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international environment and ways of thinking about the future. Course Materials . • Joshua S. Goldstein and Jon C. Pevehouse. 2008. International Relations ...
INTRODUCTION TO INTERNATIONAL POLITICS POLITICAL SCIENCE 365-008 PROFESSOR BRANDON PRINS MWF 12:20-1:10 HSS 217 FALL 2007 Contact Information 1110 McClung Tower Phone: 794-0899 E-Mail: [email protected] Course Website available through Online@UT Office Hours Monday 1:30-3:30, Wednesday 1:30-2:30, or by appointment Course Description This course provides an introduction to key contemporary international problems and the means to analyze them. Major parts of the course cover such topics as the dynamics of conflict and cooperation, the processes of foreign policy decision-making, major international economic issues, and basic future trends in global politics. The course also provides an overview of the primary perspectives and analytical approaches for studying world politics. The overall objective is to give students sufficient awareness of the interaction of political, technological, economic, and social factors to permit a critical appreciation of the contemporary international environment and ways of thinking about the future. Course Materials • Joshua S. Goldstein and Jon C. Pevehouse. 2008. International Relations, 8/E. Longman (ISBN-10: 205573177; ISBN-13: 9780205573172). • Joseph Nye S., Jr. 2007. Understanding International Conflicts: An Introduction to Theory and History, 6th edition. Longman (ISBN-10: 0321393953; ISBN-13: 9780321393951). • Gregory Mahlon Scott, Randal J. Jones, Jr., and Louis Furmanski. 2004. 21 Debated: Issues in World Politics, 2nd edition. Prentice Hall (ISBN-10: 0130458295; ISBN-13: 9780130458292). Course Requirements Your final course grade is based on three examinations and class participation. The final grades are calculated as follows: Participation 3 Exams

10% 90% (30% each)

Attendance and Participation: In order to participate, you must be present; therefore attendance is mandatory. Please contact me before class if you must miss a meeting; all excused absences must be documented. Each student will be allowed 4 unexcused absences. If you have more than these four allotted unexcused absences, you will receive a zero for this portion of your grade. In addition, I expect everyone to be on time and ready to begin class promptly at 12:20pm. I will often make important announcements at the beginning of class, and it is very disruptive to class when people arrive late. Students who are repeatedly late for class will receive deductions in their attendance grade.

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Furthermore, as active participants in this class, you are expected to complete the daily readings prior to class and make informed contributions to the discussion each time we meet. This means that you should be prepared to respond to questions that I may pose in class about the assigned readings. Additionally, students are encouraged to ask questions and participate in class discussions. I want to stress the importance of preparation and participation. We are all learning. Questions and discussions are an extremely important part of our learning process and are relevant to all those in the class. Please ask questions. Examinations: There are a total of three short answer and essay exams in this course. They are scheduled on Friday, September 28th, Friday, October 26th, and the final exam will be held on December 12th.Make-up exams will be given only to students with medical or personal emergencies (death in the family). If an emergency arises, you will need to contact me before the exam or you will receive zero credit. I will be strict about this policy. The grading scale for the course is as follows: 93-100 A 73-76 90-92 A70-72 87-89 B+ 67-69 83-86 B 63-66 80-82 B60-62 77-79 C+ 59 or below

C CD+ D DF

If you have any questions or concerns about a grade you receive in this course, do not hesitate to ask. However, be aware that when I re-grade, I look over the entire assignment; therefore, re-grading may result in a grade that is higher OR lower than the original grade. Final grades in the course will be assigned according to the scale above. Important Dates to Remember • August 31, Friday: Last day to final register, add, change grading options, or drop without a “W” • September 5, Wednesday: Last day to adjust hours for financial aid awarding • October 2, Tuesday: Last day to drop with a “W” • November 13, Tuesday: Last day to drop with “WP/WF” grade • December 4, Tuesday: Last day to withdraw from the university. Course Rules & Expectations The following rules govern this course: (1) The lectures by Professor Prins will supplement, not repeat, the readings for this class. I expect you to do the reading as well as attend lectures. (2) Make-ups for any of the exams will only be given on account of significant illness or serious emergency, and only with a documented excuse. The decision whether to grant a makeup is solely at my discretion. No one will be allowed to take a make-up for more than one examination. I urge you in the strongest possible way to make every reasonable effort to be here for all exams. (3) Failure to take any exam will result in a failing grade for the entire course. (4) I expect you to be professional in your conduct in the classroom. If you infringe on my ability to conduct the class, I will ask you to leave. Please follow the rules listed below: • Turn off cell phones/pagers. • Refrain from chatting or sleeping or reading the newspaper.

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• If you need to leave early, please sit at the rear of the classroom (5) Any exceptions to these rules are given at the instructor's discretion, only with prior approval, and only under extraordinarily pressing and well-documented circumstances. The student must supply appropriate documentation in any event. (6) Blackboard/Online@UT: I will often use Blackboard to distribute assignments, study aids, and other communications. It is very important that you check the Online@UT site regularly, as announcements will be posted there. The course site can be accessed through the following link: http://online.utk.edu Also, I will communicate with you occasionally via email. If you do not access your UT email account regularly, please be sure to set up forwarding. If you have questions about this, please contact the OIT help desk. Special Circumstances & Religious Holidays Students who have a disability that requires accommodation(s) should make an appointment with the Office of Disability Services (974-6087) to discuss their specified needs. Students may be excused from class to observe religious holidays. Please see me prior to the absence so that any necessary accommodations can be made. Students that observe religious holidays that fall on exam days will be allowed to take the missed examination within a reasonable amount of time after the absence. Please see me prior to the holiday to arrange for a makeup test. Academic Honor Code Students are expected to uphold the Academic Honor Code published in the University of Tennessee Student Handbook. The Academic Honor System of the University of Tennessee is based on the premise that each student has the responsibility (1) to uphold the highest standards of academic integrity in the student’s own work, (2) to refuse to tolerate violations of academic integrity in the university community, and (3) to foster a high sense of integrity and social responsibility on the party of the university community. Any violations of this honor statement will be dealt with to the fullest extent authorized under university policy. Cheating of any kind will not be tolerated, including plagiarism. The University of Tennessee’s policies regarding plagiarism state: Students shall not plagiarize. Plagiarism is using the intellectual property or product of someone else without giving proper credit. The undocumented use of someone else’s words or ideas in any medium of communication (unless such information is recognized as common knowledge) is a serious offense, subject to disciplinary action that may include failure in a course and/or dismissal from the University. Specific examples of plagiarism are: • Using without proper documentation (quotation marks and a citation) written or spoken words, phrases, or sentences from any source; • Summarizing without proper documentation (usually a citation) ideas from another source (unless such information is recognized as common knowledge); • Borrowing facts, statistics, graphs, pictorial representations, or phrases without acknowledging the source (unless such information is recognized as common knowledge); • Collaborating on a graded assignment without the instructor’s approval; • Submitting work, either in whole or in part, created by a professional service and used without attribution (e.g., paper, speech, bibliography, or photograph).”

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COURSE SCHEDULE Outline of Topics and Weekly Readings WEEK 1 Wednesday, August 22: Introductions (Syllabus distributed); Political order in the international system Friday, August 24: People, Power, Preferences • Goldstein and Pevehouse, chapter 1 • Nye, chapter 1

WEEK 2 Monday, August 27: Theoretical Framework – Realism • Goldstein and Pevehouse, chapter 2 • Nye, chapter 2 Wednesday, August 29: Discussion 1 – Balance of Power • Goldstein and Pevehouse, pp. 51-62 • Nye, chapter 3 Friday, August 31: Theoretical Framework – Liberal Theories • Goldstein and Pevehouse, pp. 82-93 • Nye, chapter 2

WEEK 3 Monday, September 3: NO CLASS – Labor Day Wednesday, September 5: Discussion 2: Regime Type and Conflict • Nye, pp. 43-50 • Scott et al., Issue 3—Future of Democracy Friday, September 7: Other Theoretical Frameworks • Goldstein and Pevehouse, pp. 93-118

WEEK 4 Monday, September 10: Foreign Policy and Sub-state Actors • Goldstein and Pevehouse, chapter 4 Wednesday, September 12: International Conflict • Goldstein and Pevehouse, chapter 5 • Nye, chapter 6 Friday, September 14: Military Force • Goldstein and Pevehouse, chapter 6

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WEEK 5 Monday, September 17: Discussion 3 – WMD • Goldstein and Pevehouse, pp. 201-216 • Nye, pp. 139-150 • Scott et al, Issue 13 – Nuclear Weapons • Scott et al., Issue 15 – WMD Proliferation Wednesday, September 19: Inter-governmental Organizations • Goldstein and Pevehouse, chapter 7 Friday, September 21: Basic Structures of the UN & Other Major IGOs • Goldstein and Pevehouse, pp. 234-252 • Scott et al., Issue 1 – Globalization • Scott et al., Issue 2: Globalization and the Nation-state

WEEK 6 Monday, September 24: International Law • Goldstein and Pevehouse, pp. 252-260 • Nye, chapter 6 Wednesday, September 26: UN Peacekeeping • Scott et al., Issue 4 – U.S. Unilateralism and Iraq • Scott et al., Issue 5 – Global Activism Friday, September 28: EXAM 1

WEEK 7 Monday, October 1: International Political Economy • Goldstein and Pevehouse, chapter 8 • Nye, chapter 7 Wednesday, October 3: Theories of Trade • Goldstein and Pevehouse, pp. 277-290 Friday, October 5: Trade Regimes • Goldstein and Pevehouse, pp. 290-303

WEEK 8 Monday, October 8: Discussion 4 – International Trade Wednesday, October 10: The Currency System • Goldstein and Pevehouse, pp. 316-328 • Scott et al., Issue 17 – International Money Laundering Friday, October 12: NO CLASS – FALL BREAK

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WEEK 9 Monday, October 15: Multinational Business • Goldstein and Pevehouse, pp. 336-340 Wednesday, October 17: European Union Monetary Union • Goldstein and Pevehouse, chapter 10 Friday, October 19: Just War Theory • Goldstein and Pevehouse, pp. 260-263

WEEK 10 Monday, October 22: Human Rights • Goldstein and Pevehouse, pp. 263-271 • Scott et al., Issue 12 – Human Rights Wednesday, October 24: Discussion 5 – World Court • Scott et al., Issue 9 – ICC Friday, October 26: EXAM 2

WEEK 11 Monday, October 29: International Development Comparisons • Goldstein and Pevehouse, pp. 422-437 Wednesday, October 31: Theories of Accumulation • Goldstein and Pevehouse, pp. 437-444 Friday, November 2: Imperialism • Goldstein and Pevehouse, pp. 444-457

WEEK 12 Monday, November 5: Development Experiences • Goldstein and Pevehouse, pp. 462-491 Wednesday, November 7: Discussion 6 – Foreign Assistance • Goldstein and Pevehouse, pp. 491-499 Friday, November 9: Interdependence and the Environment • Goldstein and Pevehouse, chapter 11

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WEEK 13 Monday, November 12: Tragedy of the Commons • No new readings Wednesday, November 14: Sustainable Development • Goldstein and Pevehouse, pp. 386-401 Friday, November 16: Disease • Goldstein and Pevehouse, pp. 407-417 • Scott et al., Issue 21 – AIDs

WEEK 14 Monday, November 19: Global Warming • Scott et al., Issue 20 – Global Warming and the Kyoto Treaty Wednesday, November 21: OPEN Friday, November 23: NO CLASS – THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY

WEEK 15 Monday, November 26: Natural Resources and Conflict • Goldstein and Pevehouse, pp. 401-407 Wednesday, November 28: Information and the Future of World Politics • Goldstein and Pevehouse, pp. 368-377 • Nye, chapter 8 Friday, November 30: Catch up

WEEK 16 Monday, December 3: Review Session Wednesday, December 12: FINAL EXAMINATION: 12:30-2:30PM

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