Introduction to International Relations

This course is designed to provide the student with an introduction to the study of international relations. It focuses primarily upon concepts and perspectives which one may employ in understanding and describing the behavior of nations. The primary objective is to provide the student with some ability to interpret and assess international events from a more general perspective. It is hoped that exposure to various theoretical approaches to the study of international relations will impart to the student skills which are useful in understanding the major contemporary currents of international affairs. The global political arena has changed markedly over the last decade, and understanding some of the major factors behind these changes is a primary goal of this class.

Required Texts

1. Global Politics.. by Dean Minix and Sandra M. Hawley (West/Wadsworth). (199)
2. Terrorism in the 21st Century. by Cindy C. Combs. (Prentice-Hall) (1997)
3. Selected Pages on the World Wide Web (See Course Outline Below)
4.   indicated a site to be "browsed.

A word about the coverage of the material will be useful. The readings provide several different approaches to the study of international relations. First, I assume that the student has little background in contemporary foreign affairs, so the Minix and Hawley book, Global Politics, will supply that context. Secondly, since war and conflict is a major part of what interests and concerns us in international politics, a more detailed examination of two significant trends is undertaken.  First, the rise of international terrorism will be examined.  In addition, we will look at the impact of the information revolution upon the conduct of war, and conflict in general. These two trends dovetail with many recent developments in the political arena and will be examined to see what the future of international politics may well bring us. In addition, I wish for us to discuss contemporary developments in international relations. As a result, I would like for you to monitor a news source. If you wish, feel free to subscribe to an appropriate newspaper (daily - not weekly magazine), however, I recommend the Web. You might use one or more of the following to keep up with major issues:

• The Christian Science Monitor (not a religious publication for those who have never looked at it)
• National Public Radio (uses RealAudio for those with multimedia capabilities)
• The New York Times (must subscribe)
• Reuters News Service (Yahoo!) (quick and frequently updated headlines)
• The Washington Post (Good general newspaper with broad coverage)

and, in conjunction with your Web page topic, you may wish to locate a news source in a country or about a part of the world that interests you. One place to begin looking is

• My Virtual Reference Desk
  • My Virtual Newspaper

Some class discussion of major events will occur as the context seems appropriate. The third source of readings is the Internet. The volume of material out there is growing at an astounding rate. I have selected some which are relevant to the topics we will be discussing. Please browse these and search for other Web pages of interest. A few general places to begin are:

• Poly-Cy (My Guide to Political Science on the Internet)
• Political Science Resources (from Richard Kimber at the University of Keele, UK)
• International Affairs Network (University of Pittsburgh)
• International Security Network (The Center for Security Studies and Conflict Research)

Course Requirements

The course requirements for the class are moderate.

• The Midterm will be a mix of short answer and brief essay questions.
• The final exam will also be a mix of short answer and brief essay questions. It will be partially cumulative. (Some specifically identified topics from the first part of the course will be covered again on the final)
• In addition, there will be a 'geography' quiz. As it happens, American students tend to be overly parochial on their understanding and awareness of the world - to the degree that they often do not know where the rest of the world is. Geography as a subject has dwindled from the primary and secondary education curriculum. As a result, I expect students in my IR classes to refresh their knowledge of basic political geography. Please be able to identify on a blank map the largest 100 or so nations. In addition, you are responsible for any geographic place or name mentioned (however briefly) in class. For instance if I briefly mention the strategic importance of the Straits of Hormuz, please be able to identify them on a map.
• Lastly, there is a Web Page assignment due the last week of class. We will discuss the requirements for this paper in class. At this point, let me say that your most straightforward option would be to develop an annotated set of resources related to some specific topic in International politics.
   

  Grading
  Midterm	25%
  Final	35%
  Geography Quiz	15%
  Scavenger Hunt	5%
  Web Page	20%

   
   
  Additional Course Resources
  • Course Notes
    • Second half of course Notes
    • (These are my very rough notes and for the Causes of War and Technology and Game Theory sections only. I could not make a clean set, but these should help. Note that these are largely consistent with the class lectures, but a few topics may be slightly different.)
    • ( I cannot provide notes for Game theory - see web sites for some additional help.)
  • Review - Test 1
  • Review - Final Exam
   
   

  Students with Special Needs

  Social Justice Statement

     

  Week	Topic	Description	Readings
  Course Overview
  Week 1  8/25-27	Course Overview  The World Wide Web	About the study of International Politics.  Introduction to the World Wide Web as the global data and information source of the future.  Why teach the Internet in a Political Science course?	Get acquainted with:     International Affairs Network
  Week 2  9/1-3	Forces of Change	A brief catalog of the major factors behind change in the modern world.  World Population is now .  Clock brought to you by Sunsite	Global Politics: 3-26.  United Nations Population Information Network (POPIN)
  Week 3  9/8-10	A Portfolio of Paradigms	A synopsis of some of the major theoretical perspectives employed to explain international relations.  Realism  Liberalism  Levels of Analysis  Behavioralism	Global Politics: 28-115.
  Week 4  9/15-17	Foreign Policy Decision Making	Learning to describe decisions made by actors.  Bureaucratic Politics. Organizational Process Models.	Global Politics: 118-178.  Graham Allison, Conceptual Models of the Ciuban Missile Crisis.  American Political Science Review, September 1969 pp: 689-718.
  Week 5  9/22-24	The Rise of the Nation State and the Global System  The Cold War	Nations as the Principle Actors on the World Stage.  Great Powers.  American Foreign Policy in the Era after WWII	Global Politics: 180-220  The Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection
  Week 6  9/29 - 10/1	Complex Interdependence	The Role of the Global Economy in shaping International Politics	Global Politics: 223-280.
  Week 7  10/6-8	The Global Economy	Markets and Money. The Globalization of Politics	Global Politics: 287-317.
  Week 8  10/13-15	Non-state Actors and International Terrorism	The Growing role of Terrorism in the International Arena.  Midterm: Thurs. Oct 15th.	Terrorism in the 21st Century. (all)  1997 Patterns of Global Terrorism Report (US Dept. of State)   MILNET: Terrorism
  Week 9  10/20-22	The Causes of War	Why do we keep doing this to ourselves?	Global Politics: 366-405.
  Week 10  10/27-29	National Security	The Arms Race  "Si vis pacem, para bellum?"	Global Politics: 442-477.
  Week 11  11/5	Security, Strategy and Rationality	Game Theory and Expected Utility Theory:  "I know that you know that I know that..."  Web Scavenger Hunt.	Game Theory Examples, Revised  by Roger A. McCain, Drexel University  Read the Intro, What is Game Theory,  Prisoner's Dilemma, and Zero-Sum Games sections, then browse the rest.
  Week 12  11/10-12	The Rules of the Game	More Game Theory	Continue Readings
  Week 13  11/17-19	A New World Order?	Human Rights, Development Foreign Aid  Geography Quiz: Wed. Apr 9th.	Global Politics: 517-565.  US Dept. of State: Table of Contents for Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1996
  Week 14  11/24-26	Thanksgiving Recess
  Week 15  12/1-3	Technology: the Past and the Future of International Relations	Offense and Defense in International Politics.	Global Politics: 407-500.
  Week 15  12/8-10	Global Climate Change	A brief examination of potential major sources of political upheaval due to global environmental changes	Global Politics: 502-559.  International Relations and Global Climate Change (Detlef Sprinz and Urs Luterbacher)
  Final Exam