RINT 505/RPOS 582 Global Security Class Meeting Time and Location: Monday, 5:45-9:25p, Milne 215 Office Hours and Location: 3:30-5:30p, Milne 220

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1 RINT 505/RPOS 582 Global Security Class Meeting Time and Location: Monday, 5:45-9:25p, Milne 215 Office Hours and Location: 3:30-5:30p, Milne 220 Course Description: This is a course about the nature, causes, effects, and prevention of war and political violence in the modern world. Students taking the course will be asked to critically analyze contemporary global security problems. How do modern armies fight and win wars? How dangerous is the proliferation of nuclear weapons? What causes terrorism? When do civil wars emerge and how do they end? How will new technologies change the global security environment? Political violence causes enormous suffering. The course aims to provide theoretical tools and analytical approaches to help make sense of why that suffering occurs, and the manner in which it can be alleviated. Learning Objectives: By the end of the course, all students should be able to 1. Identify key concepts in readings and describe the steps of an argument 2. Critically evaluate common readings in discussions with instructor and fellow students 3. Ask incisive questions of texts as well as of fellow seminar participants 4. Speak and write effectively about course topics in formats appropriate to career goals 5. Collaborate with a team to produce an effective analytical briefing Prerequisites: There are no formal prerequisites for the course, though students that have not taken RINT 501 Global Governance (or an equivalent course) should contact me. Assignments and Grading: Participation: 20% Active participation includes both regular attendance in class and contribution to class discussion. Students should therefore complete all readings before attending class. Those students from the Albany campus using this course to meet the residency requirement will receive only partial credit for those class sessions that they do not attend in person. Restrepo Reaction: 5% In less than 250 words, discuss one scene, plot point, character, or theme in Restrepo that you believe has relevance to the broader study of violence and political aims. (Keep in mind, it is acceptable for you to argue that the movie misleads or mischaracterizes some issue.) Describe the scene and how it relates to broader issues. Due via (cclary@albany.edu) by January 30. Discussion Questions: 10% Each week (except for the first class), you will be expected to submit one discussion question on any of the readings assigned that week by no later than 5:00pm on Sunday (the day before class) via e- mail (cclary@albany.edu). The discussion question can reference multiple readings, or examine how a reading from that week relates to ideas or topics from an earlier week. They should be substantive questions on the assigned readings that you think would be useful to discuss in class. Questions that do not demonstrate engagement with the readings will not receive full credit. 1

2 Group Project Final Briefing: 20% Students will be assigned to small groups. These groups will be tasked to evaluate a contemporary international security problem. Groups will be asked to give a 15-minute presentation toward the end of the semester on: (1) the major problems associated with the topic; (2) the relevant history of those problems; and (3) proposed policy solutions for the international community. Each student in the group should have a speaking role in that 15-minute presentation. After the prepared remarks, groups should be ready for up to 15 minutes of question and answer with the class. The group project grade will be composed of two equal components assessing the overall product and each individual student contribution. Iran South China Sea Pakistan Russia Israel/Palestine Group Project Updates: 5% Over the course of the semester, I will periodically ask the groups to break out during the class to provide me with a deliverable that same day. There will not be sufficient time during these breakout sessions for groups to create the final briefing, but these deliverables will permit feedback to improve that product. Op-ed: 10% Each student will be asked to write a short piece (no less than 800 and no more than 1,000 words) of persuasive public writing designed to engage a non-specialist audience. The op-ed ought to avoid technical language, succinctly explain the issue, and advocate for a (set of) policy recommendation(s). Policy Memos: 30% (non-political Science PhD Students) Throughout the semester, each student will be asked to write three policy memos (each worth 10% of the final grade) relating to substantive issues we study in class. I have provided templates and a grading rubric on Blackboard. I will distribute writing prompts in the class session prior to that in which each policy memo is due. or Take-home Final Examination: 30% (Political Science PhD Students) On May 8, I will distribute a take home final examination that will consist of six possible essay questions, of which I will ask you to respond to three. The examination will be open book, but I would ask that you not collaborate with others in formulating your responses. Responses should be approximately 5 to 7 pages in length for each essay question, and demonstrate mastery of the readings as well as other arguments and examples brought up in class discussion. Students should feel free to utilize arguments and evidence from outside the class, but engagement with arguments from the class will be an important component of the evaluation of the examination. The final examinations are due via (cclary@albany.edu) by Friday, May 12 at 11:59pm. 2

3 Required Texts Scott D. Sagan and Kenneth N. Waltz, The Spread of Nuclear Weapons: An Enduring Debate (New York: W. W. Norton, 2013). William McCants, The ISIS Apocalypse: The History, Strategy, and Doomsday Vision of the Islamic State (New York: St. Martin s Press, 2016). Stathis Kalyvas, The Logic of Violence in Civil War (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004). Course Schedule: Week 1 Introduction [January 23] Week 2 Violence and Political Aims [January 30] Reading: [104 pages] Carl von Clausewitz, On War, Michael Howard and Peter Paret, ed. and trans. (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1984), [14] Thomas Schelling, Arms and Influence (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1966), [33] Eliot Cohen, Supreme Command: Soldiers, Statesman, and Leadership in Wartime (New York: Free Press, 2002), [7] Stathis N. Kalyvas, The Ontology of Political Violence : Action and Identity in Civil Wars, Perspectives on Politics, 1, no. 3 (2003): [19] Carol Cohn, Sex and Death in the Rational World of Defense Intellectuals, Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 12, no. 4 (1987): [31] Week 3 Conventional Military Operations [February 6] Reading: [174 pages] Stephen Biddle, Military Power: Explaining Victory and Defeat in Modern Battle (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2004), [23] Richard B. Andres, Craig Wills, and Thomas E. Griffith Jr., "Winning with Allies: The Strategic Value of the Afghan Model," International Security 30, no. 3 (2006): [36] Robert A. Pape, Bombing to Win: Air Power and Coercion in War (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1996), [74] Barry R. Posen, Command of the Commons: The Military Foundation of U.S. Hegemony, International Security 28, no. 1 (2003): [41] 3

4 Week 4 Causes of War [February 13] Reading: [103 pages] Geoffrey Blainey, The Causes of War, 3rd ed. (New York: Free Press, 1988), [21] Robert Jervis, Perception and Misperception in World Politics (Princeton University Press, 1976), [58] Kevin Woods, James Lacey, and Williamson Murray, "Saddam's Delusions: The View from the Inside, Foreign Affairs (2006): [24] Week 5 - Causes of Peace [February 20] Reading: [129 pages] Robert Jervis, Cooperation under the Security Dilemma, World Politics 30, no. 2 (January 1978): Thomas Wright, Sifting through Interdependence, The Washington Quarterly 36, no. 4 (Fall 2013): Stephen Brooks, The Globalization of Production and the Changing Benefits of Conquest. Journal of Conflict Resolution 43, no. 5 (October 1999): Thomas U. Berger, Norms, Identity, and National Security in Germany and Japan, in The Culture of National Security: Norms and Identity in World Politics, ed. Peter J. Katzenstein (New York: Columbia University Press, 1996), Week 6 Nuclear Weapons [February 27] Reading: [144 pages] Scott D. Sagan and Kenneth N. Waltz, The Spread of Nuclear Weapons: An Enduring Debate (New York: W. W. Norton, 2013), ch. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 7. Week 7 North Korea [March 6] Reading: [124 pages] Policy memo #1 due in class. Victor D. Cha and David C. Kang, The Debate over North Korea, Political Science Quarterly 119, no. 2 (2004): Andrei Lankov, Why the United States Will Have to Accept a Nuclear North Korea, Korean Journal of Defense Analysis 21, no. 3 (2009):

5 Sheena Chestnut, Illicit Activity and Proliferation: North Korean Smuggling Networks, International Security 32, no. 1 (2007): Han S. Park, Military-First (Songun) Politics: Implications for External Policies, in New Challenges of North Korean Foreign Policy, ed. Kyung-Ae Park (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010), Bruce W. Bennett and Jennifer Lind, The Collapse of North Korea: Military Missions and Requirements, International Security 36, no. 2 (2011): Week 8 NO CLASS (SPRING BREAK) [March 13] Week 9 Information Operations/Cyber Security [March 20] Reading: [135 pages] P. W. Singer and Allen Friedman, Cybersecurity and Cyberwar: What Everyone Needs to Know (New York: Oxford University Press, 2014), [98] David Sanger, Confront and Conceal: Obama s Secret Wars and Surprising Use of American Power (New York: Random House, 2013), [37] Week 10 Civil Wars (Part 1) [March 27] Reading: [142 pages] Barry Posen, "The Security Dilemma and Ethnic Conflict," Survival 35, No. 1 (1993): Stathis Kalyvas, The Logic of Violence in Civil War (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004), Week 11 Civil War (Part 2) [April 3] Reading: [123 pages] John Mueller, "The Banality of 'Ethnic War'," International Security 25, No. 1 (2000): [28] Barbara Walter, "The Critical Barrier to Civil War Settlement," International Organization 51, no. 3 (1997): [29] Edward Luttwak, Give War a Chance, Foreign Affairs (August 1999). [9] Severine Autesserre, Dangerous Tales: Dominant Narratives on the Congo and their Unintended Consequences, African Affairs 111, no. 443 (2012): [20] Maria Stephan and Erica Chenowith, Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of 5

6 Nonviolent Conflict, International Security 33, no. 1 (2008): [37] Week 12 NO CLASS (PASSOVER) [April 10] Week 13 Afghanistan [April 17] Reading: [164 pages] Policy memo #2 due in class. Carlotta Gall, The Wrong Enemy: America in Afghanistan, (New York: Mariner Books, 2014), , , [109] Anand Gopal, No Good Men Among the Living: America, the Taliban, and the War through Afghan Eyes (New York: Henry Holt and Co., 2014), [47] Thomas Barfield, Statebuilding, Counterinsurgency, and Counterterrorism? Complementary or Contradictory Strategies? in State Strengthening in Afghanistan: Lessons Learned, , ed. Scott Smith and Colin Cookman (Washington, DC: U.S. Institute of Peace, 2016), [8] Week 14 Terrorism [April 24] Reading: [128 pages] Bruce Hoffman, Inside Terrorism (New York: Colombia University Press, 2006), Martha Crenshaw, Explaining Suicide Terrorism: A Review Essay, Security Studies 16 no. 1 (2007): Andrew Kydd and Barbara Walter, The Strategies of Terrorism, International Security 31, no. 1 (2006): Mia Bloom, Palestinian Suicide Bombing: Public Support, Market Share and Outbidding, Political Science Quarterly 119, no. 1 (2004): Week 15 Drones [May 1] Reading: [151 pages] Op-ed due in class. and Group Project Final Briefings (part 1) Michael C. Horowitz, Sarah E. Kreps, and Matthew Fuhrmann, Separating Fact from Fiction in the Debate over Drone Proliferation, International Security 41, no. 2 (Fall 2016): [36] 6

7 Patrick B. Johnston, Does Decapitation Work? Assessing the Effectiveness of Leadership Targeting in Counterinsurgency Campaigns, International Security 36, no. 4 (2012): [32] Center for Civilians in Conflict and Human Rights Clinic at Columbia Law School, The Civilian Impact of Drones: Unexamined Costs, Unanswered Questions (2012). [83] Week 16 ISIS [May 8] Readings: [160 pages] Policy memo #3 due in class. and Group Project Final Briefings (part 2) William McCants, The ISIS Apocalypse: The History, Strategy, and Doomsday Vision of the Islamic State (New York: St. Martin s Press, 2016). 7

8 Week 1 Introduction [January 23] Week 2 Violence and Political Aims [January 30] Big Picture Week 3 Conventional Military Operations [February 6] Week 4 Causes of War [February 13] Week 5 Causes of Peace [February 20] Week 6 - Nuclear Weapons [February 27] Week 7 North Korea [March 6] [policy memo #1 due] Week 8 NO CLASS (SPRING BREAK) [March 13] Week 9 Information Operations/Cyber Security [March 20] Week 10 Civil War (Part 1) [March 27] Week 11 Civil War (Part 2) [April 3] Week 12 NO CLASS (PASSOVER) [April 10] Week 13 Afghanistan [April 17] [policy memo #2 due] Week 14 Terrorism [April 24] - X Week 15 Drones [May 1] [op-ed due] [final briefings part 1] Week 16 ISIS [May 8] [policy memo #3 due] [final briefings part 2] 8