IR 307: Contemporary International Politics: Current Challenges for Developing Economies

School of International Relations

University of Southern California

Fall 2014

Instructor: Dollie Davis

Class meeting: M, W2:00-3:20 (SOS B44)

Contact:,

Office hours:Tuesday 11:00-1:00 and Wednesday 11:30-1:30 (or by appt.)

Office: VKC B42C

Overview and Objectives:

This course introduces students to recent and current events, issues, data, and, in particular, challenges for developing economies in the international political system. Beyond following the current political and economic issues that developing countries face globally, this course aims to provide a historical background and evolution of policy-making in these countries in order to provide students with a broad lens with which to conduct analysis. The course will begin witha historical overview featuring past theories of why countries have been slow to developfollowed by a look at recent political events that have hindered economic growth in developing countries. The course will then focus on recent and current political and economic events in three specific areas: the Middle East/South Asia, China, and finally the US. After completion of the course, students should have a solid grasp of the numerous political challenges to economic development both historically and currently in various regions throughout the world.

requirements:

The course grade will be based on the following elements:

  1. Paper (25%): Each student will turn in a 5-page paper based on one of the weekly topics (headings). Besides providing an objective analysis of the readings from the chosen week, students are required to bring in an outside source (article, book chapter, etc.) to add to their analysis. Papers are due 1 week after their chosen topic is covered in class. Topics must be chosen and confirmed by the instructor by the end of the fifth class section: September 10, 2014.
  1. Presentations(15%): Students will also give a 10 minute presentation of their paper to be presented in class on either 9/29, 10/27, 10/29, 11/10, 11/19, or 12/1: 6 students per day . Dates for presentationsmust be chosen and confirmed by the instructor by the end of the fifth class section: September 10, 2014.
  1. Exams: (25% and 25%): An in-class, closed book, midterm and a final exam will be based on the course reading material, class discussion and lectures. The midterm is scheduled for October 15, 2014. No make-up exam will be offered. You must contact me in advance if you have a valid and documented medical reason for not being able to take the midterm on its scheduled date. Failure to take the exam will result in 0 points awarded for 25% of your grade. The final will take place on Dec 12, 2014 from 2-4pm in our assigned classroom. Per university policy, there will be no alternative scheduled exam dates. No exceptions! Failure to take the final exam will result in 0 points awarded for 25% of your grade.
  1. Class discussion (10%): Regular attendance is required and it is your responsibility to sign in at the beginning of every class. If you have more than 2 absences you will be marked down. Each unexcused absence beyond the first two will result in reduction of your participation grade by 10%. Only valid and properly documented medical and family emergencies will be accepted as excused absences. Athletes need to meet with me at the beginning of the semester and have their absence cleared through the coaching staff.

You are expected to engage actively in class discussions and group assignments. It is imperative that you come to class having done the readings. Students will be called upon to orally present their opinions and answer instructor’s questions. Active participation involves listening and responding, asking good questions, discussing issues of relevance and also demonstrating knowledge of the readings. The instructor will grade class participation during in-class discussion, group exercises, case discussion and debates. Perfect attendance without quality participation (or great participation with irregular attendance) will not amount to a participation grade higher than B-.

Administrative issues:

Please visit the Blackboard class page frequently throughout the semester for lecture notes, slides, announcements, and other postings, as well as to obtain reading materials. I will also post announcement and send messages via Blackboard. The surest and easiest way to get in touch with me is via email. I will try to return all emails within the same day except on weekends.

Class etiquette: You are expected to observe all rules of proper classroom conduct. It is expected that you will arrive on time and not leave class during the middle of lecture or discussion. Messaging, facebooking, tweeting, texting, chatting, or using electronic devices in any way that is distracting to your fellow classmates will not be tolerated. Any behavior that is disruptive and shows disrespect to the fellow students and the instructor will result in a lower participation grade.

Students requesting academic accommodations based on disability are required to register with the Disability Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of verification for approved accommodations can be obtained from DSP. Please be sure the letter is delivered to me as early in the semester as possible and absolutely by the end of the 4th week.

Everyone must adhere to the university’s standards for academic integrity. General principles of academic honesty include the concept of respect for intellectual property of others, the expectation that individual work will be submitted unless otherwise allowed by the an instructor, and the obligations both to protect one’s own academic work from misuse by others, as well as to avoid using another’s work as one’s own. Failure to submit original and independent work (e.g. plagiarism, cheating on exams, and collaboration on individual written assignments) will result in an F for the course and can be grounds for severe sanction by the university. Please refer to the USC Student Guidebook SCampus (especially the Student Conduct Code in section 11.00 and Appendix A on p.134) for detailed information.

REQUIRED TEXTS:

The following textbooks are required and are available for purchase at the USC bookstore and online. The texts will also be made available through the Course Reserves in the Leavey Library.

1. Banerjee, Abhijit V. and Duflo, Esther. 2011. Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty. Public Affairs.

2. Zakaria, Fareed. 2011. The Post-American World Release 2.0. W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

3. Saikal, Amin. 2014. Zone of Crisis: Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran and Iraq. I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd.

The remaining readings will be made available via Blackboard.

Course outline

Introduction: Theories: Old and New

  • Getting Started (8/25)
  • Introduction
  • Past theories for politics and economic development(8/27)
  • Diamond, Jared M. 1997. “From Egalitarianism to Kleptocracy: the evolution of government and religion,” Ch. 14 in Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. pp. 265-292.
  • Alesina, Alberto and Dani Rodrik. 1994. “Distributive Politics and Economic Growth” The Quarterly Journal of Economics. 109(2) pp. 465-490.
  • Politics and economic developmentnow and in the future (9/3)
  • Zakaria, Fareed. 2011. “The Cup Runneth Over,” Ch. 2. In The Post-American world release 2.0. pp.6-61.

Globalization

  • Growth potential? (9/8)
  • Hammond, Allen L. and C.K. Prahalad. 2004. “Selling to the Poor” Foreign Policy. 142 (May-June), pp.30-37.
  • Desai, Shweta. 2014. “India’s Barefoot College lights up the World,” Aljazeera.com. January 15.
  • Wassener, Bettina. 2012. “In an Unlikely Corner of Asia, Strong Promise of Growth.,” The New York Times. April 23.
  • The rise of the rest(9/10)
  • Zakaria, Fareed. 2011. “A Non-Western world?,”Ch. 3. In The Post-American world release 2.0. pp.62-99.

Deadline to sign up for debates 9/10

Political Regimes, Health, and Development

  • Famine(9/15)
  • Devereux, Stephen. 2007. “Introduction: from ‘old famines’ to ‘new famines’,” Ch. 1 in Devereux, Stephen(ed.) The New Famines: Why famines persist in an era of globalization. pp.1-26
  • Banerjee, Abhijit V. and Duflo, Esther. 2011. “A Billion Hungry People?”Ch. 2. in Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty. pp. 19-40
  • Disease (9/17)
  • Banerjee, Abhijit V. and Duflo, Esther. 2011. “Low-Hanging Fruit for Better (Global) Health?” Ch. 3 in Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty. pp. 19-40
  • Hogan, Caelainn. 2014. “There is no such thing as Ebola.,” The Washington Post. July 18.

Conflict and slow/fast development

  • Civil Wars hurt growth (9/22)
  • Collier, Paul and Anke Hoeffler. 1998. “On economic causes of civil war” Oxford Economic Papers. 50 pp. 563-573.
  • Fischer, Hilke. 2013. “Civil war shatters Syrian economy.,” Deutshe Welle. October 31.
  • International Warshelp growth? (9/24)
  • Ruttan, Vernon W. 2006. “Is War Necessary for Economic Growth?” Historically Speaking. 7 (6) pp. 17-19.
  • Cowen, Tyler. 2014. “The Lack of Major Wars May Be Hurting Economic Growth.,” The New York Times. June 13.

SIX PRESENTATIONS (9/29)

Aid and controversial development

  • IMFand World Bank (10/1)
  • Devesh, Kapur. 1998. “The IMF: A Cure or a Curse?” Foreign Policy. 111, pp.114-129.
  • Schneider, Howard. 2014. “US pushes for outside oversight of World Bank, opposes push toward ‘big hydro’.” The Washington Post. January 24.
  • Foreign AID/NGOs(10/6)
  • Ahmed, Shamima and David M. Potter. 2006. “NGOs and Foreign Aid” Ch. 6 in NGOs in International Politics. pp. 101-123
  • Smillie, Ian. 2009. “Preface” and “Introduction: The Age of Ambition” in Freedom from Want: The Remarkable Success Story of BRAC, the Global Grassroots Organization That’s Winning the Fight Against Poverty. pp. xi-5.

Environmental conditions and slow development/fast development?

  • Weather Derivatives and new technologies? (10/8)
  • Banerjee, Abhijit V. and Duflo, Esther. 2011. “Barefoot Hedge-Fund Managers” Ch. 6 in Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty. pp. 133-157
  • Schneider, Howard. 2014. “US pushes for outside oversight of World Bank, opposes push toward ‘big hydro’.” The Washington Post. January 24.
  • “A bad climate for development: Poor countries’ economic development will contribute to climate change. But they are already its greatest victims.” The Economist. September 17, 2009.
  • “New Study Adds Up the Benefits of Climate-Smart Development in Lives, Jobs, and GDP.” The World Bank Group. June 23, 2014.

Review for Midterm (10/13)

Midterm (10/15)

China

  • Growth but Inequality and pollution(10/20)
  • Heckman, James J. and Junjian Yi. 2012. “Human Capital, Economic Growth, and Inequality in China” NBER Working Paper 18100. pp. 1-10.
  • Wee, Sui-Lee and David Stanway. 2014. “China set to elevate environment over development in new law.” Reuters. April 14.

China

  • The Future (10/22)
  • Zakaria, Fareed. 2011. “The Challenger,” Ch. 4. In The Post-American world release 2.0. pp.100-145.

SIX PRESENTATIONS (10/27)

SIX PRESENTATIONS (10/29)

Middle East/South Asia

  • South Asia (11/3)
  • Saikal, Amin. 2014. “Afghanistan: Turbulent and on the Brink,” Ch. 2 in Zone of Crisis: Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran and Iraq.Afghanistan. pp.15-59
  • Saikal, Amin. 2014. “Pakistan: Fragile and Violent,” Ch. 3 in Zone of Crisis: Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran and Iraq.Afghanistan. pp.59-99

Middle East/South Asia

  • Middle East (11/5)
  • Saikal, Amin. 2014. “Iran: Between ‘Sovereignty of God’ and ‘Sovereignty of the People’,” Ch. 4 in Zone of Crisis: Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran and Iraq.Afghanistan. pp.99-143
  • Saikal, Amin. 2014. “Iraq: Divided and Threatened,”Ch. 5 in Zone of Crisis: Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran and Iraq.Afghanistan. pp.143-177

SIX PRESENTATIONS (11/10)

The Future of the United States

  • US Power (11/12)
  • Zakaria, Fareed. 2011. “American Power,” Ch. 6. In The Post-American world release 2.0. pp.184-239

The Future of the United States

  • US Purpose (11/17)
  • Zakaria, Fareed. 2011. “American Purpose,” Ch. 7. In The Post-American world release 2.0. pp.239-287

SIX PRESENTATIONS (11/19)

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS (11/24)

  • The future for developing economies
  • Banerjee, Abhijit V. and Duflo, Esther. 2011. “Policies, Politics” Ch. 10 in Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty. pp. 235-267

THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY

SIX PRESENTATIONS (12/1)

Review for Final (12/3)

Final (12/12) 2-4pm