Government 5

Alexander Wendt Spring 1998

Office Hours: 11:15-12:OOMWF and by appt.
 
 
 

216A Silsby Hall, 646-1291

Description.

This course is an introduction to key issues in contemporary international relations. Although

the discussion will be grounded throughout in real world problems, past and present, the primary

emphasis is on concepts and theories rather than current events or history. The goal is to develop

the analytical and theoretical skills necessary for thinking critically about international relations,

whatever the specific content of those relations might be. The course is divided into three parts.

Part One takes up the problem of War, arguably the most fundamental issue faced by anarchic

systems. Part Two examines the problems of Economy when embedded within an anarchy. Part

Three explores the emergence of Law under anarchy, and its implications in different issue areas.

Requirements.

Students are responsible for all readings listed on the syllabus. Class attendance is required and,

more importantly, strongly recommended; the readings and lectures are designed to complement

one another rather than overlap, and the exams will be built around themes developed in lecture.

Grades will be based on the following schedule:

Midterm Exam (in class, one hour): 40%

Final Exam (take home): 60%

Readings.

The following six volumes should be purchased at the bookstore:

Richard Betts, ed. (1 994) - Conflict After the Cold War: Arguments on Causes of War

and Peace, New York: MacMillan.

Foreign Affairs Agenda (1997) - The New Shape of World Politics, New York: Foreign

Affairs. (hereafter "FAA")

Thomas Lairson and David Skidmore (1997) - International Political Economy: The

Struggle for Power and Wealth, 21 ed., Harcourt Brace.

Two Foreign Affairs custom anthologies, one entitled "War" and the other "Law."

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And one Course Reader consisting of a number of articles.

Course Outline.

I. WAR.

M Mar. 30: Introduction.

W Apr. 1: Units and Levels of Analysis, and the Gulf War.

F Apr. 3: Realism and the Security Dilemma.

Betts: Thucydides (63-71), Carr (72-87), Waltz (88-95), Blainey (1 10-122), and Jervis

(312-329).

M Apr. 6: The Balance of Power and World War 1.

Betts: Angell (176-178), Sagan (330-343), and Levy (344-357).

W Apr. 8: Rationality and Misperception in Foreign Policy.

Course Reader: chapter by Jervis.

F Apr. 1 0: Nuclear Weapons and World Order.

Betts: Waltz (371-382) and Fairbanks and Shulsky (358-370);

War: Betts (66-81).

M Apr. 13: The Cold War and its End.

War: Schlesinger (1 -3 1), Brzezinski (32-50), and Deudney and Ikenberry (5 1-65).

Betts: Mearsheimer (44-61).

W Apr. 15: Revisionism and the China Problem.

Betts: Gilpin (96-109) and Maull (492-504);

War: Bernstein and Munro (82-96) and Ross (97-108).

F Apr. 17: Liberalism and the Democratic Peace.

Betts: Mueller (19-32), Kant (125-135), Bull (136-148), Keohane and Nye (149-156), and

Kober (250-262);

FAA: Fukuyama (1-25), Huntington (26-38), and Doyle (39-66).

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M Apr. 20: Collective Security and the Future of NATO.

Betts: Betts (448-474);

FA.A: Mearsheimer (101-157), Keohane (158-160), and Asmus, et al., (263-274).

W Apr. 22: Nationalism and Self-Determination.

Betts: Gellner (280-292) and Larrabee (293-307);

FAA: Pfaff (242-252) and O'Brien (253-262);

War: Etzioni (109-123).

F Apr. 24: The Clash of Civilizations?

Betts: Fuller (386-393);

FAA: Huntington (67-91) and Ajami (92-100).

M Apr. 27: Midterm Exam.

II. ECONOMY

W Apr. 29: The Problem of Cooperation under Anarchy.

Lairson and Skidmore: chapters 1 and 2 (1-37);

FAA: Krugman (1 61-176) and Luttwak (1 77-186).

F May 1: Trade and the WTO.

Lairson and Skidmore: chapters 3, 4, 6, and 7 (3 8-94 and 126-2 1 0).

M May 4: Monetary Relations and EMU.

Law: Feldstein (1-14) and Bergsten (15-27).

W May 6: Globalization and TNCs.

Lairson and Skidmore: chapter 5 (95-125).

F May 8: North-South Relations, Take 1: Modernization Theory.

Lairson and Skidmore: chapters 8 and 9 (211-272);

FAA: Zakaria (219-233).

M May 11: North-South Relations, Take II: Dependency Theory.

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Lairson and Skidmore: chapters 1 1 and 12 (304-362).

W May 13: The Political Economy of Immigration.

Lairson and Skidmore: chapter 13 (363-380);

Betts: Weiner (394-412);

FAA: Kapstein (1 8 7-205) and Lawrence (214-218).

III. LAW

F May 15: Intemational Law.

Course Reader: chapters by Henkin.

M May 18: The UN.

Course Reader: chapter by Roberts and Kingsbury.

W May 20: Humanitarian Intervention.

Law: Mandelbaum (28-44) and Smith (45-57).

F May 22: The Environment and Global Civil Society.

Betts: Cooley (413-424) and Homer-Dixon (425-442);

Course Reader: chapter by Wapner.

M May 25: Memorial Day; No Class.

W May 27: Justice and International Ethics.

Course Reader: chapter by Beitz.

F May 29: Integration and the EU.

Course Reader: chapters by George;

Law: Ash (58-72).

M Jun. 1: International Government?

Course Reader: chapters by Claude and Dahl.

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