillan Press, 1996), ch. 8 (pp. 108-125). 

Cameron, “The Role of the EU and WEU in European Security,” in von Bredow, Jager, and Kummel,

eds., European Security, (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1997), pp. 131-145.

MIDTERM EXAM: October 18, in class.

Week 9 (Oct 23-25): Should NATO Expand?

Readings:

Gardner, Dangerous Crossroads: Europe, Russia, and the Future of NATO, (Westport, CT: Praeger, 1997),

ch. 10 (pp. 195-212).

Newhouse, Europe Adrift, (New York: Pantheon Books, 1997), pp. 230-249.

Havel, “The United States, NATO, and the World,” Analysis of Current Events, vol. 10, nos. 7-8

(July/August 1998), pp. 3-4.

Moynihan, “NATO Expansion and Nuclear War,” Analysis of Current Events, vol. 10, nos. 7-8

(July/August 1998), pp. 5-6.

Eisenhower, “NATO Expansion Fallout,” Analysis of Current Events, vol. 10, nos. 7-8

(July/August 1998), pp. 10, 12.

PART IV: THE “OTHER EUROPE”: Central and Eastern Europe and Russia.

Week 10 (Oct 30-Nov 1): International Politics in Central and Southeastern Europe: Cooperation, Conflict, and Moves toward “Rejoining Europe.”

Readings:

*Mannin, ed., Pushing Back the Boundaries, chs. 8, 11.

Burant, “Visegrad in All but Name,” Analysis of Current Events, vol. 10, no. 6 (June 1998): 6-7.

Thomas, “The Illusion of Serbian Aggression,” Analysis of Current Events, vol. 9, no. 12

(December 1997): 10-11.

NO CLASS: November 1. All Saints Day.

Week 11 (Nov 6-8): The Historical and Domestic Roots of Russian Foreign Policy.

Readings:

*Donaldson and Nogee, The Foreign Policy of Russia, chs. 1-4.

Week 12 (Nov 13-15): Russian Relations with its Neighbors in the “Near Abroad.”

Readings:

*Donaldson and Nogee, The Foreign Policy of Russia, ch. 5.

Gardner, Dangerous Crossroads: Europe, Russia, and the Future of NATO, (Westport, CT: Praeger, 1997),

ch. 5 (pp. 91-110).

PAPER DUE: November 15, in class. The specific topic and guidelines of the paper will be handed out in class.

Week 13 (Nov 20-22): Russian Relations with the West.

Readings:

*Donaldson and Nogee, The Foreign Policy of Russia, ch. 6.

Reading on US-Russian relations, to be announced.

NO CLASS: November 22. Happy Thanksgiving!

Week 14 (Nov 27-29): Russian Relations with the “Non-West.”

Readings:

*Donaldson and Nogee, The Foreign Policy of Russia, ch. 7.

Reading on Russian-Chinese and/or Russian-Indian relations, to be announced.

SHORT ASSIGNMENT #2 DUE: November 29, in class.

SHORT ASSIGNMENT #2: Write a letter to your member of Congress or to one of Wisconsin’s senators about the topic of your paper. In the letter, briefly lay out the issue, what you think the United States should be doing in relation to this issue, and why. The letter should be single-spaced, and should be no more than two pages including the date, signature, and appropriate address for the recipient. We will discuss the format of the letter in more detail in class.

Week 15 (Dec 4-6): Conclusion: An International Politics of Europe?

Readings:

*Piening, Global Europe, ch. 9.

*Donaldson and Nogee, The Foreign Policy of Russia, ch. 8.

Newhouse, Europe Adrift, (New York: Pantheon Books, 1997), pp. 291-309.

FINAL EXAM REVIEW: December 6, in class.

FINAL EXAM: Friday, December 15, 1:00-3:00 p.m.