maxwell course website

International Security

PPA 704

Spring 2009

Course Time: Wednesday, 3:45-6:30 pm. Prof. Renée de Nevers

Course Room: Hall of Languages 201 Office Hours: Monday 2-4 pm or by appointment

Office: 333 Eggers Hall

Email: denevers@maxwell.syr.edu

Phone: 443-7093

Course Description:

This course will familiarize students with some of the major theoretical issues in the study of international security, and some of the central challenges shaping current debates about security and the use of force. War and conflict have been central to international politics. The study of security investigates causes of war, strategies for avoiding conflict, and the impact of new technologies, actors, and ideas on calculations about the use of force.

The course has four segments: 1) an examination of key aspects and actors in the international system that affect international security and policy making, 2) analysis of how “chronic” or traditional security issues continue to affect the international security arena, 3) an evaluation of how non-state actors and influences are affecting conflict and security in various parts of the world, and 4) a brief exploration of some of the consequences of instability and conflict for international security. The goal is twofold: to give students a solid grounding in current theoretical issues and security challenges in the international arena, and to encourage them to think about how an understanding of these issues can help them address existing security problems.

Course Requirements and Grading:

1. Class Participation

This course is a seminar; attendance and participation are essential. Students are expected to complete assigned readings prior to the class session, and to be prepared to discuss the topics under consideration. Students should also stay informed about international events by reading a major newspaper every day. Keep in mind that participation involves more than talking in class. Some people who voice their opinions freely may actually contribute less than those who say insightful things less frequently. Quantity is not quality.

2. Short Paper

There will be one short paper, 6-9 pages, typed and double-spaced, due after the first section of the course. The paper will synthesize the issues discussed up to this point. Instructions for the paper will be handed out separately. The paper will be due on February 11.

3. Policy Memos

Course participants are required to submit two memorandums of roughly 1200 words after the second and third sections of the course. The memos will focus on some of the case studies discussed in the course. Specific questions to be addressed in the memo will be distributed two weeks before the memo is due. A good memorandum is designed to provide relevant information, analytic assessment, and sensible judgments for those reading the memo. The exercise is designed to test not only absorption but practical application of the course material. Separate instructions on writing a memorandum will be distributed in class. The memos will be due March 18 and April 8.

4. Group Project

Students will also participate in one group project during the term. This will be a group analysis and presentation of one of the issues examined during the course. Groups will be assigned and further details of the assignment provided on September 10. The first group project will likely be on September 24 or October 1. Students who are not participating in a presentation are expected to respond to the presentation and to contribute to class discussion, since these presentations will not take up the full course session.

5. Final Examination

There will also be a take-home final exam assignment designed to cover the entire course. The final will be due on April 29, 4:30 pm.

Grades will be based on the following:

Class Participation: 15%

Short Paper 20%

Policy Memo: 20%

Group Project 20%

Take-home Final Examination: 25%

Policies

Assignments will be penalized one half grade for each day they are late, Papers will not be accepted after the due date, except in the case of extreme illness or family emergency. Students must contact me prior to assignment due dates if they wish to request extensions.

Accommodation Policy and Academic Honesty

Students who are in need of disability-related academic accommodations must register with the Office of Disability Services (ODS), 804 University Avenue, Room 309, 315-443-4498. Students with authorized disability-related accommodations should provide a current Accommodation Authorization Letter from ODS to the instructor and review those accommodations with the instructor. Accommodations, such as exam administration, are not provided retroactively; therefore, planning for accommodations as early as possible is necessary. For further information, see the ODS website, Office of Disability Services http://disabilityservices.syr.edu/

The Syracuse University Academic Integrity Policy holds students accountable for the integrity of the work they submit. Students should be familiar with the Policy and know that it is their responsibility to learn about instructor and general academic expectations with regard to proper citation of sources in written work. The policy also governs the integrity of work submitted in exams and assignments as well as the veracity of signatures on attendance sheets and other verifications of participation in class activities. Serious sanctions can result from academic dishonesty of any sort. For more information and the complete policy, see http://academicintegrity.syr.edu

I take this extremely seriously. It is your responsibility as a student to understand what plagiarism is and how correctly to reference documents and attribute other peoples’ arguments that you are citing. Students found to cheat will receive an F for that assignment, and if the offense is particularly serious, the penalty may be more harsh as well. Students have a right to appeal.

Required Books and Articles

Dan Caldwell, Seeking Security in an Insecure World, available at Follett’s Orange Bookstore in Marshall Street Mall.

Course Reading Packet, Available at Campus Copy in Marshall Street Mall.

In addition to these books and the course packet, there are many articles that are required reading for the course that students can access on line. This is significantly cheaper than copying them in to a course packet. Most, if not all of these are available through Syracuse University library databases, with which you should be familiar.

Course Schedule and Readings:

1. January 14: Introduction and Overview

I. Security and the International System

2. January 21: Perceptions of Security

Readings:

Caldwell and Williams, Seeking Security in an Insecure World, Ch. 1, 1-15

Thucydides, “The Melian Dialogue,” in Betts, Conflict After the Cold War, pp. 37-41 [packet]

Kenneth Waltz, “The Origins of War in Neorealist Theory,” in Rotberg and Rabb, The Origina and Prevention of Major Wars, pp. 39-52 [packet].

Robert O. Keohane and Joseph S. Nye, “Power and Interdependence,” in Betts, Conflict After the Cold War, pp. 121-127 [packet]

Roland Paris, “Human Security: Paradigm Shift or Hot Air?” International Security (Fall 2001), pp. 87-102 [online].

Yuen Foong Khong, “Human Security: a Shotgun Approach to Alleviating Human Misery?” Global Governance (2001), pp. 231-236 [online].

United Nations, A More Secure World: Our Shared Responsibility, pp. 1-19 [online].

Case: National Interests: Russia and Georgia

Charles King, “The Crisis in the Caucasus,” Foreign Affairs (November/December 2008), pp. 2-11 [online].

George Friedman, “Georgia and the Balance of Power,” New York Review of Books (September 25, 2008) [online].

3. January 28: Power in the International System

Readings:

John J. Mearsheimer, The Tragedy of Great Power Politics, Ch. 3, pp. 55-82 [packet].

Robert J. Art, “The Fungibility of Force,” in Robert Art and Kenneth Waltz, eds., The Use of Force: Military Power and International Politics, pp. 3-22 [packet].

Joseph Nye, Soft Power, Ch.s 1,3, pp. 1-32, 73-98 [packet].

Case: China’s Rise

John J. Mearsheimer, “China’s Unpeaceful Rise,” Current History (April 2006), 160-162 [online].

Bates Gill and Yanzhong Huang, “Sources and Limits of Chinese ‘Soft Power’,” Survival (Summer 2006), pp. 17-36 [online]

Yoichi Funabashi, “Keeping Up with Asia,” Foreign Affairs (September/October 2008), pp. 110-125 [online].

G. John Ikenberry, “The Rise of China and the Future of the West,” Foreign Affairs (January/February 2008), 23-37 [online].

4. February 4: States and State Failure

Readings:

Caldwell and Williams, Seeking Security in an Insecure World, Ch. 9, pp. 117-128.

Shibley Telhami, “The Return of the State,” The National Interest (Summer 2006), pp. 109- 113 [online].

Christopher Clapham, “The Global-Local Politics of State Decay,” in Robert Rotberg, ed., When States Fail: Causes and Consequences, 77-93 [packet].

Stewart Patrick, “Weak States and Global Threats: Fact or Fiction?” Washington Quarterly (2006), 29-53 [online].

Charles T. Call and Elizabeth M. Cousens, “Ending Wars and Building Peace: International Responses to War-Torn Societies,” International Studies Perspectives (February 2008), pp. 1-21 [online].

Edward C. Luck, “Rediscovering the State,” Global Governance (January/March 2002), pp. 7-11 [online].

Case: Somalia

Menkhaus, “Governance without Government in Somalia: Spoilers, State Building, and the Politics of Coping International Security (Winter 2006/7), 74-106 [online].

Pierre Englebert and Denis M. Tull, “Postconflict Reconstruction in Africa: Flawed Ideas about Failed States,” International Security (Spring 2008), pp. 106-139 [online].

II. Chronic Problems

5. February 11: Unconventional Weapons

SHORT PAPER DUE

Readings:

Caldwell and Williams, Seeking Security in an Insecure World, Ch.s 3, 5, pp. 34-46, 61-72.

Scott Sagan, “Why Do States Build Nuclear Weapons? Three Models in Search of a Bomb,” International Security, Winter 1996-97, pp. 54-86 [online].

William C. Potter and Gaukhar Mukhatzhanova, “Divining Nuclear Intentions: A Review Essay,” International Security (Summer 2008), pp. 139-169 [online].

Case: Nuclear proliferation

George Perkovich, “The End of the Nonproliferation Regime?” Current History (November 2006), pp. 355-362 [online].

Mark Fitzpatrick, “Can Iran’s Nuclear Capability be Kept Latent?” Survival (Spring 2007), 33-58 [online].

William Burr, “A Brief History of US-Iranian Nuclear Negotiations,” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (January/February 2009), pp. 21-34 [online].

Sammy Salama and Heidi Weber, “Arab Nuclear Envy,” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (September/October 2007), 44-49 [online].

6. February 18: Ethnic Conflict

Readings:

Caldwell and Williams, Seeking Security in an Insecure World, Ch. 10, pp. 129-143.

Chaim Kaufmann, “Rational Choice and Progress in the Study of Ethnic Conflict,” Security Studies (January-March 2005), 178-207 [online].

Case: Rwanda and Russia/Chechnya

Bruce D. Jones, “Military Intervention in Rwanda’s “Two Wars:” Partisanship and Indifference,” in Barbara F. Walter and Jack Snyder, eds., Civil Wars, Insecurity, and Intervention, Ch. 4, pp. 116-145 [packet].

James Hughes, “Chechnya: The Causes of a Protracted Post-Soviet Conflict,” Civil Wars (Winter 2001), pp. 11-48 [packet].

Samantha Power, “Bystanders to Genocide: Why the United States Let the Rwandan Tragedy Happen,” The Atlantic Monthly, September 2001, pp. 84-108 [online].

Howard Adelman and Astri Suhrke, “Rwanda,” in Malone, ed., The UN Security Council, pp. 483-499 [packet].

7. February 25: Terrorism

Readings:

Caldwell and Williams, Seeking Security in an Insecure World, Ch. 13, 170-181.

Lawrence Wright, “The Master Plan,” The New Yorker, September 11, 2006, pp. 48-60 [online].

Marc Sageman, “Understanding Terror Networks,” Foreign Policy Research Institute, November 1, 2004 [online].

Bruce Hoffman, “Challenges for the U.S. Special Operations Commands Posed by the Global Terrorist Threat,” Testimony submitted to the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Terrorism, Unconventional Threats, and Capacities, 110th Cong., 1st sess., February 17, 2007 [online].

Audrey Kurth Cronin, “How al-Qaida Ends: The Decline and Demise of Terrorist Groups,” International Security (Summer 2006), pp. 7-48 [online].

Michael Howard, “A long War?” Survival (Winter 2006-07), 7-14 [online].

Case: Terrorism in Southeast Asia and Europe

Amitav Acharya and Arabinda Acharya, “The Myth of the Second Front:” Localizing the ‘War on Terror’ in Southeast Asia,” Washington Quarterly (Autumn 2007), 75-90 [online].

Peter D. Neumann, “Europe’s Jihadist Dilemma,” Survival (Summer 2006), 71-84 [online].

Christopher Caldwell, “After Londonistan,” New York Times, June 25, 2006 (11 pp). [online].

III. Non-State Actors and Influences

8. March 4: Non-Governmental Organizations and International Organizations

Readings:

Jessica Matthews, "Power Shift," Foreign Affairs, January/February 1997, pp. 50-66 [online].

Keck and Sikkink, Activists Beyond Borders Ch. 1, 1-38 [packet].

R. Charli Carpenter, “Studying Issue (Non)-Adoption in Transnational Advocacy Networks,” International Organization (July 2007), 643-667 [online].

Case: Small Arms and the Landmines Campaign

Caldwell and Williams, Seeking Security in an Insecure World, Ch. 2, 19-33.

Nicola Short, “The Role of NGOs in the Ottawa Process to Ban Landmines,” International Negotiation (1999), 481-500 [online]

Rachel Stohl, “Fighting the Illicit Trafficking of Small Arms,” SAIS Review (Winter/Spring 2005), pp. 59-67 [online].

John R. Bolton, “Statement to UN Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All its Aspects,” July 9, 2001 [online].

Natalie Goldring, “The 2006 Review Conference on Small Arms and Light Weapons: A Study in Frustration,” Disarmament Diplomacy (Spring 2007) (10 pp.) [online].

March 11: Spring Break

9. March 18: Private Armies

FIRST MEMO DUE

Readings:

P.W. Singer, “Corporate Warriors: The Rise of the Privatized Military Industry and Its Ramifications for International Security,” International Security, Winter 2001/2, pp. 186-220 [online].

Anna Leander, “The Market for Force and Public Security: The Destabilizing Consequences of Private Military Companies,” Journal of Peace Research (2005), 605-622 [online].

Angela McIntyre and Taya Weiss, “Weak Governments in Search of Strength: Africa’s Experience of Mercenaries and Private Military Companies,” in Chesterman and Lehnardt, From Mercenaries to Market, pp. 67-81 [packet].

Nic Maclellan, “From Fiji to Fallujah: The War in Iraq and the Privatisation of Pacific Security,” Pacific Journalism Review (2006), 47-65 [online].

Doug Brooks and Gaurav Laroia, “Privatized Peacekeeping,” The National Interest (Summer 2005), pp. 121-125 [online]

David Isenberg, “A Government in Search of Cover: Private Military Companies in Iraq,” in Chesterman and Lehnardt, From Mercenaries to Market, pp. 82-93 [packet].

10. March 25: Transnational Crime and Corruption

Readings:

Caldwell and Williams, Seeking Security in an Insecure World, Ch. 8, 103-114.

James Cockayne, Transnational Organized Crime: Multilateral Responses to a Rising Threat, International Peace Institute Policy Paper (April 2007), pp. 1-20 [online].

Ben W. Heineman, Jr., and Fritz Heimann, “The Long War against Corruption,” Foreign Affairs (May/June 2006), 75-86.

United Nations, A More Secure World: Our Shared Responsibility, pp. 52-58 [online].

Feisal Khan, Corruption and the Decline of the State in Pakistan,” Asian Journal of Political Science (August 2007), 219-247 [packet].

Case: Transnational Organized Crime in Latin America

Mats Berdal and Mónica Serrano, Transnational Organized Crime and International Security, ch.s 7, 12, pp. 95-102, 155-182 [packet].

Kurt Weyland, “Reform and Corruption in Latin America,” Current History (February 2006), pp. 84-89 [online].

Michael Shifter, Latin America’s Drug Problem,” Current History (February 2007), pp. 58-63 [online].

Alma Guillermoprieto, “Days of the Dead,” The New Yorker (November 10, 2008), pp. 44-51 [online].