Political Science 29000 & 39800
Charles Lipson
University of Chicago
Syllabus, Autumn 2007

The goal of this course is to introduce major issues, questions, and theories about international politics. The focus is on the modern world from World War I onward and on recent theorizing about international relations. There are no prerequisites for taking the course. It should provide a solid grounding for other courses in international politics and modern history.

Books are available at UC/Barnes & Noble Bookstore and the Seminary Cooperative Bookstore.

All materials are available at Regenstein Reserve or electronic reserve.

Undergraduates normally enroll in PS 290, grad students in PS 398.

All students receive letter grades unless they have advanced written permission from Prof. Lipson. This permission must be sought before the mid-term exam.

Grades for this course are based on a midterm and final. The final covers the entire course and counts slightly more. Students who participate regularly in sections will be given positive credit. Both exams are written in class without books, notes, or other aids. Foreign-language students or students with learning disabilities will be given some additional time to complete these exams. Our goal, after all, is to examine your understanding of international politics, not your ability to write English quickly!

Undergraduate sections meet once each week. Sections will be assigned in Week 2.

There is usually a graduate section for students in the Committee on International Relations; other graduate students are welcome to attend. CIR students are graded by their preceptor, in cooperation with Prof. Lipson. Political Science graduate students are graded by Professor Lipson.

This course uses multimedia extensively. Class presentations include computerized versions of my lecture notes, maps, graphs, historical photos and paintings, and newspapers from relevant periods. To give a flavor of the historic periods we cover, the class presentations include propaganda posters and political cartoons.

Lectures and Readings:

"People have now-a-days got a strange opinion that everything should be taught by lectures. Now, I cannot see that lectures can do so much as reading the books from which the lectures are taken."
      --Samuel Johnson in Boswell's Life of Johnson

Robert J. Art and Robert Jervis, "Anarchy and its Consequences," editors' introduction in Robert J. Art and Robert Jervis, eds., International Politics (8th ed.; NY: Longman, Addison-Wesley 2005).
                (REQUIRED BOOK)  Most assigned articles in Art & Jervis 6th ed. (including this article) are also available in the 5th ed.
               But about 1/3 of the assigned articles are available only in the 6th edition.

Kenneth N. Waltz, "The Anarchic Structure of World Politics," in Art and Jervis, International Politics.

Joseph S. Nye, Jr., Understanding International Conflicts (6th ed.; New York: Longman, Addison-Wesley, 2005), Chapters 1-2.
                (REQUIRED BOOK)  previous two editions contain most of assigned materials

NOTE: No sections during Week 1.  Sections begin during Week 2.

John J. Mearsheimer, "Anarchy and the Struggle for Power," in Art and Jervis, International Politics.

Alexander Wendt, "Anarchy Is What States Make of It," in Art and Jervis, International Politics.

Kenneth Oye, "The Conditions for Cooperation in World Politics," in Art and Jervis, International Politics.

Michael W. Doyle, "Kant, Liberal Legacies, and Foreign Affairs," in Art and Jervis, International Politics.

Samuel P. Huntington, "The Clash of Civilizations?" in Art and Jervis, International Politics.

Robert J. Art and Robert Jervis, "The Uses of Force," in Art and Jervis, International Politics.
               This assignment refers only to Art and Jervis's brief introduction to this section of the book.

Nye, Understanding International Conflicts, Chapter 3 (Balance of Power and World War I).

G. John Ikenberry, After Victory: Institutions, Strategic Restraint, and the Rebuilding of Order After Major Wars (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2001), Chapter 1 (Problem of Order); Chapter 5 (Settlement of 1919).
                 (REQUIRED BOOK) D363 .I46 2001

Ikenberry, After Victory, Chapter 6 (The Settlement of 1945).

Nye, Understanding International Conflicts, Chapter 5 (Cold War).

Lawrence Freedman, "The Confrontation of the Superpowers, 1945-1990," in Michael Howard and Wm. Roger Louis, eds., The Oxford History of the Twentieth Century (NY: Oxford University Press, 1998).
                 (REQUIRED BOOK) D421.O95 1988

There will be sections this week.

Fareed Zakaria, "Why Do They Hate Us?" in Art and Jervis, International Politics.

Robert A. Pape, "The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism" in Art and Jervis, International Politics.

Bruce Hoffman, "What is Terrorism?" in Art and Jervis, International Politics.

Scott D. Sagan and Kenneth N. Waltz, The Spread of Nuclear Weapons: A Debate Nenewed (2nd ed.; NY: W.W. Norton, 2003),  whole book.
                (REQUIRED BOOK) Do not use the first edition.

Charles Lipson, Reliable Partners: How Democracies Have Made a Separate Peace, (Princeton University Press, 2003), Electronic Reserve: Introduction/Nutshell (call # 474-5087); Conclusion (call #474-5090).

Nye, Understanding International Conflicts, Chapter 2, section on "Liberal Democracy and War."

The mid-term exam will be given in class on Thursday, NOVEMBER 1, 2007

Please bring your own (unmarked) blue books to class for the mid-term and the final exam.

On this exam (and on the final), students may not use books, notes, or computers. The exam covers both assigned readings and lectures.

What the exam looks like:  Both the midterm and final come in two parts:
     (a) brief identification questions (about 10-12 of them), and
     (b) 2 longer essay questions (chosen from 3 or 4 questions).

The first part of the exam is a brief series of identification questions, which require only one or two word answers. For example, they might ask the name of a treaty ending a particular war. Or they might provide a definition and ask what it refers to. Or they might ask you to name a specific leader or scholar. In short, they will range quickly across the readings. This part of the exam counts for approximately 20% of the total.

The bulk of the exam (approximately 80%) consists of two longer essay questions on major topics in the course. Students select the 2 questions they will answer from a menu of 3 or 4 questions. These questions focus on the central themes in the first half of the course. They ask you to discuss critically the assigned readings and lectures and to synthesize your views on major topics.

The exam lasts 80 minutes, the normal class period. Students will be given extra time, at their request, if they lack native fluency in English or have specific learning disabilities. Students needing extra time do not need to ask in advance; you can ask on the day of the exam itself. (The final exam has the same format, but lasts 2 hours.)

Make-up exam: Make-up exams are given only with Prof. Lipson's written permission in advance of the make-up exam. Students must make a written request for a make-up exam and state why the regular exam could not be taken (for example, a serious family illness). The make-up exam is given only once, on Thursday of the week following the regular mid-exam, immediately after the class period.

Robert Skidelsky, "The Growth of a World Economy," in Howard and Louis, Oxford History of the Twentieth Century.

Nye, Understanding International Conflicts, Chapter 7 (Globalization and Interdependence) and Chapter 9 (A New World Order?)

Ikenberry, After Victory, pp. 239-56
               please review these pages, which were part of the assignment for Session 8.

Robert O. Keohane, "Hegemony in the World Political Economy," in Art and Jervis, eds., International Politics.

Jeffrey A. Frieden, Global Capitalism: Its Fall and Rise in the Twentieth Century (NY: W. W. Norton, 2006), Preface plus Chapters 12, 13, 20..
                (REQUIRED BOOK) On order at Regenstein

Jeffrey Frankel, "Globalization of the International Economy," in Art and Jervis, International Politics.

Martin Wolf, "Will Globalization Survive?" in Art and Jervis, International Politics.

Moses Naim, "The Five Wars of Globalization," in Art and Jervis, International Politics.

Anne Deighton, "The Remaking of Europe," in Howard and Louis, Oxford History of the Twentieth Century.

Andrew Moravcsik, The Choice for Europe: Social Purpose and State Power from Messina to Maastricht (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1998), pp. 3-10, electronic reserve.
               JN15 .M567 1998

Moravcsik, "Europe without Illusions," in Art and Jervis, International Politics.

Garrett Hardin, "The Tragedy of the Commons," in Art and Jervis, International Politics, pp. 511-16.

Thomas Homer-Dixon, "Environmental Changes as a Cause of Acute Conflict," in Art and Jervis, International Politics.

John Browne, "Beyond Kyoto," in Art and Jervis, International Politics.

Margaret E. Keck and Kathryn Sikkink "Transnational Activist Networks," in Art and Jervis, International Politics, pp. 551-57.

NOTE: There will be a Tuesday lecture, but no sections, during Thanksgiving Week.

No additional readings.

DATE: Tuesday, December 4, 2007, 1:30-3:30 in our regular classroom:

Early Final (with prior written permission only): Thursday of reading period, 1:30-3:30 (in our regular classroom) 

Make-up final (with prior permission only): First Thursday of new quarter, 9:30-11:30 (Pick 407)

What the final exam looks like:  The exam covers the entire course and comes in two parts, just like the midterm:
     (a) 10 or so brief identification questions;
     (b) 2 longer essay questions.

The final exam is given in our classroom (at the time listed above) and follows the same format as the midterm, but with more time for the answers. The final exam covers material from the entire course, including both readings and lectures. Students may not use books, notes, or computers.

The first part of the exam is a brief series of identification questions, which require only one or two word answers. For example, they might ask the name of a treaty ending a particular war. Or they might provide a definition and ask what it refers to. Or they might ask you to name a specific leader or scholar. In short, they will range quickly across the readings.

The bulk of the exam is two longer essay questions on major topics in the course. Students select the 2 questions they will answer from a menu of 3 or 4 questions. These questions focus on the central themes of the course and ask you to synthesize your views and analyze those of major authors. To prepare for these questions, concentrate on the most important elements of the course, review the readings and lectures, and draw them together in thoughtful ways that illuminate the major issues in the course. The questions may cover international relations theory, security issues, and international political economy.

The exam lasts 2 hours. Students will be given extra time, at their request, if they lack native fluency in English or have specific learning disabilities. Please bring your own blue books to class for the final exam.

Make-up exams, procedures: Some students miss the regular exam date because of illness or other excusable reasons. To be eligible to take the make-up exam, students must write to Prof. Lipson and seek his permission. They should state why they missed the regular exam date (for example, a serious family illiness).  A copy of this request should also be sent to the relevant T.A.
Students may take the make-up final only after they have received Prof. Lipson's written permission.
The make-up exam is given only once, on the first Thursday of the new quarter, at 9:30 a.m., in Pick 407. It will last two hours. Please bring 2-3 bluebooks.

Early-graduation exams, procedures: Students graduating this quarter need to take an early exam. This early exam is give only once, during the last week of classes. To be eligible for this early exam, students must be graduating this quarter and must notify Prof. Lipson in writing of their need to take the exam. This notification must be given before the mid-term, and a copy should be sent to the relevant T.A.

Key terms in IR theory and security policy. This is not a comprehensive list, but it should be helpful.

.Key terms in international political economy (IPE). This is not a comprehensive list

		ISBN (paperback)	Regenstein call number
	Robert J. Art and Robert Jervis, eds., International Politics: Enduring Concepts and Contemporary Issues (8th ed.; NY: Longman, Addison-Wesley, 2005). Most, but not all, of the assigned articles are in the previous edition..	0-321-20947-8	JZ1242.I574 2005
	Jeffry A. Frieden, Global Capitalism: Its Fall and Rise in the Twentieth Century (NY: W. W. Norton, 2006).	0-393-05808-5	HF1359.F735 2006
	Michael Howard and Wm. Roger Louis, eds., The Oxford History of the Twentieth Century (NY: Oxford University Press, 1998).	0192803786	D421.O95 1988
	G. John Ikenberry, After Victory: Institutions, Strategic Restraint, and the Rebuilding of Order After Major Wars (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2001).	0-691-05091-0	D363 .I46 2001
	Joseph S. Nye, Jr., Understanding International Conflicts (6th ed.; NY: Longman, Addison-Wesley, 2005).	0-321-20945-1	JZ1305.N94 2005
	Scott D. Sagan and Kenneth N. Waltz, The Spread of Nuclear Weapons: A Debate Renewed (NY: W.W. Norton, 2002).  This is, in effect, the second edition; please do not use the first edition, which is outdated.	0-393-97747-1	U264.S233 2003

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