For centuries states have attempted to cooperate to solve collective problems. Sometimes they have succeeded, other times they have failed. Environmental problems provide a set of cases in which widespread cooperation is both important and quite difficult.  Under what conditions have states been able to cooperate to solve international environmental problems?  What are the international political and legal mechanisms that have been used or could be tried to address these problems?  What types of issues can international environmental politics successfully address and what types can it not?

     This course will address aspects of international environmental politics as a whole, defined as the category of environmental issues about which states attempt, or might attempt, to cooperate.  It will pay particular attention to the international treaties used to deal with these environmental problems.  It will examine theoretical concepts and specific illustrative issue areas, but will not take up all international environmental issues.  This course, then, is really about the intersection of international relations and environmental politics, and about learning how and when they can intersect in a beneficial way.
 

Readings

The following books will be available for purchase in the bookstore:

    -Elizabeth R. DeSombre, The Global Environment and World Politics.

    -Ken Conca, Michael Alberty, and Geoffrey D. Dabelko, eds., Green Planet Blues:  Environmental Politics from Stockholm to Rio, 2nd ed
 

Course Requirements

-Class Participation:  10%
-Mid-Term Examination:  20%
-End-of-term Examination:  30%
-Research Paper:  40%
 

Class Participation (10%):

    Students are expected to come to all classes, to pay attention, and to participate actively in class discussions and in various class exercises that will occur from time to time.

First Examination (20%):

    There will an examination held in class on Tuesday, February 25, which will cover theoretical and empirical material discussed in class and in the readings.

Second Examination (30%):

    There will an examination held in class on Tuesday, April 22, which will cover theoretical and empirical material discussed in class and in the readings since the first exam.

Research Paper (40%):

    Each student will write a 3,000-word research paper.  For this paper each student will be expected to apply the analytic tools discussed in class to a specific empirical issue-area in international environmental politics.  More explicit instructions will be distributed in due course.

    You will be expected to submit a statement of your research question and tentative thesis on Tuesday, February 11 and your working bibliography on Tuesday, March 4.  Each submission is worth 10% of the paper credit.  Late submissions of these two assignments will not be accepted.

    Details of the assignment, information on sources, information on citation, and the statement of policy on plagiarism and academic honesty can be found here.

    The paper is due at the beginning of class on Tuesday, April 15.  Please note that late papers will be accepted, but marked down half a grade for every day late.

    Note as well the cellphone and beeper policy.
 

Course Schedule

Week 1 (January 7, 9):  Introduction
     -DeSombre, Chapter 1

Week 2 (January 14, 16): International Environmental Politics
     -DeSombre, Chapter 2
     -Conca and Dabelko, pp. 40-54

Week 3 (January 21, 23): Environment and Security
     -DeSombre, Chapter 3
     -Conca and Dabelko, pp. 314-316

Week 4 (January 28, 30): International Negotiations
     -Conca and Dabelko, pp. 85-93, 131-168

Week 5 (February 4, 6): Science, Risk, and Uncertainty
     -DeSombre, Chapter 4
     -Conca and Dabelko, pp. 27-31,

Week 6 (February 11, 13): International Institutions and the Environment
* Paper proposal due at the beginning of class on February 11
     -Conca and Dabelko, pp. 179-220.

Week 7 (February 18, 20): Non-governmental Actors
     -DeSombre, Chapter 5
     -Conca and Dabelko, pp. 118-130

Week 8 (February 25.  Note that there is no class on February 27): Mid-term
* February 25:  Mid-term Examination

Week 9 (March 4, 6): Sustainable Development and Environmental Justice
* Working bibliography due at the beginning of class on March 4
     -Conca and Dabelko, pp. 229-273, 325-343.

Spring Break!

Week 10 (March 18, 20):  Biodiversity
     -DeSombre, Chapter 8

Week 11 (March 25, 27): Creatures of the Sea
     -DeSombre, Chapter 7
     -International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling

Week 12 (April 1, 3): Acid Rain and Ozone Depletion
     - DeSombre, Chapter 9

Week 13 (April 8, 10): Climate Change
     -DeSombre, Chapter 6
     -The Kyoto Protocol to the UNFCCCC

Week 14 (April 15.  Note that there is no class on April 17): Review and Conclusions
* Paper due at the beginning of class on April 15
     -DeSombre, Chapter 10
     -Conca and Dabelko, pp. 343-352

Week 15 (April 22): Exam
* April 22:  End-of-term Examination