Political Science and International Organization (E250)

Course Organization

Time & Location:
Tuesday, 14:15-16:00, U600 (Uni Dufour)

Professor:

Keith Krause
Office: Barton 209
Office hours: Wednesday, 12:30-14:30 (or by appointment)
Phone: 022 908 57 33
Email: krause@hei.unige.ch

Assistants:

Jérôme Bachelard, bachela8@hei.unige.ch, 022 908 59 48
Office Hours: Rigot 35, Tuesday, 09:00 - 09:45, 12:15 - 13:00
Seminars: Groups 1A and 1B

Omar Serrano, serraoa5@hei.unige.ch, 022 908 59 47
Office Hours: Rigot 37, Tuesday, 08:30 - 10:00
Seminars: Groups 2A and 2B

Rachelle Cloutier, cloutie3@hei.unige.ch, 022 908 59 41
Office Hours: Rigot 26, Tuesday, 10:00 - 12:00
Seminars: Groups 3A and 3B

Lucile Eznack, eznack2@hei.unige.ch, 022 908 59 51
Office Hours: Rigot 38, Tuesday, 10:30 - 12:30
Seminars: Groups 4A and 4B

Jonas Hagmann, hagmann9@hei.unige.ch, 022 908 59 47
Office Hours: Rigot 37, Tuesday, 10:00 - 12:00
Seminars: Groups 5A and 5B

Thorsten Wetzling, wetzlin2@hei.unige.ch, 022 908 59 51
Office Hours: Barton B203, Tuesday, 10:00 - 12:00
Seminars: Groups 6A and 6B

Group Repartition and Seminar Calendar:

- Groups 1A and 1B, Jérôme Bachelard: seminar schedule
- Groups 2A and 2B, Omar Serrano: seminar schedule
- Groups 3A and 3B, Rachelle Cloutier: seminar schedule
- Groups 4A and 4B, Lucile Eznack: seminar schedule

Course Description

This course, required of all third-year license students entering the HEI programme, is the second part of a two-part survey of some of the major issues in International Relations. The first semester focused on political economy issues; the second semester covers three main clusters of topics: the development of modern international relations from 1500 to the present, war and peace in the 20th century, and forms of multilateral cooperation and global governance.

The overall goal of the course is to develop your analytic and conceptual skills in international politics. The emphasis is not on the memorization of names, dates and events, but rather on critical reflection on some central practical and theoretical concerns of world politics. Evaluation of the assignments will place a premium on your capacity for synthesis, argument and reflection.

The course presumes both some familiarity with the main currents of thought in world politics and with contemporary history. It is up to each student to fill gaps in his/her background with appropriate supplementary reading and research.

Course Programme

The course includes both a lecture and a seminar component. Each week’s compulsory lecture, Tuesday 14:15-16:00, will be divided into two parts, with a short break between them. The lectures will be supplemented with a two-hour seminar that meets every two weeks. Each student will be assigned to a specific seminar group with one of the teaching assistants for this course. It will not be possible to change seminar groups. The goal of these seminars is not to rehash the lecture (“lecture bis”), but to develop further the themes that are raised in the lecture. A portion of your final grade will be assigned to the seminar component of the course.

The time and place of these sessions, and the division of the students into groups, will be posted in the entry hall of the Villa Barton at the beginning of the second week of classes.

Requirements

Your grade in this semester of the course will be based on the following requirements:

Discussion Papers

The discussion papers are meant to encourage critical reflection and debate. These are to be short essays, no more than 5 pages in length (1500 words), typed and doublespaced, using Times New Roman size 12 as the font. Longer essays will be penalized. 3 The topic for the first and the second discussion papers will be assigned and distributed on 3 April.

• For the first paper, all students must answer the same question (see attached). It is due on May 3 at the beginning of class, and should be handed in to the teaching assistant.
• For the second paper, you must chose one question from Part III, i.e., from week IIIa, IIIb or IIIc (see attached questions). It must be handed in to the teaching assistant at the beginning of class in which the readings are discussed, i.e. before the lecture for that week begins.

Papers submitted during the lecture will be penalised and those submitted after the lecture will not be accepted.

Exams

The in-class test will have four questions, from which you must select two. The test is “closed book” and no materials will be allowed.
 

Lectures

The compulsory reading materials for the first part of the course will all be available in a polycopié, details of which will be announced in the first class. You will need to order this polycopié as soon as possible, as you will need the readings straight away.

Apart from the required readings, I expect you to be familiar with contemporary events related to the topics covered. It is thus essential that you read at least one good daily newspaper (Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Le Monde, Financial Times, International Herald Tribune) and one good weekly (the best being The Economist).
 

Cheating and Plagiarism

All papers submitted during the semester are to be individually researched and written. If two or more students hand in papers with striking similarities, the respective papers can be sanctioned with a “0”, depending on the seriousness of the incident. Cases of plagiarism will be penalised with a “0.” Plagiarism is defined by the IUHEI as follows:

Le plagiat consiste à s'approprier le travail créatif d'autrui en le présentant comme son propre travail; à reproduire des extraits de texte, des données, des chiffres, des images etc., tirés de sources externes en omettant d'en mentionner la provenance; à utiliser les pensées originales d'autres auteurs, même quand elles sont exprimées dans ses propres mots, sans en indiquer la source.
 

Course Outline

Part I:	From International Relations to World Politics
March 13	a)	Introduction: The emergence of international relations, 1648?1815
March 20	b)	19th century balance of power and European imperialism
March 27	c)	Idealism and Realism in 20th century international society
Part II:	Conflict and Security in World Politics
April 3	a)	Weapons, technology and arms control
April 17	b)	Security cooperation, complexes and security regimes
April 24		NO CLASS
May 1		NO CLASS
May 3	c)	Nationalism and communal conflict (Note: this class session will be held on 3 May in room U300 from 4:15 PM to 6 PM)
May 8	d)	Broadening and deepening the concept of security
Part III:	Multilateralism and Global Governance
May 15	a)	International organizations past and present
May 22	b)	Multilateral cooperation and global governance: Environmental issues
May 29	c)	Multilateral cooperation and global governance: Human Rights in a global world
June 7	In-class test, closed book

Readings

Part I: From International Relations to World Politics

Ia) Introduction: The emergence of international relations, 1648-1815

• Martin Hollis and Steve Smith, Explaining and Understanding International Relations , 16-44.
• Hedley Bull and Adam Watson, eds., The Expansion of International Society , 13-32, 117-126.
• Hedley Bull, The Anarchical Society , 24-52.
• Edward Morse, “ The Westphalia System and Classical Statecraft, ” in Edward Morse, Modernization and the Transformation of International Relations , 22-46.
• Immanuel Wallerstein, “ The Inter-State Structure of the Modern World System, ” in Smith, Booth, Zawleski (eds.), International Theory: Positivism and Beyond , 87-107.

Ib) The 19th century: The balance of power and European imperialism

• Martin Wight, “ The Balance of Power ” , in H. Butterfield and M. Wight, Diplomatic Investigations , 149-175.
• Paul W. Schroeder, “ Historical Reality versus Neo-Realist Theory, ” International Security 19:1 (Summer 1994), 108-148.
• Karl Polanyi, The Great Transformation , 3-19.
• John Dickenson et al, A Geography of the Third World , second edition, 32-54.
• V.I. Lenin, Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism , excerpts.

Ic) Idealism and Realism in 20th century international society

• E.H. Carr, The Twenty Years' Crisis , 22-62, 75-88.
• Peter Wilson, “ Leonard Woolf and International Government, ” in David Long and Peter Wilson, eds., Thinkers of the Twenty Years ' Crisis , 122-160.
• Hans Morgenthau, “ The Intellectual and Political Functions of a Theory of International Relations, ” in Hans Morgenthau, Politics in the Twentieth Century , Vol. I, The Decline of Democratic Politics , 62-78.
• Hans Morgenthau, Politics Among Nations (5th edition or earlier), 3-37.
• Bruce Russett, Grasping the Democratic Peace , 3-23.

Part II: Conflict and Security in World Politics

IIa) Weapons, technology and arms control

• Barry Buzan and Eric Herring, The Arms Dynamic in World Politics , 9-74.
• Scott Sagan, "Why Do States Build Nuclear Weapons? Three Models in Search of a Bomb," International Security , 21:3 (Winter 1996/97), 54-86.
• Nina Tannenwald, “ Stigmatizing the Bomb, ” International Security , 29:4 (Spring 2005), 5-49.

IIb) Security cooperation, complexes and security regimes

• Emanuel Adler and Michael Barnett, “ Security Communities in Theoretical Perspective, ” in Emanuel Adler and Michael Barnett, eds., Security Communities , 3-28.
• Emanuel Adler, “ Seeds of Peaceful Change: The OSCE ' s Security-Community Building Model, ” in Adler and Barnett, eds., Security Communities , 119-160.
• Robert Jervis, “ Security Regimes, ” International Organization 36:2 (Spring 1982), 357-378.
• Barry Buzan, People, States and Fear , 2 nd edition, 186-229.

IIc) Nationalism and communal conflict

• David Lake and Donald Rothchild, “ The Origin and Management of Ethnic Conflict, ” International Security , 21:2 (Fall 1996), 41-75.
• V.P. Gagnon, “ Ethnic Nationalism and International Conflict: The Case of Serbia, ” International Security , 19:3 (Winter 1994-95), 130-166.
• John Mueller, “ The Banality of ‘ Ethnic War ' , ” International Security , 25:1 (Summer 2000), 42-70.
• Mahmood Mamdani, “ Ethnicity in Rwanda: An Interpretation, ” Africana , online at: http://www.africana.com/research/encarta/tt_906.asp

IId) Broadening and deepening the concept of security

• Barry Buzan, People, States and Fear , 2 nd edition, 1-34.
• Caroline Thomas, Global Governance, Development and Human Security , 3-33.
• Human Security Centre, Human Security Report, 2005, viii, 13-33.
• Günther Baechler, “ Why Environmental Transformation Causes Violence: A Synthesis, ”
• Environmental Change and Security Program, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, ECSP Report 4 , (Spring 1998), 24-44.

Part III: Multilateralism and Global Governance

IIIa) International organizations past and present

• Inis Claude, Swords into Ploughshares , chapter 3.
• Rosemary Righter, Utopia Lost , 25-42.
• (note: if you have not read the League of Nations Covenant and UN Charter before, you ought to for this class. It is available in numerous places).
• Michael Barnett, “ Bringing in the New World Order: Liberalism, Legitimacy, and the UN, ” World Politics , 49:4 (July 1997), 526-52.
• Bruce Cronin, “ The Two Faces of the United Nations: The Tension between Intergovernmentalism and Transnationalism, ” Global Governance 8:2 (Jan/Mar 2002), 53-71.

IIIb) Multilateral cooperation and global governance: Environmental issues

• Seth Dunn and Christopher Flavin, “ Moving the Climate Change Agenda Forward, in Worldwatch Institute, State of the World 2002 , 24-50.
• Garrett Hardin, “ The Tragedy of the Commons ” (excerpts) in Ken Conca and Geoffrey Dabelko, eds., Green Planet Blues , 37-44.
• Susan Buck, “ No Tragedy on the Commons, ” in Conca and Dabelko, eds., 45-53.
• Karen Litfin, “ The Employment of Knowledge in the Montreal Protocol Negotiations, ” in Karen Litfin, Ozone Discourses, 78-116.
• Peter Haas, “ UN Conferences and Constructivist Governance of the Environment, ” Global Governance, 8:1 (Jan-March 2002), 73-91.

IIIc) Multilateral cooperation and global governance: Human Rights in a global world

• David Forsythe, Human Rights in International Relations, 3-27.
• Thomas Risse and Kathryn Sikkink, “ The Socialization of International Human Rights Norms into Domestic Practices: An Introduction, ” in Thomas Risse, Stephen Ropp and Kathryn Sikkink, The Power of Human Rights , 1-38.
• Kathryn Sikkink, “” Human Rights, Principled Issue Networks and Sovereignty in Latin America, ” International Organization, 47:3 (1993), 411-441.
• Rolf Schwarz, “ The Paradox of Sovereignty, Regime Type and Human Rights Compliance, ” Journal of Human Rights, 8:2 (2004), 199-215.