Evolution of the International System
POLI 259
Course Objective: This course focuses on two central issues in contemporary international
politics. First, is the United States an “imperial power,” and if so, is this a good or bad thing? How
might one think about the question of American imperialism, and how might one think about
making judgments concerning the good or bad aspects of American predominance? Second, what
are the challenges to American predominance and how should the U.S. respond to these challenges?
Here we will focus most closely on trying to get a grasp on the terrorist threat and the dangers posed
by weapons of mass destruction. In addition, we will examine the conflict between the U.S. and
major European powers that arose concerning the war in Iraq.
Course Organization: The course is divided into four sections. In the first sections we ask
whether the United States is an Imperial power or a hegemon, and what exactly the difference
might be. In the second section we examine how the U.S. has used its power to shape the
international system since 1945. In the third section we focus on challenges to the American order,
with a particular focus on the Middle East, terrorism, and Weapons of Mass Destruction. In the
fourth section we focus on how the United States is managing these challenges, and the
controversies this response has generated.
Course Requirements: Your grade for this course will be based on your performance on four
tests, irregularly administered quizzes, and attendance and participation in class discussions. Each
test is worth 20 percent of your grade. The quizzes will be worth a total of 20 percent.
Attendance Matters A Lot. Each student is allowed one free absence. Each subsequent absence
will cost you 3 points off your final test average. Thus, if you miss four class sessions and you have
a 92 test average, your final average will be reduced to 83. I will take attendance every day. I know
this is a bit draconian, but if I have to be here, so do you. A qualification: I am not completely
unreasonable. If you have a real scheduling conflict, please come and talk to me and I can excuse
you for the day.
You must be present for all scheduled exams. The only allowable exception to this policy is
adocumented medical emergency. If you miss a scheduled exam, you will be allowed to take a
make-up test, but there will be a substantial penalty. I am very serious about this policy. For a tongue
in cheek explanation of why, visit The Dead Grandmother Syndrome
Course Reading: Course readings are available in two places:
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On Blackboard under POLI 81 section 001.
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In a reader I will provide to you for a nominal fee.
Honor Code: “The Honor Code is in effect in this class and all others at the University. I am
committed to treating Honor Code violations seriously and urge all students to become familiar with
its terms set out at http://instrument.unc.edu. If you have questions, it is your responsibility to ask
me about the Code’s application. All exams, written work, and other projects must be submitted
with a statement that you have complied with the requirements of the Honor Code in all aspects of
the submitted work.”
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Other Policies: Please try to observe two additional policies:
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Phones:Please turn them off before class
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Email: As a policy, I do not answer substantive questions via email. Please visit me
during my office hours for this purpose. If you need to notify me of something (i.e., absence from
an exam, something wrong on blackboard, etc.), feel free to do so by email. You will need to follow
up with an office visit, however.
June 17
Introductory Session (brief)
American Empire?
June 18
Is the U.S. an Empire? Half Hour Video and Discussion Reading: The National
Security Strategy (Blackboard)
June 21
Is the U.S. an Empire? Reading: Niall Ferguson. 2004. Colossus: The Price of
America’s Empire (New York: The Penguin Press), pages 1-19. (Reader)
June 22
The Reluctant Superpower? Reading: James Chace. 2002. “Imperial America and
the Common Interest,” World Policy Journal 19 (Spring): 1-9. (Blackboard)
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From an August 21, 2003 Memo from Robert Shelton, Provost and Judith Wegner, Chair of the Faculty
June
23
2
The Imperial Power? Reading: Andrew Bacevich. 2002. American Empire: The
Realities and Consequences of American Diplomacy (Cambridge: Harvard University
Press), pages 7-31. (Reader)
June
24
Order and International Politics
June
25
Reading: Hedley Bull. 1977. The Anarchical Society: A Study of Order in World Politics
(New York: Columbia University Press), pages 3-22. (Reader)
Test 1
Power with a Purpose: Elements of the American Order
June
28
The American Order
June
29
After the Cold War:
June
30
What About the Middle East?
July 1
July 2
July 6
July 7
Reading: G. John Ikenberry. 2001. After Victory: Institutions, Strategic Restraint, and the
Rebuilding of Order After Major Wars (Princeton: Princeton University Press), pages
163-191.
Reading: Andrew Bacevich. 2002. American Empire: The Realities and Consequences of
American Diplomacy (Cambridge: Harvard University Press), pages 79-116. (Reader)
Reading:
Bernard Lewis, 2003. The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror (New York:
Random House), pages 113-119. (Blackboard) Marcus Noland and Howard Pack.
2004. “Islam, Globalization, and Economic
Performance in the Middle East,” International Economic Policy Briefs Number PB04-4.
Washington, D.C.: Institute for International Economics. (Blackboard)
The Middle East: A Bit of History and Politics
Reading:
Joseph N. Weatherby. 2002. The Middle East and North Africa: a Political Primer (New
York: Longman), selections. (Photocopy)
The Middle East in American Foreign Policy
Reading:
Douglas Little. 1995. “Gideon’s Band: America and the Middle East since 1945,” in
America in the World: the Historiography of American Foreign Relations Since 1941 (edited
by Michael J. Hogan). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (Photocopy)
A World Without Order?
Reading: Niall Ferguson. 2004. “A World Without Power,” Foreign Policy
(July/August): 32-39.
Test 2
Challenges to the American Order
July 8
Terrorism Reading: Robert A. Pape. 2003. “The Strategic Logic of Suicide
Terrorism,” American Political Science Review 97 (August): 343-61. (Blackboard) Boaz
Ganor. 2002. “Terror as a Strategy of Psychological Warfare,” The International Policy
Institute for Counter-Terrorism (July 15). (Blackboard)
July 9
Conditions for Terrorism: Societal, State, Individual Reading: Najib Ghadbian.
2000. “Political Islam and Violence,” New Political Science 22 (1): 7788. (Blackboard)
Paul B. Davis. 2001, “The Terrorist Mentality,” Cerebrum: The Dana Forum of Brain
Science (Summer). (Blackboard)
July 12
Failed States Reading: Richard Rotberg. 2002. “Failed States in a World of
Terror,” Foreign Affairs 81 (July/August): 127-140. (Blackboard) Ann M. Lesch.
2002. “Osama bin Laden’s ‘Business’ in Sudan,” Current History (May). (Blackboard)
Thomas P.M. Barnett. 2003. “The Pentagon’s New Map,” Esquire (March): 174-79,
227-8. (Blackboard)
July 13
Weapons of Mass Destruction Reading: John Sopko, “The Changing
Proliferation Threat,” Foreign Policy no. 105 (Winter 1996): 3-21. (Blackboard)
“Bombs, Gas, and Microbes: the Desperate Efforts to Block the Road to
Doomsday,” The Economist June 6, 1998. (Blackboard)
July 14
Test 3
Managing Threats: Unilateralism, Multilateralism, Domestic
Support
July 15
The Dispute Over Iraq, I Reading: Michael Glennon. 2003. “Why the Security
Council Failed,” Foreign Affairs 82 (May/June). (Blackboard)
July 16
The Dispute Over Iraq, II
Reading:
Robert Kagan. 2004. Of Paradise and Power: American and Europe in the New World Order
(New York: Vintage Books), pages 105-158. (Reader)
Will the American Public Support Empire?
Reading:
Niall Ferguson. 2004. Colossus: The Price of America’s Empire (New York: The Penguin
Press), pages 200-226. (Reader)
Does the World Need an Empire?
Reading:
Niall Ferguson. 2004. Colossus: The Price of America’s Empire (New York: The Penguin
Press), pages 169-199. (Reader)
Final Exam
July 19
July 20
July 22
(8:00-
11:00)