List of Questions for Mid-Term Exam (Korea-U

List of Questions for Mid-Term Exam (Korea-U

International Peace and Security

Kim Sung-han

<Korea-U.S. Relations>

(Sample Questions)

  1. Realist theories, right after the end of the Cold War, were criticized for being unable to explain “change” in terms of power. Provide ideas for realists to overcome their weaknesses.
  2. Compare balance of power, balance of threat, and balance of interest theories.
  3. When do states balance? When do they bandwagon? Explain the relationship between alliance formation and the balance of world power.
  4. Explain “manual,” “dyadic,” and “automatic” balance of power theory in terms of whether balancing and/or balances are predicted by those theories.
  5. What is the relative impact of security-related factors compared to political and economic factors on alliance choices of states? More generally, what is the relative impact of security, political, and economic factors on the strategic affinity of states?
  6. How can Walt’s term “aggressive intentions” be defined and explained from the constructivist viewpoint?
  7. Explain the systemic context of alliances in terms of four analytic entities: structure, relationships, interaction, and units.
  8. Using game theory, illustrate the logic of alliance formation when both the military strengths and the interests of states are different.
  9. Explain the alliance security dilemma: the fear of abandonment and the fear of entrapment.
  10. Evaluate the current ROK-U.S. alliance in light of the new U.S. approach to alliances and anti-American sentiment in South Korea.
  11. Evaluate the ROK-U.S. coordination vis-à-vis North Korea since the Feb 13 nuclear agreement in 2007.
  12. Explain Korea’s strategic thought toward the United States with realism, liberalism, and constructivism.

(Sample Readings)

William C. Wohlforth, “Realism and the End of the Cold War” in Michael E. Brown et als., eds., The Perils of Anarchy: Contemporary Realism and International Security (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1995)

Randall L. Schweller, “Bandwagoning for Profit: Bringing the RevisionistState Back In” in Michael E. Brown et als., eds., The Perils of Anarchy: Contemporary Realism and International Security (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1995)

Paul Schroeder, “Historical Reality vs. Neo-realist Theory” in Michael E. Brown et als., eds., The Perils of Anarchy: Contemporary Realism and International Security (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1995)

Stephen M. Walt, “Explaining Alliance Formation” in Stephen M. Walt, The Origins of Alliances(New York: Sage House, 1987)

Zeev Maoz, “Paradoxical Functions of International Alliances: Security and Other Dilemmas” in John Vasquez & Colin Elman, Realism and the Balancing of Power (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2003)

Michael Barnett, “Alliances, Balances of Threats, and Neorealism: The Accidental Coup” in John Vasquez & Colin Elman, Realism and the Balancing of Power (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2003)

Glenn H. Snyder, “Alliances in a Multipolar International System” in Glenn H. Snyder, Alliance Politics (Ithaca: Cornell Univ Press, 1997)

Sung-han Kim, “From Blood Alliance to Strategic Alliance: Korea’s Evolving Strategic Thought Towards the United States,”Korean Journal of Defense Analysis, September 2010.

Morton I. Abramowitz & James Laney, Meeting the North Korean Nuclear Challenge: Report of an Independent Task Force Sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations (2003)

CSIS, A Blueprint for U.S. Policy toward a Unified Korea: A Working Group Report of the CSIS International Security Program (August 2002)

Sung-han Kim, “Peace Regime on the Korean Peninsula and the ROK-U.S. Alliance”Presented at IFANS-RAND Workshop on November 21, 2005 in Santa Monica

Ralph Cossa, “US-ROK-Japan: Why a Virtual Alliance Makes Sense”The Korean Journal of Defense Analysis, Summer 2000

David Kang, “Inter-Korean Relations in the Absence of a U.S.-ROK Alliance” ibid

S. Enders Wimbush, “A Parable: The U.S.-South Korea Security Relationship Breaks Down” ibid

Condoleezza Rice, “Transformational Diplomacy,”Remarks at GeorgetownSchool of Foreign Service (January 18, 2006)

John G. Ikenberry & Anne-Marie Slaughter, Forging A World of Liberty Under Law: U.S. National Security in the 21st Century (Final Report of the Princeton Project on National Security, 2006)

Richard Armitage & Joseph Nye, Jr., CSIS Commission on Smart Power: A Smarter, More Secure America (CSIS, 2007)

Anatol Lieven & John Hulsman, “Ch.3 Ethical Realism” in Anatol Lieven & John Hulsman, Ethical Realism: A Vision for America’s Role in the World (New York: Pantheon Books, 2006)

Ivo Daalder & Robert Kagan, “America and the Use of Force: Sources of Legitimacy” in Derek Chollet, Tod Lindberg, and David Shorr, eds., Bridging the Foreign Policy Divide: Liberals and Conservatives Find Common Ground on 10 Key Global Challenges (New York: Routledge, 2008)

Comparative Foreign Policy

(Sample Questions)

  1. Foreign policy analysis typically involves external and internal factors. Explain how those factors influence contemporary foreign policy.
  2. What are the benefits of studying foreign policy in comparative perspective? What are the limitations?
  3. How can we explain the basic continuation of U.S. policy toward China from the Bill Clinton to the George W. Bush administrations? Explain it from the realist, liberal, Marxist, and constructivist perspectives respectively.
  4. In theoretical terms the main issue FPA faces is the relationship between agency and structure. Explain the nature of agency and its relationship to structures in world politics.
  5. Compare and assess the rational actor model, organizational behavior model, and bureaucratic politics model in explaining the U.S. and Soviet policies during the Cuban missile crisis.
  6. Explain the impact of culture and institutions on foreign policy from the viewpoint of democratic peace.
  7. Define power and apply it to the explanation on how a state’s position in the international system is related to its foreign policy.
  8. Assess John Mearsheimer’s “offensive realism” that explains the relationship among great powers.
  9. Explain the impact of the Jasmin revolution on Egypt and Libya from the comparative foreign policy perspective.

(Sample Readings)

Juliet Kaarbo et als., “The Analysis of Foreign Policy in Comparative Perspective,” in Beasley et als., Foreign Policy in Comparative Perspective: Domestic and International Influences on State Behavior (Washington: CQ Press, 2002)

Laura Neack, The New Foreign Policy: U.S. and Comparative Foreign Policy in the 21st Century (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2003)

Joe D. Hagan, “Introduction: The Problem of Domestic Politics in Comparative Foreign Research” in Joe. D. Hagan, Political Opposition and Foreign Policy in Comparative Perspective (London: Lynne Rienner, 1993)

Christopher Hill, “Politics of Foreign Policy” in Christopher Hill, The Changing Politics of Foreign Policy (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003)

Graham Allison & Philip Zelikow, Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis (2nd edition) (New York: Longman, 1999)

Mearsheimer,The Tragedy of Great Power Politics (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2001)

In-Taek Hyun, Sung-Han Kim, Geun Lee, “Bringing Politics Back In: Globalization, Pluralism, and Securitization in East Asia” in Ralf Emmers et als., eds., Studying Non-Traditional Security in Asia (Singapore: Marshall Cavendish, 2006)

Mathias Albert, “Security as Boundary Function: Changing Identities and Securitization in World Politics” The International Journal of Peace Studies, Vol.3 No.1

Richard W.X. Hu, “Globalization, Pluralism, and Securitizing Non-traditional Security Issues in China: The Case of SARS” NTS Project of Ford Foundation, 2004

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