50. Topics in International Relations
This course will enable regular or visiting faculty members to examine topics in International Relations not treated in the established curriculum. Subjects may therefore vary each time the course is offered.
East Asian Security: Theory and Practice
This course introduces and applies theories of international relations to inform contemporary debates about major security issues in East Asia. After examining the historical background necessary to understand current events within the region, we will focus on China's emergence as a great power and the regional and global impact; the stability of deterrence in the Taiwan Strait; Japan's security strategy (its roots and future directions); the North Korean nuclear crisis, and the prospects and regional implications of Korean unification; disputes over history and calls for atonement from Japan's past victims of war and colonization; and U.S. security policy toward the region. The course also examines the development of potentially pacifying trends such as East Asian institution-building, economic integration, and democratization. Dist: INT; WCult: NW.
Globalization and International Politics
In this course, we will explore how economic globalization (that is, recent shifts in the structure of international trade, finance, and production) is shaping international relations. Special emphasis will be placed on the changing role of multinational corporations. The course begins with an overview of economic globalization and then turns to analyze how it is influencing the political world. Is globalization likely to make the world more peaceful? Will globalization significantly reduce the power of the nation state? Will globalization lead to a single world culture? How will globalization affect the environment? How stable is globalization? Does globalization lead to increased inequality among and between nations? These are some of the central questions that we will explore. While there are not yet clear answers as to exactly how economic globalization influences world politics, grasping the key issues involved in these debates is essential to understanding today's world. Dist: SOC or INT.
International Relations of East Asia
The international relations of Asia are a major concern of the United States. In the past few years, there has been increasing concern about the threat North Korea may pose to the security of the United States. The past decade has seen China emerge as a potential economic, political, and military superpower, that some view as a potential rival to the U.S. Japan's economy, although experiencing difficulties, remains the world's second largest and most technologically advanced. What happens in Asia has a direct and important impact on the U.S.? How do we understand the international relations of these countries? What are the issues, and consequences? In answering these questions, will we view the international relations of Asia from historical and theoretical viewpoints. I assume that students are familiar with the basic tools of international relations theory, including realism, liberalism, and institutionalism. In addition I assume prior coursework in international relations. I do not assume extensive knowledge of Asia. Gov 5 is recommended but not required. Dist: SOC or INT; WCult: NW.
Nuclear Weapons: Physical and Strategic Effects
This course examines the effect of nuclear weapons on the conduct of international politics. It begins by examining the physical properties of nuclear weapons, and then uses evidence from the Cold War to address the following questions: Why did the United States and Soviet Union build such large arsenals? What did they plan to do with these weapons? How did nuclear weapons fit into U.S. and Soviet military strategy at various phases of the Cold War? The course uses evidence from the Cold War to evaluate theories of nuclear deterrence and the so-called "nuclear peace". The last section of the course focuses on current issues relating to nuclear weapons: the spread of nuclear weapons in the developing world, the dangers of nuclear terrorism, the potential for effective missile defenses, and the changing strategic nuclear balance of power. Dist: SOC or INT
War and Peace in the Modern Age (Identical to WPS 1 and SOSC 1)
This course is designed to acquaint students with the fundamentals of war and peace; that is, with the political uses of military power and the respective roles of military and civilian leaders in formulating and implementing foreign policy. We will also investigate how war affects civil society's social movements and how the characteristics of states' domestic politics arrangements affect or constrain the ways that leaders choose to execute their most preferred strategies. Finally, we will also try to come to an understanding of what war is actually like for those, both combatant and non-combatant, that must participate in war on a daily basis. Dist: SOC
14. The Arab-Israeli Conflict (Comparative Politics or International Relations)
For the better part of a century, the conflict over Palestine has defied resolution. The tensions and instability it has generated have profoundly affected--and been affected by--both international relations and the domestic politics of a wide range of countries. This course examines the changing external and local forces that have shaped the confrontation. Using primary as well as secondary sources, we will try to understand how the various parties to the conflict have defined its stakes, understood their interests, viewed their adversaries, mobilized support, and formulated policy. We will consider grassroots politics as well as elite calculations. We will look at the role played by ideas, institutions, material interests, and leadership, at both the regional and the broader international levels. We will end by assessing the current prospects for a settlement. Dist: INT WCult: CI (NW for Class. 2007 and earlier)
50.02 What's so Civil about War Anyway?
Civil wars are far more common in the contemporary world than international wars. They tend to affect more people, go on for longer, and destroy more property. Yet most of our theory and expertise on war derives from experiences of international war. Are the two types of conflict essentially similar? What’s so civil about civil war? Are civil wars simply international wars played out within borders? Or might the causes, dynamics, and consequences of civil war differ fundamentally from those of inter-state war? Finally, what role do international politics play in civil war (and vice versa)? In this course, we will compare and contrast civil and international war placing special emphasis on modern cases of civil war, its international dimensions and potential strategies for conflict resolution. Topics addressed will include intervention, ethnic conflict, guerilla war and non-state actors. Dist: INT or SOC
51. International Law
An introduction to international law, with particular emphasis on law that attempts to govern the use of force by states. Materials include the United Nations Charter and other multilateral treaties, decisions of the International Court of Justice, and commentary by scholars. Dist: INT
52. Russian Foreign Policy
The objective of this course is to provide an analytical survey of the international politics of Eurasia - a new international subsystem comprised of the states that emerged from the former Soviet Union. Russia will be the major focus, but we will consider key issues in all of the main Eurasian regions. In the first section, we study critical themes in Russia/Soviet/Eurasian history from the 14th century to the Soviet collapse in 1991. In the second section, we address the core problem left in the Soviet Empire's wake: the complex interactions among nationalism, state building and conflict. In the third section, we master the key theoretical tools for analyzing foreign policy and then conduct a strategic tour of Eurasian horizon. Prerequisite: Government 5. No prior knowledge of the area is required or assumed. Dist: SOC or INT; WCult: EU.
53. International Security
This course will focus on military strategy in the post-cold war world. The course will cover deterrence theory, crisis stability, nuclear strategy, and the political uses of military coercion. Other topics may include the obsolescence of major war, collective security, nuclear proliferation, and escalation of regional wars. Prerequisite: Government 5 or permission of instructor. Dist: SOC or INT.
54. United States Foreign Policy
An inquiry into relationships between the social structure and ideological tradition of the United States and its conduct in world affairs. Attention is given to the substance of American foreign and military policy; to the roles of the White House, State Department, CIA, the military, Congress, private elites, and mass opinion; and to foreign policy impacts on domestic life. Prerequisite: Government 5 or permission of instructor. Dist: SOC; WCult: W.
55. International Organization
A survey of the historical development, structure, and role of international organizations in several issue areas, including international security, development, and human rights. Attention is given to the evolution of the United Nations during and after the Cold War. The course also evaluates competing theoretical approaches to international organization. Prerequisite: Government 5 or permission of the instructor. Dist: SOC or INT.
56. International Relations Theory
Is war unavoidable? Or is most violent conflict unnecessary and preventable? How should statesmen best protect the interests and physical security of their countrymen? Do they meet that standard, or fall short? Can a people ever be truly safe? Or is the international environment inherently uncertain? Which peoples ought to live together? Or are identities dynamic? These are the enduring questions of international politics. Perhaps not surprisingly, theorists come to different conclusions. This course explores a wide variety of international relations theories and evaluates their implications for real world politics. Realism, Liberalism, Constructivism, and other major strands of IR theory will be discussed as will American hegemony, international laws & norms and grand strategy. Dist: SOC or INT
58. International Political Economy
The political aspects of international and transnational economic relations will be examined. Topics will include economic imperialism, politico-economic dependence and interdependence, economic instruments of statecraft, the role of economic factors in foreign policy making, economic causes of international conflict, economic determinants of national power, the politics of international economic organizations, and the role of multinational corporations in world politics. Prerequisite: Government 5 and Economics 29 or 64, or permission of the instructor. Dist: SOC or INT.
59. Foreign Policy and Decision Making
The objectives of this course are to introduce the most influential theoretical approaches to the study of strategic decision-making in political science and to apply and evaluate these approaches in a series of historical and contemporary case studies of foreign policy. The empirical focus of the course is on states and their problems, but its basic precepts are applicable to other domains as well. Each of the decision-making theories we study represents a venerable tradition of social science scholarship. Mastering them can contribute to the acquisition of extremely useful analytical and critical skills. The first four sections of the course introduce the four most basic models of strategic decision-making and explore them in selected case studies. The last section provides an opportunity to integrate the different models in a series of case studies and simulation exercises involving the foreign policy of major powers. Dist: INT or SOC
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