Course Title: Current Issues in International Relations Tutor: Dr Steven P. McGiffen
“For every complex problem, there is an answer that is clear, simple – and wrong.” H.L. Mencken
Classes will run Mondays from 3.45 p.m. to 6.15 p.m., beginning September 14, 2009.
Course Reader
John Baylis, Steve Smith and Patricia Owens (eds) The globalization of world politics: an introduction to international relations (Fourth Edition, Oxford University Press, 2008)
Other required reading
Joseph Stiglitz Making Globalization Work (Penguin, 2006) Ha-Joon Chang Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism (Bloomsbury Press, 2008)
Recommended Reading Joseph Stiglitz Globalization and Its Discontents , (W.W. Norton & Company, 2002) James Petras and Henry Veltmeyer Globalization Unmasked : Imperialism in the 21 st Century (Zed Books, 2001) Stephen Gill Power and Resistance in the New World Order (Palgrave Macmillan, 2003)
David Keen Endless War: Hidden Functions of the 'War on Terror' (Pluto Press, 2006)
Almost all sessions will include a chapter of Baylis, Smith & Owens (BS&O) as required reading. This course focuses primarily on issues in contemporary global politics rather than on theories of international relations, but it is important to understand the theoretical approach underpinning the tutor’s analysis. That’s why you should read Gill (above), especially Chapters 1, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 11. Students who feel the need to refresh their general theoretical background knowledge should look at Part Two of BS&O, which gives an account of each major theory or group of theories current in the discipline. In addition, a good grasp of at least post-World War Two history is essential to an understanding of contemporary internal relations, so students who do not feel that they have such should read Part One. Finally, a number of chapters also contain material which cuts across the content of the weekly sessions. For this reason, though they do not figure on any of the lists for these sessions, the following chapters are also required reading, and should best be read as early in the course as possible: 15, 16 and 29.
As this course focuses on events which may be unfolding while we study them, I would also encourage students to read widely in the contemporary press. Looking at serious newspapers and news sources from as many countries as possible is a start: if you can read French or other foreign languages, take advantage of this. If not, read non-US papers as well as those from the United States, in particular The Financial Times and The Guardian , respectively the voices of intelligent British conservatism and liberalism. Le Monde Diplomatique is also now available in English translation and provides an excellent and stimulating critique of global affairs. Other recommendations: The Economist, Foreign Policy, Foreign Policy in Focus, New Internationalist , and the websites and listservs of the TransNational Institute< http://www.tni.org/ >, Global Policy Forum
Course structure and requirements:
In addition to attending class and participating in discussion and other activities during class, which together will count for 20% of the grade, each student will be required to produce three pieces of work: a short essay (max. 2000 words, relatively early in the course); a research paper (max 5000 words, to be completed by the last day of the course) and a class presentation, i.e. a presentation in class on a paper or papers selected from the reading list, or agreed between student and tutor. There will be no formal examination. The mid-term exam is replaced by the essay, and the final exam by the presentation and the research paper. Non-attendance at class is looked on much less unfavorably if the tutor is informed beforehand and given an explanation, although such absences should obviously be kept to an absolute minimum.
For the short essay, which will also count for 20% of the grade, questions will be distributed week 2 and the deadline will be week 9. For the research paper, which will be your most important piece of assessed work, accounting for 40% of the final grade, questions will be distributed Week 10. In each case the choice of questions will be broad, and in the case of the research paper the questions will be sufficiently flexible to allow students to focus on issues which are of special interest to them.
The presentation should last a maximum of 20 minutes, may include supporting visual material (though this is not required) and should stimulate discussion among the other students. Presentations will begin Week 4 at the latest, earlier if anyone wants to go earlier. This will count for 20% of the grade.
For each of these assessments, students will be rewarded for original work, for presenting intelligent arguments backed up by sound research, and for coherent analysis - not for agreeing with the tutor! Similarly, you will be penalized for poorly-developed arguments which rely on unproven assumptions, a lack of coherence, internal contradiction and shoddy work of all kinds – and not for disagreeing with the tutor. You are expected to be objective and approach the subject with an open mind. This does not, however, mean that you are required to refrain from expressing judgments and opinions, provided these are relevant to the issues under discussion, and backed up by sound observation. If arguing a particular position, you should show an awareness of counter-arguments and be able to explain why you have decided that they are wrong, or insufficient to persuade you to change your position.
Finally, plagiarism is intolerable at any level of study. In graduate students, where the emphasis should be on original thought based on sound research, it is inexcusable. Clear cases of plagiarism will result in fail grades. Where any doubt exists, discussions will be held with the student before any decision is taken.
Recap:
Attendance = 20% Presentation in class = 20% Essay = 20% Research paper = 40%
Feb 9 Classes begin Feb 16 Mid-term essay questions distributed
Session 9 Mid-term essays due Session 10 Research Paper question list distributed Final session Research Papers due
Week-by-week
International Relations courses need to be able to respond to immediate events. For this reason, the following list is indicative rather than rigid. You may be asked to look at particular aspects of an issue not mentioned on this list. To take an example, if the class had been running during August, 2008, we would have all had to find out quite quickly where South Ossetia was, and why the Russians and Georgians felt it was worth fighting a war over.
PLEASE NOTE: GIVEN THAT THIS IS A “CURRENT ISSUES” CLASS, READING LISTS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGES WHICH WILL BE ANNOUNCED AT LEAST A WEEK IN ADVANCE.
The URLs for all on-line readings were last checked on September 11, 2009.
Session 1: Introduction
A general overview of the current state of international relations, picking out some of the central themes on which the course will focus.
Session 2: Globalization?
The political and economic basis of the global system of international relations. The postwar settlement and its continuing influence; the legacy of colonialism; the international division of labor; religious, cultural and ideological divisions and their implications for international relations; global imbalances of wealth and power and their implications for international relations. Some definitions of globalization.
Readings: Anthony McGrew, “Globalization and global politics” (BS&O, Ch.1) Michael Cox, "From the cold war to the war on terror", (BS&O, Ch.4) Ngaire Woods, "International political economy in an age of globalization" (BS&O, Ch.14) Joseph Stiglitz Globalization and Its Discontents , (W.W. Norton & Company, June 2002.) James Petras and Henry Veltmeyer Globalization Unmasked : Imperialism in the 21 st Century (Zed Books, 2001)
Session 3 Trade
The World Trade Organization: Free Trade and its malcontents. What is the WTO, what is its history and how does it function? What are its implications for the governance of states and for relations between them? How do its procedures and decisions reflect the wider realities of trade and commerce in an unequal world? What benefits has freer trade brought? What have been its negative results? Are there any realistic alternatives to the current system? By looking at the theoretical underpinnings, institutional expression and practical realities of current trade between nations, we will attempt to arrive at some answers to these questions.
Readings:
Jan Aart Scholte, “Global trade and finance”, (BS&O, Ch.26) World Trade Organization material on recent and current negotiations, through portal: http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/dda_e/negotiations_summary_e.htm and ‘We must keep our foot on the gas for trade” (recent speech by Director General) http://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news09_e/aid_07jul09_e.htm World Development Movement material on the WTO, through portal: http://www.wdm.org.uk/trade-campaign
Session 4 Financial background to international relations
Money makes the world go round: Debt, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank. How did the huge debt burden borne by the world’s poorest countries arise and what can or should be done about it? What is the role of the IMF in the managing of this debt and the solving of the problem? How does the World Bank pursue its development aims and how effective has it been in ameliorating the problems which it was established to address? How effective is foreign aid in general, whether bilateral or multilateral? Are there any alternatives to the current global financial system? And what role does finance play in influencing relations between developed nations??
Readings: “Beyond the Crisis: Sustainable Growth and a Stable International Monetary System” Speech by Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund at the Sixth Annual Bundesbank Lecture, Berlin, September 4, 2009 http://www.imf.org/external/np/speeches/2009/090409.htm See also “IMF fact sheets”: on surveillance, at http://www.imf.org/external/np/exr/facts/surv.htm and on technical assistance, at http://www.imf.org/external/np/exr/facts/tech.htm Yilmaz Akyüz, “Reforming the IMF: Back to the Drawing Board”, G24 Discussion Paper series No 38, Nov 2005, http://www.unctad.org/en/docs/gdsmdpbg2420055_en.pdf Shalmali Guttal, “Corporate Power and Influence in the World Bank”, Focus on the Global South , Aug 2007 http://www.globalpolicy.org/socecon/bwi- wto/wbank/2007/08wbcorporate.htm
Session 5 The Financial Crisis
What are the roots of the current financial crisis? What are its implications? How do we get out of it?
“The crisis is not the end of the market economy” http://www.imf.org/external/np/vc/2008/092408.htm (An interview with IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn) Jayati Ghosh, “The Financial Crisis and the Developing World” (Third World Network, October 2008) http://www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/214/44087.html Roberto Frenkel and Martin Repetti Some Reflections on the Current Global Crisis from a Developing Countries Perspective , http://www.globalpolicy.org/images/pdfs/SocEcon/2009/The_Global_Economic_Crisis/05 06_Reflections_Crisis.pdf
Session 6 The UN in crisis? 3/9
The United Nations. The presiding institutions - Security Council and General Assembly Historical reasons for the UN's structure; current difficulties this structure creates War, terrorism and the crisis of UN authority. Why is the UN structured as it is, and where does power really lie within these structures? An increasing number of people and countries are calling for reform. Why? What do they hope to achieve? How realistic are these hopes? And in the meantime, what role is the UN playing in international relations? The role of treaties, protocols and agencies. The UN role in development.
Then read:
Richard Little, “International regimes”, (BS&O Ch.17) Peter Willets, “Transnational actors and international organizations in global politics” (BS&O Ch.19) Paul Taylor and Devon Curtis, “The United Nations” (BS&O Ch.18) Koffi Annan “In Larger Freedom: Towards development, security and human rights for all (United Nations, 2005) available at http://www.un.org/largerfreedom/contents.htm James Paul and Céline Nahory, “Theses Towards a Democratic Reform of the UN Security Council” http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/reform/2005/0713theses.htm Remarks by Ambassador Susan E. Rice, U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations, At New York University’s Center for Global Affairs and the Center on International Cooperation, “A New Course in the World, a New Approach at the UN,” August 12, 2009. Go to the explanatory press release at http://www.centerforunreform.org/node/406 and click on the hyperlinked word ‘speech’ in the introduction.
Session 7 The US: Defense and Security 3/16
- NATO, the Coalition of the Willing, and other military alliances - Iraq, Afghanistan, the ‘War on Terror’ and beyond - Will the new Administration significantly change foreign policy?
Are we living in a ‘unipolar’ world, and what does it mean to have a single superpower? Does the US have any potential rivals? How has US foreign policy changed since the end of the Cold War, and since 9/11? What motives lie behind US actions on the world stage? Does the ‘war on terror’ or ‘war on terrorism’ represent a departure from long-standing intelligence techniques, and if so what distinguishes it? Is the term ‘war’ appropriate? What truth is there in critics’ assertions that civil liberties are under threat from a growing security state, and are restrictions on liberty a price we should be prepared to pay? Supporters of the war against Iraq defend it in a number of ways: as a moral struggle, as essential to global and US national security, as preventing the thorough destabilization of a volatile region. Opponents say that it is not only immoral, but illegal; that it is motivated by greed (for oil, of armaments companies, etc) and not by any concern for the welfare of either the Iraqi or the American people. Some, including many advisers to previous US administrations, argue that the war in Iraq actually conflicts with the war on terrorism. We will examine these claims and counter-claims, in the light also of the developing stand-off between the US and Iran.
Readings: David Keen Endless War: Hidden Functions of the 'War on Terror' (Pluto Press, 2006) James D. Kiras “Terrorism and globalization”, Baylis & Smith, Ch.21 Conn Hallinan “Afghanistan: What Are These People Thinking?”, Foreign Policy in Focus, September 10, 2009, http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/6407 Anita Dancs, Policy Report: The Cost of the US Global Military Presence, July 3, 2009, http://www.fpif.org/pdf/reports/0709costofempire.pdf
Session 8 The EU: both a unique way of managing relations between nations, and an actor on the international stage 3/30
The European Union is a unique political structure, being both a system for managing international relations, and an actor on the world stage. Clearly also, it is undergoing rapid and fundamental change. Is the EU in the process of becoming a federal state, a sort of United States of Europe? What are the forces behind integration, and those opposing it? What has enlargement achieved, either from the point of view of the new member states, or from that of the European integration project as a whole? If the Lisbon Treaty comes into force, what will be its likely consequences?
While each of its 27 member states continues, officially at least, to pursue its own foreign policy interests, since the Treaty of Maastricht the European Union has evolved towards ever-closer cooperation in this area. Most recently it has begun even to encroach upon what is traditionally the most jealously guarded of all of the range of powers and responsibilities which define a sovereign state: defense. At the same time, member states have almost wholly surrendered formal control of external trade in favor of centralized decision-making procedures and the European Commission. How have these developments affected the member states themselves, and what are their implications for relations between Europe and the rest of the world?
Readings: Steven P. McGiffen, The European Union: A Critical Guide, New Edition (London: Pluto Press, 2005) Ch.1, “Introduction”, Ch.2 “The Treaties”, Ch. 3 “The Institutions”, Ch. 5, “Enlargement”; Ch.6, “The Common Foreign and Security Policy”; Ch.10, “External Economic Relations” Ch. 17 “The Rejection of the Constitutional Treaty: What Next for the EU?” The European Commission’s official “European Union in the World” website at http://europa.eu.int/comm/world/ contains links to information on each of the major areas of external relations policy. Raj S. Chari and Sylvia Kritzinger Understanding EU Policy Making (London, Pluto Press, 2006) Ch. 10 “External Policies: Divided We Stand, United We Fall” Steve Marsh and Hans Mackenstein The International Relations of the European Union (London: Pearson, 2005) Slamming the Door on Development: Analysis of the EU’s response to the Pacific’s EPA negotiating proposals , Oxfam International, December 2006, http://www.oxfam.org/sites/www.oxfam.org/files/Slamming%20the%20Door%20on%20D evelopment.pdf
Session 9 Latin America: New Times?
What has changed in Latin America? After decades of being dominated by right-wing dictatorships propped up by US power, can Latin America now plot an independent course? Or will the Honduran coup prove the beginning of a turning of the tide?
Readings:
Conn Hallinan “Latin America's New Consensus”, Foreign Policy in Focus , October 29, 2008 http://www.globalpolicy.org/nations/sovereign/integrate/2008/1029n ewconsensus.htm Larry Birns and Sean Johnson, “Obama and the Honduran Crisis: Friend or Foe of Enlightened Change?”, Council on Hemispheric Affairs (CHA), August 13, 2009, http://www.coha.org/2009/08/obamas-white-house-friend-or-foe-of- enlightened-change/
As this is a rapidly-developing situation, up-to-date readings will be recommended the week before this class.
Session 10 War and peace in Africa
Why has Africa been ‘left behind’ as much of the world has grown more prosperous? What happened to the promise of independence?
Mandy Turner “Scramble for Africa”, The Guardian , 2 May 2007, http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/natres/generaldebate/2007/0502scramble .htm Howard W. French “Kagame's Hidden War in the Congo” New York Review of Books September 2009
More readings will be recommended prior to the session.
Session 11 War and peace in the Middle East
What is the attack on Gaza all about? How does it fir into the region’s wider conflicts?
Readings:
Mike Berry and Greg Philo Israel and Palestine: Competing Histories (London: Pluto Press, 2006)
“What are the solutions to the Israeli - Palestinian conflict?” plus other material at http://www.israelipalestinianprocon.org/ which is a comprehensive, even-handed collection of documents and papers on the issues involved.
“Israel, Palestine and the Occupied Territories” http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/isrlindx.htm
“Summary of Israel-Palestine Conflict” plus links to recent news are at http://www.newsbatch.com/israel2.htm
Scott Ritter “Oil, Israel, And America: The Root Cause Of The Crisis” http://www.countercurrents.org/ritter101007.htm
Things appear to be developing rapidly in this conflict, so more readings may be recommended prior to the class, although the ‘newsbatch’ site in particular should contain up-to-the-minute material
Session 12 Humanitarian Intervention
In the age of instantly televised horror, we are all familiar with the plea – and many of us have echoed it – why doesn’t somebody do something ? The ‘something’ envisaged is often armed intervention by the UN, NATO or other ‘good guys’, to protect the innocent and punish the guilty. Yet, as the American essayist H.L. Mencken pointed out, "For every complex problem, there is an answer that is clear, simple – and wrong." The fact is, ‘humanitarian intervention’, judged by its own stated aims, has a track record of repeated and sustained failure. But does that mean that it can’t work? In this session we will look at the problem from many points of view.
Louise Arbour (United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights), “The Responsibility to Protect as a Duty of Care in International Law and Practice”, address to Trinity College, Dublin Nov, 2007, http://www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/NewsRoom?OpenFrameSet
World Summit on the Resposnsibility to Protect Outcome Document, go to http://www.responsibilitytoprotect.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3 98 and click on ‘read the full text’.
Edward S. Herman and David Peterson “The Dismantling of Yugoslavia: A Study in Inhumanitarian Intervention (and a Western Liberal-Left Intellectual and Moral Collapse)” http://www.globalpolicy.org/nations/sovereign/failed/2007/10dismantling.htm
Session 13 Food Crisis, Water Crisis
Recent research suggests that by 2050, five times as much land is likely to be suffering under extreme drought as is the case now, while 200 million people could be displaced. Why is this happening, what are its links to climate change, and how much of it can be attributed to ‘nature’, how much to policy? What are the implications of this intensifying scarcity for international relations?
Is the world running out of food? Is this a result of population increase? Even if this is the case, what other factors are at work? Is the switch to biofuels threatening to undermine food security and generate hunger? What are the implications for international relations of rising food prices and stubborn levels of hunger and malnutrition?
Caroline Thomas “Poverty, development, and hunger”, (BS&O Ch.27) Human Development Report 2006, Beyond Scarcity, Power Poverty and the Global Water Crisis (Summary) http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/hdr2006_english_summary.pdf Food and Agriculture Organization, The State of Food Insecurity in the World: Eradicating World Hunger, Taking Stock Ten Years After the World Food Summit, ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/011/i0291e/i0291e00.pdf Holly Poole-Kavana “12 Myths About Hunger”, http://www.foodfirst.org/12myths Katarina Wahlberg , “Food Aid for the Hungry?” Global Policy Forum , Jan 2008, http://www.globalpolicy.org/socecon/hunger/relief/2008/01wahlberg.htm
Session 14 The Millennium Development Goals
Focusing in a comparative way on the experience of development in Asia, Africa and Latin America over the last half century, we will examine the successes and failures of various approaches to development policy and ask whether underdevelopment is an unfortunate accident of history, the result of the sustained failure of developed countries to offer effective assistance, the fault of those who have been in power in the Third World, or the consequence of policies deliberately designed to maintain existing divisions of wealth and power? Why have a few countries escaped the poverty trap, while the great majority has not? Looking at progress – or in some cases, lack of progress – toward achieving the MDGs will enable us to re-examine many of the central concerns of the course.
Readings
The Millennium Development Goals, http://www.un.org/millennium/declaration/ares552e.pdf Samir Amin, “The Millennium Development Goals: A Critique from the South” Monthly Review, Vol. 57 No. 10, (March 2006), http://www.monthlyreview.org/0306amin.htm “FAO and the Millennium Development Goals” ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/meeting/009/j5259e/j5259e00.pdf Eric Toussaint Your Money or Your Life: The Tyranny of Global Finance (Pluto Press, 2005) IMF factsheet on “The Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative” http://www.imf.org/external/np/exr/facts/mdri.htm Umakant, “Millennium Development Goals: Half Way Through, A Need To Ensure Greater Commitment And Accountability ” http://countercurrents.org/umakant260707.htm Basic Capabilities Index 2007, “Half-way between 2000 and 2015 - Far from where we should be” http://www.socialwatch.org/en/informeImpreso/pdfs/bci2007_eng.pdf Basic Capabilities Index 2008, “The MDGs, easier said than measured” http://www.socialwatch.org/en/avancesyRetrocesos/ICB_2008/tablas/theMDGea siersaid.htm
Session 15 Conclusion