GOVT 745-001 International Security Fall 2016 George Mason University Room: Robinson B 108 Professor: Colin Dueck Time: Monday 4:30pm Office: Robinson A 219 Office hours: M 1-4 and by appointment E-mail: cdueck@gmu.edu Course requirements 1) Active and timely participation in seminar discussion (30%) 2) Seminar presentation (10%) Each student will make an oral presentation on selections from at least one week s required readings. The purpose of the presentation will be to critique, and not to simply summarize a major reading for that week. Students presenting should prepare a one page handout for each member of class, to complement the presentation. 3) Review essay (10%) Write one short essay, of approximately 5 pages, on one of the week s required readings. A hard copy of this essay is due in class the day of the assigned reading. 4) Research paper (50%) Write an analytical research paper of 15-20 pages on any of the issues, problems, or subjects discussed in this seminar. Due December 12 th, by e-mail only. Course readings The following books are available for purchase at the GMU bookstore: Karen Ballentine and Jack Sherman, eds., The Political Economy of Armed Conflict (Lynne Rienner, 2003) Dianne P. Chamberlain, Cheap Threats (Georgetown University Press, 2016)
Virginia Page Fortna, Does Peacekeeping Work? (Princeton University Press, 2008) Matthew Fuhrman, Atomic Assistance (Cornell University Press, 2012) Benjamin Jensen, Forging the Sword (Georgetown University Press, 2016) Charles Lister, The Syrian Jihad (Oxford University Press, 2016) Thomas Mahnken and Joseph Maiolo, eds., Strategic Studies (Routledge, 2014 edition) Mark Moyar, A Question of Command (Yale University Press, 2010) Jeremy Pressman, Warring Friends (Cornell University Press, 2008) Richard Rosecrance and Steven Miller, eds., The Next Great War? (MIT Press, 2014) Caitlin Talmadge, The Dictator s Army (Cornell University Press, 2015) The following book is also recommended: Hew Strachan, ed., The Changing Character of War (Oxford University Press, 2014) Course schedule August 29 Introduction: strategy Carl von Clausewitz, On War, Book 1, all; Book 2, chapters 1-3; Book 3, chapters 1-5; Book 8, all Sun Tzu, "The art of war," and Basil Liddell Hart, "Strategy: the indirect approach," in Thomas Mahnken, editor, Strategic Studies: A Reader, 76-104 September 12 The causes of war Richard Rosecrance and Steven Miller, eds., The Next Great War, Introduction, chapters 2, 4-7, 9, 11-12, and 14 Dan Reiter, Exploring the Bargaining Model of War, Perspectives on Politics 1:1 (March 2003), 27-43 September 19 Insurgency and counter-insurgency T.E. Lawrence, "Science of guerrilla warfare," and Mao Tse Tung, "Problems of strategy in China's civil war," in Mahnken, 261-308 Mark Moyar, A Question of Command
September 26 Terrorism Peter Neumann and Michael Smith, Strategic terrorism, in Mahnken, 309-328 Michael Horowitz, The Rise and Spread of Suicide Bombing, Annual Review of Political Science 18 (2015), 69-84 Charles Lister, The Syrian Jihad October 3 Civil conflict Karen Ballentine and Jack Sherman, eds., The Political Economy of Armed Conflict, chapters 1-4, 7, 10 Barbara Walter, "Bargaining Failures and Civil War," Annual Review of Political Science 12 (June 2009), 243-261 Howard French, Kagame s Hidden War in the Congo, New York Review of Books, September 24, 2009 October 11, 17 New wars versus old? Recommended: Hew Strachan, ed., The Changing Character of War, chapters 1, 6-8, 11-14, 16, 18-19 October 24 Alliances James Morrow, "Alliances: Why Write Them Down?" Annual Review of Political Science 3 (June 2000), 63-83 Michael Beckley, The Myth of Entangling Alliances, International Security 39:4 (Spring 2015), 7-48 Jeremy Pressman, Warring Friends October 31 Military effectiveness Allan Millett and Williamson Murray, The Effectiveness of Military Organizations, International Security 11:1 (Summer 1986), 37-71 Risa Brooks, Making Military Might: Why Do States Fail and Succeed? International Security 28:2 (Fall 2003), 149-191 Caitlin Talmadge, The Dictator s Army
November 7 Military innovation Thomas Mahnken, "Weapons: the growth and spread of the precision-strike regime," Tor Bukkvoll, "Iron cannot fight: the role of technology in current Russian military theory," and Jacqueline Newmyer Deal, "The revolution in military affairs with Chinese characteristics," in Mahnken, 339-391 Benjamin Jensen, Forging the Sword November 14 Nuclear proliferation Bernard Brodie, "The absolute weapon," and Albert Wohlstetter, "The delicate balance of terror," in Mahnken, 203-239 Matthew Fuhrman, Atomic Assistance November 21 Coercive diplomacy Thomas Schelling, "Arms and influence," and Daniel Byman and Matthew Waxman, "Kosovo and the great air power debate," in Mahnken, 105-126, 145-171 Dianne P. Chamberlain, Cheap Threats November 28 Peacekeeping and humanitarian intervention Virginia Page Fortna, Does Peacekeeping Work? Roland Paris, Saving Liberal Peacebuilding, Review of International Studies 36:2 (April 2010), 337-365 Alan Kuperman, A Model Humanitarian Intervention? International Security 38:1 (Summer 2013), 105-136 December 5 Does war have a future? Robert Jervis, Theories of War in an Era of Leading Power Peace, American Political Science Review 96:1 (March 2002), 1-14 Bruno Tertrais, "The Demise of Ares: The End of War as We Know It?" Washington Quarterly 35:3 (Summer 2012), 7-22 Michael Boyle, The Coming Illiberal Order, Survival 58:2 (April-May 2016), 35-66 Bradley Thayer, Bringing in Darwin: Evolutionary Theory, Realism, and International Politics, International Security 25:2 (Fall 2000), 124-151 December 12 Research papers due
International Security Studies - Topics Air power Alliances Arms control Arms races Arms trade Asymmetrical warfare Biological weapons Causes of war Chemical weapons Civil-military relations Civil war Climate change Coalition warfare Coercive diplomacy Conflict resolution Counter-insurgency and irregular warfare Counter-terrorism Critical security studies Cyber warfare Defense spending Deterrence Energy and security Ethnic conflict Geopolitics Globalization and security Grand strategy
Guerrilla warfare and insurgencies Human security Humanitarian intervention Intelligence, war and security International organizations and security Laws of war Mediation Mercenaries and private security forces Military doctrine Military effectiveness Military innovation Military power National security strategy Nationalism Nation-building and stability operations Net assessment Neutrality and non-alignment Non-state actors and war Nuclear weapons Offense-defense balance Peacekeeping Peace studies Piracy Political psychology and war Proliferation Rational choice and war Refugees and war Regional security Revolutions in military affairs
Sea power Strategic culture Strategy Technology and warfare Terrorism Transnational crime War termination