Universität Mannheim Prof. Dr. Thomas König Lehrstuhl für Politische Wissenschaft II Seminargebäude A5, 6 Raum: A354 Sprechstunde: Nach Vereinbarung Email: t.koenig@uni-mannheim.de Tel. 0621 / 181-2073 Masterseminar Selected Topics in International Politics MO von 17:15 Uhr bis 18:45 Uhr wöchentlich 15.02.2016-30.05.2016 B 318 Course Description: The Politics of the United Nations This course will focus on the politics of the United Nations. After introducing into the theories of international cooperation we will study the history and development of the United Nations. Topics will include the institutional framework of the United Nations, decision making within and across the institutional actors such as the principal organs including the Security Council, the General Assembly, and the Secretariat, appraise the UN s relationships with other global actors, such as the main international financial institutions, civil society, the private sector, the media, and evaluate the overall effectiveness of the UN regarding key policy issue-areas such as international peace and security, human rights, and economic, environmental and social development. Participants are expected to write a paper, preferably with a replication of an empirical study on these topics. The main goals of the course are to sharpen analytical, presentation, and writing skills with a focus on decision making and problem-solving at the United Nations, and to work scientifically in developing own research and writing a paper that contributes to the state of art. Literature: Vreeland, James and Axel Dreher (2014). The Political Economy of the United Nations Security Council. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Weiss, Thomas and Sam Daws. 2008. The Oxford Handbook on the United Nations, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Weiss, Thomas. 2009. What s Wrong with the United Nations and How to Fix it, Cambridge, UK: Polity. Recommended for: Master Political Science, 2. Semester, CDSS Graduate School Students Registration: via Student Portal 2 Office hours: to be determined
COURSE CONTENT 1. Session (15.2.) Course scope, content and themes: Introduction to the United Nations, Diplomatic Underpinnings of Multilateralism, Historical and Theoretical Frameworks Geoffrey Wiseman, Norms and Diplomacy: The Diplomatic Underpinnings of Multilateralism, in James P. Muldoon Jr., et al., The New Dynamics of Multilateralism: Diplomacy, International Organizations, and Global Governance, Boulder CO: Westview Press, 2011, 5 22 (Blackboard). Michael Barnett and Martha Finnemore, Political Approaches, in Weiss and Daws (eds), The Oxford Handbook on the United Nations (hereafter TOHUN), pp. 41-57. Thomas Weiss, Westphalia, Alive But not Well, ch. 1 in What s Wrong with the United Nations and How to Fix it (hereafter WWUN), pp. 19-48. Hedley Bull, The Concept of Order in World Politics, ch. 1 in The Anarchical Society, 3d.ed., New York: Columbia University Press, 2002, pp. 3-21 (Blackboard). 2. Session (22.2.) Principal Organs: Security Council Geoffrey Wiseman and Soumita Basu, The United Nations, in Pauline Kerr and Geoffrey Wiseman, eds, Diplomacy in a globalizing world: theories and practices, Oxford: Oxford University Press, forthcoming 2012, pp. 32. A general review article that provides a framework for subsequent classes (Blackboard). Voeten, E. (2001). Outside options and the logic of Security Council action. American Political Science Review 95(4), 845 858. David M. Malone, Security Council, in TOHUN, pp. 117-35. Thomas G. Weiss, Security Council Reform, WWUN, pp. 55-60. On the Oil-for-Food Program, see pp. 113-15. Hedley Bull, Order vs. Justice in World Politics, ch. 4 in The Anarchical Society, 3d.ed., New York: Columbia University Press, 2002, pp. 74-94 (Blackboard). Paul Romita, Naureen Chowdhury Fink, and Till Papenfuss, What Impact? The E10 and the 2011 Security Council, Issue Brief, International Peace Institute, New York, April 6, 2011 (Blackboard). 3. Session (29.2.) Principal Organs: General Assembly M. J. Peterson, General Assembly, in TOHUN, pp. 97-116.
John F. Burns, An Idealist and a Dream Killed in Iraq, The New York Times, May 2, 2010, pp. 1-3. Please download from the NYT website. HBO Documentary Video excerpts: Sergio, the story of the Brazilian UN diplomat, Sergio Vieira de Mello, killed in the 2003 bombing of the UN headquarters in Baghdad. Samantha Power, Chasing the flame: Sergio de Mello and the fight to save the world, Penguin Press, 2008. 4. Session (7.3.) Principal Organs: Secretary-General and Secretariat Edward Newman, Secretary-General, in TOHUN, pp. 175-92. James C. Jonah, Secretariat: Independence and Reform, in TOHUN, pp. 160-74. Thomas G. Weiss, Reinvigorating the International Civil Service, in WWUN, pp. 191-214. Three short articles from Foreign Policy Magazine on Secretary-General Ban-Ki Moon, pp. 1-6 (Blackboard) Thomas Wright, Bilateral and multilateral diplomacy in normal times and in crises, ch. 10 in Kerr and Wiseman, Diplomacy in a globalizing world, pp. 289-317. 5. Session (14.3.) The UN and Other Actors: Global Civil Society, Private Sector, Media and the Global Public Paul Wapner, Civil Society, in TOHUN, pp. 254-263. Craig N. Murphy, Private Sector, in TOHUN, pp. 264-74. Barbara Crosette, Media, in TOHUN, pp. 275-84. Daniel W. Drezner, Foreign Policy Goes Glam, The National Interest, no. 92 (Nov./Dec. 2007), pp. 22-8 (on-line). Peter Willetts, From consultative arrangements to partnership : The changing status of NGOs in diplomacy at the UN, Global Governance vol. 6, no. 2, (2000) pp.191 212. Peter Willetts, The Cardosa Report on the UN and Civil Society: Functionalism, Global Corporatism, or Global Democracy, Global Governance, vol. 12 (2006): 305-324. 21./28.3 Easter Break
6. Session (4.4.) Disarmament and Peacekeeping Keith Krause, Disarmament, TOHUN, pp. 287-299. Randy Rydell, Security Through Disarmament: The Story of the Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission, The Hague Journal of Diplomacy, vol. 2, no. 1 (2007), pp. 81-91 (Blackboard). Michael W. Doyle and Nicholas Sambanis, Peacekeeping, TOHUN, pp. 323-48. Chapman, Terrence L. 2011. Securing Approval: Domestic Politics and Multilateral Authorization for War. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 7. Session (11.4.) Sanctions and Peace Enforcement from Korea to Iraq Thompson, Alexander. 2009. Channels of Power: The UN Security Council and U.S. Statecraft in Iraq. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. David Cortright et al., Sanctions, TOHUN, pp. 349-69. George A. Lopez and David Cortright, Containing Iraq: Sanctions Worked. Foreign Affairs, July/August 2004, pp. 90 103. Michael Pugh, Peace Enforcement, TOHUN, pp. 370-86. 8. Session (18.4.) Humanitarian Intervention and the Responsibility to Protect Ramesh Thakur, Humanitarian Intervention, TOHUN, pp. 387-403. Thomas G. Weiss, A Rapid Reaction Capability, in WWUN, pp. 179-81. Gareth Evans and Mohamed Sahnoun, "The Responsibility to Protect," Foreign Affairs 81, no. 6 (November-December 2002): Weiss, Thomas G. "Misrepresenting R2P and Advancing Norms: An Alternative Spiral?" International Studies Perspectives, vol. 11, no. 4 (November 2010), pp. 354-371. David Rieff, Saints Go Marching In, The National Interest, July-Aug 2011, pp.10. United Nations, A more secure world: Our shared responsibility, Report of the High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change, New York, 2004. Richard H. Cooper, Responsibility to protect: the global moral compact for the 21 st century, Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009.
9. Session (25.4.) Human Rights and the Protection of Civilians: Norms, International Criminal Court and Ad Hoc Tribunals Bertrand G. Ramcharan, Norms and Machinery, TOHUN, pp. 439-62. Richard Goldstone, International Criminal Court and Ad Hoc Tribunals, TOHUN, pp. 463-478. Thomas G. Weiss, Rome Statute, in WWUN, pp. 161-4. Jack Snyder and Leslie Vinjamuri, Trials and Error: Principle and Pragmatism in Strategies of International Justice, International Security, vol. 28, no. 3 (Winter 2003/04), pp. 5-44 (Blackboard). 10. Session (2.5.) Human security and the Protection of Civilians: Women, Children, Minorities, Development, Democracy Fen O. Hampson, and Christopher K. Penny, Human Security, TOHUN, pp. 539-57. Charlotte Bunch, Women and Gender, TOHUN, pp. 496-510. Thomas G. Weiss, Gender Imbalance, in WWUN, pp. 115-19. Yves Beigbeder, Children, TOHUN, pp. 511-24. Maivan Clech Lam, Minorities and Indigenous Peoples, TOHUN, pp. 525-38. Ngaire Woods, Bretton Woods Institutions, TOHUN, pp. 233-253. W. Andy Knight, Democracy and Good Governance, TOHUN, pp. 620-33. 11. Session (9.5.) Reforming and Democratizing the UN as a Form of Protection Edward C. Luck, Principal Organs, TOHUN, pp. 653-74. Chadwick F. Alger, Widening Participation, TOHUN, pp. 701-15. Thomas G. Weiss, Conclusion: What s Next?, in WWUN, pp. 215-33. Vincent Pouliot, Multilateralism as an End in Itself, International Studies Perspectives, vol. 12 (2011), pp. 18-26 (Blackboard). 16.5 Pingstmontag - Holiday 12. Session (23.5.) Policy working session: Libya and the Middle East/The UN system, including the Secretary-General
Jon Western and Joshua S. Goldstein, Humanitarian Intervention Comes of Age: Lessons from Somalia to Libya, Foreign Affairs, vol. 90, no. 6 (Nov./Dec 2011), pp. 48-59. Benjamin A. Valentino. The True Costs of Humanitarian Intervention: The Hard Truth About a Noble Notion, Foreign Affairs, vol. 90, no. 6 (Nov./Dec 2011), pp. 60-73. Barry Desker and Joel Ng, Responsibility to Protect: Tensions between Sovereignty and Security, RSIS Commentary 142/2011, 6 October 2011. David Bosco, Course Corrections: The Obama Administration at the United Nations, in Paul Sharp and Geoffrey Wiseman (eds), American Diplomacy, Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2012, pp. 101-115. 13. Session (30.5.): Final Discussion