Jerel A

Jerel A. Rosati

Spring 2001

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS THEORY

Please read carefully--this syllabus provides all the basic information about the contents of the course, which I have given it much thought.

GOALS

The purpose of the course is to provide you with a strong foundation to analyze, synthesize, and understand the dynamics of world politics and foreign policy. The emphasis of the course is conceptual, focusing on:

1) the rise of the west and the ideas about world politics associated with this evolution, and

2) an overview of different contemporary perspectives and interdisciplinary theories.

In other words, the goal is to better understand the practice, the dynamics, and the major patterns of world politics and foreign policy through the use of theory.

This is a foundation course for other upper division courses in international studies, but hopefully it will be of analytical and practical interest to other students as well to better understand and explain the nature of global politics and human behavior throughout the globe.

Through readings, lectures, and discussion, students will be exposed to a wide-range of knowledge and different bodies of thought that will result in a broad understanding of world politics and human behavior. Inactivity is strong discouraged. It is hoped that by the end of the semester you will find the course to be informative, interesting and enjoyable.

REQUIREMENTS

Students will be evaluated through class participation, short quizzes, and examinations. The intent behind these requirements is to have you study and think about the course material throughout the semester--to provide you with numerous opportunities to demonstrate the knowledge you have acquired and to get feedback--in order to maximize your ability to learn and grow as a student.

1. Class Participation/Attendance (10%). In order to get the most out of class, you must be prepared when you come to class. Students are required to complete the readings prior to class meetings and to come to class ready to discuss them. You are also expected to keep abreast of current foreign policy issues. I expect everyone to participate actively in the discussion of the day. Roll will be taken and attendance affects your participation grade; excessive absences will result in a lower or failing grade.

You may also be asked to complete short exercises, usually written, in class and out of class revolving around communicating an understanding of the readings. SHOULD YOU MISS A CLASS, YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR LEARNING WHAT WENT ON IN CLASS FROM YOUR CLASSMATES.

2. Class Quizzes (40%). Every Friday there will be a quiz on the readings for that week, usually AT THE VERY BEGINNING OF CLASS (so don’t be late). No make-ups will be allowed. Your top highest 10 quiz grades will count toward 40% of your final grade

3. Three exams (10% each) and a Final exam (20%). Each exam will be cumulative and consist of a variety of questions. Your responses should demonstrate your mastery of the information and concepts provided in the assigned readings as well as the ideas generated in class discussions, as well as your thoughtful consideration and analysis of the material. The final exam will be cumulative. You will receive a study guide in advance of each examination to help you prepare.

Missing an assignment or examination. In order to turn in a late assignment or make-up an exam, I (or the GINT office) must be contacted WITHIN 24 HOURS OF THE DUE DATE and provided a legitimate explanation (e.g., medical illness) with evidence eventually provided. Late assignments or make-up exams will be graded in terms of a higher set of expectations given the additional time allowed. IF I AM NOT CONTACTED IMMEDIATELY, A GRADE OF F AND 0 POINTS WILL BE GIVEN.

GRADES

Your grade will be based, not on how well you do compared to others in the class, but on my assessment of your quality of substantive knowledge, quality of analysis, and effective communication demonstrated--in other words, the level of understanding demonstrated. That is, an A (average of 90-100) represents "excellent" understanding, a B+ (87-89) represent "very good" understanding, a B (80-86) represents "good" understanding, a C+ (77-79) represents "satisfactory yet promising" understanding, a C (70-76) represents "satisfactory" understanding, a D+ (67-69) represents "poor" understanding; a D (60-66) represents "very poor" understanding, and an F (below 60) represents an "appalling" level of understanding. Therefore, you should work together and help each other out.

ACADEMIC DISHONESTY

The University of South Carolina, like all institutions of higher education, is fundamentally dependent upon the maintenance of proper standards of honesty. Maintenance of those standards is the responsibility of every member of this academic community--students, instructors, and staff alike. When confronted with clear evidence of academic dishonesty, I will respond vigorously. Such impropriety in this class will result in an F for the course.

TEACHING PHILOSOPHY AND STRATEGY

The class will be structured around what I call a class dialogue in which information, knowledge, and thought will be generated through lecture/background, discussion, and the Socratic method. I will often play the role of provocateur and advocate to stimulate participation.

The class dialogue emphasizes the importance of student participation and active learning as a means to improve one's skills, interest, information, knowledge, and, ultimately, understanding. In essence, class discussions will consist of an active exchange between the student and professor. When deemed necessary, lectures will be provided for some of the more difficult material and to provide appropriate background.

The class is organized around the required readings. I expect every student to come to class prepared for I will regularly call on you to discuss the required readings. Therefore, every student should be able to summarize and analyze each assigned reading by addressing the following questions:

1. What is the author's purpose?

2. What is the basic theme(s) or argument(s) of the reading?

3. What is the theoretical explanation? Based on what bodies of knowledge (and philosophical assumptions)?

4. What evidence is provided to support the theory?

5. What is its overall explanatory power? Explain its strengths and weaknesses; specify the relevant global policy phenomena explained (and not explained); compare to other theoretical approaches.

Every student, in other words, should attempt to absorb the basic thesis and substance of each reading. In addition, I expect the student to place what is contained within the readings in perspective relative to the rest of the course material. Students also are encouraged to offer comments or questions which contribute to class discussions on a regular basis.

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR

Jerel Rosati is a Professor of political science and international studies and has been a member of the Department of Government and International Studies at Carolina for eighteen years. His intellectual interests range from understanding American politics and intellectual thought to exploring the dynamics of global change, political psychology, and the nature of human interaction. His area of specialization is the theory and practice of foreign policy, focusing on the United States policymaking process. He is the author of The Carter Administration's Quest for Global Community: Beliefs and Their Impact on Behavior and The Politics of United States Foreign Policy (which has been translated in Chinese), as well as the co-editor of The Power of Human Needs in World Society and Foreign Policy Restructuring: How Governments Respond to Global Change, and the author of numerous scholarly articles. He has been named the Outstanding Professor of the Year in the Humanities and Social Sciences by the South Carolina (Honors) College and the Outstanding Teacher in International Studies in the Department of Government & International Studies. He has offered a course on pedagogy for Ph.D.'s in political science and international studies; taught Master's of International Business students; and participated in a number of USIA funded instructional programs involving, for example, Bulgarians, Israelis, and Somalis. He has taught at Somalia National University in Mogadishu and at China’s Foreign Affairs College in Beijing. He has been a Research Associate in the Foreign Affairs and National Defense Division of the Library of Congress's Congressional Research Service, President of the International Studies Association's Foreign Policy Analysis Section, and President of the Southern region of the International Studies Association. He is happily married and the proud father of three children and enjoys travel, sports, music, reading, and good company. He came of age during the early seventies as an undergraduate at U.C.L.A when the events surrounding the Vietnam War and Watergate reached a crescendo, which had a profound impact on his intellectual and personal development to the present day.

Please feel free to come see me during my office hours or any other time I am free.

THIS SYLLUBUS REFLECTS THE EXPECTATIONS AND REQUIREMENTS YOU MUST FULFILL. I EXPECT YOU TO TAKE THE COURSE SERIOUSLY AND WORK AS HARD AS I DO--WHICH IS, AFTERALL, THE KEY TO LEARNING AND INTELLECTUAL GROWTH.

REQUIRED READINGS

Torbjorn L. Knutsen, A History of International Relations Theory ((Manchester University Press, 1997)

All other required readings are in a Universal Copies packet of required readings, available at 1120 College Street (254-8931).

WARNING and helpful hint. The readings are intended to be “accessible and diverse” so as to improve your ability to acquire an understanding of the dynamics of world politics and its real-world relevance. But I want you to be aware that, although I have tried to provide you with the most accessible and readable material, the readings will be relatively demanding and challenging given, in particular, their theoretical nature. This will probably require you to spend more time and effort in understanding and absorbing the material.

The required readings for each week are specified under Course Topics and Readings below.

COURSE TOPICS AND READINGS

PART I – INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW

Introduction

Read syllabus closely.

Overview and Relevance

1. Knudsen, preface and introduction, pp. ix-7

2. Dale R. Herspring, "Practitioners and Political Scientists," PS: Political Science & Politics (September 1992), pp. 554-558

PART II – A HISTORY OF MODERN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS THEORY

The Origins of Western IR Theory

3. Knudsen, chapter 1, pp. 9-35

Renaissance Interstate Politics and Thought

4. Knudsen, chapter 2, pp. 36-54

The Sixteenth Century and the Birth of the Modern World

5. Knudsen, chapter 3, pp. 55-82

The Seventeenth Century and the Growth of the Interstate System

6. Knudsen, chapter 4, pp. 83-114

The Eighteenth Century and the Rise of Popular Sovereignty

7. Knudsen, chapter 5, pp. 115-144

The Nineteenth Century and the Rise of Mass Participation

8. Knudsen, chapter 6, pp. 145-176

Early Twentieth Century and Becoming Contemporary

9. Knudsen, chapter 7, pp. 177-201

Interwar Politics and the Twenty Years’ Crisis

10. Kundsen, chapter 8, pp. 202-230

IR after World War II and during the Cold War

11. Knudsen, chapter 9, pp. 231-258

IR Theory after the Cold War and Into the Future

12. Knudsen, chapter 10, pp. 259-286

FIRST EXAM

PART III – CONTEMPORARY IR THEORY: GLOBAL APPROACHES

The Three Basic Theoretical Lenses: Realism (Conservatism), Liberalism & Radicalism

13. Karen Mingst, Essentials of International Relations (Norton, 1999), pp. 60-88

14. Mingst, “Views of the Intenational System,” pp. 89-108

15. Mingst, “ Views of the International Political Economy,” pp. 195-229

16. Mingst, “Views of Global Governance, pp. 230-264

Illustrations

17. Robert Gilpin, War and Change in World Politics (1981), pp. 145-153

18. Robert O. Keohane and Joseph S. Nye, Jr., Power and Interdependence (1977), pp. 307-318

19. Osvaldo Sunkel, “Big Business and Dependencia: A Latin American Perspective,” Foreign Affairs (April 1972), pp. 477-489

20. Kenneth N. Waltz, Man, The State and War (1954), pp. 130-144

SECOND EXAM

PART IV – CONTEMPORARY IR THEORY: CULTURAL, SOCIETAL, AND DOMESTIC APPROACHES

Overview of The Role of the State and the Nation

21. Mingst, pp. 109-120, 131-142

Differing Views

22. Michael W. Doyle, "Liberalism and World Politics," American Political Science Review 80 (December 1986), pp. 1151-1169

23. John Dower, War Without Mercy: Race and Power in the Pacific War (New York: Pantheon, 1987), introducation, chapter 1, illustrations, and chapter 11, pp. ix-xii, 3-14, 181-200, 293-317

Explaining the Final Solution

24. Daniel Jonah Goldhagen, Hitler's Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust (New York: Alfred A. Knopf), introduction, chapter 16, epilogue, pp. 3-24, 416-461

25. Henry L. Mason, "Implementing the Final Solution: The Ordinary Regulating of the Extraordinary," World Politics 40 (July 1988), pp. 542-569

THIRD EXAM

PART V – CONTEMPORARY IR THEORY: GROUP AND INDIVIDUAL DECISION-MAKING

Overview of the Role of Individuals

26. Mingst, pp. 143-164, and reread pp. 131-136

Rationality and Decision-Making

27. Graham T. Allison, "Conceptual Models and the Cuban Missile Crisis," American Political Science Review 58 (September 1969), pp. 698-718

28. Irving L. Janis, "Groupthink Among Policymakers," in To Augur Well: Early Warning Indicators in World Politics, edited by J. David Singer and Michael D. Wallace (Beverly Hills: Sage, 1979), pp. 71-89

29. Ole R. Holsti, "Crisis Management," in Psychological Dimensions of War, edited by Betty Glad (Beverly Hills: Sage, 1990), pp. 116-142

The Power of Human Images and Cognition

30. Ole R. Holsti, "Cognitive Dynamics and Images of the Enemy," in Image and Reality in World Politics, edited by John C. Farrell and Asa P. Smith (New York: Columbia University Press, 1967), pp. 16-39

31. Jerel A. Rosati, "The Power of Human Cognition in the Study of World Politics,” International Studies Review (2001), pp. 45-75

Personality

32. Doris Kearns, “Lyndon Johnson’s Political Personality,” Political Science Quarterly (Fall 1976), pp. 385-409

33. Stanley A. Renshon, "A Preliminary Assessment of the Clinton Presidency: Character, Leadership and Performance," Political Psychology 15 (1994), pp. 375-394

Biological and Human Needs

34. Roger D. Masters, "Conclusion: Primate Politics and Political Theory," in Primate Politics, edited by Glendon Schubert and Roger D. Masters (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1990), pp. 221-247

PART V – CONCLUSIONS

35. James N. Rosenau, Turbulence in World Politics (1990), pp. 459-467

FINAL EXAM