30:060 - Introduction to International Relations

Prof. K. Kadera / Summer 2012
Contact Info / 9-11:00 a.m., M-Th, plus some afternoons& excursions
Office hours / ACCENT Paris Center: 89 rue du Faubourg St.-Antoine
email:

NB: Most of our meetings are in ______. However, this changes occasionally, especially for times we watch a film or when we have afternoon class.

Web Pages Useful web pages:

  • Iowa Courses Online (ICON):
  • ACCENT Paris Center:
  • ACCENTParis Blog:

Overview The goals of this course are threefold: 1) to introduce students to the basic factsand characteristics of world politics, 2) to explore the multitude of tools and theories used by scholars in order to understand world politics, and 3) to encourage students to begin to try their own hands at making sense out of a complex and interesting subject. Topics include the international system, leaders, theories of decision-making, the role of public opinion, international conflict, arms control, deterrence, international regimes and institutions, cooperation, alliances, democratic peace, and trade and interdependence.

Studying these topics outside of the US, and especially in Europe, offers us the chance to understand how many of the concepts and theories of international relations (IR) originated and evolved, rather than taking them for granted as given facts and immutable truths. We will have a unique chance to see, not just how theories explain political behavior, but how political behavior gives rise to the theories themselves. A multitude of significantEuropean phenomenahave shaped, and continue to shape, the development of concepts and theories: the emergence of the modern state, the rise of nationalism and patriotism that fueled protests and revolutions, World Wars I and II, the development of nuclear weapons and power, and the establishment of a strong regional international organization, the European Union.Paris offers a particularly wonderful opportunity to examinethese phenomena. For example, we will investigate:

the foundation of the modern state in class discussions of the French Revolution, Napoleon Bonaparte’s rise, and the withering influence of the Church

the use of banners and patriotic songs during the Revolution, some of the very earliest examples of such devices in the building of nationalistic sentiment

France’s evolution from a pure nation-state(a state with a single national identity) to a state with a diverse population of immigrants and citizens with transnational identities

how states design international organizations (IOs) that then constrain their member states by considering the example of the EU’s regulation and subsidization of French agriculture

France’s historical struggle to maintain its distinctive role in world affairs (e.g.,Charles deGaulle pursuit of nuclear weapons, leadership among Francophone states, France as a (neo)colonizer, France as a (declining?) European power)

shifts over time in France’s sources of state power(economic, demographic, and military)

the rising prominence of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), such as Medecins Sans Frontiers, that form the foundation of transnational networks

the extraordinary sacrifice of human life that constitutes the costs of war and underscores the credibility of alliances, as evidenced by the Normandy cemeteries and battlefields

Because we are in Paris, we will take advantage of the opportunities to visit museums that house artifacts related to these significant developments, monuments that are dedicated to key individuals or events, and locations of historic import. In your daily travels through the streets and subway of Paris, you will readily notice artwork, place names, monuments, and street layouts that reveal France’s storied history of religion, revolution, colonization, war, occupation, emancipation, integration, and globalization; in short, all the fundamental processes of international politics.

In this syllabus, I have highlighted course components that are distinctly connected to this semester’s location in Paris, France. Yellow highlighting indicates content that is new to this semester. Green highlighting represents a component that I traditionally use even when on campus in Iowa City.

Required Reading One text is required for the course. Traditional paperback copies can be purchased through an online seller such as Amazon, or students can purchase rental or electronic copies directly from Cengage:

  • Kinsella, D., Russett, B., and H. Starr, H. 2012.World Politics:The Menu for Choice, 10th edition (Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth).

In addition, I highly recommend reading a national, daily news source. Online sources:

  • The New York Times
  • Le Monde in French and Le Monde in English
  • Le Figaro

Occasionally, the course schedule will also direct you to listen to or watch short clips that are available for free from an online source via the course’s ICON web site.

Earning Grades Students will earn their grades based on the following work:

Obligation / Date / Format / Point Value
1st hourly exam
§I-III / June 22 / multiple choice
and short answer / 30
2nd hourly exam
§IV-V / July 3 / multiple choice
and short answer / 30
3rd hourly exam
§VI-VII / July 12 / multiple choice
and short answer / 30
3 short reaction papers / June 29, July 5, July 13 / 1-2 pp., double-spaced / 60
5-7 minute presentation of reaction paper / July 9 / oral / 10
Attendance and participation / Midterm self-evaluations due / includes self-evaluation and feedback mid-term / 40

Total:

/ 200 pts.

Final letter grades are based on the percentage of possible points earned. A+s are awarded only in exceptional circumstances when a student demonstrates intellectual capacity and rigorous scholarship beyond the course’s requirements. The scale, which uses honor points, is as follows:

Letter Grade / Percentage of Points
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
F / 100-91
88-90
85-87
81-84
78-80
75-77
71-74
68-70
65-67
60-64
0-59

In order to pass this course, all course work must be completed. If work is late without a valid excuse, it will be penalized. Make up exams will not be given unless the student has an acceptable excuse according to University guidelines and can provide verifiable documentation.

If a student wishes to have the grade awarded on his/her work reconsidered, s/he should first consult with the instructor. However, final decisions concerning adjusted grades will only be made once the student provides the instructor with a written statement as to why additional points should be given. This does not mean a simple request for more points. The student must tell why s/he believes some specific aspect of his/her answer is correct or of more value. The instructor reserves the right to subtract points as well as to add points.

Academic Dishonesty Students are advised to retain all notes and drafts for all course work until two weeks after grades are received. Students should also be aware that the instructor takes matters of academic dishonesty, including plagiarism and cheating, very seriously and is prone to imposing the most severe penalty allowed by University rules. Consult the CLAS’s web site on Academic Honesty.

Academic Policies The CLAS’s course policies can be found at:

Students with Disabilities Please see the CLAS policy on Accommodating Students with Disabilities. In addition, please note that the sooner you notify the instructor of any needs, the easier it will be to make those arrangements in a timely manner.

When Problems Arise Students may find it hard to discuss difficulties, dilemmas, dissatisfaction, and the like with the instructor. Please resist the temptation to remain anonymous and let problems fester. If you have any concerns about your class performance, the way the class is being taught, the functionality of the study abroad program, or anything else related to this course, please speak with or email the instructor. We will work together to find a solution.

The Departmental Executive Officer for Political Science is responsible for oversight of all Political Science courses. The DEO is ProfessorCameron Thies.

Attendance Policy Attendance and participation comprise a healthy portion of a student’s grade. At mid-semester, each student will write short evaluation (one paragraph) of his/her own participation. I will then provide feedback and my own evaluation, so students have a sense of how they are performing well before the end of the term. I will also take daily attendance during class time and class trips.

CourseCalendar

There are two versions of the calendar for the course – abbreviated and detailed. The abbreviated one is a single page spreadsheet that you can easily carry. It tells you what sections of material we are covering each day, what excursions or special activities are planned, and when exams or assignments are due. A calendar with dates for specific sections, the reading assignments, and a few online activities is posted on ICON. Please note that the nature of our study abroad course might necessitate flexibility to accommodate new opportunities, additional lectures to cover important material, or time off for writing and studying. Schedule changes will be announced in class or emailed to students.

Abbreviated Course Outline

Following this outline is a more detailed outline with highlights related to the study abroad experience.

I Introduction

II - The International System

III - States & Statecraft

EXAM 1(§I-III)

IV - Inside the State

V – International Conflict

EXAM 2 (§IV-V)

VI – International Cooperation

VII – International Political Economy

EXAM 3 (§VI-VII)

Course Outline

I Introduction

1.1 What is Politics?

1.2 What is International Relations?

  • Actors: States and Nations
  • Rise of the modern state system in Europe:
  • The state’s separation from the church: illustration: the Coronation of Napoleon by Jacques-Louis David
  • Prominence of nationalism’s role in world politics
  • Example: the French Revolution, use of symbols, flags, banners, national songs to promote national identity
  • Illustrate the concept of irredentism using Alsace-Lorraine
  • Feminist representations of the nation in art (e.g., La Liberté as a nude in Delacroix’s painting)

1.3 Who Cares about IR?

1.4 Elements of Social Science

Visit the Musée du Louvre

Topics to investigate, experience, and discuss: representations of the nation, the state, the church, war, empire, independence, revolution, citizens, key figures such as Napoleon, Robespierre, etc.; periods of artwork that overlap with major theoretical developments or major events in IR (romanticism, realism, impressionism, modernism). I will give students will be given a list of key art pieces to visit and ideas/concepts to explore and discover with my guidance or on their own. Throughout the remainder of the course, I will use photographs of these key pieces and representations of the core ideas/concepts during lectures.

II - The International System

III - States & Statecraft

3.1 What is a State?

3.2 Attributes that Influence Behavior

  • State power
  • Focus on “major powers,” an elite group of states which form the central universe of analysis for traditional IR theories
  • Discuss scholars’ analytic criteria for determining which states qualify as major powers.
  • Examine France’s movements in and out of major powers from 1816 to present
  • Discuss alternative criteria and measures (GDP, possession of nuclear weapons, publication of scientific articles…)
  • How does France fare on alternative criteria?
  • Regime type
  • Discuss democracy and its relationship to state behavior and state interactions on the international scene.
  • Examine France’s score on scholarly measures of democracy at various points in time.
  • Consider parallels and distinctions between the French and American democracies and legal system.
  • Economic systems
  • When defining capitalism and socialism, note the elements of each in France.
  • Discuss socialist party in France and election of Mitterand in 1981, France’s first socialist President. Discuss contemporary Socialist party and current French socialist President, François Hollande.

3.3 Tools of Statecraft

IV - Insidethe State

4.1 Public Opinion

Guest lecture on French Public Opinion and French Foreign Policy by Prof. Christine Fauvelle-Aymar from the University of Tours. (Prof. Fauvelle-Aymar is a former visiting faculty member at the University of Iowa. She has done research on forecasting French elections with Prof. Lewis-Beck and is an old friend of Prof. Kadera’s.) Prof. Fauvelle-Aymar will actually visit when we are in the midst of section 5, but the topic of her talk belongs here.

4.2 Substate Actors

4.3 Individuals

I typically introduce the general approach to studying individualsin IR and then providesynopses of various scholars’ case studies of a variety of individuals: Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair, Ghandhi, Jimmy Carter, John Paul II, John Foster Dulles, and so on. The key point is for students to learn how an individual’s personality or cognitive traits might affect his/her role and influence over world politics. The particular leader studied is not critical. Because we are in Paris,we will use the classic French example, Charles de Gaulle. His drive to reestablish France’s independence and its role as a leader in international affairscan be contrasted to the factors that led Tony Blair to commit unwaveringly to the US coalition in Iraq.

4.4 Decision Making Explanations of Foreign Policy

V – International Conflict

Visit Musee de l’Armée at Les Invalides

Topics to investigate, experience, and discuss: the connection between weaponry and military strategy, arms developments and arms races; state responsibility for caring for soldiers, motivating soldiers to fight/die; the Jewish experience during WWII and the resistance; Napoleon’s tomb, the principle of preserving the vanquished. We will probably visit just before we begin section 5.

5.1 Balance of Power & Power Transition Theories

  • The Concert of Europe
  • The Treaty of Versailles, Napoleon’s exile, France “restored but restrained”

5.2 Arms Races

5.3 Arms Control

5.5 Deterrence

  • France’s decision to leave NATO and build its own nuclear weapons systems

VI – International Cooperation

6.1 Regimes & Institutions

  • Establishment of the EU and EU regulation of and subsidization of French agriculture

6.2 Peace and Transformation

Weekend Excursion to Normandy

We will visit a landing site, a memorial cemetery, and the Caen D-Day Museum.

Topics to investigate, experience, and discuss: alliance reliability, costs of war, military effectiveness in democracies, Mearsheimer’s “stopping power of water.”

Very tentative & unlikely to happen: Visit Medecins du Monde or Medecins Sans Frontiers (Doctors Without Borders), Paris office (works primarily on issues related to immigration and refugees) Topics to investigate, experience, and discuss: Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) operating on the domestic and international levels; immigration and political violence; patterns in immigration, fertility, and economic well-being; health care and human rights; political violence, refugees, and health; humanitarian principles and international law

When you return to the States, I recommend the documentary film Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders, which is will finally be available in mass market at the end of June 2011.

VII – International Political Economy

7.1 Theoretical Approaches

Extra Credit: Visit Quai Branly Museum

Topics to investigate, experience, and discuss: colonialism, empire, primary and secondary goods, (neo)colonialism, cultural imperialism, trade and development. Write a 2-page reaction paper for 10 points. This can be done at any time during the semester. Please turn in the reaction paper by Tues., July 10 at 5 p.m. Opportunity is only available to students who have completed all other course requirements in a timely manner.

7.2 Trade & Interdependence

  • Comparative advantage
  • trading French wine and British cloth

Discuss the French wine industry, trade restrictions, government control over the naming of French wines, competition from newer producers such as California, Australia and New Zealand, Iowa?!, regulation of agricultural goods, historical patterns in trade disputes and their resolution, EU regulation of agriculture

Potential Paper Topics with French Themes

  • The causes (or consequences) of the Franco-Prussian War
  • The determinants of success in the French Resistance movement during WWII
  • A comparison of alliance reliability: the Axis and the Allies
  • Theories of IR inTolstoy’s War and Peace
  • Depictions of war in art (choose a particular painter / period / school/ style)
  • The role of French public opinion in French foreign policy
  • The role of French parties in French foreign policy
  • The evolution of the French-American alliance
  • The role of territory in the French-German rivalry
  • What factors determine the efficacy of NGOs like Medecins Sans Frontiers?
  • A comparative analysis of international factors in the regulation of wine: Iowa and France
  • The role of Sarkozy’s personality in determining France’s foreign policy / France’s UN or NATO or EU relations / Franco-American relations / etc. (pick just one)
  • A comparative analysis of solutions to international art theft
  • Why don’t NATO allies agree on the strategy in Libya? And why do the US and France seem to have reversed their positions in comparison to those they held when the US bombed Libya in 1986?
  • The DSK Scandal: A Critical Analysis of What Happens when High Politics Meets Low Politics

Email announcement for advertising (2012):

Study International Relations in the City of Light!

Introduction to International Relations (30:060) will be offered as part of the Iowa International Summer Institute from June 18 to July 13 in Paris, France. Intro to IR counts toward General Education credit in Social Sciences or International and Global Issues.

Europe is the birthplace of modern world politics, and Paris, in particular, offers some wonderful opportunities. Students will have a chance to explore:

The landing beaches, the American cemetery, the WWII museum, and the old fortified coastal city of St. Malo during a weekend excursion to Normandy and Brittany

Musée de l’Armée, the military museum at Les Invalides (where Napoléon is buried)

Museums such as the Louvre and Quai Branly, where they can examine the representation of concepts such as revolution, statehood, imperialism, nationalism, and war, in artwork and artifacts

Course requirements reflect and take advantage of the compressed semester. In particular, class discussions are substituted for homework assignments, students write short reactions papers for 2 excursions of their choice, the longer paper can build on and expand one of the short papers, and students are encouraged to write on IR topics connected to France.

For more information and instructions on how to register, go to The Iowa International Summer Institute at:

For help or questions, email Prof. Kadera at:

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