Political Science 2103B Fall 2006 |
Introduction to international relations
and global politics
http://aix1.uottawa.ca/~rparis/POL2103.html
Office: Vanier Hall Room 402
E-mail: rparis@uottawa.ca
Course Time and Location |
Professor’s Office Hours |
Tuesdays 4:00-5:30 p.m. |
Tuesdays 10:30-11:30 a.m. |
Thursdays 2:30-4:00 p.m. |
Wednesdays 9:30-11:00 am |
Tabaret Hall
Room 333 |
or by appointment |
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syllabus
Course Description
The
aims of this course are: (1) to
introduce key theories and concepts of international relations; (2) to trace the
origins and evolution of the modern state as the predominant actor in world
politics; and (3) to explore the dynamics of “globalization” through the lens
of several contemporary issues and problems.
Requirements
Midterm exam (October 19): 20%
Essay (due on November 23): 40%
Final exam (final exam period): 40%
The
following required texts are available for purchase at the Agora
Bookstore (
John Baylis
and Steve Smith, The Globalization of
World Politics, 3rd edition (Oxford University Press, 2005)
Thomas Friedman, The World is Flat: A
Brief History of the Twenty-First Century (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005)
Tarak Barkawi,
Globalization and War (Rowman and Littlefield, 2006)
Copies of all three books are also on reserve at Morisset Library.
Students are also expected to read the world news
section in one of the following newspapers every day: New York Times or Guardian or Financial Times or Le Monde.
MID-TERm Exam
The
mid-term will be held in class on October 19.
You will be responsible for the content of all lectures and required
readings up to that date.
FINAL Exam
The final
exam will be held on Monday, December 11 at 2:00 p.m. in GYMC and GYMD. You will be responsible for the content of all
lectures and required readings in the course, including the Friedman and Barkawi books.
ESSAY
An essay
analyzing the Friedman and Barkawi books is due in
class on November 23. For details of the
essay assignment, see http://aix1.uottawa.ca/~rparis/Essay_POL2103B.html.
DISCUSSION
SECTIONS
Optional
meetings will take place every two weeks to discuss the readings and
lectures. For more information please
see: http://aix1.uottawa.ca/~rparis/sections.html.
Discussion
questions are provided to stimulate conversation in the discussion
sections. New questions will be added
every two weeks. Please see: http://aix1.uottawa.ca/~rparis/discussion_questions.html.
Cheating and Plagiarism
Cheating (using unauthorized
materials or giving unauthorized assistance during an examination or other
academic exercise) and plagiarism (using another's ideas or words without
acknowledgment) are serious offenses in a university, and may result in a
failing grade for a particular assignment, a failing grade for the course,
and/or suspension for various lengths of time or permanent expulsion from the
university. Please familiarize yourself
with the university’s policies on academic fraud: http://www.uottawa.ca/academic/info/regist/fraud_e.html.
Course Schedule
PART 1
– INTRODUCTION
Thurs, Sept 7 MAIN THEMES AND EXPECTATIONS FOR THIS
COURSE
Steve Smith and John Baylis, “Introduction,” in Baylis
& Smith, pp. 1-13.
PART 2
– DEVELOPMENT
OF THE MODERN STATES SYSTEM
Tues, Sept 12 THE IDEA OF SOVEREIGNTY
“How to Read Critically”
http://aix1.uottawa.ca/~rparis/critical.html
Alexander B. Murphy, “The
http://aix1.uottawa.ca/~rparis/Murphy.pdf
Slide from the lecture: Comparing feudalism and
Westphalian states system
http://aix1.uottawa.ca/~rparis/slide1.htm
Thurs, Sept 14 THE SPREAD OF THE WESTPHALIAN MODEL
Robert H. Jackson and Patricia
Owens, “The Evolution of International Society,” in Baylis
& Smith, chap. 2.
Tues, Sept 19 THE BALANCE OF POWER AND THE CONCERT OF
Richard B. Elrod, “The
Concert of
Link
to JSTOR (from a UOttawa computer) or Virtual Campus
(password required)
Slide from the lecture: What is the Balance of Power?
http://aix1.uottawa.ca/~rparis/balanceofpower.htm
Thurs, Sept 21 THE WORLD WARS AND THE
Susan Carruthers,
“International History, 1900-1945,” in Baylis &
Smith, chap. 3.
George Orwell, 1984 (read chapter 1 only).
http://www.online-literature.com/orwell/1984/1/
Tues, Sept 26 THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS, THE UNITED NATIONS,
AND THE COLD WAR
Len Scott, “International
History, 1945-1990,” in Baylis & Smith, chap. 4.
Covenant of the
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/leagcov.htm
Charter of the United
Nations (read chapters 1, 6 and 7).
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/un/unchart.htm
Thurs, Sept 28 THE POST-COLD WAR WORLD
Michael
Cox, “From the Cold War to the War on Terror,” in Baylis
& Smith, chap 6.
Robert
Kagan, “Power and Weakness,” Policy Review 113
(June/July 2002).
http://www.policyreview.org/jun02/kagan_print.html
PART 3
– THEORIES
OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Tues, Oct 3 REALISM
Tim
Dunne and Brian C. Schmidt, “Realism” in Baylis &
Smith, chap 7.
Kenneth
N. Waltz, “Structural Realism After the Cold War,” International Security 25:1 (Summer 2000),
pp. 5-41.
JSTOR
(from a UOttawa computer) or Virtual Campus
(password required)
Thurs, Oct 5 LIBERALISM
Tim
Dunne, “Liberalism,” in Baylis & Smith, chap 8.
Bruce
Russett and John Oneal, Trangulating Peace: Democracy, Interdependence and International Organizations,
read only chapter 1, “International Systems: Vicious Circles and Virtuous
Circles.”
http://aix1.uottawa.ca/~rparis/Russett&Oneal.PDF
Tues, Oct 10 DIGRESSION: NEOCONSERVATISM AND THE “BUSH DOCTRINE”
Charles
Krauthammer, “The Neoconservative Convergence,” Commentary (July 5, 2005).
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Printable.asp?ID=18654
John
Mearsheimer, “Hans Morgenthau and the Iraq War:
Realism Versus Neo-Conservatism,” opendemocracy.com, posted May 19, 2005.
http://mearsheimer.uchicago.edu/pdfs/A0037.pdf
Fareed Zakaria’s review of George Packer’s book, The Assassin’s Gate, in the New York Times, October 30, 2005.
http://aix1.uottawa.ca/~rparis/zakaria.html
Thurs, Oct 12 CONSTRUCTIVISM
Michael
Barnett, “Social Constructivism” in Baylis &
Smith, chap 11.
Slide
from lecture comparing realist, liberal and constructivist IR theories.
http://aix1.uottawa.ca/~rparis/comparison.html
Tues, Oct 17 MARXIST, FEMINIST AND POST-MODERNIST
THEORIES
Stephen
Hobden, “Marxist Theories of International Relations”
in Baylis & Smith, chap 10.
Steve
Smith and Patricia Owens, “Alternative Approaches to International Theory” in Baylis & Smith, chap. 12, read only pp. 273-275 and 280(middle)-287.
Slides from lecture: Gramsci’s idea of hegemony
Gillian Youngs
on feminism and the discourse of IR
Thurs, Oct 19 MIDTERM EXAM
The
exam will cover
all of the lectures and required readings up to this day.
PART
4 – GLOBALIZATIOn
and the westphalian System
Tues, Oct 24 WHAT IS GLOBALIZATION?
Anthony McGrew, “Globalization
and Global Politics” in Baylis & Smith, chap 1.
Slide from lecture: A definition of
“globalization”
Thurs, Oct 26 ECONOMIC GLOBALIZATION
Jan
Aart Scholte,
“Global Trade and Finance” in Baylis & Smith,
chap 27.
Glen Hodgson, “Trade in Evolution:
The Emergence of Integrative Trade,” Export Development
http://www.edc.ca/english/docs/Canadian_Benefits_030104_e.pdf
Tues, Oct
31 GLOBALIZATION AND POVERTY
Caroline
Thomas, “Poverty, Development and Hunger” in Baylis
& Smith, chap 29.
Jeffery
Sachs, “Can Extreme Poverty Be Eliminated?” Scientific
American (August 22, 2005).
http://www.sciam.com/print_version.cfm?articleID=000E4C4C-F093-1304-ABA283414B7F0000
Thurs, Nov 2 NO LECTURE
Tues, Nov 7 THE INFORMATION REVOLUTION
Jonathan
D. Aronson, “Causes and Consequences of the Communications and Internet
Revolution,” in Baylis & Smith, chap 28.
Manuel
Castells, “Toward a Sociology of the Network
Society,” Contemporary Sociology 29:5
(Sept 2000), pp. 693-699.
Link
to JSTOR (from a UOttawa computer) or Virtual Campus
(password required)
Thurs, Nov 9 TRANSNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES AND
NGOS
Owen Greene, “Environmental Issues,”
in Baylis & Smith, chap 20.
Paul Wapner,
“Politics Beyond the State,” World
Politics 47:3 (April 1995), pp. 311-340.
Link
to JSTOR (from a Uottawa computer) or Virtual
Campus (password required)
Tues, Nov 14 DIPLOMACY IN A
GLOBALIZING WORLD (Guest lecture by Michael Kergin,
Brian White, “Diplomacy” in Baylis & Smith, chap 17.
Thurs, Nov 16 NO LECTURE
Tues, Nov 21 GLOBALIZATION AND CULTURE
Arjun Appadurai,
“Disjuncture and Difference in the Global Cultural Economy,” Theory, Culture and Society
7:2 (June 1990), pp. 295-310.
Virtual
Campus (password required); also available through UOttawa
library e-journals collection (from a UOttawa
computer)
Slides from lecture:
quotations
on cultural globalization
Thurs, Nov 23 TRANSNATIONAL TERRORISM (ESSAYS DUE AT TODAY’S LECTURE)
James
D. Kiras, “Terrorism and Globalization” in Baylis & Smith, chap 21.
Robert
Pape, “The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism,” American Political Science Review 97:3 (August 2003), pp. 343-361.
Link
to Scholars Portal (from a UOttawa computer) or Virtual Campus
(password required)
Slides from lecture:
quotations
on terrorism
Tues, Nov 28 FAILED AND FRAGILE STATES
http://aix1.uottawa.ca/~rparis/RIS_Oct_2002.pdf
PART 5 – conclusion: LOOKING AHEAD
Thurs, Nov 30 GLOBALIZATION AND ITS DISCONTENTS
Martin Wolf, “Will Globalization
Survive?” World Economics 6:1
(Oct-Dec 2005), pp. 1-10.
http://aix1.uottawa.ca/~rparis/wolf2005.pdf
David Brooks, “The Jagged World,” New York Times (Sept 3, 2006).
http://aix1.uottawa.ca/~rparis/brooks.html
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan’s
“farewell address” to the General Assembly (Sept 19, 2006)
http://www.un.org/apps/sg/sgstats.asp?nid=2209
Tues,
Dec 5 TOWARDS
A POST-WESTPHALIAN SYSTEM?
Andrew Linklater, “Globalization and the Transformation of
Political Community,” in Baylis & Smith, chap.
32.
FINAL EXAM: Monday, December 11 at 2:00 p.m. in GYMC and
GYMD