Political Science/International
Studies 105
International Relations
Spring
2024
Tuesday/Thursday
9:30-10:45
MCALC
1201
Bill Newmann, Political Science Department
Office Hours: 318 Founders Hall: Tuesday/Thurs. 12:30-2:00, and by Appointment (email me).
Phone: Office: 828-2076 (main POLI number)
e-mail: wnewmann@vcu.edu
Newmann's home page: www.people.vcu.edu/~wnewmann with links to other Newmann syllabi and other fun stuff.
POLI 105. International Relations. 3 Hours.
Semester course; 3 lecture hours (delivered online, face-to-face or hybrid). 3 credits. An introductory analysis of interstate relations and world affairs. Attention focuses on theories of international politics, military capabilities and their application, international organizations, global economic trends, domestic sources of state behavior and other selected issues as appropriate. Crosslisted as: INTL 105.
I
am scheduled for back surgery on January 11 – spinal fusion in the lumbar area
and a few other fun things. For the
first three to four weeks of this class, Dr. Judy Twigg will be teaching the
class. Professor Twigg has taught this
class before, and we’re also married, so we will work closely to make sure
there is a smooth transition between us, and that any questions you have will
get to me. On the first day of class,
I’ll be giving the class introduction in a recorded zoom lecture, and I’ll
explain everything you can expect from me and from the class. I will also be
answering email by the time class starts, so let me know if you have questions.
Introduction
This course is intended to be an introduction to the
concepts of international relations theory and the realities of world politics.
Don't worry if you haven't taken any courses on international relations before.
If you haven't this will get you up to speed on anything you might want to know
about international politics. As a required course for the Political Science
degree and a core course choice for the International Studies degree, this
course is introductory by nature. If you have taken other international
relations related courses, this won't be boring: I try to make the discussions
we have as relevant to the present world situation as possible. So much has
changed within world politics over the past decade that scholars are still
trying to understand what it all means. We'll join that discussion over the
current state of world politics and the future of the international system.
The premise of this course is that we are living at a
momentous time in world history.
Scholars often break up human history into broad eras that may last
hundreds or thousands of years. In high school or in other university classes
you’ve probably studied the transitions of human society from hunting-gathering
to agricultural to an industrialized age. Today we are moving out of the
industrial era into the digital or information or computer era (we don’t have a
definite word for it yet.). We are 30-70 years into that era (depending on how
it’s judged) and it’s unclear how deeply this transforms society, but we do see
massive changes already. Those changes
impact our everyday lives and they will have a huge impact on nation-states and
the international system. Every aspect of this course will consider that
change. You can’t underestimate how
rapidly the world is changing today.
The course will be broken up into three sections. The first
section deals with some of the more theoretical aspects of international
relations: the nature of the international system, the basic concepts of
realism, idealism, and constructivism, the forces of nationalism and
transnationalism, national power, and international law. These are mostly
theoretical issues, but we need to get a firm grounding in some theory before
we venture out into the world and its problems. Essentially, here we lay the
groundwork for the substantive discussions to come. This section will begin with a quick look at
how the international system works. We are watching the system change right
now. Generally, great powers compete to see who can lead the world. Sometimes that competition leads to wars
(like WW I and WW II) and sometimes one nation can capture a leadership
position and make the rules (the UK and the US have done so over the past 200
or so years). Right now, we may be witnessing the transition of leadership from
the US to China. Some believe that that transition might include a major war
between the US and China or a rivalry that stays just short of direct
conflict. India is the wild care in some
views. In short, the betting is that the 21st century is defined by
the relationships between the US, India, and China.
The second section is more issue oriented, dealing with
issues of international security. We’ll look at these issues on several
levels. First, we’ll on states and why
they often go to war and less often seem to find a way to prevent war. We’ll look at the problems of middle power
nation-states that don’t play by established rules of the international system,
such as North Korea or Iran. Second, we’ll look at non-state actors. We’ll look at intergovernmental
organizations, such as the United Nations. We’ll also look at organizations
(such as al-Qaeda and ISIS). Hopefully we’ll have time to talk about human
rights issues here as well. Every aspect of these issues is being changed by
the new era: non-state actors have much greater power to set the global agenda;
nation-states have lost their monopoly on ideas, on the use of force, and even
the control of their own economies.
The third section deals with several issues that have
particular relevance to international politics after the Cold War. We will
examine international political economy, trade, economic competition, the
economics of both the industrialized North and underdeveloped South, the
concept of interdependence, the struggle between globalization and regionalism
(forces that are pulling nations together or pulling them apart), and
international health and demographic issues.
The most obvious economic change is the rapid growth in wealth in the
developing world and the emergence of economic powerhouses around the
world. Media generally focuses on bad
news, but there is a tremendous amount of good economic news in places where
the economic news had typically been bad.
You can find many books and articles that refer to the Chinese economic
“miracle” or the Indian economic “miracles” or the African economic
“miracle.” At the same time, the
industrialized world -- North America, Europe, and Japan – seem to be
witnessing the slowing down of their economies.
We need to understand all of this.
We will also spend time examining current events, as they
crop up from time to time. Though we
certainly have a lot to do (the entire world in one semester), we can change the
plan of the syllabus as needed. There's no better way to deal with these issues
than to watch history happen and discuss its relevance to the issues we deal
with in class and readings.
This course is a required course for Political Science
majors (and minors).
Learning
Outcomes
1. Students will achieve comprehension of and be able to assess the theoretical paradigms of international relations, particularly realism, idealism/liberalism, and constructivism
2.
Students
will be able to differentiate between the structures of international eras, and
evaluate the evolution of the international system.
3.
Students
will be able to evaluate the challenges of modern international security, such
as the threats of terrorism, nuclear proliferation, great power conflict, and
ethnic conflict
4.
Students
will be able to evaluate the national and international strategies designed to
deal with international security challenges
5.
Students will achieve comprehension of and be able to assess
the theoretical paradigms of international political economy and trade,
particularly liberalism, nationalism, and structural theories such as Marxism,
and dependency
6.
Students will be able to analyze the different economic
challenges of relatively wealthy industrialized, and developing states, as well
as evaluate the strategies nation states have used to gain wealth
7.
Students will be able to identify and evaluate the positive
and negative impacts of globalization
8.
Students will be able to analyze the different challenges
posed by international environmental changes, and international health crises.
Required Texts: Available at the VCU
Bookstore, and Bookholders. In general, if you have
questions or problems with getting the books or the material in the books, let
me know. Some of the books
may be available online or on reserve at Cabell Library; if they’re on reserve,
you can ask for them at the main desk on the first floor. See below.
· Richard Haass. The World (New York: Penguin Press, 2020). Available online through the VCU Libraries. A direct link does not work, so you need to look it up through the library search system: Click here.
·
Anja Manuel. This Brave New World (New York: Simon and
Shuster, 2016) (Two copies are on reserve at the Cabel Library front desk on
the first floor; these are my copies, so be nice to them).
·
P. W. Singer and Emerson
Brooking. LikeWar (Boston: Houghton Mifflin,
2018) (One copy is
on reserve at Cabell Library front desk, First Floor). HM742.S5745 2018
·
Anthea Roberts and
Nicolas Lamp. Six
Faces of Globalization (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2021.
Available online through VCU Libraries. Click
here. It will also be on reserve
in hard copy at the Cabell Library main desk on the first floor, call number JZ1318.R6245
2021.
A note
on the readings. I won’t be using a big textbook this semester. While they provide a solid structure, they
are often dense and difficult to read, and they are always too expensive. The
syllabus will provide the structure.
Haass’s
book is a big tour of the world and the key issues the world faces in the first
part of the 21st century. It
has some background history (can you cover the past 40 years in 50 pages; yes,
you can). It looks at different regions,
then important challenges every nation faces: globalization, terrorism, nuclear
proliferation, climate change, migration, health, and a few more).
Manuel’s
book is a great look at the rise of China and India and how that will impact the
world. The US has been the clear world power since the collapse of the Soviet
Bloc in the late 1980s and early 1990s. That looks like it is going to
change. To understand that, we need to
learn about China and India and the political and economic trajectory of those
two nations. The future of the
international system may be defined by the relationships between the US, India,
and China.
Singer
and Brooking’s book is part of a series that Singer and co-authors have written
about the impact of technology on international relations. We live in a wired world now and much of what
we do and what we know comes from social media.
It took a while, but most people are beginning to recognize the
implications of social media for individual privacy. Just now, people are realizing the
implications of social media for other areas: the ease of manipulation, the
challenge of knowing what information is fact and what is fake, and the ways
social media can be used as a weapon by individuals and nations.
Roberts
and Lamp’s book is a great overview of the different ways people think about
globalization. Globalization, in short,
is the reality that the world is more interconnected than possible ever before. Borders between nation-states seem less
relevant than they’ve been in the past and events or ideas that originate in
one place in the world resonate across the planet very quickly. That can be
good (Boba Tea) or bad (COVID). That’s
the focus of Roberts and Lamp. They examine six ways people think about
globalization, basically a ringside seat to the debate over whether
globalization is good or bad.
Grades
|
See the instructions for some links to websites
that you can use to study. |
5% of the grade |
January 25 |
|
Exam
1 |
30% of the grade |
February 20 |
|
Exam
2 |
30% of the grade |
March 28 |
|
Exam
3 (Final) |
35% of the grade |
May 2 at 8:00 AM to 10:50 (note
the time change) in our regular classroom |
How to
calculate your grade: Use the
percentages from the above table. So, if you received the following grades, you
would calculate your grades in the following manner:
Congratulations,
you got an A.
I give
you this very detailed formula for a number of reasons. First, you should never
be unaware of what your class average is. You can calculate it at any point in
the semester. Second, there are about 180 people in this class, so I cannot
calculate all your grades for you if you have questions. This way, I don't need
to. Third, if your grade is not what you'd like it to be, you should know, and
you should come see me about it. Please do not come to me after Exam 3 and say
that you're having trouble in the class. It's too late at that point. But any
time in the semester that you feel you are having trouble, or not doing as well
as you feel you should, come talk to me. During my office hours and by
appointment I am happy to talk to you about the class
Grading scale: I use a typical scale: A = 90-100; B = 80-89; C = 70-79; D = 55-69. Borderline grades are considered in the following manner.
· If your grade is 69.5, 79.5, or 89.5 or higher, then you may be a candidate for a round up to the higher grade (Notice those numbers in the sentence; do not ask for a higher grade if your average is a 68 or 78 or 88 or lower; those are not borderline averages).
· You may become a candidate if your grades are borderline and if your grades have been going up during the semester.
· That means that if you are borderline, but your last exam is lower than the previous exams (you are between a B and C, but your third exam is a C for example), you will probably get the lower grade.
· If you are borderline, and your last exam is higher than the previous exams (you are between a B and C, but your third exam is a B), you will probably get the higher grade.
· Another factor I consider is the typical grade you receive. Let’s say we have four grades for the class and three are grades of B and one is a C (bad day) and your average is a 79.6, you are a candidate for receiving a B
· There is no extra credit for this class. Please do not ask.
I will
explain this the first day of class. For the instructions follow the link.
Exams
The
exams will be multiple choice. Before the exam I will place a review sheet on
line, linked to this syllabus, below this paragraph. This review sheet should
be used as your study guide for the exam. The review sheet will include some
terms that are from the readings only, so that you can go back and review those
items from the readings. Once you have the review sheet, feel free to ask me
questions about the terms. This is the best way to study for the exam. If you
understand the terms on the review sheet, you can define each one and see how
each one relates to the larger concepts and issues we've discussed in class,
you should do just fine on the exam.
After the grades are ready, they will be posted on blackboard.
Singer
and Brooking Reading Guidelines
For the Third Exam (use all of these when studying for the third
exam)
Roberts and Lamp Reading Guidelines (Use this as a review
sheet for the book)
Things from the Second Exam That Will Be On
The Third Exam
COURSE AND READING SCHEDULE
Important:
1. Try to
do all readings before the Tuesday of the week it is assigned. Of course, the
first week, you should get the readings done by Thursday.
2. I
use the PPT sides as the structure for the class lectures. The PPT that are
posted in Canvas right now may be modified a bit during the semester. I’ll let
you know as I change things to take into account the pace of the class and
world events.
Week 1: January 15-19: The Nature of the International System and the Possibility of
Change
·
Manuel,
Introduction and Chapters 1and 2
·
Haass,
Preface
·
Nature
of the International System PPT
Week 2, January 22-26: Realism, Idealism/Liberalism,
Constructivism (or Power, Law, Identity)
·
Map Quiz
January 25
·
Manuel,
Chapters 3, 4, 6, and 7
·
Theories
of International Relations PPT
Week 3, January 29—February 2: Realism, Idealism/Liberalism,
Constructivism (or Power, Law, Identity) (continued)
·
Manuel,
Chapters 8, 9, and 12
Week 4, February 5-9 The Evolution of the International
System I
·
Evolution
of the International System PPT
·
Manuel,
Conclusion
·
Haass,
Part One, 1-57
Week 5, February 12-16: The Evolution of the
International System II
·
Haass,
Part Two, pp. 61-153.
Week 6, February 19-23: The Causes of War and Peace
·
Exam 1: February 20
·
Intro
to Security (for the second exam)
·
War and
Peace.ppt (for the second exam)
·
Haass, Part IV, pp. 253-269 and 280-287 (for second
exam)
Week 7, February 26—March 1: Intergovernmental Organizations:
IGOs
·
International Organization
PPT
·
Nationalism,
Ethnic Conflict, and the UN
·
Singer
and Brooking, Chapter 1-3
·
Haass,
Part IV, pp. 288-295
Spring Break March 4-8
Week 8, March 11-15: Non-State Actors: The Good
(NGOs) and the Bad (Terrorists)
·
Singer
and Brooking, Chapters 4-5
·
Haass,
Part III, pp. 166-182.
Week 9, March 18-22: Social Media
as a Weapon: The Internet and International Relations
·
Singer
and Brooking, Chapters 6 and 7
·
Being
a Good Political Consumer
Withdrawal Date March 29
Week 10, March 25-29: Finishing up Security Section
·
Exam 2, March 28
·
Singer and Brooking, Chapters 8 and 9 (for Exam 2)
Week 11, April 1-5: Introduction to International
Political Economy (IPE)
·
IPE
(International Political Economy)
·
William
W. Newmann. “A Brief Introduction to Theories of International Political
Economy.” Genocide Studies International
10, Number 1 (Spring 2016), pp. 7-26. Available at https://muse.jhu.edu/article/612354/pdf.
·
Roberts
and Lamp, Chapters 1-4
Week 12, April 8-12: International Political Economy
(continued)
·
Roberts and Lamp, Chapters 5-7.
·
Israel-Palestinian Crisis Lecture April 11
Week 13, April 15-19: International Political Economy
(continued)
·
Roberts and Lamp, Chapters 8-11
·
Israel-Palestinian Crisis Lecture April 116
Week 14, April 22-26: The Developing World
·
East
Asian Strategy PPT (for reference)
·
Haass,
Part III, pp. 183-200, 208-214.
·
Roberts
and Lamp, Chapters 12-14
Week 15, April 30:
The
Developing World (continued)
·
Roberts
and Lamp, Chapter 15.
Exam 3: May 2
from 8:00 AM to 10:50 AM (Note the time change!)
Where can you find information on
international affairs?
This is the questions students always ask me: “Where do I find good information on international affairs? I’m looking for something unbiased and something that doesn’t always look at the world through American eyes (as in how do these developments affect the US).” Here’s the short answer:
For day-by-day coverage of events in the world:
BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/.On a day-by-day basis, no other news organization covers the world as well. It has separate pages for most regions, links to past stories, links to data bases, all kinds of information that will get you up to speed on anything.
World News Network: http://wn.com/. This is a site which covers day-by-day events by creating links to major news papers around the world. So, if something is happening in Pakistan, for example, there will be several links to stories about the event from web-based sources in S. Asia, E. Asia, Europe, N. America… It also has links to regional windows with coverage that is more focused. It even has links to issue-specific compilations of links on various issues. For example, the science page has sections for stories on AIDS, Biotech, cloning…
On a weekly basis:
The Economist: www.economist.com. This is a Britain-based weekly which covers world politics and world business. There really is nothing else like it in the comprehensive nature of its coverage. You can also buy it on the newsstand, but the web is free. It covers world politics very well.
Long Term Views of Crisis and Conflict:
International Crisis Group: www.crisisweb.org. This is the International Crisis Group, a non-profit organization that studies, analyzes, and makes recommendations about how to resolve various crises in the world. There is nothing better for the in-depth examination of current world events and the dilemmas of problem solving and peace making. It has reports (30-50 pages), briefings (10-30), and a weekly briefing (Crisis Watch), which you can get on the web site or sign up for e-mail delivery.
Students also often ask these questions: How do I deal with all the information out there that is bad information? How do I deal with bad or propaganda or conspiracy theory web sites? How do I find good sources? Real Sources of news? How do I sift through the propaganda and rhetoric of partisan media and of governmental officials and candidates? Use fact checking sites:
·
Fact
Check.Org From the Annenberg Center at the University of
Pennsylvania
·
PolitiFact.com From
several newspapers
·
The
Fact Checker From the Washington Post
·
Snopes.com (fact
checking and debunking urban legends and internet hoaxes that are often about
politics)
VCU
Syllabus Policy Statements from Provost’s Office