Athabasca University. POLI 330 International and Global Politics. Detailed Syllabus

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1 Athabasca University POLI 330 International and Global Politics Detailed Syllabus Welcome to Political Science 330: International and Global Politics. a three-credit, intermediate-level university course that introduces the historical and contemporary situations in global politics. Among the topics you will study are the relations among multinational corporations (MNCs), international organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and other actors, as well as the significance of other forces at play in the global context, such as gender, class, and race. The course will enable you to explore military and security politics, and to gain a deeper understanding of international trade and the problems of the debt crisis. It will also help you recognize how global politics affects your life, and will suggest ways in which you can work to change situations around you. Course Objectives After completing POLI 330, you should be able to Identify the principal actors in the global system and the international organizations and institutions that exist to resolve international problems Discuss how conflict is generated in the international system, and describe how the international system deals with conflict. Describe how the assumption of the primacy of states and national interest has shaped attempts to understand the behaviour of states and the nature of international relations. Describe how increasing interdependence creates challenges for both theorists and practitioners of international relations

2 Discuss the legacies of colonialism and the main drivers of political and economic development in the world today Identify continuing structures of inequality and domination in the world today, and the new global movements and strategies of resistance and emancipation that have evolved in response Course Outline Unit 1 Making Sense of the World Around Us Learning Objectives After completing Unit 1 you should be able to: 1. Identify and explain three different ways of looking at the world, and analyse your own perspective in relation to these. 2. Describe how the field of international relations emerged. 3. Discuss the three major theoretical perspectives of realism, liberalism, and critical theory within the field of international relations. 4. Describe the realist vs. idealist debate and the inter-paradigm debate within the field of international relations. 5. Explain why theory is important in the study of global politics. 1.1 Unit 1 Commentary 1.2 Deng, Yong, and Thomas G. Moore China Views Globalization: Toward a New Great-Power Politics? Washington Quarterly 27 (3): Guéhenno, Jean-Marie Globalization and the International System: The Post-Cold War World. Journal of Democracy 10 (1): Hoffman, Stanley Clash of Globalizations. Foreign Affairs 81 (4), Hoge, James F A Global Power Shift in the Making. Foreign Affairs 83 (4), 2-7.

3 1.6 Walt, Stephen M One World, Many Theories. Foreign Policy 110 (Spring), Unit 2 Where and When Did the International System Begin? Learning Objectives After completing Unit 2 you should be able to: 1. Identify and discuss the reasons why Canada enjoys a close relationship with the United States. 2. Identify the economic and cultural conflicts that have arisen out of Canada US trade relations and the policies promoted by Canada in these fields. 3. Identify the international organizations to which Canada belongs, and assess their influence on Canada. 4. Assess the argument that the Canadian nation state is in a state of decline. 5. Articulate what you think to be the significance of globalization for Canada. 6. Assess the extent to which Canada s institutions are able to meet the needs of its citizens in this era of global governance. 2.1 Unit 2 Commentary 2.2 Elrod, Richard B The Concert of Europe: A Fresh Look at an International System. World Politics 28 (2), Wallerstein, Immanuel The Rise and Future Demise of the World Capitalist System: Concepts for Comparative Politics. Comparative Studies in Society and History 16 (4):

4 Unit 3 A World of Violence, Conflict and Power Learning Objectives After completing Unit 3 you should be able to: 1. Discuss differing understandings of violence and power within the world. 2. Identify the understanding of violence and power with which you are most sympathetic, and determine why this is the case. 3. Provide at least two definitions of power in the world order. 4. Discuss the differing definitions of terrorism. 5. Distinguish different expressions of terrorism in international relations. 6. Identify and assess the efforts by states to implement counter-terrorist strategies. 7. Discuss how a gendered conception of power helps our understanding of issues of violence, resources, and labour. 3.1 Unit 3 Commentary 3.2 Frederking, Brian Constructing Post-Cold War Collective Security. The American Political Science Review 97 (3): Harkavy, Robert E Images of the Coming International System. Orbis 41 (4): Heisbourg, Francois A New Security Landscape: The End of the Post-Cold War Era. Asia Pacific Review 10 (1): Keohane, Robert O., and Joseph S. Nye, Jr Power and Interdependence in the Information Age. Foreign Affairs 77 (5), Nye, Joseph S., Jr The Decline of America s Soft Power. Foreign Affairs 83 (3), Slaughter, Anne-Marie The Real New World Order. Foreign Affairs 76 (5):

5 3.8 Stern, Jessica The Protean Enemy. Foreign Affairs 82 (4), Wohlforth, William C The Stability of a Unipolar World. International Security 24 (1), 5. Unit 4 A World of Cooperation Learning Objectives After completing Unit 4 you should be able to: 1. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of interdependence in the global order. 2. Provide at least two examples of international cooperation and interdependence. 3. Identify and assess the major features of globalization. 4. Discuss the who s who, main concerns, and strategies of the antiglobalization movement. 5. Discuss the similarities and differences among several historical and current examples of international organizations. 6. Explain how and why international organizations, especially the United Nations, work to promote cooperation. 7. Explain the differences between the liberal and economic nationalist theories of trade using concrete examples. 8. Identify two key institutions of the post-world War II trading system, and discuss their significance. 9. Illustrate the importance of trade to the global political economy. 10. Identify several effects of trade on the international system.

6 4.1 Unit 4 Commentary 4.2 Friedman, Thomas, and Ignacio Ramonet Dueling Globalizations: A Debate between Thomas L. Friedman and Ignacio Ramonet. Foreign Policy 99 (116), Gelb, Leslie H., and Justine A. Rosenthal The Rise of Ethics in Foreign Policy: Reaching a Values Consensus. Foreign Affairs 82 (3), Naim, Moises The Five Wars of Globalization. Foreign Policy 134 (Jan./Feb.), Slaughter, Anne-Marie Courting the World. Foreign Policy 141(Mar./Apr.), Unit 5 A World of Inequalities Learning Objectives After completing Unit 5 you should be able to: 1. Describe and evaluate two different theories that account for the inequalities between North and South. 2. Discuss several historical factors that have shaped the inequalities between North and South. 3. Analyse the strengths and weaknesses of establishing global standards for immigration. 4. Describe the key causes of the debt problems of developing countries. 5. Outline the link between debt relief and the Millennium Development Goals. 6. Discuss the impact of debt relief on the Highly Indebted Countries. 7. Discuss the internal causes of indebtedness in developing countries. 8. Explain how gender inequalities are perpetuated at the international level in the areas of violence, labour, and resources.

7 9. Describe how a division of labour by gender exists at the international level. 10. Discuss strategies for taking gender out of global politics. 5.1 Unit 5 Commentary 5.2 Gilpin, Robert A Postscript to the Asian Financial Crisis: The Fragile International Economic Order. Cambridge Review of International Affairs 16 (1), Hudson, Valerie M., and Andrea Den Boer A Surplus of Men, A Deficit of Peace: Security and Sex Ratios in Asia s Largest States. International Security 26 (4): Jaquette, Jane S Women in Power: From Tokenism to Critical Mass. Foreign Policy 108 (Fall): Unit 6 Pathways to Peace Learning Objectives After completing Unit 6 you should be able to: 1. Identify three levels of organization within global civil society, and explain the differences among them. 2. Provide two examples of global social movements in all their diversities, and describe their work in global civil society. 3. Illustrate how social movements are shaped by gender. 4. Discuss, using two examples, how the actions of states are shaped by nationalism and by other forms of citizen activity or views. 5. Discuss the impact of September 11, 2001 on the anti-globalization movement. 6. Describe the defining features of human security. 7. Illustrate the links that connect the balance of power, collective security, and cooperative security. 8. Outline the context in which cooperative security has developed.

8 9. Describe how peacekeeping relates to cooperative security. 10. Discuss how the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe works. 11. Discuss the conditions under which humanitarian intervention is justifiable. 12. Define the concept of preventive diplomacy. 13. Explain how human security is related to many conflicts in today s global politics. 14. Explain how global issues are part of and affect your daily life. 6.1 Unit 6 Commentary 6.2 Annan, Kofi A Strategies for World Peace: The View of the UN Secretary-General. Futurist 36 (3), Hunt, Swanee, and Cristina Posa Women Waging Peace. Foreign Policy 124 (May/June),