MA Seminar
CONCEPTS AND
ISSUES IN INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
API 5105 B/C
Graduate School of Public and International Affairs
Fall
2020
Instructor:
Prof. Roland Paris
Email:
rparis@uottawa.ca
Course
Description
Examination of major concepts and
issues in contemporary international affairs. Analysis of the history and
development of international relations; major approaches to the study of world
politics and global governance; key global issues affecting human welfare in
terms of security, economy and environment; practices of governance in a world
where the boundary between international and domestic affairs is becoming
increasingly blurred.
Requirements
|
Response Papers (3) |
30% |
|
Midterm Exam |
30% |
|
Final Exam |
40% |
Response Papers
Each student will write three
response papers during the semester. Deadline: 12 noon the business day
before the relevant class meeting. Submit your completed paper on Brightspace. Detailed instructions will be provided. Note:
Late papers will be subject to penalties (see lateness policy below).
Midterm Exam
The midterm exam will cover course material up to the date of the
exam. It will be an online, open-book exam. Duration: 2 hours. Further
information will be provided in class.
Participation
Participation in online seminar discussions will not be graded,
but it is a great way to learn and strongly encouraged. As you prepare for
class, note the discussion questions for each week, listed below.
Final Exam
The final exam will take place during the exam period and will
cover the entire course. It will be an online, open book exam. Duration: 3
hours. Further information will be provided in class. Note: Failure to write
the final exam will result in a failing grade for the course.
Readings
Course readings are available
through Brightspace or via the university library
website. For free access to subscriber-only material, you must
either (1) connect to the library website from a University of Ottawa-networked
computer or (2) follow these instructions for off-campus access: http://www.biblio.uottawa.ca/html/Page?node=get-access&lang=en.
Virtual Office
Hours and Introductory Meeting
Students can book virtual meetings with the professor using the
online Calendly tool (a link will be provided in
class). All students in the course must
book an introductory check-in meeting in September. If you have a quick
question, email rparis@uottawa.ca.
Course
Calendar
|
Week
Number |
Section
B - Mondays |
Section
C - Wednesdays |
|
1 |
9/14 |
9/9 |
|
2 |
9/21 |
9/16 |
|
3 |
9/28 |
9/23 |
|
4 |
10/5 |
9/30 |
|
5 |
10/19 |
10/7 |
|
6 (midterm exam) |
11/2 |
10/14 |
|
7 |
11/9 |
10/21 |
|
8 |
11/16 |
11/4 |
|
9 |
11/23 |
11/11 |
|
10 |
11/30 |
11/18 |
|
11 |
12/7 |
11/25 |
|
12 |
12/9
*Wednesday* |
12/2 |
|
Final exam |
During
the exam period (date TBC) |
|
Holidays: Labour Day (9/7),
Thanksgiving (10/12), Reading week (10/25-31)
Schedule
Week 1 – Welcome and Introduction
to the Course
No required reading this week
Week 2 – Ways of Understanding
International Affairs
Required reading
Jill Steans et al., An
Introduction to International Relations Theory: Perspectives and Themes, 3rd
ed. (Routledge, 2010), two chapters:
“Liberalism” https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781315833811/chapters/10.4324/9781315833811-8
“Realism” https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781315833811/chapters/10.4324/9781315833811-9
Alice Ba and Matthew J. Hoffmann, “Making and Remaking the World
for IR 101: A Resource for Teaching Social Constructivism in Introductory
Classes,” International Studies
Perspectives 4:1 (2003), pp. 15-33.
https://doi.org/10.1111/1528-3577.04102
Discussion questions
·
Realism,
liberalism, and constructivism each make broad assumptions about world
politics. What are their main similarities and differences?
·
What are the
prospects for international cooperation according to each of the theories?
·
How does each
theory conceive of the role of power, institutions, and ideas in world
politics?
Optional further reading
Classical realism, a primary source – The Melian Dialogue,
excerpts from Thucydides’ History of the
Peloponnesian War (c. 400 BC)
http://fs2.american.edu/dfagel/www/Class%20Readings/Thucydides/Melian%20Dialogues.pdf
Classical liberalism, a primary source – Immanuel Kant, Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Sketch
(1795)
https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/kant/kant1.htm
A feminist perspective – J. Ann Tickner,
“Hans Morgenthau's Principles of Political Realism: A Feminist Reformulation,” Millennium 17:3 (1988), pp. 429-440.
https://doi.org/10.1177/03058298880170030801
Week 3 – The Balance of Power
Required reading
Hans J. Morgenthau, “The Balance of Power,” excerpts
from Politics Among Nations: The Struggle
for Power and Peace (McGraw-Hill, 1985).
Reading will be provided
by instructor
John Lewis Gaddis, “The Long Peace: Elements of
Stability in the Postwar International System,” International Security 10:4 (1986), pp. 99-142.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/2538951
Graham Allison, “The Thucydides Trap: Are the U.S. and
China Headed for War?” Atlantic
(Sept. 14, 2015).
Discussion questions
·
How
did the balance of power concept originate?
·
How,
and under what circumstances, is the balance of power mechanism said to work?
·
What
is the role of power, institutions, and ideas in the balance of power?
·
How
relevant is the balance of power concept to international affairs today?
Optional further reading
On the balance of power in 19th century Europe – Paul
W. Schroeder, “The Nineteenth Century System: Balance of Power or Political
Equilibrium?” Review of International
Studies 15:2 (1989), pp. 135-53.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/20097176
Week 4 – International
Institutions and Law
Required reading
John Gerard Ruggie,
“Multilateralism: The Anatomy of an Institution,” International Organization 46:3 (1992), pp. 561-598.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/2706989
Karin J. Alter, “The Future of International Law,” in
Diana Ayton-Shenker (ed.), The New Global Agenda (Rowman &
Littlefield, 2018), pp. 25-42.
https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ottawa/reader.action?docID=5245820&ppg=36
Tom Ginsburg, “Authoritarian International Law?” American Journal of International Law
114:2 (2020) pp. 221-260.
https://doi.org/10.1017/ajil.2020.3
Discussion questions
·
What
makes multilateralism a distinctive form of governance?
·
Do
international institutions and law facilitate international cooperation? In
what ways? Do they also inhibit cooperation?
·
How
“liberal” is international law?
Optional further reading
Alex Neve, “We Do Matter A Renewed Global Agenda for
Protecting Human Rights,” in Diana Ayton-Shenker
(ed.), The New Global Agenda (Rowman & Littlefield,2018), pp. 7-24.
https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ottawa/reader.action?docID=5245820&ppg=18
Week 5 – Networks and
‘Plurilateralism’
Required reading
Stewart Patrick, “The Unruled
World: The Case for Good Enough Global Governance,” Foreign Affairs 93:1 (2014), pp. 58-73.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/23526937
Anne-Marie Slaughter, “The Real New World
Order,” Foreign Affairs 76:5 (1997),
pp. 183-197.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/20048208
Margaret E. Keck and Kathryn Sikkink,
“Transnational Advocacy Networks in International and Regional Politics,” International Social Science Journal 68
(2018), pp. 89-101.
https://doi.org/10.1111/issj.12187
Roland Paris, “Global Governance and Power
Politics: Back to Basic,” Ethics and
International Affairs 29:4 (2015), pp. 407-418.
https://www.ethicsandinternationalaffairs.org/2015/global-governance-power-politics-back-basics/
Discussion questions
·
Does
“plurilateralism” represent the future of multilateralism?
·
What are the
strengths and weaknesses of “networked” approaches to global governance?
Optional further reading
Henry Farrell and Abraham L. Newman, “Weaponizing Interdependence: How Global Economic Networks
Shape State Coercion,” International
Security 44:1 (2019), pp 42-79.
https://doi.org/10.1162/isec_a_00351
Week 6 – Midterm Exam
Week 7 – The State and Sovereignty
Required reading
Alfred Van Staden
and Hans Vollaard, “The Erosion of State Sovereignty:
Towards a Post-Territorial World?” in Gerard Kreijen et al., eds., State, Sovereignty, and International Governance (Oxford University
Press, 2002), pp. 164-184.
Aristotle Kallis,
“Sovereigntism, and the Unlikely Re-Emergence of the Territorial Nation-State,”
Fudan Journal of the Humanities and Social
Sciences 11 (2018), pp. 285-302.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s40647-018-0233-z
Arthur Stein, “The Great Trilemma: Are
Globalization, Democracy, and Sovereignty Compatible?” International Theory 8:2 (2016), pp. 297-340.
https://doi.org/10.1017/S1752971916000063
Francis Fukuyama, “The Pandemic and Political
Order: It Takes a State,” Foreign Affairs
99:4 (2020), pp. 26-32.
https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.journals/fora99&i=656
Discussion questions
·
What impact,
if any, has globalization had on sovereignty?
·
What is
"neo-medievalism" and what is its relationship to the concept of
sovereignty?
·
Why have we
been witnessing a resurgence of “sovereigntism” – and
what are the implications for international order and global governance?
·
Will the
coronavirus pandemic strengthen or weaken states?
Optional further reading
Roland Paris, “The Right to Dominate: How Old
Ideas about Sovereignty Pose New Challenges for World Order,” International Organization 74:3 (2020),
pp. 453-489.
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0020818320000077
Week 8 – The World Trade System
Required reading
Richard Baldwin, “The World Trade Organization and the Future of
Multilateralism,” Journal of Economic
Perspectives 30:1 (2016), pp. 95-116.
https://pubs.aeaweb.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1257/jep.30.1.95
Edward Alden, “The Global Trading System: What Went Wrong and How
to Fix It,” Japan Spotlight (2019),
pp. 13-16.
https://www.jef.or.jp/journal/pdf/225th_Cover_Story_03.pdf
Chad P. Brown and Douglas A. Irwin, “Trump’s Assault on the Global
Trading System,” Foreign Affairs 98:5
(2019), pp. 125-136.
https://www.proquest.com/docview/2275085233
Robert E. Lighthizer (Donald Trump’s
trade representative), “How to Make Trade Work for Workers,” Foreign Affairs 99:4 (2020),
pp. 78-92.
https://www.proquest.com/docview/2415031647
Discussion questions
·
How did the
world trade system evolve?
·
Why is the
WTO struggling to perform its role?
·
Why is there
now a “governance gap” in the world trade system?
·
What are the
future scenarios for the system? Which scenario is the most likely?
Optional further reading
Kirsten Hopewell, “Different Paths to Power: The Rise of Brazil,
India and China at the World Trade Organization,” Review of International Political Economy (2014), pp. 311-338.
https://doi.org/10.1080/09692290.2014.927387
Week 9 – Climate Change Politics
Required reading
“Why Tackling Global Warming Is a Challenge Without Precedent,” Economist (April 23, 2020).
Louis J. Kotzé, “The Anthropocene’s
Global Environmental Constitutional Moment,” Yearbook of International Environmental Law 25:1 (2014),
pp. 24-60.
https://doi.org/10.1093/yiel/yvv065
Thomas Hale, “Transnational Actors and Transnational Governance in
Global Environmental Politics,” Annual
Review of Political Science 23 (2020), pp. 203-220.
https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/full/10.1146/annurev-polisci-050718-032644
Anatol Lieven, “Climate Change and the State:
A Case for Environmental Realism,” Survival
62:2 (2020), pp. 7-26.
https://doi.org/10.1080/00396338.2020.1739945
Discussion questions
·
Why have
global efforts to regulate climate change fallen short?
·
What is
“transnational environmental governance” and how important is it?
·
Is the
climate change challenge leading to a “constitutional moment” in world
politics?
·
Is climate
change a “threat” – and why does this question matter?
Optional further reading
A classic – Garrett Hardin, “The Tragedy of the Commons,” Science 162 (1968), pp. 1243-1248.
https://science.sciencemag.org/content/162/3859/1243
Week 10 – International
Development
Required reading
Sarah Babb, “The Washington Consensus as Transnational Policy
Paradigm: Its Origins, Trajectory and Likely Successor,” Review of International Political Economy 20:2 (2013), pp. 268-297.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09692290.2011.640435
Shahar Hameiri and Lee Jones, “China
Challenges Global Governance? Chinese International Development Finance and the
AIIB,” International Affairs 94:3
(2018), pp. 573-593.
https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiy026
Jean-Philippe Thérien and Vincent
Pouliot, “Global Governance as Patchwork: The Making of the Sustainable
Development Goals,” Review of
International Political Economy 27:3 (2020), pp. 612-636.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09692290.2019.1671209
“UN Report Finds COVID-19 Is Reversing Decades of Progress on
Poverty, Healthcare and Education,” UN Department of Economic and Social
Affairs (July 7, 2020).
Discussion questions
· What does the rise and decline of the “Washington consensus” tell
us about the role of “policy paradigms” in international affairs?
· How has China’s rise influenced the idea and practices of
international development?
· What lessons about global governance can we draw from the
formation of the Sustainable Development Goals?
Optional further reading
“Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy,” Government of
Canada (2017).
Week 11 – The International Order
Required reading
Evan S. Medeiros, “The Changing Fundamentals of US-China
Relations,” Washington Quarterly 42:3
(2019), pp. 93-119.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0163660X.2019.1666355
G. John Ikenberry, “The End of Liberal
International Order?” International
Affairs 94:1 (2018), pp. 7-23.
https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iix241
Amitav Acharya, “After Liberal Hegemony: The Advent of a Multiplex World
Order,” Ethics and International Affairs
31:3 (2017), pp. 271-285.
https://doi.org/10.1017/S089267941700020X
Roland Paris, “Can Middle Powers Save the Liberal World Order?”
Chatham House (June 2019).
https://www.chathamhouse.org/publication/can-middle-powers-save-liberal-world-order
Discussion questions
·
What are the
drivers of the growing rivalry between the US and China – and what are the
possible implications of this rivalry.
·
Are the US
and China now both “revisionist” powers?
·
What type of
world order is emerging?
Optional further reading
Barry R. Posen, “Do Pandemics Promote Peace? Why Sickness Slows
the March to War,” Foreign Affairs
(April 23, 2020).
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/china/2020-04-23/do-pandemics-promote-peace
Rachel Brown, Heather Hurlburt and Alexandra
Stark, “How the Coronavirus Sows Civil Conflict,” Foreign Affairs (June 6, 2020).
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/world/2020-06-06/how-coronavirus-sows-civil-conflict
Week 12 – Canada in a Changing
World
Required reading
Roland Paris, “Navigating New World Disorder: Canada’s
Post-Pandemic Foreign Policy,” Public Policy Forum (July 2020).
https://ppforum.ca/publications/navigating-the-new-world-disorder/
(English)
https://ppforum.ca/fr/publications/naviguer-dans-le-nouveau-desordre-mondial/
(Français)
Robert Greenhill and Jennifer Welsh, “Reframing Canada’s Global
Engagement: Diagnostic of Key Trends and Sources of Influence” and “Ten
Strategic Choices for Decision Makers,” Global Canada (August 2020).
https://global-canada.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/A-Diagnostic-of-Key-Trends-August-2020.pdf
https://global-canada.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Ten-Strategic-Choices-August-2020-2.pdf
Louis Vachon and Frédéric Gagnon,
“Canada Caught in the Crossfire of a New Era of Economic Power Politics,” Globe and Mail (September 4, 2020).
Additional
reading TBA.
Discussion questions
· What are the principal ways in which global changes are affecting
Canada?
· In what directions, and using what methods, should Canada be
seeking to influence international affairs?
POLICIES
AND NOTICES
Lateness
Policy
There will be a penalty for late
submissions. Exceptions are made only for illness or other serious situations
deemed as such by the professor. University regulations require all absences
from exams and all late submissions due to illness to be supported by a medical
certificate. The Faculty reserves the right to accept or reject the reason put
forth if it is not medical. Reasons such as travel, work and errors made while
reading the exam schedule are not usually accepted. This also applies to
assignments sent by email (in which case the time of receipt of the email by
the recipient indicates the time of delivery). Please notify the professor as
soon as possible if a religious holiday or event forces your absence during an
evaluation. Reaction papers: Each day of late submission will result in a penalty
of 5% (weekends included). Exams: Late
submissions will not be accepted.
Beware
Academic Fraud
Academic fraud is an act committed
by a student to distort the marking of assignments, tests, examinations, and
other forms of academic evaluation. Academic fraud is neither accepted nor
tolerated by the University. Anyone found guilty of academic fraud is liable to
severe academic sanctions. Examples of academic fraud include:
·
engaging in
any form of plagiarism or cheating;
·
presenting
falsified research data;
·
handing in an
assignment that was not authored, in whole or in part, by the student;
·
submitting
the same assignment in more than one course, without the written consent of the
professors concerned.
The Internet has made it much
easier to identify academic plagiarism. Tools available to your professors
allow them to trace the exact origin of a text, using just a few words. In
cases where students are unsure whether they are at fault, it is their
responsibility to consult the Writing
and Style Guide for University Papers and Assignments. Persons who have
committed or attempted to commit (or have been accomplices to) academic fraud
will be penalized. Here are some examples of academic sanctions that can be
imposed:
·
a grade of
“F” for the assignment or course in question;
·
an additional
program requirement of between 3 and 30 credits;
·
suspension or
expulsion from the Faculty.
For more information, refer to the
Student’s
Guide to Academic Integrity and the Academic
Integrity Website (Office of the Provost and Vice-President, Academic
Affairs).
Mental Health
and Wellness
The University of Ottawa is committed to the wellbeing of its
students and to ensuring that every student can experience good mental health
in order to complete their work and participate fully in university life. For
more information, visit http://sass.uottawa.ca/en/personal/services/mental-health-wellness
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study skills counselling: https://sass.uottawa.ca/en/personal
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Academic
Writing Help Centre
Learn to identify, correct, and ultimately avoid errors in your
writing and become a stronger writer: https://sass.uottawa.ca/en/writing
Academic
Accommodations
If barriers are preventing you from integrating into university
life and you need adaptive measures to progress (physical setting, arrangements
for exams, learning strategies, etc.), contact the Access Service by phone
613-562-5976 or at https://sass.uottawa.ca/en/access.
Deadlines for submitting requests for adaptive measures during
exams:
·
Midterms, tests, deferred exams: seven business days before the
exam, test or other written evaluation (excluding the day of the exam itself
·
Final exams:
o
November 15 for the fall session
o
March 15 for the winter session
o
Seven business days before the date of the exam for the
spring/summer session (excluding the day of the exam itself).
Notice:
Collection of Personal Information with Class Recordings
In accordance with the Freedom of Information and Protection of
Privacy Act in Ontario and with University Policy 90, your personal information
is collected under the authority of the University of Ottawa Act, 1965. The
Adobe Connect/Zoom/MS Teams sessions will be recorded for purposes consistent
with the fulfillment of the course learning activities and outcomes. The
recording may include the use of your video presence, picture, and voice. If
you choose not to have your picture or voice recorded, you may disable the
audio and video functionality or request accommodation from your instructor.
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instructor.