International Relations Field Seminar GOVT 540-001, Spring 2016 George Mason University, SPGIA Monday 7:20-10:00 PM in Founders 308 Instructor: Joseph Kochanek (email: jkochane@gmu.edu) Office Hours: Monday, 4:30-6:30 in Metropolitan 5045, or by appointment This course is a graduate-level seminar offering an overview of international relations, examining significant conceptual approaches to the study of international relations, both in their own right and as they allow greater insight into salient issues of world politics. Course Requirements: 1) Regular attendance and well-informed participation in seminar discussion throughout the term. Each student will email me by 4:30 PM on Monday with a comment or question on that week's reading for class discussion. In addition, I will routinely call on students during class to answer questions. 2) In-class presentation: each student will give a ten minute presentation evaluating an assigned text (or texts), and offering analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of significant arguments offered in that reading. This presentation will typically be on reading treated in one of the literature critiques. 3) Literature critiques: each student will write three essays of 900-1100 words each (no more than one for any week), treating one or more of the texts from a given class, and due in hard copy at the beginning of that class. The purpose of this assignment is to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the arguments offered in the texts you analyze. Bear in mind that literature critiques focused on summary of the arguments found in the reading are much less successful than literature critiques focused on evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses found in the reading. 4) Research paper: each student will write a research paper of about 5000 words (+/- 10%) on a topic relevant to the subject of the course. A one-page prospectus for this paper is due no later than March 21; early prospectus submissions are encouraged. The research paper is due on May 6, 2016, submitted by email; no extensions of this deadline will be possible. All written work in this course should use a standard system of citation to cite all sources used, whether directly quoting a text or paraphrasing it. Any standard system of citation is fine; use whatever system you like best. Students not familiar with any systems of citation should contact me as soon as possible. Grading Breakdown: Class Participation: 10% Literature Critiques: 30% (10% each) In-class Presentation: 10% Research Paper: 50% Most texts for this course will be available via electronic journal archives, such as JSTOR, accessible through the GMU library website. Others will be available on the course website. Contact me immediately if you cannot find the reading assignments in one of these two ways. A few books have been assigned as recommended reading. Doctoral students should complete the recommended readings as well as all the other reading assignments. All other students may consider these recommended readings optional. Books available for purchase at the GMU bookstore are listed below: Kenneth Waltz: Theory of International Politics (recommended) Robert Keohane and Joseph Nye: Power and Interdependence (recommended) Alexander Wendt: Social Theory of International Politics (recommended)
Course Schedule: January 25: Introduction and Levels of Analysis Kenneth Waltz, Man, the State, and War, ch. 1. Robert Jervis, Theories of War in an Era of Leading-Power Peace, American Political Science Review 96:1 (2002), 1-14. David Singer, The Level of Analysis Problem in International Relations, World Politics 14:1 (1961), 77-92. February 1: Foundations Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War (selections including explanation of the causes of the war, Mytilenean Debate, and Melian Dialogue). Hobbes, Leviathan (XIII-XIV; XVII, XXI, XXX). Kant, Perpetual Peace. Weber, Politics as Vocation. George Modelski, Is World Politics Evolutionary Learning? International Organization 44:1 (1990), 1-24. February 8: Realism Hans Morganthau, Six Principles of Political Realism. Robert Jervis, Cooperation under the Security Dilemma, World Politics 30:2 (1978) 167-214. John Mearsheimer, Back to the Future: Instability in Europe after the Cold War, International Security 15:1 (1990), 5-56. John Mearsheimer, America Unhinged, National Interest 129 (2014). Kenneth Waltz, Theory of International Politics 5, III (88-99); 6, II (116-123). Kenneth Waltz, Structural Realism after the Cold War, International Security 25:1 (Summer, 2000), 5-41. Recommended: Kenneth Waltz, Theory of International Politics. February 15: Liberalism Michael Doyle, Liberalism and World Politics, American Political Science Review 80:4 (1986), 1151 69. Stanley Hoffmann, "Liberalism and International Affairs," from Janus and Minerva (Westview Press, 1986), 394-417. Andrew Moravcsik, Taking Preferences Seriously: A Liberal Theory of International Politics, International Organization 51:4 (1997), 513-553. Kenneth Oye, Explaining Cooperation under Anarchy: Hypotheses and Strategies, World Politics 38:1 (1985), 1-24. John M. Owen, How Liberalism Produces Democratic Peace, International Security 19:2 (1994), 87-125. Recommended: Robert Keohane and Joseph Nye, Power and Interdependence. February 22: Constructivism Jeffrey Checkel, The Constructivist Turn in International Relations Theory, World Politics 50:2 (1998), 324-348. Alexander Wendt, Anarchy is what States Make of it: The Social Construction of Power Politics, International Organization, 46:2 (1992), 391-425. John Ruggie, What Makes The World Hang Together? Neo-Utilitarianism and the Social Constructivist Challenge, International Organization, 52:4 (1998), 855-885. Kathryn Sikkink, Transnational Politics, International Relations Theory, and Human Rights, Political Science and Politics 31:3 (1998), 516-523. Recommended: Alexander Wendt, Social Theory of International Politics. The first literature critique should be turned in no later than February 22.
February 29: International Institutions John Mearsheimer, The False Promise of International Institutions, International Security 19:3 (1994/95), 5-49. Robert Keohane and Lisa Martin, The Promise of Institutionalist Theory, International Security 20:1 (1995), 39-51. Charles A. Kupchan and Clifford A. Kupchan, The Promise of Collective Security, International Security 20:1 (1995), 52-61. John Gerard Ruggie, The False Premise of Realism, International Security 20:1 (1995), 62-70. Alexander Wendt, Constructing International Politics, International Security 20:1 (1995), 71-81. March 14: Domestic Politics and International Relations Robert Putnam, Diplomacy and Domestic Politics: The Logic of Two-Level Games, International Organization 42:3 (1988), 427-460. James Fearon, Domestic Political Audiences and the Escalation of International Disputes, American Political Science Review 88:3 (1994), 577-592. Peter Gourevitch, The Second Image Reversed: The International Sources of Domestic Politics International Organization 32:4 (1978), 881-912. Graham Allison, Conceptual Models and the Cuban Missile Crisis, American Political Science Review, 63:3 (1969), 689-718. March 21: Psychology and International Relations Alexander George, The Operational Code: A Neglected Approach to the Study of Political Leaders and Decision-Making, International Studies Quarterly 13:2 (1969), 190-222. Robert Jervis, War and Misperception, The Journal of Interdisciplinary History 18:4 (1988), pp. 675-700. Jack Levy, Prospect Theory, Rational Choice, and International Relations, International Studies Quarterly 41:1 (1997), 87-112. Rose McDermott, Prospect Theory in International Relations: The Iranian Hostage Rescue Mission, Political Psychology 13:2 (1992), 237-263. The paper prospectus is due by March 21. March 28: International Political Economy and Globalization Kevin H. O Rourke and Jeffrey G. Williamson, When did Globalization Begin? NBER Working Paper 7632, April 2000. Helen Milner, Globalization, Development, and International Institutions: Positive and Normative Perspectives, Perspectives on Politics 3:4 (2005), 833-854. Michael Ross, Political Economy of the Resource Curse, World Politics 51 (1999), 297-322. Stephen Krasner, State Power and the Structure of International Trade, World Politics 28:3 (1976), 317-347. Immanuel Wallerstein, The Rise and Future Demise of the World Capitalist System, Comparative Studies in Society and History 16:4 (1974), 387-415. The second literature critique should be turned in no later than April 4. April 4: International Politics and Nuclear Weapons Thomas Schelling, "Bargaining, Communication, and Limited War," Journal of Conflict Resolution 1:1 (1957), 19-36. Robert Powell, The Theoretical Foundations of Strategic Nuclear Deterrence, Political Science Quarterly 100:1 (1985), 75-96. Kenneth Waltz, Why Iran Should Get The Bomb, Foreign Affairs 91:4 (2012), 2-5.
James M. Lindsay and Ray Takeyh, After Iran Gets the Bomb: Containment and Its Complications, Foreign Affairs, 89:2 (2010), 33-49. Barry Posen and Barry Rubin, The Containment Conundrum: How Dangerous Is a Nuclear Iran? Foreign Affairs 89:4 (2010), 160-168. Alexander H. Montgomery and Scott D. Sagan, The Perils of Predicting Proliferation, Journal of Conflict Resolution 53:2 (2009), 302-328. April 11: International Relations After the Cold War William Wohlforth, Realism and the End of the Cold War, International Security 19:3 (1994/95), 91-129. Francis Fukuyama, The End of History? National Interest 16 (1989). Samuel Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations? Foreign Affairs, 72:3 (1993), 22-49. Stanley Hoffmann, Clash of Globalizations, Foreign Affairs 81:4 (2002), 104-115 John J. Mearsheimer, Why We Shall Soon Miss the Cold War. Atlantic Monthly 226: 2 (1990). G. John Ikenberry, Institutions, Strategic Restraint, and the Persistence of American Postwar Order, International Security 23:3 (1998-1999), 43-78. April 18: Ethics and International Relations Nicholas Rengger, On the Just War Tradition in the Twenty First Century, International Affairs 78:2 (2002), 353-363. Maurice Cranston "Are There Any Human Rights?" Daedalus 112:4, Human Rights (Fall, 1983), pp. 1-17. Stanley Hoffmann, Reaching for the Most Difficult: Human Rights as a Foreign Policy Goal, Daedalus, 112:4 (Fall, 1983), 19-49. Thomas Pogge, Severe Poverty as a Human Rights Violation, UNESCO Poverty Project, Ethical and Human Rights Dimensions of Poverty: Towards a New Paradigm in the Fight Against Poverty, 2003. Andrew Kuper and Peter Singer, Debate: Global Poverty Relief, Ethics and International Affairs 16:1 (2002), 107-128. April 25: Civil War and Intervention International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty, The Responsibility to Protect (Ottawa: International Development and Research Center, 2001). Virginia Fortna, "Does Peacekeeping Keep the Peace? International Intervention and the Duration of Peace after Civil War," International Studies Quarterly 48:2 (2004), 269-292. Kristian Gleditsch, Idean Salehyan and Kenneth Schultz, Fighting at Home, Fighting Abroad: How Civil Wars Lead to International Disputes, Journal of Conflict Resolution 52:4 (2008), 479-506. James Fearon and David Laitin, Ethnicity, Insurgency, and Civil War, American Political Science Review 97:1 (2003), 75-90. Edward D. Mansfield and Jack Snyder, Democratization and the Danger of War, International Security 20:1 (1995), 5-38. May 2: International Relations and Environmental Challenges Garrett Hardin. The Tragedy of the Commons, Science 162 (1968), 1243-1248. Erik Gartzke, "Could Climate Change Precipitate Peace?" Journal of Peace Research 49:1, Special Issue: Climate Change and Conflict (2012), pp. 177-192. Hugh Dyer, Environmental Security and International Relations: The Case for Enclosure, Review of International Studies 27:3 (2001), 441-450. Elinor Ostrom, Beyond Markets and States: Polycentric Governance of Complex Economic Systems, American Economic Review, 100:3 (2010), 641-672. The third literature critique should be turned in no later than May 2.
The research paper is due May 6, 2016. Please submit the research paper over e-mail as a PDF attachment. No extensions of the deadline will be possible. Academic Ethics: GMU is an Honor Code university; please see the Office for Academic Integrity for a full description of the code and the honor committee process. The principle of academic integrity is taken very seriously and violations are treated gravely. What does academic integrity mean in this course? Essentially this: when you are responsible for a task, you will perform that task. When you rely on someone else s work in an aspect of the performance of that task, you will give full credit in the proper, accepted form. Another aspect of academic integrity is the free play of ideas. Vigorous discussion and debate are encouraged in this course, with the firm expectation that all aspects of the class will be conducted with civility and respect for differing ideas, perspectives, and traditions. When in doubt (of any kind) please ask for guidance and clarification. Electronic Devices: Laptops and similar devices may be used for taking notes or for consulting assigned texts in electronic format. Please do not use cellular phones or similar devices in the classroom. Email:Mason uses only Mason e-mail accounts to communicate with enrolled students. Students must activate their Mason e-mail account, use it to communicate with their department and other administrative units, and check it regularly for important university information including messages related to this class. Disability resources:if you are a student with a disability and you need academic accommodations, please see me and contact the Office of Disability Services at 703.993.2474 or ods.gmu.edu. All academic accommodations must be arranged through that office. Important deadlines for this semester:students are responsible for verifying their enrollment in this class. Schedule adjustments should be made by the deadlines published in the Schedule of Classes. Last Day to Add: January 26, 2016 Last Day to Drop: February 19, 2016 After the last day to drop a class, withdrawing from this class requires the approval of the Dean and is only allowed for non-academic reasons.