Fall 2009
Prof. Grow
Amb. Levin
POSC 347: AMERICA AND ITS WARS
“History is a bath of blood,” observed William James, as he pondered the frequency of war. Clemenceau,
the great French politician, was so mystified by the frequency of armed conflict that he famously observed,
“I do not know whether war is an interlude during peace or peace is an interlude during war.”
Over the past 2500 years, observers such as Thucydides and Sunzi have pondered both the meaning and
frequency of war and speculated as to its causes. Is it the “natural state of man?” asked Aristotle. Or, said
Mencius, perhaps war occurs when “kings and princes know not the natural order of things”.
The history of the United States seems to offer some clues to this oldest of political science questions. For
the first hundred years of American history, America stayed clear of the “entanglements of Europe and the
dynastic conflicts that rocked that continent.” And yet the United States seemed constantly at war, engaging
in military battles up and down the western hemisphere and using some of the most egregious military
means to push back the claims of indigenous peoples in North America.
What accounts for this almost continuous state of armed conflict? The national character of the American
people? Deeply embedded drives (as Freud would argue) which makes physical conflict the “natural state
of mankind”? The struggle for economic survival and then, when that economic well-being comes about,
the need to defend economic interests by physical means? The “structural and anarchic characteristics of
the nation-state system” (as Thucydides and Waltz argue) that make self-protection the only real guarantor
of physical survival? The folly of individual political figures who act out of the most short-sighted and illinformed of intellectual frameworks?
This course will come to grips with these theoretical concepts by looking at America’s wars. Classes will
combine theoretical discussion with case studies drawn from America’s history of war in the 20th and 21st
centuries. We will see if we can agree on some perspectives that help explain the all-too-frquent onset of
military activity. Even more importantly, we will ask if there is a way out of the paradox outlined above
and try to see whether in any (or every) circumstance peace might win out over war as an instrument of
national policy.
Readings
The readings present historical information and analytic perspectives. Students are responsible for all of the assigned
readings, even those not discussed in class. Readings should be completed before coming to class on the date
indicated in the syllabus.
Texts. The following books will be used as texts for this course:
Robert Rotberg and Theodore Rabb, The Origin and Prevention of Major Wars
George Herring, From Colony to Superpower
Robert Schulzinger, U.S. Diplomacy Since 1900
1
Memoirs, Novels, First Person Accounts. There are also several novels/memoirs on the list:
World War I:
Eric Marie Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front
World War II:
Leon Uris, Battle Cry
OR
Norman Mailer, The Naked and the Dead
Middle East:
Nathaniel Fick, One Bullet Away
OR
Evan Wright, Generation Kill
Films
A series of “popular” films in DVD format will be placed on Reserve in the library. Students
will be responsible for watching and evaluating several of the films on the reserve list.
Paper
This course can be used as the basis for a Comps project. So in your midterm and final paper projects, you will first
master the theoretical literature in the field and then figure out how to apply that literature to real-world case studies.
The final term paper should be about 20 pages long. In the mid-term, you will be asked to outline the theoretical
literature and then apply this literature to an American conflict. In the final paper, you will build on the midterm by
extending your theoretical insights into the future and then critiquing your analytic prediction.
Grading
Grades for the course will be based on a mid-term paper, a final paper, a poster presentation, short exercises, and
class attendance and participation. The weight of each is as follows:
Mid-term
25%
Final Paper
40%
Poster/Presentation
10%
Daily Journal Assignments and Participation
25%
2
Fall 2009
Prof. Grow
Amb. Levin
POSC 347: AMERICA AND ITS WARS
PART I: Theories of War and American History
Tues Sept 15
INTRODUCTION
Readings:
Donald Kagan, On The Origins of War, pp. 1-11 (“Introduction”)
handout
Thur Sept 17
SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR AND THE BEGINNINGS OF EMPIRE (1)
Readings:
Robert Gilpin, “The Theory of Hegemonic War” in The Origins and
Prevention of Major Wars, pp. 15-37
Chris Hedges, War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning, pp. 1-17
(“Introduction”) pp. 1-17 (handout)
Herring, From Colony to Superpower Introduction and Ch. 1 (“Foreign
Policy and the Birth of the Republic”
Stanley Karnow, In Our Image: America’s Empire in the Philippines,
Ch. 1-3 (handout)
Recommended but not required:
Robert Schulzinger, U.S. Diplomacy Since 1900 Ch 2 (“The United States
as a World Power, 1898-1908”)
3
Tues Sept 22
SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR AND THE BEGINNINGS OF EMPIRE (2)
Readings:
Ken Waltz, “The Origins of War in Neorealist Theory” in The Origins and
Prevention of Major Wars, pp. 39-52
Herring, From Colony to Superpower Ch 7 and 8 (“Foreign Relations in the
Gilded Age, 1893-1901” and “The War of 1989”
Stanley Karnow, In Our Image: America’s Empire in the Philippines,
Ch. 4-6 (handout)
PART II: America and the Great Wars, 1901-1945
Thur Sept 24
WORLD WAR I—THE GREAT WAR (1)
Readings:
Jack Levy, “Domestic Politics and War” in The Origins and Prevention of
Major Wars, pp. 79-99
Herring, From Colony to Superpower Ch. 9 (“Bursting With Good
Intentions, 1901-1913”)
Robert Schulzinger, U.S. Diplomacy Since 1900 Ch 4 (“The United States in
the Great War, 1914-1920”)
Tues Sept 29
WORLD WAR I—THE GREAT WAR (2)
Readings:
Herring, From Colony to Superpower Ch. 10 (“The New Age: Wilson, the
Great War and the Quest for a New World Order”)
John Keegan, The First World War, Ch 10 (“America and Armageddon”)
handout
Williamson, “The Origins of World War I” in The Origins and Prevention
of Major Wars, pp. 226-248
4
Wed Sept 30
FILM: ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT
7:10 pm
BOULIOU AUDITORIUM
Thur Oct
1
WORLD WAR I—THE GREAT WAR (3)
Readings:
Maier, “War games, 1914-1919” in The Origins and Prevention of Major Wars,
pp. 249-279
Tues Oct 6
THE INTER-WAR PERIOD
Readings:
Herring, From Colony to Superpower Ch. 11 (“Involvement Without
Commitment, 1921-1931”)
Robert Schulzinger, U.S. Diplomacy Since 1900 Ch 5 (“The Era of
Conservative Internationalism, 1920-1929”)
Hughes, “The Origins of World War II in Europe” in The Origins and
Prevention of Major Wars, pp. 282-321
Thur Oct 8
WORLD WAR II (1)
Readings:
Herring, From Colony to Superpower Ch. 12 (“The Great Transformation:
Depression, Isolationism and the War, 1931-1941”)
Robert Schulzinger, U.S. Diplomacy Since 1900 Ch 6 (“The Diplomacy of
Depression, 1930-1939”)
Sagan, “The Origins of the Pacific War” in The Origins and Prevention of
Major Wars, pp. 323-352
5
Tues Oct 13
WORLD WAR II (2)
Readings:
Herring, From Colony to Superpower Ch. 13 (“World War II and the Rise
of American Globalism”)
Robert Schulzinger, U.S. Diplomacy Since 1900 Ch 7 (“The Politics of
Coalition Warfare, 1939-1945”)
MidTerm Paper Assigned
Wed Oct 14
FILM: SAVING PRIVATE RYAN
7:10 pm
BOULIOU AUDITORIUM
Thur Oct 15
WORLD WAR II (3)
Readings:
Monday
Midterm Break
PART III: America’s “Little Wars”
Tues Oct 20
THE KOREAN WAR (1)
Readings:
Herring, From Colony to Superpower Ch. 14 (“Truman, the Cold War and
the Revolution in US Foreign Policy, 1945-53”)
Robert Schulzinger, U.S. Diplomacy Since 1900 Ch 8 (“The Early Cold
War, 1945-51”)
MidTerm Paper due at beginning of class
6
Thur Oct 22
THE KOREAN WAR (2)
Readings:
Robert Jervis, “War and Misperception” in The Origins and Prevention of
Major Wars, pp. 101-126
Robert Schulzinger, U.S. Diplomacy Since 1900 Ch 9 (“Eisenhower’s new
Look, 1953-1960”)
Tues Oct 27
VIETNAM AND SE ASIA (1)
Readings:
Chris Hedges, War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning, Ch. 1 (“The Myth of
War”) handout
Herring, From Colony to Superpower Ch. 15 (“Coexistance and Crisis,
1953-1961”)
Barbara Tuchman, The Folly of War, pp. 233-283 (handout)
Thur Oct 29
VIETNAM AND SE ASIA (2)
Readings:
Herring, From Colony to Superpower 16 (“Gulliver’s Troubles: Kennedy,
Johnson and the Limits of Power, 1961-68”)
Barbara Tuchman, The Folly of War, pp. 283-378 (handout)
George Questar, “Crises and the Unexpected” in The Origins and
Prevention of Major Wars, pp. 127-145
Tues Nov 3
IRAQ AND THE MIDDLE EAST (1)
Readings:
Herring, From Colony to Superpower Ch 17 and 18 (“Nixon, Kissinger and
the End of the Postwar Era, 1969-74” and “Foreign Policy in an Age of
Dissonance, 1974-81”
7
Chris Hedges, War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning, Ch. 3 (“The
Destruction of Culture”) (handout)
Thur Nov 5
IRAQ AND THE MIDDLE EAST (2)
Readings: Handouts
Herring, From Colony to Superpower 19 (“A Unique and Extraordinary
Moment: Reagan, Bush and the End of the Cold War, 1981-91”)
Robert Schulzinger, U.S. Diplomacy Since 1900 Ch 13 (“The End of the
Cold War, 1981-1992”)
PART IV: Looking Into the Future
Tues Nov 10
DEBATE: THE GREATER THREAT: CHINA OR ISLAMIC TERRORISM? (1)
Readings: Handouts
Thur Nov 12
DEBATE: THE GREATER THREAT: CHINA OR ISLAMIC TERRORISM? (2)
Readings: Handouts
Tues Nov 17
CONCLUSION: WAR AS A LOGICAL AMERICAN POLICY?
Readings:
Herring, From Colony to Superpower Ch 20 (“The Strength of a Giant:
America as Hyperpower, 1992-2007”)
Wed Nov 18
Classes End
Fri Nov. 20
(a) Final Paper Due
(b) Poster Presentations
Mon Nov 23
Last day of Exams
8