POLS 3620: International Relations (Fall 2015)
Bahgat Korany
Office hours:
Sunday–Wednesday 11:30–12:30
or by appointment
Research Centers building: 2010/12
Class Location: HUSS – C129
I-
OBJECTIVES
This summer witnessed two major international issues. One,
about Greece, focused on so-called “low politics”, i.e. a
financial-economic issue; the other, about Iran, is “high
politics”, i.e. a nuclear issue.
Though seemingly secondary, as the accepted term of “low
politics” shows, Greece’s problems could have entailed many
calamities: for example , the country’s bankruptcy and the
plague of the “F. state” syndrome within the very gates of
Europe itself; the decline of both the Euro-zone and even the
EU----usually perceived as THE model of successful regional
integration. This Greek example shows that we do not need
an inter-state war or even a serious political conflict among
enemies to have a major threat to international order. Socalled “low politics” can be such a threat. What else do we
learn from the occurrence and evolution of these crises or
other contemporary international events?
This question summarizes the aim of this course: how to
decode the world of world politics that is invading our very
daily life? On a rather personal note, I have been focusing my
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IR teaching – here and abroad – on the graduate level. I
realize, however, that basic IR-formation starts much earlier,
really at the undergraduate level such as POLS
3620.Consequently, to help all of you having the required IR
basis, I am here with two qualified TAs and a very appropriate
(British) textbook. I think of all of us, primarily the students, as
forming a team working together, smoothly and consistently,
toward a common objective: develop your toolkit to decode
IR and the problems of international (dis)order. We might
indeed whether international governance is at all possible? In
what mode? What are the challenges?
II-
STRUCTURE AND PROCEDURE
To attain this objective, the basic components of POLS 3620
are three:
A) Interactive lecturing and RPs (reaction papers); B)
debates, simulation, films; and C) Three mid-terms. Yes,
there is no final term paper in this class. In other words, the
100% grade is distributed as follows:
1- Participation (including 3 RPs): 25%
2- 3 Mid-terms, each – 25% (the last one is comprehensive)
The pedagogical approach adopted is interactive and
aims to develop the student’s analytical capacity. It
encourages students to be pro-active and is based on
critical reading, on average 30-40 pages per class, BEFORE
we meet on Sundays and Wednesdays. In other words, the
class discussions aim to clarify ambiguous/problematic
aspects of the text, answer questions and push the topic
forward. In no way should our class meetings focus on a
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summary of the readings. This will be a waste of time and
energy.
Since regular attendance is taken for granted (e.g. 3
unjustified absences could entail exclusion from the class),
participation grade is based on your effective input in the
class and the 3 RPs (submitted on time). To help you
improve your analytical capacity, you will have a written
feedback on your RPs as well as your mid-terms.
III-
BASIC GUIDELINES
To be an effective member of this team and contribute to its
success, please follow these guidelines:
1- Do your readings regularly and well, highlighting points you
do not understand or disagree with and bring them to the
class to share with the rest of the team. Don’t be shy!
2- Have your own pro-active approach in the class itself.
Show how you can push the topic further. When you
disagree, have your EVIDENCE ready for back-up.
3- Avoid traps. The most common are:
a) Late arrival/early departure without a valid excuse
b) While enthusiasm in discussion is encouraged,
impoliteness in addressing anybody is not tolerated
c) Zero tolerance is also for any violation of academic
integrity, e.g. signing attendance sheet for somebody
else, plagiarism…Such violations could entail sending
the file to AUC Integrity Committee, with the possibility
of failure or semester suspension
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d) In case of emergency, talk to the professor as soon as
possible with the relevant document in support (e.g.
AUC clinic document in case of medical emergency)
If you feel unable or do not want to respect these
guidelines (once they are accepted in the first-class
meeting), you have the option of signing in for this course
next semester with another professor.
Though we will have some extra-readings depending on
the class discussions, 90% of the readings are from the
main textbooks: John Baylis, Steve Smith and Patricia
Owens (BSO), The Globalization of World Politics: An
Introduction to International Relations. Oxford and New
York: OUP, 2014 (International Sixth Edition). All readings will
be available on reserve in the AUC Library
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POLS 3620: International Relations (Fall 2015)
Bahgat Korany
Office hours:
Sunday–Wednesday 11:30–12:30
or by appointment
Research Centers building: 2010/12
Class Location: HUSS – C129
After the syllabus , here is finally a PRELIMINARY OUTLINE of the class
lecturing/activities until the end of the semester
WEEK I
1- Wednesday Sept. 2:
What is IR ;why is it important even in daily life ; and how
can POLS 3620 possibly help ?
2- Sunday Sept. 6:
Getting introduced to the specifics of IR in the second
decade of the 21st century
Reading: BSO: PP. 1-13 (Source will later be mentioned only
when it is not our BSO textbook)
WEEK II
3- Wednesday Sept. 9:
Edging into the contemporary era and impact of
globalization
Globalization and global politics,Ch.1: 14-29 and, (From
the end of the Cold War to a new global era), Ch.4 : 61-75.
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4- Sunday Sept. 13:
How do our world views/ conceptual lenses get colored?
Presenting IR Schools:
a) Realism: Chapter 6: 91-103.
b) Liberalism: Chapter 7: 104-115.
WEEK III
5- Wednesday Sept. 16:
c) Marxism: Chapter 8 : 116-129
6- Sunday Sept 20: A film?
WEEK IV
7- Wednesday Sept. 23: Eid El-Fitr holidays
8- Sunday Sept. 27:
Two last IR main schools
d) Social constructivism: Chapter 9:130-43.
e) Post-Colonialism: Chapter 10: 144-156.
WEEK V
9- Wednesday Sept. 30:
Synthesis/assessment of IR Principal Schools
Preparing for your first mid-term
Reading: Korany (2015) A critical look at how we prepare
our IR students: acceptance speech of the ISA Award,
New Orleans, USA.
(On reserve. Not candidate for a Reaction Paper)
10- Sunday Oct. 4:
F I R S T M I D-T E R M
WEEK VI
11- Wednesday Oct. 7:
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How/Which IR schools help us most in decoding what
happened? A journey through history and main IR issues.
Exploring Contemporary History . Chapters 3:(International
history 1990-99) 47-60 & Chapter 4: (From the end of the
Cold War to a new global era?) 61-75.
12- Sunday Oct.11:
Realism Triumphant?
International and global security,Ch.12 :176-188 & The
changing character of war,Ch.: 189-202.
WEEK VII
13- Wednesday Oct. 14:
Or is it Liberalism?
International law, Ch.14: 203-217, & International regimes,
Ch.15: 218-232.
14- Sunday Oct. 18:
Can we really forget about Marxism?
International political economy in an age of globalization,
Ch.: 161-175
Global trade and global finance, Ch.21: 317-329
WEEK VIII
15- Wednesday Oct. 21:
A reflection pause?
16- Sunday Oct. 25:
How helpful/complementary is constructivism?
Gender in world politics,Ch.18: 264-278
Human rights,Ch.24: 361-375
WEEK IX
17- Wednesday Oct. 28:
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And the contribution from the new-comer: PostColonialism?
Chapter 20: (Poverty, development and hunger)Ch.20:
299-316
From Korany (2014) , Ch.5: 139-165
18- Sunday Nov. 1:
Film/Simulation
WEEK X
19- Wednesday Nov. 4:
Revision/Discussion
20- Sunday Nov. 8:
S E C O N D M I D-T E R M
WEEK XI
21- Wednesday Nov. 11:
EMERGING WORLD ORDER AND ITS CHALLENGES
A-Regionalism and its particularities
a) Regionalism in international affairs, Ch.17: 248-63.
b)Rising powers and the emerging global order,Ch.5 : 7690.
22- Sunday Nov. 15:
B- Transnational actors and international organizations in
global politics , Ch.19: 279-294.
WEEK XII
23- Wednesday Nov. 18:
C) Nuclear proliferation, Ch.25: 376-390.
24- Sunday Nov. 22:
D)Terrorism and globalization, Ch.26 : 391-405.
WEEK XIII
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25- Wednesday Nov. 25:
E)Environmental Issues, Ch.22: 330-344.
26- Sunday Nov. 29:
F)The United Nations,Ch.16: 233-247.
WEEK XIV
27- Wednesday Dec. 2:
G) Korany (2015): The State of the Arab State
H)Protection in the Shadow of Empire,Ch.1: 1-41. Orford,
Anne. 2011. International Authority and the Responsibility
to Protect. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University
Press.
28- Sunday Dec. 6:
Simulation
WEEK XV
29- Wednesday Dec. 9:
Continuation of the simulation
30- Sunday Dec. 13:
T H I R D (C O M P R E H E N S I V E) M I D-T E R M
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