Teaching Assistants:
INR 2001 Teaching Assistants' Office Hours Spring 2012
COURSE OBJECTIVES
Nothing remains outside the analytical domain of the study of international relations. Depending on the context, world politics encompasses all behavior between people. In the age of technological, economic, and ecological change, understanding the political relevance of human actions is necessary as people try to solve problems that increasingly become international. This course is designed to assist students in their understanding of global politics by providing them with a general framework for putting in perspective current developments related to international politics. Students will develop a familiarity with the basic concepts of international relations. There are two specific goals facing the students: 1) developing an appreciation for the elements of both change and continuity in the global system and 2) developing skills necessary to apply theoretical and conceptual understanding in analyzing current international events. The more broad intellectual objective is to assist students in developing an appreciation for the complexity of international issues, including the inter-relationship of domestic and international events.
REQUIRED TEXTS
Charles W. Kegley, Jr., and Shannon L. Blanton, World Politics: Trend and Transformation, 2012-2013 Edition, Boston: Wadworth
https://www.cia/gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/ (web site for assignments and quizzes)COURSE REQUIREMENTS
This course is both a lecture and a discussion course. Students are
expected to attend lectures and to raise relevant questions in class.
The
course is organized around daily lectures that will both complement and
clarify assigned readings. Much of the lecture material, and thus exam
questions, transcends the information covered in the texts. It is
strongly
recommended that students stay ahead in the daily reading assignments.
To engage the class in active participation, each student must complete
several short take home assignments specified in the syllabus. Timely
discussions
are expected on the topics. Beyond the normal course readings, students
are encouraged to access prominent periodicals on a daily basis.The
New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Christian Science Monitor
are
available on the Internet (WWW.NYT.COM,WWW.WASHINGTONPOST.COM,WWW.CSMONITOR.COM).
EXAMS AND EVALUATION
There will be four exams, each accounting for 20% of the final
grade.
They are non-cumulative mixed format tests. There are no makeup exams..
Evaluation: Class
Assignments
10%
Attendance
5%
Quizzes
5%
4
Exams
80%
RELEVANT DATES (dates are subject to change at the instructor's discretion)
EXAM 1 February 1
Map Quiz #1 - February 4
EXAM 2 February
27 Map Quiz #2 - February 11
EXAM 3 April 5
Map Quiz #3 - February 18
EXAM 4 April 24
Map Quiz #4 - March 18
Map Quiz #5 - March 25
Grading Scale:
A
90-100
C 70-76.9
B+
87-89.9
D+ 67-69.9
B
80-86.9
D 60-66.9
C+
77-79.9
E less than 60
COURSE OUTLINE
I. The System and The Players
-Introduction: Why Are We Here? (Do We Have to
Be?)
-Analyzing World Politics: Realism, Idealism and
Other Pretenders
Reading
Assignment:
Kegley - Chapters 1 - 2
-Sizing Up the Actors -The United States Approach to World Politics
Reading Assignment:
Kegley - Chapters 3 - 4
-Majors and Minors: Russia, China, and the Third World States
Reading
Assignment:
Kegley - Chapter 5
-The Rising Influence of Nonstate Actors
Reading
Assignment:
Kegley - Chapter 6
EXAM #1 February 1
II. The Stakes (Part I): High Politics
-The State and Security
Reading
Assignment:
Kegley - Chapter 8
** Map QUIZ #1 and Assignment MONDAY - FEBRUARY 4 **
-Power Variables and Power Relations
Reading Assignment:
Kegley - Chapter 8
- Theories of War and Civil War
Reading
Assignment:
Kegley - Chapter 7
** Map QUIZ #2 and Assignment MONDAY - FEBRUARY 11**
-Nuclear Weapons, Deterrence, and Crisis Management and Arms Control
Reading
Assignment:
Kegley - Chapter 17 (pp.515-525)
** Map QUIZ #3 and Assignment MONDAY - FEBRUARY 18**
EXAM #2 February 27 (Wednesday)
III. The Stakes (Part II): Low Politics
-Political Economy: Changing Nations' Priorities
Reading
Assignment:
Kegley - Chapter 10
-The International Monetary System and Trade Politics
Reading
Assignment:
Kegley - Chapter 11
- Eastern Europe/China: Problems of Moving to Market Economies
-Low Politics from a Third World Perspective
Reading
Assignment:
Kegley - REVIEW Chapter 5
** Map QUIZ #4 and Assignment MONDAY - MARCH 18**
-Oil and Energy Politics: Choices of States and Consumers
Reading
Assignment:
Kegley - Chapter 14 (pp.472-474)
** Map QUIZ #5 and Assignment MONDAY - MARCH 25**
EXAM #3 APRIL 5
IV. Global Community and Global Commons: Pressures, Power, Order and the Future of World Politics
-Population Pressures on a Finite Planet
Reading
Assignment:
Kegley - Chapter 12
-Food Politics
-Problems of the Global Commons
Reading Assignment:
Kegley - Chapter 14 (pp.454-472)
-International Law: Forces for Peace or Prerogatives of the Powerful?
Reading Assignment:-International Integration: Building Communities or the Evolution of the State?
Reading
Assignment:
Kegley - Chapter 6 (pp. 163 - 170)
-Interdependence and Power Politics: Reflections
on the Tensions between Self-Interest and Collective Interests
-Continuity and Discontinuity in World Politics
Reading
Assignment:
Kegley - Chapter 15
EXAM #4 April 24