This is basically a "readings" course intended to provide a survey of some of the important theoretical and policy-oriented literature in the field of international politics.
There are two requirements: (1) Assigned written summaries and oral presentations of the readings (25 points); (2) Three 15- page analytical essays based on the readings (25 points each). Some basic questions to help you develop these essays are provided at the end of this syllabus.
Beyond fulfilling the above requirements, regular attendance and participation in class discussions are important for determining your grade.
1. John Baylis and Steve Smith, Globalization of World Politics, Oxford University Press, [BS]
2. Robert Art and Robert Jervis, Eds. International Politics, Addison Wesley Longman, latest edition [AJ]
3. Richard K. Betts, Editor, Conflict After the Cold War, Macmillan 2005. [RB]
4.Karen Mingst and Jack Snyder, Eds., Essential Readings in World Politics, Norton 2004 [MS]
5. John Hutchinson & Anthony D. Smith, Eds.,Nationalism, Oxford University Press[HS]
A. Historical Background
Robert H. Jackson, “The Evolution of International Society” [BS, 35-50]
Susan L. Carruthers, “International History 1900-1945” [BS, 51-73]
Len Scott, “International History 1945-1990" [BS, 74-91]
B. Theories of World Politics
Stephen M. Walt, “One World, Many Theories,” [MS, 4-10]
John Lewis Gaddis, “History, Theory and Common Ground,” [MS, 11-17]
Timothy Dunne & Brian C. Schmidt, “Realism” [BS, 141-161]
Timothy Dunne, “Liberalism” [BS, 162-181]
Steven L. Lamy, “Neo-Realism and Neo-Liberalism,” [BS, 182-199]
Steve Hobden and Richard Wyn Jones, “Marxist Theories of International Relations” [BS, 200-223]
Steve Smith, “Reflectivist and Constructivist Approaches to International Theory” [BS, 224-249]
C. Anarchy, War, and International Society
Sigmund Freud, “Why War?” [RB, 163-170]
Franco Fornari, “The Psychoanalysis of War” [RB, 171-175]
Margaret Mead, “War is Only an Invention, Not a Biological Necessity” [RB, 176-180
Alexander Wendt, “ Anarchy is What States Make of It,” [AJ, 61-68]
Hedley Bull, ‘Society and Anarchy in International Relations” [RB, 128-138]
Kenneth Waltz, "The Anarchic Structure of World Politics" [AJ, 29-49]
Hans Morgenthau, “A Realist Theory of International Politics and Political Power,” [MS, 49-53]
John Mearsheimer, “Anarchy and the Struggle for Power,” [MS, 54-72]
J. Ann Tickner, “Man, the State and War: Gendered Perspectives on National Security,” [MS, 94-101]
D. Classical Theories of International Society
Thucydides, "The Melian Dialogue," [RB: 55-59]
Niccolo Machiavelli, “Doing Evil in Order to Do Good,” [RB: 60-64]
E.H. Carr, "Realism and Idealism,” [RB, 69-85]
Kenneth Waltz, "The Origins of War in Neorealist Theory" [RB, 86-92]
Immanuel Kant, “Perpetual Peace” [RB: 121-127]
Hedley Bull, "Society and Anarchy in International Relations," RB: 128-138
Michael Doyle, " Kant, Liberal Legacies and Foreign Affairs" [AJ, 83-95]
E. Diplomacy, International Law and Organizations
Hans Morgenthau, "The Future of Diplomacy" [AJ, 104-113]
Stanley Hoffmann, "The Uses and Limits of International Law" [AJ, 114-118]
Robert Keohane, "International Institutions: Can Interdependence Work?" [AJ, 119-126]
Adam Roberts, The United Nations and International Security [AJ, 127-136]
Michael J. Glenon, Why the Security Council Failed” + Responses [MS, 208-221]
Henry Kissinger, “The Pitfalls of Universal Jurisdiction” [MS, 253-257]
Kenneth Roth, “The Case for Universal Jurisdiction” [MS, 258-261]
F. Military Balances and Nuclear Deterrence Theories
Stephen Walt, "Alliances: Balancing and Bandwagoning"[AJ, 96-103]
Kenneth Waltz, “The Spread of Nuclear Weapons: More May be Better” [RB, 433-444]
G. War, The Use of Force
Robert J. Art, "The Four Functions of Force" [AJ, 141-148]
Thomas Schelling, "The Diplomacy of Violence" [AJ, 149-162
Robert J. Art, “Coercive Diplomacy” [AJ, 163-177]
John Mueller, "The Obsolesence of War in the Modern World" [AJ, 204-217]
Robert Keohane & Joseph Nye, "Complex Interdependence & Force" [AJ, 199-214]
Robert J. Art, “The Fungibility of Force” [AJ, 215-231]
H. Foreign Policy and Decision-Making
Margaret Hermann and Joe Hagan, “International Decision-Making: Leadership Matters” [MS, 182-188]
Robert Jervis, “Hypotheses on Misperception” [MS, 189-201]
Cynthia Enloe, “The Personal is International” [MS, 202-207]
I. Nations, States and Nationalism
Fred Halliday, “Nationalism” [BS, 440-455]
Hutchinson & Smith, "Introduction" [HS, 3-13]
Joseph Stalin, "The Nation"[HS, 18-21]
Max Weber, "The Nation"[HS, 21-25]
Walker Connor, "A Nation is a Nation, is a State, is an Ethnic Group, is a..."[HS, 36-46]
Ernest Gellner, "Nationalism & Modernization" and "Nationalism and High Cultures" [HS, 55-69]
Benedict Anderson, "Imagined Communities" [HS, 89-96]
Hugh Seton-Watson, "Old and New Nations" [HS, 134-137]
John Armstrong, "Nations before Nationalism" [HS, 140-147]
Anthony D. Smith, "The Origins of Nations" [HS, 147-154]
Walker Connor, "When is a Nation?" [HS, 154-159]
J. Nationalism and Secessions
Francis Robinson, "Islam and Nationalism" [HS, 214-217]
Crawford Young, "The Colonial Construction of African Nations" [HS, 225-231]
Benjamin Neuberger, "State and Nation in African Thought" [HS, 231-235]
Edward H. Carr, "Three Phases of Nationalism" [HS, 243-245]
Alfred Cobban, "The Rise of the Nation-State System" [HS, 245-250]
Charles Tilly, "Europe and the International State System" [HS, 251-254]
Michael Howard, "War and Nations" [HS, 254-258]
Donald Horowitz, "The Logic of Secessions" [HS, 261-269]
James Mayall, "Irredentist and Secessionist Challenges" [HS, 269-280]
John Armstrong, "Towards a Post Communist World" [HS, 280-286]
Philip Schlesinger, "Europeaness: A New Cultural Battlefield?" [HS, 316-325]
Raju G. C. Thomas, "Competing Nationalisms: Secessionist Movements and the State," in Harvard International Review, Summer 1997. [Handout]
K. Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare
Mao Tse-Tung, “On Guerrilla Warfare” [RB, 457-466]
Raju G. C. Thomas, “The Three Terrorisms and Regional-Global Security” [Handout]
Martha Crenshaw, “The Strategic Logic of Terrorism” [RB, 491-504]
Mark Juergensmeyer, “Religious Radicalism and Political Violence” [RB, 505-519]
Jessica Stern, “Al Qaeda: The Protean Enemy” [AJ, 431-438]
Graham E. Fuller, “The Future of Political Islam” [MS, 173-181]
Audrey K. Cronin, “Globalization and International Terrorism” [MS, 367-381]
Robert A. Pape, “The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism” [MS, 382-402]
L. Cold War, Post Cold War
Richard Crockatt, “The End of the Cold War” [BS, 92-110]
Michael Cox, “International History Since 1989,” [BS, 111-137]
Francis Fukuyama, “The End of History?” [RB, 5-16]
John Mearsheimer, “Why We Will Soon Miss the Cold War” [RB, 17-32]
Samuel P. Huntington, "The Clash of Civilizations?" [MS, 163-169]
Edward Said, “The Clash of Ignorance” [MS, 170-172]
Benjamin Barber, “Jihad Versus McWorld” [RB, 618-627]
M. Ethnic Conflict and Civil Wars
Raju G. C. Thomas, “What is Third World Security?” [Handout]
Barry Posen, “The Security Dilemma and Ethnic Conflict” [MS, 357-366]
Robert I. Rotberg, “Failed States, Collapses States, Weak States” [AJ, 481-488
Paul Collier, “The Market for Civil War” [AJ, 489-495
Chaim Kaufmann, “Possible and Impossible Solutions to Ethnic Civil Wars,” [AJ, 496-517]
Martha Finnemore, “Constructing Norms of Humanitarian Intervention” [MS, 102-119]
Richard Betts, “The Delusion of Impartial Intervention” [rB, 597-607]
Nicholas J. Wheeler, “Humanitarian Intervention and World Politics” [BS, 470-493]
Chris Brown, “Human Rights” [BS 599-614]
N. Nuclear Weapons Proliferation
Darryl Howlett, “Nuclear Proliferation,” [BS, 415-439]
Raju G. C. Thomas, Chapter from The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Regime [Handout]
Scott D. Sagan, “Nuclear Instability in South Asia” [AJ, 251-262]
Kenneth Waltz, “Nuclear Stability in South Asia” [AJ, 263-274]
ESSAY REQUIREMENT
You are expected to write three essays during the semester based on the readings and general themes discussed in class. The broad titles for the three essays are provided below. The quotes and the set of questions that follow are only advisory and suggestive on the substance to be covered and the possible directions your essay could follow. You may cover more or less, or adopt other directions. However, most of the themes suggested in the questionsmust be addressed. The essays should be about 15 pages double-spaced depending on the font you use.Essay I is due first week of March; Essay II by third week of April; and Essay III by Friday May 13.
I. INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY AND THE USE OF FORCE
"Wars are unavoidable in international society because of the nature of the international system."
Reflect on this statement with reference to the following: (a) The underlying sources of conflict (e.g. Waltz and others). (b) Classical and contemporary theories and perspectives on war and peace (e.g., Hobbesian, Kantian and Grotian perspectives, the lessons of the "Athenian-Melian dialogue, E.H. Carr's critique of the "harmony of interests," etc. (c) Conventional and Nuclear Military balances. (d) Insurgency and terrorism as a means of warfare. (e) Regional economic integration and globalization as responses to violent conflict.
II. NATIONS, NATIONALISMS AND CIVILIZATIONS
"Controlling and containing nationalism and secessionist movements in the world will prove to be a far greater challenge to US foreign and security policy-makers as compared to their past ability to avoid or manage conflict during the Cold War. American military preponderance is useless or irrelevant in dealing with the problem of the mounting clash between Islamic and Western civilizations?"
Explore the above observation with reference to the following: (a) Interpretations of ethnicity, nation, nationalism, state, nation-state, and sovereignty. (b) The demands of ethnic groups who insist on the right to national self-determination, as against that of governments who insist on the territorial integrity and sovereignty of states. (c) Nationalism, Civil War and Humanitarian Intervention. (d) How well (or badly) did the post Cold War assessments and prognoses of Francis Fukayama, Samuel Huntington and Benjamin Barber anticipate or address the contemporary problem of Islam and West?
III. MILITARY BALANCES AND STRATEGIC STABILITY
“Security relationships among states based on the Conventional Balance of Power and the Nuclear Balance of Terror have become irrelevant in the post Cold War era and the age of terrorism.”
(a) To what extent do you agree or disagree? Define the condition of stability under the conventional and nuclear military balances. (b) What is A.F.K. Organski’s assessment of peace and war under military balances and conditions of military preponderance? (c) Is the preponderance of US conventional military power promoting peace and stability in the world, or is it leading to the reckless use of American military force against weaker states? (d) Will American conventional military preponderance and use of force encourage more states to acquire nuclear weapons and provoke non-state actors to resort to terrorism against the sole superpower?
