INTERNATIONAL
RELATIONS 2100-001
132
Professor
Steven E. Lobell
152
A
(801)
585-5259
http://www.poli-sci.utah.edu/~slobell
This course is designed as a general
introduction to the study of international relations. The course will examine the underlying forces
that shape and constrain how states behave in the international system, why
states sometimes depart from the rational actor model, recurring patterns in history,
and whether one can predict greater conflict or cooperation in the coming
decades. This course will develop an
analytic framework to examine some of the micro and macro sources of conflict
and cooperation. We will use a levels of
analysis approach to examine the impact of individuals, domestic constraints,
and systemic pressures on international relations. We will conclude by assessing from history
and theory the likelihood of greater conflict or cooperation among states in
the coming decades.
Course
Always bring the
assigned reading for the week to class since we will often refer to specific
sections, tables, charts, graphs, etc.
Required reading is available at the University
Book Store and the Marriott Library reserve desk. If any of the assigned reading is
unavailable, contact me immediately via email and I will resolve the problem (steven.lobell@poli-sci.utah.edu). The electronic
reserve (ER) can be accessed online
via the Marriot
Library. For Electronic copies
click on the Electronic Copy
link. Most items require that you have
Adobe Acrobat Reader installed. The rest of the reserve reading can be checked out from General Reserve (ML)
[Reserve, One Hour, Level 1]. Some course reading will be on Reserve (R), requiring you to copy the material
at the library.
-Bruce
Russett, Harvey Starr, and David Kinsella,
World
Politics: The Menu for Choice 8th edition (RS).
Course Grades
Course grades will be based on exams (90%; three
in class and a cumulative final) and participation in class (10%). We will have several class discussions and a
class debate. For the class discussions,
questions are available at http://www.poli-sci.utah.edu/~slobell
and the answers will be due at the beginning of lecture (no late answers will
be accepted). The course lecture will not
cover all of the assigned readings. You
will be accountable for both lecture and readings on the exams. No late exams will be given without prior
consent. All grade disputes must be in
writing.
Class Participation
Class attendance
is mandatory. If you are unable to
attend a class please contact me ahead of time.
It
is important to remember that people will have different interpretations of the
same evidence and that disagreements and debate are likely to abound. However, personal attacks on other students
will not be accepted.
Class and University Policies
All parts of the
research paper are due on the date indicated.
Late submissions will be penalized.
You may not submit assignments via email or fax. Only students with documented and legitimate
excuses will be exempt from this policy.
Plagiarism involves claiming another person’s work as your own and will
result in failing the course. While students are encouraged
to discuss the course material in small groups, you must submit work that is
your own. The research paper must use
footnotes or endnotes to document all direct quotations and paraphrases, and
the work of other authors.
University policy is as follows: “All students are
expected to maintain professional behavior in the classroom setting, according
to the Student Code, spelled out in the Student Handbook. Students have
specific rights in the classroom as detailed in Article III of the Code. The
Code also specifies proscribed conduct (Article XI) that involves cheating on
tests, plagiarism, and/or collusion, as well as fraud, theft, etc.
Students should read the Code carefully and know they are responsible for the
content. According to Faculty Rules and Regulations, it is the faculty
responsibility to enforce responsible classroom behaviors, and I will do so,
beginning with verbal warnings and progressing to dismissal from and class and
a failing grade. Students have the right
to appeal such action to the Student Behavior Committee.”
If you will need
accommodations in the class, prior notice needs to be given to the Center for Disability Services, 162 Union
Building, 581-5020 (V/TDD).
6/22 Introduction to the Course
History as Theory
6/27 Origins of the
Modern International System, 1648-1789: What is sovereignty? What is the Ancien Regime? Why were wars limited in
nature at this time? What does the classic period of balance of power refer to?
-Steven
Spiegel, Jennifer Morrions Taw, Fred Wehling, and Kristen Williams, World Politics (145-162, R or ER).
Please
not some chapters from Spiegel will be on Reserve and some on Electronic
Reserve. You will need to go to the Marriot
Library to photo copy the Reserve reading.
Revolutions of 1789 to
WWI: What
is nationalism and liberalism? What is the Concert of Europe? What is the
industrial revolution and what were the social, political and economic
consequences? What lessons were learnt from the wars of German
unification? What is the Bismarckian
system? Why were there few inter-state
wars between 1815 and 1914?
-Spiegel,
World Politics (163-201, R or ER).
-Richard
Rosecrance, “Patterns of International
History.” (25-59, ER)
6/29 WWI and Interwar Period: What is the Treaty of
Versailles? What is the Kellog-Briand Pact?
What is the
-Spiegel,
World Politics (203-238, R or ER).
WWII and Rise of the
Cold War: Why
did the
-Spiegel,
World Politics (239-311, R or ER).
End of the Cold War;
Trends and Transformations: What is Détente? What is glasnost and
perestroika? What is engagement and
enlargment?
-Spiegel,
World Politics (312-335, R or ER)
Theory as History
Brief Exam (15%)
7/4 Two Approaches to International Relations:
Levels of Analysis, and Realism, Liberalism, Marxism
-Bruce
Russett and Harvey Starr Chapters 1 and 2 (also see pp. 343-346).
International Level of
Analysis
International Actors:
Nation-State and Non-State Actors: What are IGOs and NGOs? What is the
nation-state?
-Russett
and Starr Chapter 3.
-Class
discussion (answers to questions due at beginning of class, for assignment 1).
-Extra
Credit: Write a one page paper on any IGO or NGO and discuss how it affects
inter-state relations.
7/6 The International System: Anarchy, Self-Help,
Security Dilemma: How
does anarchy result in the security dilemma? How does the security dilemma
result in unintended hostility spirals?
What is self help? What factors
ameliorate or exacerbate the security dilemma?
-Russett
and Starr Chapter 3 and Chapter 9.
-"Missiles Bring War Home,”
The Christian Science Monitor,
7/30/97. (distributed in class)
Power and Structure: What is power? What are
the different measurements of power? How
many great powers are there today?
-Russett
and Starr Chapter 5.
-Part
of Video
7/11 Parity versus Preponderance: What is a zero-sum game?
What is stability? Why and how do states balance? What are Morton Kaplan’s
rules for the balance of power model and when is war most likely to occur? What
is the Long Cycle and Power Transition model and when is war most likely to
occur?
-Russett
and Starr Chapter 4 and Chapter 8.
Debate: Should the
(Each
section needs at least 5 members: Issue
2 minutes, Pro 4 minutes, Con 4 minutes, Rebuttal Pro 3 minutes, Rebuttal
Con 3 minutes, Policy 3minutes, Recorder)
-G.
John Ikenberry, “
-Christopher
Layne, “Offshore Balancing Revisited.”
-(skim)
Immanuel Wallerstein, “The Eagle Has Crash Landed.”
-(skim)
John Lewis Gaddis, “Grand Strategy of Transformation.”
-(skim)
Andrew Bacevich, “New Rome, New Jerusalem.”
-National Security Strategy for the United States of
America (March, 2006; http://www.whitehouse.gov/nsc/nss/2006)
Part
of Video
Bipolarity vs
Multipolarity: Which
distribution of Power is more stable and why? What is collective security and
how does it differ from balance of power?
-Russett
and Starr Chapter 4 (especially pp. 77-87).
-Class
discussion (answers to questions due at beginning of class, for assignment 2).
-John
Mearsheimer “Why we will soon miss the Cold
War.” (44-61, ER).
-Extra
credit: Write a two page paper on any United Nations peacekeeping operation
7/13 Barriers to
Cooperation: Prisoner’s Dilemma and Collective Action Problems: What is the Prisoner’s
Dilemma and why do states defect? What
is the free-rider problem? What is the
tragedy of the commons?
-Russett
and Starr Chapter 9 (especially pp. 245-254, security dilemma); Chapter 13 (pp.
384-393,
collective goods); Chapter 16 (pp. 479-490, tragedy of the commons).
Overcoming the Barriers
to Cooperation: Liberalism, International Law, Interdependence, and
International Regimes: What do liberals argue is the primary barrier to cooperation
and how does this differ from realism? What is GRIT and TFT? How do
international regimes discourage defection?
What services does the hegemon provide unilaterally to overcome the
Prisoner’s Dilemma?
-Russett
and Starr Chapter 10 and 13.
-Class
discussion on International Regimes (answers to questions due at beginning of
class for assignment 3).
-Janis
Gross Stein, “Detection and Defection.”
(59-78, ER).
-Nuclear
Test Ban Treaty of 1999 ("U.S and
Domestic Level of
Analysis: Statist versus Societal Constraints
Exam (20%)
7/18 Regime Type (Democratic Peace) and the “End
of History” Economic System:
Marxism-Leninism versus Capitalism and
-Russett
and Starr Chapter 11.
-Class
discussion (answers to questions due at beginning of class, for assignment 4).
-Francis
Fukuyama “The End of History?”
(5-18, ER).
-
-Russett
and Starr Chapter 8 (pp. 203-209).
Domestic Constraints:
Interest Groups, Public Opinion, Ethnic Conflict: What is the military
industrial complex? Are wars
popular? Is public opinion controlling
or controlled?
-Russett
and Starr Chapter 6 and 8 (especially pp. 216-220, ethnopolitics).
-"Arms
Contractors Spend to Promote NATO Expansion" (New York Times, 3/30/98; distributed in class).
-Class discussion (answers to questions due
at beginning of class for assignment 5).
-Sammuel
Huntington “The Clash of Civilizations?”
(ER).
7/20 North-South:
Dependency versus Modernization Theory (lecture dropped if insufficient time): What are the main
barriers to industrialization? What are primary products and terms of trade?
-Russett
and Starr Chapter 15.
Bureaucratic Politics,
SOPs, Group Think
When
do individual decision makers matter? What does “were you stand depends on
where you sit” mean? What is the difference between bureaucratic politics and
group think? Why do large organizations
need SOPs? What are some safeguards against group think?
-Video The Grand Design, (Yes Prime Minister).
-Russett
and Starr Chapter 7 (pp. 163-181)
-Elizabeth
Drew, “The NeoCons.” (http://www.nybooks.com/articles/article-preview?article_id=16378)
-"China
Computer Sale Causes Split" (short article handed out in class).
-Class
discussion: Apply the Bureaucratic
Politics model, SOPs, and Group Think model to the US decision to bomb Sudan in
1998 ("US Decision to Strike the Pharmaceutical Factory in the Sudan was
Based on Surmise," New York Times,
9/20/98, distributed in class).
Individual Level of Analysis
Exam (25%)
7/25 Rational Actor Model, Cognitive Traits:
Operational Code, Fundamental Attribution Error, Misperception How did the
beliefs of Dulles and Kissinger affect American foreign policy
-Russett
and Starr Chapter 7 (especially pp. 181-192) and Chapter 8 (197-199, human
aggression).
-“Explaining Saddam Hussein: a
Psychological Profile,” Dr. Jerrold M. Post, presented to the House
Armed Services Committee December 1990 (http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/iraq/saddam_post.htm).
-“Addiction, Brain Damage and the President ‘Dry Drunk’
Syndrome and George W. Bush,” Katherine Van Worm (http://www.counterpunch.org/wormer1011.html).
-Class
discussion: "U.S. Blundered on Intelligence, Officials Admit" and
"C.I.A.: Study Details Failure Scouring of System is Urged,” New York Times (distributed in class)
Deterrence Theory, Arms
Control, and Proliferation: Why is deterrence at the psychological
level? Why is second strike capability
stabilizing? What is the difference between arms control and arms reduction?
-Russett
and Starr Chapter 9.
-Brief
class discussion on the stabilizing impact of nuclear weapons: John Mearsheimer
“Why we will soon miss the Cold
War.” (44-61, ER).
Trans-national Issues
7/27 Environment and Resources: Tragedy of the
Commons and Lateral Pressure: What is global warming and ozone depletion? What is lateral pressure and how does it
contribute to war?
-Russett
and Starr Chapter 16.
Military, Economic, and
Diplomatic Statecraft: What is the difference between a boycott and an
embargo? When do economic sanctions
succeed? What was the
-Russett
and Starr Chapter 12.
8/1 Catch-up and Review
Final Exam (30 %)