We focus on two important topics as a means to ask how various theoretical perspectives provide distinct understandings of the structure and practices of international relations. The first topic is the problem of ensuring security for all people from organized violence (in the form of war, terrorism, etc.); most of the required readings for the course focus on this topic. The second concerns the prospect for creating a globally stable and sustainable world economy, in which all of humanity, including future generations, can expect to prosper. Although we do not have required readings on this topic, we will discuss it often in our efforts to apply theoretical perspectives to the analysis of a second important domain of international relations. We will consider four theoretical perspectives for analyzing those topics: political realism, liberalism, post-structuralism, and post-colonial constructivism.

The principal objective is to develop an appreciation of the ways in which perspectives lead to different analyses. We will learn how each theoretical perspective generates its own view of international relations, in terms of providing a distinct understanding of the structure and practices of human security and a global political economy. Each shares the assumption that the many and varied interactions among states and non-state actors in the global arena are vital elements of our world. However, in interpreting these many and varied forms of global politics, each of the perspectives offers not only a distinct understanding of what international relations consist of, but also distinct guidance about what international political activity should be. Therefore, this course will explore how each perspective explains events that occur in the arena of global politics, and also explores how adherents of each perspective think international actors should act in this arena. That is, we will explore both the explanatory insights and the normative political implications of each perspective. Through the highlighting of such theoretical differences, the course is intended to provide the means for students to develop their own theoretically informed analyses of issues in contemporary international relations, such as what the important consequences of NAFTA are, or what the emerging security issues in Central Asia might be.

It is recommended that this course be taken prior to coursework at the 5xxx-level in the field of international relations. Students in this course should have some familiarity with the subject matter of world politics, such as is provided in Political Science 1025.

At the completion of this course, you should be able to:

Demonstrate the ability to employ several influential theoretical perspectives to analyze current situations in international relations;

Recognize the use of these perspectives in everyday speech, journalism, and academic writing;

Identify important normative political implications at work within different perspectives as those perspectives are used to analyze situations in international relations;

Evaluate the relative explanatory success of the perspectives within the context of real situations and events in international relations.

You are expected to complete all of the assigned readings listed on the syllabus prior to the class session for which they are scheduled. Lectures and discussions will not duplicate, but instead will build on, and hence will assume prior familiarity with, assigned readings. Your active participation in discussion and class activities is expected. Written assignments include two short thought papers, which call for you to apply the theoretical perspectives of assigned readings in analysis of a topic in international relations. The paper assignments will be distributed in class on Tuesdays (August 3 and August 17). Each paper will be due one week after the assignment is distributed (so, due dates are August 10 and August 24). Late papers will be penalized. For these two papers, you are to select a contemporary issue of international relations from the list attached to this syllabus, and to develop a degree of expertise on that issue. The two paper assignments will require you to analyze your selected issue in terms of theoretic perspectives introduced in the class. The other substantial writing assignment (a third paper) is a position paper that addresses and evaluates possible efforts to deal with the issue. Your position paper will be due the last day of class, Wednesday, August 25th. Periodically, you will be asked to complete an in-class writing assignment (a "five-minute paper"). These "quizzes" are meant to provide feedback on how well you understand key concepts from assigned readings. Finally, you will be called upon to speak in class from time to time about the issue on which you have developed expertise.

Grades will be calculated on the following basis: the position paper on "solutions" for an issue in international relations, 35%; the first short paper, 25%; the second short paper, 25%; the "five-minute papers", 5% (total); and contributions to class discussion, 10%. Incompletes will be granted only in exceptional circumstances, and only with my prior and explicit approval.

I strongly encourage you to visit me during my office hours. Visits enable me to gauge how well the course is going and whether my expectations are clear to you. They also enable you to explore specific issues in greater depth. Please use this time as a resource to help improve your work over the course of the term.

If you have disabilities, special learning needs, or problems that emerge from work commitments, family commitments, or medical emergencies, please let me know what I can do to accommodate you. This syllabus is available in alternative formats upon request. Please contact Cheryl Olsen, Department of Political Science, 1414 Social Sciences, 624-4144.

All of the assigned readings for the course can be obtained at the H.D. Smith West Bank Bookstore for $88.95. Assigned readings are from four books and one article:

1. Richard K. Betts, ed., Conflict After the Cold War: Arguments on Causes of War and Peace. Allyn and Bacon, 1994.
2. David Campbell, Writing Security: United States Foreign Policy and the Politics of Identity, Revised Edition. University of Minnesota Press, 1998.
3. Amitav Ghosh, In an Antique Land: History in the Guise of a Traveler's Tale. Vintage Books, 1992.
4. Kenneth N. Waltz, Man, the State and War: A Theoretical Analysis. Columbia University Press, 1954.
5. Andrew Moravcsik, "Taking Preferences Seriously: A Liberal Theory of International Politics," International Organization, 51(4), Autumn, 1997: 513-553. (This article is available in the course packet room of the West Bank Bookstore.)

1. Issues of security from organized violence
1. The international relations of controlling the means of violence
1. nuclear weapons
2. chemical weapons
3. biological weapons
4. new technologies for weapons and delivery systems
5. small arms (automatic rifles, etc.)
6. anti-personnel land mines
2. The international relations of avoiding/reducing violent hostilities
7. dealing with "war criminals"
8. eliminating rape as a weapon of war
9. assuring rights of indigenous peoples and minority nationalities
10. Northern Ireland
11. Caspian Sea region
12. Sri Lanka
13. Chiapas
14. Colombia
15. Sudan
16. Central Africa (Rwanda, Burundi, Congo)
17. Sierra Leone
18. Ethiopia - Eritrea
19. North Korea - South Korea
20. Pakistan - India - China
21. China - Taiwan
22. Israel - Palestine
23. Turkey - Greece
24. U.S. - Iraq
25. U.S. - Cuba
2. Issues of global economic prosperity
3. The international relations of circumventing/managing economic crisis
26. Russia
27. Japan
28. South Korea
29. Indonesia
30. Thailand
31. Mexico
32. South Africa
33. Albania
34. unrecoverable debt
35. stablizing and managing the global financial system
36. dealing with trade wars
4. The international relations of promoting sustainable development
37. a common European currency
38. expanding the EU
39. expanding NAFTA
40. strengthening ASEAN
41. technology transfers
42. intellectual property rights
43. control over natural resources
44. destruction of forests
45. depletion of biodiversity
46. deterioration of fisheries
47. large dams
48. water pollution and the degradation of water resources
49. atmospheric pollution
50. global warming
51. health care
52. provision of education and investment in human capital
53. population
54. industrialization
55. agricultural productivity
56. urbanization problems
3. Others
57. Another issue of your choice.