AFRICAN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS (POLS 3169/AFRS 4105) FALL 2014 Monday/Wednesday 9:30-10:45 a.m. Fretwell 406

Transcription

1 AFRICAN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS (POLS 3169/AFRS 4105) FALL 2014 Monday/Wednesday 9:30-10:45 a.m. Fretwell 406 Professor: Dr. Beth Whitaker Office: Fretwell 445H Phone: Office hours: Monday/Wednesday 2:00-3:00 p.m. and by appointment COURSE OBJECTIVES: Long marginalized within the international system, Africa has received renewed interest in recent years. External actors seek connections with African countries on a range of issues, including energy supplies, trade and investment, and humanitarian concerns. Celebrities like Bono, George Clooney, and Angelina Jolie have brought attention to the continent in their own ways. Within Africa, leaders have demonstrated greater willingness to intervene in the affairs of their neighbors, with positive and negative effects. This course aims to increase students understanding of African international relations within the continent and beyond. We examine the historical context, the politics of aid dependence, conflict and security in the region, and Africa s external relations (including with Europe, China, and especially the United States). Through lectures, articles, novels, documentaries, and debates, students will learn to better understand the news they hear about Africa and to evaluate U.S. policy in the region. COURSE REQUIREMENTS: Students must complete the following requirements, with points distributed as noted: 15 % Participation (includes attendance, discussion, etc.) 5 % Map quiz 5 % Debate 10 % Book quizzes 15 % Take your pick assignment: Situation report OR Online simulation 25 % Midterm exam 25 % Final exam Participation: You should keep up with the assigned readings and come to class prepared. Attendance is required and quality contributions will be rewarded. Each class begins with a discussion of current events in Africa (check and for updates). Map quiz: The quiz will cover the locations and names of countries and major cities from the attached map. Spelling counts for countries only; you will match city names to the appropriate countries. Book quizzes: The quizzes will test your knowledge about the two assigned books (Nuruddin Farah s novel Gifts and Ishmael Beah s memoir A Long Way Gone). If you have read the books thoroughly, you should not have problems with these questions. Debate: Each student is required to participate as part of a team in one of four debates. The class will be divided into eight teams, two for each debate; students will receive individual grades. The topics are listed in the syllabus. Specific resolutions and detailed instructions will be posted on Moodle. 1

2 Take your pick assignment: OR Situation report: Students who select this option will write a 2,000-word report about a recent or on-going event related to African international relations. The report should include an overview of the situation, background to the situation, analysis, and international implications. Further guidelines will be posted on Moodle and all reports must be submitted to turnitin.com. Online simulation: Students who select this option will participate in an online simulation through the ICONS Project about piracy off the coast of Somalia. Students will be divided into eight teams and the simulation will take place outside of class in November. NOTE: This activity will cost $12 per student. Students must sign up for this option by October 1 st. Exams: The midterm will cover material from the first half of the course and the final will cover material from the second half. Each exam will include six short answer questions and one essay question. The exams will be conducted through Moodle with a two-hour time limit and will be open book. REQUIRED READING MATERIALS: The books listed below are available at the bookstore. Readings marked with an asterisk (*) are posted on Moodle ( The site also includes lecture slides, grades, useful links, and other course information. For assignment changes and other updates, check your UNC Charlotte account regularly. John W. Harbeson and Donald Rothchild, eds., Africa in World Politics, 5 th Edition: Engaging a Changing Global Order (Westview Press, 2013) Nuruddin Farah, Gifts: A Novel (Penguin Books, 2000; originally published 1992) Ishmael Beah, A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007) LECTURE AND READING SCHEDULE (subject to change): Historical Context August 18: Understanding Africa s international relations *Robert F. Worth, In New York Tickets, Ghana Sees Orderly City, The New York Times, July 22, 2002 August 20: Colonialism and its legacy Crawford Young, The Heritage of Colonialism, in Harbeson and Rothchild (Textbook chap. 2) August 25 & 27: From kingdoms to states I. William Zartman, The Diplomacy of African Boundaries, in Harbeson and Rothchild (Textbook chap. 8) *Jeffrey Herbst, The creation and maintenance of national boundaries in Africa, International Organization 43, 4 (1989): Princeton N. Lyman, Sudan: A Fragile Peace, in Harbeson and Rothchild (Textbook chap. 11) September 3 & 8: Cold War competition for Africa (MAP QUIZ WEDNESDAY SEPT. 3 rd ) *Christopher Clapham, Africa and the International System: The Politics of State Survival (Cambridge University Press, 1996), Chapter 6 *Steven R. David, Explaining Third World Alignment, World Politics 43, 2 (January 1991):

3 The Politics of Aid Dependence September 10 & 15: Foreign aid and economic development ( Good Fortune documentary) Todd Moss, Reflections on Africa s Rocky Love-Hate Relationship with International Capital in Harbeson and Rothchild (Textbook chap. 3) *Alex de Waal, Democratizing the Aid Encounter in Africa, International Affairs 73, 4 (1997) September 17: DEBATE #1 on the Product (Red) campaign (Teams A & B) *Lisa Ann Richey and Stefano Ponte, Better (Red) than Dead? Celebrities, consumption, and international aid, Third World Quarterly 29, 4 (2008): September 22: Foreign aid and political reform John W. Harbeson, Democracy, Autocracy, and the Sub-Saharan African State, in Harbeson and Rothchild (Textbook chap. 5) *Thad Dunning, Conditioning the Effects of Aid: Cold War Politics, Donor Credibility, and Democracy in Africa, International Organization 58, 2 (Spring 2004): September 24: BOOK QUIZ and discussion about Nuruddin Farah s Gifts (read entire book) September 29: The pursuit of African integration *Thomas Kwasi Tieku, Explaining the Clash and Accommodation of Interests of Major Actors in the Creation of the African Union, African Affairs 103, 411 (2004): October 1: DEBATE #2 on the African Union (Teams C & D) *Tim Murithi, Briefing: The African Union at Ten: An Appraisal, African Affairs 111, 445 (2012): October 8: MIDTERM EXAM (available on Moodle at 8:00 a.m. for 24 hours) Conflict and Security in Africa October 13 & 15: Regional security challenges Will Reno, The International Factor in African Warfare, in Harbeson and Rothchild (Textbook chap. 7) Filip Reyntjens, War in the Great Lakes Region, in Harbeson and Rothchild (Textbook chap. 12) *James Ron, Paradigm in Distress? Primary Commodities and Civil War, Journal of Conflict Resolution 49, 4 (2005): October 20: Regionalization of conflict *Kristian Skrede Gleditsch, Idean Salehyan, and Kenneth Schultz, Fighting at Home, Fighting Abroad: How Civil Wars Lead to International Disputes, Journal of Conflict Resolution 52, 4 (2008): *John F. Clark, Explaining Ugandan intervention in Congo: Evidence and interpretations, Journal of Modern African Studies 39, 2 (2001): October 22: DEBATE #3 on the conflict minerals provisions of the Dodd-Frank Law (Teams E & F) *Laura Seay, Did cutting access to mineral wealth reduce violence in the DRC? The Monkey Cage, March 25,

4 October 27: The politics of humanitarian assistance *Karen Jacobsen, Can refugees benefit the state? Refugee resources and African statebuilding, Journal of Modern African Studies 40, 4 (2002): *Adam Branch, Humanitarianism, Violence, and the Camp in Northern Uganda, Civil Wars 11, 4 (2009): October 29: The politics of good intentions *Séverine Autesserre, Dangerous tales: Dominant narratives on the Congo and their unintended consequences, African Affairs 111, 443 (2012): *Lee J.M. Seymour, Let s bullshit! Arguing, bargaining and dissembling over Darfur, European Journal of International Relations 20, 3 (2014): November 3: BOOK QUIZ and discussion about Ishmael Beah s A Long Way Gone (read entire book) Africa s External Relations November 5: Africa and Europe *Peter J. Schraeder, France and the Great Game in Africa, Current History 96, 610 (1997): *Hein de Haas, The Myth of Invasion: the inconvenient realities of African migration to Europe, Third World Quarterly 29, 7 (2008): November 10: Africa and the emerging powers Ian Taylor, The Growth of China in Africa, in Harbeson and Rothchild (Textbook chap. 13) *Giles Mohan and Ben Lampert, Negotiating China: Reinserting African Agency into China- African Relations, African Affairs 112, 446 (2012): November 12: DEBATE #4 on Chinese involvement in Africa (Teams G & H) November 17 & 19: U.S. policy toward Africa in the 1990s *Peter J. Schraeder, Forget the Rhetoric and Boost the Geopolitics : Emerging Trends in the Bush Administration s Policy Toward Africa, African Affairs 100, 400 (2001): *Samantha Power, Bystanders to Genocide, Atlantic Monthly, September November 24 & December 1: Continuity and change in recent U.S. policy *Nicolas van de Walle, US policy towards Africa: The Bush legacy and the Obama administration, African Affairs 109, 434 (2010): *Beth Elise Whitaker, Why it s hard for the U.S. to fight terrorism and promote democracy in East Africa, The Monkey Cage, October 8, *Ken Menkhaus, Stabilisation and humanitarian access in a collapsed state: the Somali case, Disasters 34, 3 (2010): December 3: Building a constituency for Africa in the United States (SITUATION REPORT DUE) *Wendy Theodore, The Declining Appeal of Diasporic Connections: African American Organising for South Africa, Haiti and Rwanda, Global Society22, 2 (2008): December 10: FINAL EXAM (available on Moodle at 8:00 a.m. for 24 hours) 4

5 PROFESSIONAL BEHAVIOR: You are all adults and will be treated as such. In return, you are expected to behave as adults and to conduct yourself in a professional manner. This includes addressing the professor appropriately, using proper grammar and punctuation in your s, and treating one another with respect. Examples of unprofessional behavior include but are not limited to: leaving your phone on during class, texting during class, leaving class once it has started (unless it is an absolute emergency), arriving late to class, and ing the professor as if you were sending a text message to a friend. As adults, you can decide what are legitimate reasons to miss class; I do not get into the business of determining excused absences versus unexcused absences. Instead, you are given two personal days during the semester to use as you wish; any additional absences after these two will be penalized. Obviously, you cannot earn participation points for days that you do not attend class. ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: Students have the responsibility to know and observe the requirements of The UNC Charlotte Code of Student Academic Integrity ( This code forbids cheating, fabrication or falsification of information, multiple submissions of academic work, plagiarism, abuse of academic materials, and complicity in academic dishonesty. Students who violate the code can be expelled from UNC Charlotte. The normal penalty for a first offense is zero credit on the work involving dishonesty and further substantial reduction of the course grade. In almost all cases the course grade is reduced to "F." Standards of academic integrity will be enforced in this course. Students are expected to report cases of academic dishonesty to the course instructor. As a condition of taking this course, all required papers are subject to submission for textual similarity review to Turnitin.com for the detection of plagiarism. All submitted papers will be included as source documents in the Turnitin.com reference database solely for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of such papers. 5