International Relations
Syllabus
Instructor : Eduardo Dominguez
Textbook : IR The New World of International Relations by Michael G. Roskin
et al., Pearson Prentice Hall, 8th Edition.
Objective : The purpose of this course is to ensure that students understand how the
global system has changed over the course of years and how we may best deal with
the emerging system.
Evaluation :
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6.
All Class work and homework assignments count as one grade
Quizzes count as two grades each.
Notebook checks count as two grades each.
Projects and presentations count as three grades each.
Tests count as three grades each.
The end of course exam will count as five grades.
Extra Credit will not be assigned to improve a grade.
Work is late if it is not ready to be handed in at the beginning of class (unless otherwise
instructed ) . Late work will receive a penalty of five points per day, and must be
submitted within three days of a student’s return to school. Tests may require a full class
period , so always be present on test days.
Notebook : 3 ring Binder only
Each student will keep a notebook divided into five sections :
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2.
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5.
Notes taken in class
Maps
Worksheets
Quizzes and tests
Movie review / Miscellaneous
Rules :
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2.
3.
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5.
6.
Be in your seat when bell rings
No cell phones or electrical devices
Have class material to begin class
Be respectful to others
Hand work in on time.
Only leave the class with a hall pass.
Reading assignments and quizzes will be announced throughout the session. Be
diligent in reading assignments.
First Nine Weeks
Welcome
Introduction / Discussion on International Treaties
Part 1 / The Cold War Come and Gone / Chapter 1
Strange New World : Power and Systems in Transformation
The European Balance of Power System
The Unstable Interwar System
The Bipolar Cold War System
What kind of New System
Are States Here to Stay
Is Sovereignty Slipping
Key Terms
Test / Assesment
Chapter 2
America’s Changing National Interests
Independence
Manifest Destiny
Imperialism
World War I
Isolationism
World War II
The Cold War
U.S. Post Cold War Interests
Key Terms
Test / Assesment
Chapter 3
Wrong, Terribly Wrong”, The United States and Vietnam
The Colonized Colonialists
The First Indochina War
The United States and The Geneva Accords
Kennedy’s Commitment
LBJ : Victim or Villain
Extrication without Humiliation
Morality and Feasibility
Key Terms
Test / Assesment
Chapter 4
Can the United States Lead the World
Alternation in Foreign U.S. Policy
Are Americans Basically Isolationists
The Continuity Principle
A Contrary Congress
Is the Structure Defective
Do Bureaucracies make Foreign Policy
The Unilateralist Temptation
To Lead or Not to Lead
Key Terms
Test / Assesment
Chapter 5
From Russia to the Soviet Union
War and Bolshevism
Spreading the Revolution
Stalin’s Policy Mistakes
The Great Patriotic War
Yalta
The Cold War
Key Terms
Test / Assesment
Chapter 6
From the Soviet Union Back to Russia
Khrushchev and the Loss of China
Restive East Europe
Khrushchev and The Cuban Missile Crisis
Brezhnev and Détente
Afghanistan : A Soviet Vietnam
Why the Soviet Collapse
Gorbachev and Collapse
Foreign Policy : Generated Internally or Externally
Restoring Russian Power
Key Terms
Test / Assesment
Nine Weeks Exam
Second Nine Weeks
Part II / The Global South
Chapter 7
From Colonialism to Decolonization
Legacies of Colonialism
The Roots of Africa’s Problem
The Strange Story of South Africa
India Splits in Two
Nigeria : The Oil Curse
Key Terms
Test / Assesment
Chapter 8
Eternal Warfare in the Holy Land
The Making of Jewish Nationalism
World War I and the Mandate
The 1948 War
The 1956 War
The Six Day War
The 1973 War
The Rise of Palestinian Nationalism
The 1982 War
Is There Hope
Lesson of The Arab-Israeli Conflict
Key Terms
Test / Assesment
Chapter 9
Oil and Turmoil : The Persian Gulf
Irascible Iran
The First Gulf War
The Second Gulf War
The Third Gulf War
Could Arabia Go the Way of Iran
War with Iran
Lesson of the Three Gulf Wars
Key Terms
Test / Assesment
Chapter 10
The Troubled Americas : Our Neglected South
Spain Colonizes the New World
Central America and the Caribbean
Economic Dependency
The Pattern of U.S. Intervention
Cuba Leaves the U.S. Sphere
Mexico : Drugs and Democracy
What Can We Do
Key Terms
Test / Assesment
Chapter 11
Economic Development : The Rich and The Poor
Why Did The West Rise
The Population Explosion
The Great Migration
Socialist Versus Market Paths
Can Capitalism Uplift the Global South
Key Terms
Test / Assesment
Part III / The Eternal Threats
Chapter 12 / Why Wars
Micro Theories of Wars
State-Level Theories of War
Macro Theories of War
Power Asymmetries
Misperception
The Power Dilemma
The Danger of Analogs
Key Terms
Test / Assesment
Nine Weeks Test
Third Nine Weeks
Chapter 13 / National Security : How States Project Themselves
Technology and Security
Defense
Deterrence
Détente Diplomacy
Disarmament
A Combination
Key Terms
Test / Assesment
Chapter 14 / Nuclear Politics : The Bomb Is Here To Stay
Weapon of War
Nuclear Deterrence
Alliance Building
International Prestige
Deterrence Reconsidered
Nuclear Proliferation
Arms Control
The Nuclear Proliferation
What Would Happen if Nukes Were Used
Nuclear Doom
Key Terms
Test / Assesment
Chapter 15 / The Challenge of Terrorism
The Middle East Past
How to Modernize the Middle East
Which Way for U.S. Policy
Lesson of Terror
Key Terms
Test / Assesment
Part IV / The Economic Blocs
Chapter 16 / Europe Divorces America
The Horrors of Ex-Yugoslavia
The Crumbling of NATO
Europe Gropes for Unity
Europe on Its Own
The Challenge of Trade Blocs
Key Terms
Test / Assesment
Chapter 17
Asia : China as Number One
A Hisory of Exaggerations
Which Way for China
Japan Encounters The West
The Road to Pearl Harbor and Hiroshima
From Rubble to Riches
What Can Go Wrong
Key Terms
Test / Assesment
Chapter 18 / The United States and Globalization
What is a Dollar Worth
The Biggest Debtor
Globalization and Its Enemies
The Coming of NAFTA
Trade Wars
Key Terms
Test / Assesment
Nine Weeks Exam
Fourth Nine Weeks
Part V / The Politics of a New World
Chapter 19 / Diplomacy
The Rise and Decline of Diplomacy
The Uses of an Anachronism
Diplomats
Inside an Embassy
Diplomacy and War
Key Terms
Test / Assesment
Chapter 20 / International Law
Consistency and Reciprocity
Origins of International Law
Commands
Sanctions
Self-Help
Recognition
International Law and Individuals
Territory
War
The Future of International Law
Key terms
Test / Assesment
Chapter 21 / The United Nations
Theory of World Government
The Short Sad League of Nations
The Rise of the U.N.
The U.N. Early Idealism
Disillusion with the UN
The Uses of the UN
Functionalisn
Giving Peace A Chance
Humankind’s Last Best Hope
Key Terms
Test / Assesment
Chapter 22 / Finite F.E.W. ( Food / Energy / Water )
Finite F.E.W.
Has Oil Peaked
Technological Fixes
Water Crisis
F.E.W. and Human Security
Key Terms
Test / Assesment
Review
Review
End of Course Exam