Introduction to International Politics Political Science and T 10:30-11:45 and 12:00-1:15PM RH-301 Fall 2011

Transcription

1 Introduction to International Politics Political Science and T 10:30-11:45 and 12:00-1:15PM RH-301 Fall 2011 Zachariah Mampilly zamampilly@vassar.edu Office Hours: Thursday 2:00 to 4:00 or by appt. (Rockefeller 408) This course provides a basic introduction to the study of international politics. This is obviously a large topic and we will be covering a wide variety of material fairly quickly. Rather than attempting to be comprehensive, the goal is to introduce you to a selection of key issues affecting the global system as well as to understand the basic theoretical approaches most commonly used to explain them. The course will be graded on a basis, a reading response worth 20%, a mid-term worth 25%, and a final paper worth 30%. The remaining 25% will be based on your on-time attendance and participation in the course. Required Texts (available in the book store): 1. Robert Art and Robert Jervis, eds. International Politics: Enduring Concepts and Contemporary Issues. New York: Longman. 2. Sven Lindqvist A History of Bombing. New Press. 3. Other sources: We will be reading articles or book chapters that I have not asked you to buy the entire book or journal issue. For these, I will scan a copy of the article and make it available to you on Moodle as a PDF. Theoretical Approaches Tuesday, September 6: Stephen Walt International Relations: One World, Many Theories Foreign Policy 110: Marc Lynch Jay-Z vs the Game: Lessons for the American Primacy Debate. Blog post for Foreign Policy. Thursday, September 8: Realism Hans Morgenthau. Six Principles of Political Realism. In Art and Jervis. Stephen Walt. Alliances: Balancing and Bandwagoning. In Art and Jervis.

2 John J. Mearsheimer. Anarchy and the Struggle for Power. In Art and Jervis. Tuesday, September 13: Liberalism Doyle, Michael. Kant, Liberal Legacies, and Foreign Affairs. In Art and Jervis. Robert Keohane. International Institutions: Can Interdependence Work? In Art and Jervis. Joseph Nye Globalization s Deficit: How to Make International Institutions more Accountable. Foreign Affairs. pp Thursday, September 15: NO CLASS Tuesday, September 20: Constructivism and Domestic Politics Alexander Wendt. Anarchy is What States Make of It. In Art and Jervis. Michael N. Barnett and Martha Finnemore The Politics, Power, and Pathologies of International Organizations. International Organization 53(4): Clifford Bob Merchants of Morality. Foreign Policy 129: Margaret E. Keck and Kathryn Sikkink. Transnational Activists Networks. In Art and Jervis. International Organizations Thursday, September 22: Joseph Stiglitz. Globalization and Its Discontents. Ch. 1, pp James Traub. Shaking Up the Boardroom at World Government Inc. The New York Times, January 3, Aid and Development Tuesday, September 27: Amartya Sen Development as Freedom. Introduction and Ch. 1, pp READING RESPONSE DUE IN CLASS SEPTEMBER 27 Thursday, September 29: Feroze Manji and Carl O'Coill The missionary position: NGOs and development in Africa. International Affairs 78 (3):

3 Sebastian Mallaby. NGOs: Fighting Poverty, Hurting the Poor. In Art and Jervis. Philip Gourevitch Alms Dealers. The New Yorker. William Easterly What Bono Doesn t Say About Africa. The Los Angeles Times. International Political Economy Tuesday, October 4: Helen Milner International Political Economy: Beyond Hegemonic Stability. Foreign Policy 110: Dani Rodrik. Trading in Illusions. In Art and Jervis. Clive Crook The Fruitful Lie. Atlantic Monthly. Simon Critchley. Coin of Praise. The New York Times. August 30, Thursday, October 6 and Tuesday, October 11: FILM: Bamako Thursday, October 13 MIDTERM FALL BREAK: October 14 th 23 rd Conflict Tuesday, October 25 and Thursday, October 27: Sven Lindqvist. Selection from A History of Bombing. Shadow Networks Tuesday, November 1: Carolyn Nordstrom Out of the Shadows. Barry Yeoman Soldiers of Good Fortune. Mother Jones. Humanitarianism Thursday, November 3:

4 Kofi Annan. Reflections on Intervention. In Art and Jervis. Adam Branch Uganda s Civil War and the Politics of ICC Intervention. Ethics in International Affairs. pp Mahmood Mamdani The New Humanitarian Order. The Nation. September 29. The War on Terror Tuesday, November 8: Lawrence Wright The Rebellion Within: An Al Qaeda mastermind questions terrorism. The New Yorker. Mahmood Mamdani Good Muslim, Bad Muslim: A Political Perspective on Culture and Terrorism. American Anthropologist. pp Philip Gordon. Can the War on Terror Be Won? In Art and Jervis. American Foreign Policy in the 21 st Century Thursday, November 10: Ivo Daalder, James Lindsay and James Steinberg Hard Choices: National Security and the War on Terrorism. Current History: David Lake The New American Empire? International Studies Perspectives 9(3): Robert Pape It's the Occupation, Stupid. Foreign Policy. C. Christine Fair Drone Wars. Foreign Policy. Tuesday, November 15: Juan Cole Pakistan and Afghanistan: Beyond the Taliban. Political Science Quarterly 124(2): Hishaam Aidi The Grand (Hip-Hop) Chessboard: Race, Rap and Raison d État. Middle East Report. Thursday, November 17: NO CLASS The Rise of the Rest Tuesday, November 22:

5 Fareed Zakaria The Post-American World. Foreign Affairs. Kishore Mahbubhani The Case Against the West. Foreign Affairs. Christopher Layne and Benjamin Schwarz The Twilight of Pax Americana. The Los Angeles Times. Thanksgiving Break November 24 th 27 th Tuesday, November 29: Harry G. Broadman China and India Go to Africa: New Deals in the Developing World. Foreign Affairs. Jorge Castaneda Not Ready for Prime Time: Why Including Emerging Powers at the Helm Would Hurt Global Governance. Foreign Affairs. Otaviano Canuto and Marcelo Giugale Emerged Economies. Foreign Policy. Migration Thursday, December 1: Saskia Sassen Regulating Immigration in a Global Age: A New Policy Landscape. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 570: Rey Koslowski International Migration and the Globalization of Domestic Politics Ted Fishman. As Populations Age, a Chance for Younger Nations. The New York Times. October 14, The Environment Tuesday, December 6: Michael Levi. Copenhagen s Inconvenient Truth: How to Salvage the Climate Conference. Foreign Affairs. Sep/Oct Garrett Hardin. The Tragedy of the Commons. In Art and Jervis. Feminism and International Relations Thursday, December 8:

6 J. Ann Tickner You Just Don t Understand: Troubled Engagements Between Feminists and IR Theorists. International Studies Quarterly 41: Jennifer Hyndman and Malathi de Alwis Beyond Gender: Towards a Feminist Analysis of Humanitarianism and Development in Sri Lanka. Women and Development: Rethinking Policy and Reconceptualizing Practice, pp