Course Time: Th 2:00-5:00pm Email: cappella@bu.edu Course Location: SED205 Office: Political Science 303 Office Hours: Tuesdays 3-5 Economic Bases of Power: The Study of Political Economy of National Security As of March 2011 Congress has approved a total of $1.283 trillion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. 1 Throughout his reign as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Navy Admiral Mike Mullen repeatedly stated, the single biggest threat to our national security is our debt. On March 1, 2013, the United States implemented an 11.5 percent annualized spending cut on Defense operations. The cuts, following a 22.1 percent plunge in the last three months of 2012, represent the biggest back-to-back decline on average since 1954, when the military demobilized after the Korean War. As these three statements make clear, the past decade has been rife with economic crises, austerity measures, and increased financial globalization. This economic climate has had large ramifications for the ability of states to power. The goal of this course is to provide a theoretical framework to understand the changing economic climate and its relationship to power and national security. Readings: Required readings are listed beneath each section heading. There are no books for purchase for this course. All readings can be accessed via the Blackboard website for this course. Course Requirements and Grades: 1. Midterm (October 31) in class exam covering weeks 1-7 (30% of grade for course) 2. Two Response Papers see guidelines below (25% of grade for the course) 3. Final Take Home Essay Exam see guidelines below (35% of grade for course) 4. Participation in seminar Completing the required readings and attending the seminar are necessary but not sufficient to fulfill the requirements for the course. Your active contribution to seminar discussions is also expected (15% of grade for course) 1 Belasco, Amy. "The Cost of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Other Global War on Terror Operations since 9/11." edited by Congressional Research Service, 2011. 1
Response Paper Guidelines: During the course you are two pick two weeks that interest you and write a three page response paper for the week chosen. The response paper may focus on that week s readings alone or focus on that week s readings in conjunction with the previous weeks. These papers are due at the beginning of class for the week s chosen. Just to be clear you need to write two response papers, for two separate weeks for a total of six pages. Final Exam: You will have 48 hours to complete the final exam. The prompt for the final exam will be emailed out at 9am on Sunday, December 15 th and is be due no later than 9am Tuesday December 17 th to me via email. If I do not receive an email with the final attached, for every day it is late you grade will be discounted by 10%. 2
Part I The Concept of Power and Economic Bases of Power Week 1 (September 5): Course Introduction Week 2 (September 12): What is power? Why do states want it, where do states get it, and how do states use it "Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds." edited by National Intelligence Council. Washington D.C., 2012, PP. 16-20. Baldwin, David A. "Power and International Relations." In Handbook of Internaitonal Relations, edited by Walter Carlsnaes, Thomas Risse and Beth A. Simmons. London: Sage, 2013. Edward Mead Earle. Adam Smith, Alexander Hamilton, Friedrich List: The Economic Foundations of Military Power in Makers of Modern Strategy, Princeton University Press, PP. 217-226, 230-242, 246-254. Baldwin, David A. Paradoxes of Power. New York: Basil Blackwell, 1989, PP 1-8, 11-44, 83-99. Week 3 (September 19): The Economic Bases of National Power I What is economic power? What are the sources of economic power? How does economic power translate into military power? Knorr, K. (1975). The Power of Nations: The Political Economy of International Relations. New York, Basic Books, PP. 45-103. Harrison, M. (1998). The Economics of World War II: An Overview. The Economics of World War II: Six Great Powers in International Comparison, PP. 1-40. Week 4 (September 26): The Economic Bases of National Power II: Economic Power and the Limits of Extraction What are the domestic and international costs to extracting economic power? What limits do statesmen face when attempting to extract economic power? Kahler, M. (1988). "External Ambition and Economic Performance." World Politics 40(4): 419-451 Culbertson, W. S. (1924). "Raw Materials and Foodstuffs in the Commercial Policies of Nations." The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 112(1), PP, 1-10 Mastanduno, M., D. A. Lake, et al. (1989). "Toward a Realist Theory of State Action." International Studies Quarterly 33: 457-474. Russett, B. (1969). "Who Pays for Defense?" The American Political Science Review 63(2). Week 5 (October 3): Grand Strategy, the Budget, and Cost Analysis How do states pay for securing the national interest? Who is responsible for the US defense budget? How do specific weapons programs get chosen? Williams, C (2010). Buying National Security. New York, Routledge. 3
Barry R. Posen and Andrew L. Ross, Competing Visions of U. S. Grand Strategy, International Security 21, no. 3 (Winter 1996/97). Mr.Y. "A National Strategic Narrative." Princeton: Woodrow Wilson Center, 2011 Skim - National Security Strategy of the United States of America (The White House, May 2010) at http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/rss_viewer/national_security_strat egy.pdf, and Quadrennial Defense Review Report (Department of Defense, February 2010) at http://www.defense.gov/qdr/images/qdr_as_of_12feb10_1000.pdf; read closely the section called "Sizing and Shaping the Force," pp. 41-47 of the QDR Report. Case Study: What Does Cost Mean? The V-22 and Alternatives. Read: Selections from Testimony from the Senate Hearing Regarding the V-22 Osprey and Institute for Defense Analyses Study of the V-22 Osprey, PP. 1, 5-39, 45-57. Part II Power Amongst States in the International System: Economic Change and War Week 6 (October 10): Structural Power: Economic Change and Hegemonic War - Why do states rise and fall in the international system? A first look - Is China rising? Is the US in decline? Gilpin, R. (1981). War and Change in World Politics. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, PP. 9-15, 25-44, 50-55, 67-84, 106-110, 116-185. Subramanian, Arvind (2011). The Inevitable Super Power: Why China s Dominane Is a Sure Thing, Foreign Affairs September/October. Scissors, Derek and Arvind Subramanian (2012). The Great China Debate: Will Beijing Rule the World? Foreign Affairs January/February. Week 7 (October 17): Interdependence and War Hirschman, National Power and the Structure of Foreign Trade (1945), PP 3-40, 53-116, 143-51. Stanley, E. (1935). War and the Private Investor. Garden City, Doubleday, PP 31-40. Oneal and Russet, The Classical Liberals Were Right: Democracy, Interdependence, and Conflict, 1950-1985, International Studies Quarterly 41:2 (1997), PP. 267-93. Keynes. J (1919) Economic Consequences of Peace Week 8 (October 24): Economic Effects of War: State, Society, and the Economy How does economic mobilization for war effect society? What are the costs of war? Hamilton, A. (1904). First Report on the Public Credit (Communicated to the House of Representatives, January 14, 1790). The Works of Alexander Hamilton. H. C. Lodge. New York, The Knickerbocker Press. II. Hume, D. (1987 [1742]). On Public Credit. Essays, Moral, Political, Literary. E. F. Miller. Indianapolis, Liberty Fund, Inc. Tilly, C. (1985). War Making and State Making as Organized Crime. Bringing the State Back In. P. Evans, D. Rueschemeyer and T. Skocpol. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. Rasler, Karen A., and William R. Thompson. "Global Wars, Public Debts, and the Long Cycle." World Politics 35, no. 4 (1983): 489-516. 4
Week 9 (October 31): **In Class Midterm** Part III Power via Statecraft Week 10 (November 7): Economic Statecraft How can states use money to influence other states without going to war? Baldwin, D. A. (1985). Economic Statecraft. Princeton, Princeton University Press, PP 8-50. Knorr, K. (1977). International Economic Leverage and its Uses. Economic Issues and National Security. K. Knorr and F. N. Trager. Lawerence, Regents Press of Kansas. Blanchard, J-M. F., E. D. Mansfield, et al. (1999). "The Political Economy of National Security: Economic Statecraft, Interdependence, and International Conflict." Security Studies 9(1-2). Week 11 (November 14): Financial Statecraft How do state s use finance to influence the actions of other states? Should the United States be worried about China s holdings of U.S. assets? Sanctions and the Iranian Nuclear Program State s often resort to sanctions in order to prevent another state from pursing a particular goal, do they work? What are the economic and political costs to implementing sanctions, for both the host and target state? Kirshner, J. (1995). Currency and Coercion: The Political Economy of International Monetary Power. Princeton, NJ, Princeton University Press, PP 3-42. Morrison, W. M. and M. Labonte (2011). China's Holdings of U.S. Securities: Implications for the U.S. Economy. Washington D.C., Congressional Research Service Testimony of Brad Setser, (2007). Foreign Holdings of U.S. Debt: Is our Economy Vulnerable. Committee on the Budget House of Representatives. Washington D.C. Blanchard, J.-M. F. and N. M. Ripsman (1999). "Asking the Right Question: When do Economic Sanctions Work Best." Security Studies 9(1-2). Maloney, S. (2012). "Obama's Counterproductive New Iran Sanctions: How Washington is Sliding Toward Regime Change." Foreign Affairs. Clawson, P. (2012). "Sanctions Are Only a Stop-Gap." Foreign Affairs. Week 12 (November 21): Part III Economic Power Beyond the State Pauly, Louis W. Surveillance and Control in the World Economy. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1997, PP. 1-43. 5
Sinclair, Timothy J. The New Masters of Capital: American Bond Rating Agencies and the Politics of Creditworthiness. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2005, PP. 1-10, 119-148. Read the entire about section of the Paris Club website: http://www.clubdeparis.org/en/ Week 13 (November 27): Thanksgiving Week 14 (December 5): Ideas and the Big Picture TBA 6