UNIVERSITY OF OREGON DEPT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE

Prof. Ronald Mitchell

Time: T-Th 10:00-11:20 Office Hours: PLC-921 on Tues/Thurs 11:30-1:00
Course Website via Blackboard Phone: 346-4880
GTF: (phone, office, office hours - see website) Email: rmitchel@uoregon.edu

PS 205: Introduction to International Relations

Goals of course:

Why does international conflict occur? How can nations resolve it? From the Trojan and Peloponnesian Wars in ancient Greece through the wars among Native American tribes to recent conflicts in Bosnia and Iraq, nations have gone to war. For centuries, historians have recorded the acts of war, describing in detail the who, what, when, where, and how of international conflict. As political scientists and public citizens, however, we want to better understand why nations go to war and how we can make it less likely. Are war and armed conflict inevitable given the structure of nation-states and the international system? Does war arise because people are inherently evil? Even if we assume that conflict among states is inevitable, does that mean that war is inevitable? What alternatives to resolving conflict by military force exist and how effective are they?

If state concerns about security are important to contemporary international relations, so too are economic issues, human rights, and environmental protection. In an increasingly interconnected and interdependent world, we need to understand how states regulate, and why they fail to be able to regulate, the multinational corporations that are increasingly in charge of the flows of goods, capital, information, and people around the world. The European Union, NAFTA, and other regional trade blocs are lowering their barriers to trade, influencing not only what we can buy but all aspects of people's lives. The news media and the Internet make us increasingly aware of violations of human rights around the world, yet we know little about how to prevent these all-too-common atrocities. Scientists make us increasingly aware of the ubiquity of our degradation of the natural environment and how quickly we are increasing the rate at which we degrade it. What obstacles does the international system pose to efforts to protect the globe from such problems as climate change and what strategies exist to overcome them?

This course introduces students to some of the answers to such questions -- and more important, to ways to think about answering such questions -- by reviewing major schools of thought on the causes of international conflict and the means of resolving it. It will examine themes of continuity and of change. We will examine how well lessons from the Peloponnesian War of the 5th century BC hold up in explaining why countries develop nuclear weapons today. We will examine how increasing economic, informational, and ecological interdependence will change and reshape international relations in the future. The course will help you develop a theoretical and empirical understanding of such questions, while providing you with tools to allow you to gain a causal understanding of many social problems and their resolution.

REQUIRED TEXTS:

Two books are on sale at the UO Bookstore (to save money, you may buy earlier editions, which should be adequate for the course). A few copies will be on reserve at Knight Library.

  • Joseph S. Nye, Understanding International Conflicts: An Introduction to Theory and History 7th Edition (New York: Longman, 2009). The syllabus refers to this as Nye.

  • Robert J. Art and Robert Jervis, eds., International Politics: Enduring Concepts and Contemporary Issues 9th edition (New York: Longman, 2009). The syllabus refers to this as Art/Jervis.

  • E-Reserves Readings. Many additional required articles will be available via library E-Reserves.

  • Daily reading of the New York Times is required -- the UO Bookstore has a relatively cheap subscription rate.

  • The course Blackboard website will help you succeed in the class. Check the website every 2 or 3 days for class news, lecture notes will usually be posted before class; links for relevant news articles, online surveys, etc..

REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING:
  • Readings: No points, but all elements of the class and your grade depend on staying on top of the readings. Readings are intended as another source for information about international relations -- they are additional to (rather than redundant with) class lectures. I welcome students raising issues from the readings in class.

  • Discussion section - 15%: You must attend and actively participate in discussion section each week. Discussion sections will focus on two case studies and on clarifying issues from the class. The requirements for the case studies (including 2 single-page writing assignments) will be provided during the term. Active participation and written assignments will be used to determine your section grade. Case materials will be on the website.

  • 2 of 3 pop quizzes - 5% each (10% total): Three classes will begin with 10-minute unannounced quizzes of 1020 questions on the readings and lectures. There will be no makeups. Your grade will include only your top two scores, so missing one will not affect your grade. Those taking all three will have their lowest score dropped.

  • Midterm exam - 30% The in-class mid-term will include both essay and short-answer questions.

  • Final exam - 45% The in-class final will include essay, medium, and short-answer questions.

  • Surveys: Students are encouraged to fill out 3 surveys that will be posted on the course website during the term. Survey answers will be confidential and ungraded. Those who fill them out prior to the deadline will receive 1% for filling out all three surveys (i.e., 1/3 of 1% for each survey). Deadlines are noted in the syllabus.

  • Late assignments: Late assignments will lose 2 points per day. Thus, an assignment that is 0-24 hours late would have 2 of 100 points deducted, one that is 25-48 hours late would have 4 of 100 points deducted, etc.

  • Grade complaints: Contested assignments will first be read by a second GTF. If the second GTF assigns the same grade, no grade change will occur. If the second GTF assigns either a higher or lower grade, the professor will read the assignment and independently assign the final grade, which can be either higher or lower.

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY, PLAGIARISM, FABRICATION, CHEATING, AND MISCONDUCT:

By enrolling in this course, you agree to abide by the University’s Student Conduct Code. You must read http://studentlife.uoregon.edu/StudentConductandCommunityStandards/ConductCode/tabid/69/Default.aspx, http://libweb.uoregon.edu/guides/plagiarism/students/ & http://www.uoregon.edu/~eherman/writing/Plagiarism.htm. Reading and understanding these documents is an ungraded requirement for the course that you MUST complete by the end of week 1. Everything in your assignments must be your own work. Neither ignorance of these policies nor the lack of an intention to cheat or plagiarize will be considered a legitimate defense. Raise any questions you have with the professor before problems arise.

Introduction and Basic Concepts All readings are required unless preceded by Rec'd: to designate Recommended Reading!!!

Tuesday, Week 1

Introduction to class. No readings assigned.

Thursday, Week 1

Assignment #1: Absolutely required reading. By enrolling in this course, you agree to abide by the University’s Student Conduct Code. You must read the websites noted on page 2 of this syllabus and linked via the course Blackboard website. Make sure you read these by this day and understand what they imply about your conduct in this class. Raise any questions you have with the professor.

Nye, Ch. 1. Thucydides. 1982. The Peloponnesian War. New York: Modern Library. Book V: Ch 84-116. On E-Reserves. Crawford, Neta C. 1994. A security regime among democracies: cooperation among Iroquois Nations. International

Organization. 48:3, 345-385. On E-Reserves. Rec'd: Aristophanes. 1961. Lysistrata. New York: Harper & Row. Pages 1-25. On E-Reserves.

Realist Theories of IR Tuesday, Week 2

Nye, Ch. 2. Morgenthau. "Six Principles of Political Realism," in Art/Jervis. Hobbes, Thomas. 1968. Leviathan. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. Ch. XIII (183-188). On E-Reserves. Do online readings on “Do changes in politicians change foreign policy?” from Blackboard announcement. Rec'd: Waltz. "The Anarchic Structure of World Politics," in Art/Jervis. Rec'd: Art. "The Fungibility of Force," in Art/Jervis. Thursday, Week 2

Prisoner's Dilemma Game conducted in section – see web page for instructions and come prepared. Mearsheimer. "Anarchy and the Struggle for Power," in Art/Jervis. Jervis. "Offense, Defense, and the Security Dilemma," in Art/Jervis.

Liberal Institutionalist Critiques of Realism Tuesday, Week 3

Oye. "The Conditions for Cooperation in World Politics," in Art/Jervis. Wendt. "Anarchy is What States Make of It," in Art/Jervis. Rec'd: Doyle. "Kant, Liberal Legacies, and Foreign Affairs," in Art/Jervis.

The Feminist Critique of Realism and Liberal Institutionalism Thursday, Week 3

Goldstein, Joshua S. 2001. War and gender: how gender shapes the war system and vice versa. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Pages: 1-58. On E-Reserves. Keohane, Robert O. 1989. International relations theory: contributions of a feminist standpoint. Millennium. 18:2, 245-253. On E-Reserves. Weber, Cynthia. 1994. Good girls, little girls and bad girls: male paranoia in Robert Keohane's critique of feminist

international relations. Millennium. 23:2, 337-349. On E-Reserves. Do online readings on “Obama Adviser on Gay Troops Has Record of Sexism” from Blackboard announcement. Rec'd: Tickner. "A Critique of Morgenthau's Principles of Political Realism," in Art/Jervis. Rec'd: Fukuyama, Francis. 1998. Women and the evolution of world politics. Foreign Affairs. 77:5, 24-40. On E-

Reserves.

The Use of Force Tuesday, Week 4: The World Wars, Alliance Theory, and International Organizations

First Case Writing Assignments - both Group and Individual

- due at beginning of discussion section for this week

Due date for Survey on Nuclear Weapons (Survey #1) on Web. Nye, Ch. 3 and Ch. 4. Walt. "Alliances: Balancing and Bandwagoning," in Art/Jervis. Rec'd: Art. "The Four Functions of Force," in Art/Jervis. Rec'd: Roberts. "The United Nations and International Security," in Art/Jervis. Thursday, Week 4: Nuclear Weapons and other Weapons of Mass Destruction

Nye, Ch. 5. Posen. "A Nuclear-Armed Iran," in Art/Jervis. Sagan. "Nuclear Instability in South Asia," in Art/Jervis. Waltz. "Nuclear Stability in South Asia," in Art/Jervis. Rec'd: Tannenwald, Nina. 1999. The nuclear taboo: the United States and the normative basis of nuclear non-use.

International Organization. 53:3, 433-468. On E-Reserves.

Tuesday, Week 5: Terrorism

Hoffman. "What is Terrorism?" in Art/Jervis. Gordon. "Can the War on Terror be Won?," in Art/Jervis. Pape. "The Logic of Suicide Terrorism," in Art/Jervis. Rec'd: Huntington. "The Clash of Civilizations?" in Art/Jervis.

International Political Economy Thursday, Week 5

Nye, Ch. 7. Gilpin. "The Nature of Political Economy," in Art/Jervis. Scott. "The Great Divide in the Global Village," in Art/Jervis. Rec'd: Ghemawat. "Why the World Isn’t Flat," in Art/Jervis. Tuesday, Week 6

MIDTERM EXAM

Thursday, Week 6: Globalization and Development

"Hunger Game" to be played in class developed by, and used by permission of, Dr. Carolyn Shaw, Wichita State University, 2005

Watch at least one of the videos at: http://www.gapminder.org/videos/

Frankel. "Globalization of the Economy," in Art/Jervis.

Micklethwait and Wooldridge. "Why the Globalization Backlash Is Stupid," in Art/Jervis.

Rec'd: Rodrik. "Trading in Illusions," in Art/Jervis.

Rec'd: Waltz. "Globalization and Governance," in Art/Jervis.

Rec'd: Milner, Helen V. 2005. Globalization, development,and international institutions: normative and positive perspectives. Perspectives on Politics. 3:4, 833-854. On E-Reserves.

Regime Theory Tuesday, Week 7

Keohane. "International Institutions," in Art/Jervis.

Ratner. "International Law: The Trials of Global Norms," in Art/Jervis.

Mearsheimer, John. 1995. The false promise of international institutions. International Security. 19:3, 5-49. On E-Reserves.

Rec'd: Hoffman. "The Uses and Limits of International Law," in Art/Jervis.

Thursday, Week 7: The European Union

Due date for Survey on Human Rights (Survey #2) on Web for extra credit points. Moravcsik. "Europe without Illusions," in Art/Jervis. Grieco, Joseph M. 1995. The Maastricht Treaty, economic and monetary union and the neo-realist research

programme. Review of International Studies. 21:1, 21-40. On E-Reserves.

Human Rights Tuesday, Week 8

View Witness to Evil: http://archives.cbc.ca/IDD-1-71-1686/conflict_war/romeo_dallaire/

Howard and Donnelly. "Human Rights in World Politics," in Art/Jervis. Keck and Sikkink. "Transnational Activist Networks," in Art/Jervis.

Thursday, Week 8

Due date for Survey on Environmental Issues (Survey #3) on Web for extra credit points. Annan, "The Duty to Intervene," in Art/Jervis. Power, Samantha. 2001. Bystanders to genocide. Atlantic Monthly. 288:2, 84-108. On E-Reserves. Gettleman, Jeffrey. 2007. Rape epidemic raises trauma of Congo war. The New York Times. On E-Reserves. Rec'd: Carpenter, R. Charli. 2003. ‘Women and children first’: gender, norms, and humanitarian evacuation in the

Balkans 1991–95. International Organization. 57:4, 661-694. On E-Reserves.

The Environment

Second Case Writing Assignments - both Group and Individual

- due at beginning of discussion section for this week

Tuesday, Week 9

Hardin. "The Tragedy of the Commons," in Art/Jervis.

Alley, Richard B. 2004. Abrupt climate change. Scientific American. 62-69. On E-Reserves.

Oreskes, Naomi. 2007. The scientific consensus on climate change: how do we know we’re not wrong? Climate change. 65-99. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. On E-Reserves.

Rec'd: Victor, "International Cooperation on Climate Change: Numbers, Interests, and Institutions," in Art/Jervis.

Rec'd: Mitchell, Ronald B. 2002. International environment. Handbook of International Relations. 500-516. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. On E-Reserves.

Thursday, Week 9: Thanksgiving -- No Class

Summary and Conclusions Tuesday, Week 10

Nye, Ch. 9.

Gause. "Can Democracy Stop Terrorism?" in Art/Jervis.

Jervis. "The Era of Leading Power Peace," in Art/Jervis.

Rec'd: Kaufmann. "Possible and Impossible Solutions to Ethnic Civil Wars," in Art/Jervis.

Rec'd: Walzer, Michael. 1977. Just and unjust wars: a moral argument with historical illustrations. New York: Basic Books. Ch. 2 (21-33) On E-Reserves.

Thursday, Week 10

FINAL EXAM REVIEW SESSION