POL 354: International Organization

Fall 2004

229 Cornell Hall

TR 11 to 12:15 p.m.

                                                                             

Professor:         Dr. Michael Gunter

Office:               212 Cornell Hall

Office Hours:   MWF 11-11:50 a.m. and by appointment

Phone:              407-646-2263

Email:               mgunter@rollins.edu

Web address:   http://web.rollins.edu/~mgunter/

 

 

REQUIRED TEXTS

The following required materials are available at the Rollins College Bookstore or the reserve desk at Olin Library:

 

1. Keohane, Robert O. and Joseph S. Nye.  Power and Interdependence.  (3rd edition)  New York: Longman, 2001.

 

2. Gunter, Michael M.  Building the Next Ark: How NGOs Work to Protect Biodiversity.  Dartmouth: University Press of New England/Dartmouth College, 2004.

 

3. Reserve Readings. POL 354: International Organization.  Fall 2004. (RR)

 

4. Rieff, David.  A Bed for the Night: Humanitarianism in Crisis.  New York: Simon & Schuster, 2002.

 

5. Senn, Alfred E.  Power, Politics, and the Olympic Games: A History of the Power Brokers, Events, and Controversies that Shaped the Games.  Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 1999.

 

6. Strunk, William Jr. and E.B. White.  The Elements of Style.  Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2000.

 

7. Ziring, Lawrence, Robert E. Riggs, and Jack C. Plano.  The United Nations: International Organization and World Politics. (4th edition)  Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth, 2005.

 

           

ADDITIONAL REQUIRED READING

As noted above, there are a number of reserve readings on hold at the Olin Library.  In addition to the above texts and reserve reading, moreover, you are required to keep abreast with current events at the global level.  Diligently keeping up with international issues as they unfold will ensure that you are not handicapped in your ability to participate during class discussion.  This course also has a current events component as seen in the oral reports assignment handout.  I recommend the international sections of a national daily newspaper such as The New York Times or The Washington Post.  These are both available on the web at http://nytimes.com/ and http://www.washingtonpost.com/, respectively.  The Olin Library also holds daily paper copies of The New York Times and the Sunday edition of The Washington Post. 

 

 

COURSE OBJECTIVES     

Scholars of international relations use the end of the Thirty Year’s War in Europe as an important benchmark event.  Indeed, the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648 was notable for ending the conflict between an alliance of Hapsburg Spain and Austria-Hungary versus shifting ad hoc coalitions of Sweden, Holland, German principalities, and Catholic France.  But the main reason that date is so oft-quoted today is that it represents the birth of the modern international system.  It is the treaty itself, more specifically those that signed it, that has shaped the world we live in today.  That treaty, signed on Prague’s famous Charles Bridge in what is now the Czech Republic, marked a new era in world politics. It demonstrated a transfer of power from the Vatican to the modern nation-state. 

 

Over 350 years later, the nation-state still remains central to understanding world politics.  But today, the nation-state no longer dominates world politics alone.  There are other actors on the international stage, from multinational or transnational corporations to terrorist networks to environmental and human rights NGOs.  And there are groups that states assemble themselves, international organizations. This class examines the interaction of all of these entities, which together are traditionally known as international organization.  That is, we will examine inter-state groups such as the United Nations, WTO, OPEC, and EU as well as a number of international regimes supported by treaties such as the Kyoto Convention, Montreal Protocol and the UN Convention on Human Rights.  We will also examine non-state entities such as large corporations like Dupont Chemical or British Petroleum, NGOs like the Sea Shepherd Society or Médecins Sans Frontières, and terrorist networks like Al Qaeda.  Our objective throughout is to better understand the emerging forms of global governance.

 

We have an interesting combination of texts and readings to guide class discussions in this course.  Diligently keeping on schedule with your reading load will allow you to take full advantage of our discussions.  Be sure to come to class prepared and ready to actively participate.  The course places a heavy burden on you, the students.  Several exercises throughout the semester are intended to foster active learning and to provide structure to your participation grade.  Please note that participation entails more than mere attendance.  It requires active attendance.  Be sure to come prepared to actively participate.

 

There will also be several writing assignments as well as essay exams in this course.  Of all that you learn in college, writing is one of the most important.  Regardless of your career goal, you will need to develop the skill of writing well.  Writing also helps us learn.  It focuses our thoughts and forces us to organize and document them.  For general guidance on writing style, we will read the pamphlet by William Strunk and E.B. White, entitled The Elements of Style.  It is also available online at: http://www.bartleby.com/141/index.html.

 

 

COURSE EXPECTATIONS

The prerequisite for this course is POL 130.  You should not be enrolled in this course if you have not taken that class.  Participation in class is expected, especially since we have the luxury of a small seminar environment.  Material discussed in class will appear on exams and other assignments.  As outlined below, participation will play a key role in determining final grades, especially border-line cases.

 

Please be advised that the reading load is heavy at times and requires a substantial time commitment outside of class meetings.  As your Rollins College Catalogue suggests, you should anticipate spending an average of three hours outside of class for every hour spent in class.  I recommend that you carefully look over the course materials and decide how much time you are willing to invest before committing yourself to this class.

 

As upper division college students you are already familiar with the term plagiarism.  Remember, any work that borrows wording, ideas, or even organization from another source without appropriate acknowledgment is defined as plagiarism.  A general rule of thumb is to cite any phrase that is not common knowledge and longer than four words.  Severe penalties are in place for any violations.

 

 

GRADING POLICY:

Per the Rollins College Catalogue, the grade report is based on the following definitions:

 

A is reserved for work that is exceptional in quality and shows keen insight, understanding, and initiative.

 

B is given for work that is consistently superior and shows interest, effort, or originality.

 

C is a respectable grade required for graduation; it reflects consistent daily preparation and satisfactory completion of all work required.

 

D- is the lowest passing grade; it is below the average necessary to meet graduation requirements and ordinarily is not accepted for transfer by other institutions.

 

F is failing.

 

Grading is based upon percentages that equate to the standard +/- system below:

 

A   = 93 % and above

A-  = 90-92

B+ = 87-89

B   = 83-86

B-  = 80-82

C+ = 77-79

C   = 73-76

C-  = 70-72

D+ = 67-69

D   = 63-66

D-  = 60-62

F    = 59 and below

 

Unless another due date is announced in class, you are responsible for turning in assignments on time before class starts.  After class begins, assignments will be considered late so do not skip class just to finish an assignment.  Late assignments are docked 1/3rd letter grade until 4 p.m. that day, and one letter grade each calendar day thereafter.  In other words an A quality paper turned in after class up to 4 p.m. on the due day receives an A-.  An A quality paper turned in the following day receives a B, etc.  Make-up tests are not given, except under extenuating circumstances, i.e. illness, death in the family, religious holiday.  In these cases the professor must be informed prior to the exam or assignment due date.  Do this either by email or telephone.

 

 

 

 

GRADING DISTRIBUTION:

  5%     Oral Current Events Report

  5%     Op-ed Submission

  5%     Paper Thesis/Bibliography/Proposal

10%     Final NGO Case Study Paper

15%     Weekly Quizzes

20%     Daily Participation

20%     Midterm

20%     Final

 

 

COURSE SCHEDULE

Part I

Theoretical Overview

 

Week 1: Aug. 26                   

Introduction: Issues and Actors 

 

 

Week 2: Aug.31/Sept.2                     

Understanding Interdependence

            Keohane and Nye: Chpt.1

RR: Simon Chesterman, “Bush, the United Nations and Nation-building,” Survival, 46, 1, Spring 2004, 101-116.

RR: Robert O. Keohane, “International Institutions: Can Interdependence Work?” Foreign Policy 110 (Spring 1998), pp. 82-96.

 

From Realism to Complex Interdependence

            Keohane and Nye: Chpt.2

RR: Robert Kagan, “Power and Weakness,” Policy Review: http://www.policyreview.org/JUN02/kagan.html

            Senn: Chpt.1

 

 

Week 3:Sept.7/9  

At the Bargaining Table: Constructing Regimes

            Keohane and Nye: Chpt.3

RR: Paul Wapner, “World Summit on Sustainable Development: Toward a Post-Johannesburg Environmentalism,” Global Environmental Politics, vol.3:1 (2003), pp.1-10

            Senn: Chpt.4

 

Do International Institutions Work?

RR: Woodrow Wilson, “The World Must be Made Safe for Democracy,” Address to Congress April 2, 1917

RR: Woodrow Wilson, “The Fourteen Points,” Address to Congress, Jan. 8, 1918

RR: John Mearsheimer, “The False Promise of International Institutions,” International Security, Winter 1994/1995 (vol.19:3), pp.5-49

 

 

Part II: Evolution of UN System

 

Week 4: Sept.14/16  

The League and Its Failings

Ziring et al: Chpt.1

RR: The Covenant of the League of Nations: http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/leagcov.htm or http://fletcher.tufts.edu/multi/www/league-covenant.html

RR: Woodrow Wilson, “The Final Triumph,” Address at Metropolitan Opera House, New York, Sept. 27, 1918

 

Genesis of the United Nations: Writing the Charter

            Senn: Chpt.6

RR: Charter of the United Nations: http://www.un.org/aboutun/charter

RR: Inis L. Claude, Jr., Swords into Plowshares, (4th edition).  New York: Random House, 1984, pp. 57-80.

 

 

Week 5: Sept.            21/23                          

Case Study: The Kurds

Guest Speaker, Dr. Michael Gunter, Tennessee Tech University

            RR: Gunter, “The Kurdish Question in Perspective,” World Affairs, Summer 2003 (vol.166:1):

            Senn: Chpt.7, 10

 

UN Constitutional Structure, Functions & Financial Realities

            RR: “UN in Brief” at the United Nations website http://www.un.org/Overview/brief.html.

Ziring et al: Chpt.2

RR: David Skidmore, “Who is at the Helm? The Debate Over U.S. Funding for the United Nations,” Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University, 2000.

            Case Study Thesis/Preliminary Bibliography Due

 

 

Week 6: Sept.28/30  

Politics of the UN & the UN Secretariat: From Cold War to Today

Ziring et al: Chpt.3

Ziring et al: Chpt.4

 

Collective Security & Secretary General

Ziring et al: Chpt.5

RR: Kofi Annan, “Nobel Lecture,” December 10, 2001:  http://www.nobel.se/peace/laureates/2001/annan-lecture.html

RR: Skim United Nations Secretary-General’s homepage: http://www.un.org/News/ossg/sg/

 

 

Part III: Regional Integration

 

Week 7: Oct. 5/7       

The European Union Single Market

RR: Skim European Union’s website, Europa: http://europa.eu.int/index_en.htm.  

RR: Zbigniew Brzezinski, “Living with a New Europe,” National Interest,” #60 (Summer 2000)

RR: Werner Weidenfeld, “The Euro and the New Face of the European Union,” The Washington Quarterly, vol.22:1 (1999)

 

 

 The Evolving EU: Foreign Policy & Enlargement

RR: Stephen Kinzer, “Will Turkey Make It?” The New York Review of Books, July 15, 2004: http://www.nybooks.com/articles/17240.

RR: Skim EU Observer at http://www.euobserver.com/index.phtml?sid=15

RR: Skim EU website of: http://europa.eu.int/comm/enlargement/index_en.html

 

 

Week 8: Oct.12/14                

NAFTA

RR: Lori Wallach and Michelle Sforza, “NAFTA at 5,” Nation, vol.268:3 (Jan. 25, 1999)

            RR: “The NAFTA Effect,” New Perspectives Quarterly,” vol.17:2 (Spring 2000)

            Case Study Proposal Due

 

Story of OPEC

RR: Daniel Yergin, Chpt.20-22, The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money & Power.  New York: Simon and Schuster, 1992.

 

 

Part IV: Development and Social Issues

 

Week 9: Oct. 19/21

Midterm Exam

 

Democracy and American Foreign Policy

            Senn: Chpt.12, 13

RR: Immanuel Kant, Perpetual Peace (1795), excerpt: http://socsci.colorado.edu/~parisr/PS4173/Kant.htm

 

Required Thursday night event: Global Connections of Central Florida

Emerging Democracies Panel, 7 p.m. at Bush Auditorium, Rollins College

Ambassador Harriet Elam-Thomas (Senegal)

Lt. General Jay Garner (retired) (Iraq)

Georges Fauriol, International Republican Institute (Haiti)

Gerrit Gong of Brigham Young U. (Taiwan)

Eugene Huskey of Stetson (Russia)

 

 

Week 10: Oct.26/28  

Controversies Surrounding the WTO

Ziring et al: Chpt.10

RR: Skim WTO website: http://www.wto.org 

RR: Thomas L. Friedman, “Senseless in Seattle,” New York Times (December 1, 1999): http://www.nytimes.com/library/opinion/friedman/120199frie.html

RR: Thomas L. Friedman, “Senseless in Seattle II,” New York Times (December 8, 1999): http://www.nytimes.com/library/opinion/friedman/120899frie.html

 

 

Reforming the IMF and the World Bank

RR: Joseph S. Nye, “Globalization's Democratic Deficit - How to Make International Institutions More Accountable,” Foreign Affairs (July-August 2001), pp. 2-6.

RR: Skim websites IMF: http://www.imf.org) and World Bank: http://www.worldbank.org

RR: Skim anti-globalization website: http://www.whirledbank.org/

            RR: Skim United Nations Development Program website: http://www.undp.org

 

 

Week 11: Nov.2/4                 

Case Study: NGOs

RR: David Davenport, “The New Diplomacy,” Policy Review, December 2002: http://www.policyreview.org/dec02/davenport_print.html

RR: Joseph S. Nye, “NGO’s: Global Players with Soft Power,” Straits Times (Singapore), June 28, 2004; and “The Rising Power of NGO’s,” The Daily Times (Pakistan), Aug. 31, 2004

            RR: Gunter, Intro and Chpt.1 (NGO section)

 

Constructing Viable Environmental Regimes: Kyoto vs. Montreal

            RR: John Brown, “Beyond Kyoto,” Foreign Affairs, July/August 2004 (vol.83:4)

RR: George C. Marshall, “Against Hunger, Poverty, Desperation and Chaos,” (Harvard Address), Foreign Affairs, vol.76:3 (May/June 1997)

Gunter: Chpt.1 (international treaty section), Epilogue

 

 

Week 12: Nov. 9/11  

Global Health: Lessons of Influenza 1918

RR: Gro Harlem Brundtland, “The Globalization of Health,” Seton Hall Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations, vol. IV:2 (Summer/Fall 2003), pp.7-12.

            Rieff: Intro, Chpt.1

 

Film: A & E Investigative Reports: Earth in the Hot Seat

            Rieff: Chpt.2-4

            Papers Due

 

 

Week 13: Nov. 16/18            

Search for Justice: Humanitarianism and Human Rights

            Rieff: Epilogue

Ziring et al: Chpt.9

            RR: Universal Declaration of Human Rights: http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html

 

Peacekeeping vs. Peacemaking

Ziring et al: Chpt.5 (last section on peacekeeping)

RR: Edward Luttwak, “Give War a Chance,” Foreign Affairs, July/August 1999, pp.36-44

RR: Skim UN’s Department of Peacekeeping Operations:

 http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/dpko/home.shtml

 

 

 

Part V: Security Issues

 

Week 14: Nov. 23/25

Arms Control

Ziring et al: Chpt.7

RR: Daniel Byman, “A Farewell to Arms Inspections,” Foreign Affairs, Jan./Feb. 2000 (vol.79:1), pp.119-132

RR: Jayantha Dhanapala, “Multilateralism and the Future of the Global Nuclear Nonproliferation Regime,” The Nonproliferation Review, Fall2001: http://disarmament.un.org/speech/nprvwfall01.pdf

 

Thanksgiving Holiday

 

 

Week 15: Nov.30/Dec.2

Frontline Film: Inside the Terror Network

RR: Wright, Lawrence.  “The Terror Web,” The New Yorker, August 2, 2004, pp. 40-47.

            RR: Skim Al Qaeda training manual: http://www.usdoj.gov/ag/trainingmanual.htm

 

Case Study: Combating Terrorism

Ziring et al: Chpt.11

RR: Briefly skim 9/11 Commission Final Report: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/911/index.html

RR: Read Executive Summary of Final 9/11 Commission Report: http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/22jul20041130/www.gpoaccess.gov/911/pdf/execsummary.pdf

RR: Chantal de Jonge Oudraat, “Combating Terrorism,” Washington Quarterly, Autumn 2003, 163-176: http://www.twq.com

            (http://www.twq.com/03autumn/docs/03autumn_chantal.pdf)

 

Week 16: Dec.7

Coping with Interdependence

            Keohane and Nye: Chpt.8

Keohane and Nye, “Two Cheers for Multilateralism,” Foreign Policy, vol.60 (Fall 1985) reprinted in Power and Interdependence, pp.288-300

 

 

Final Exam: Tuesday, Dec. 14th @ 8 a.m.

 

* Please note changes in this schedule may be necessary as we progress through the semester. 

Any such changes will be announced in class.