Towson University
International Law and Organization, POSC 447/547
Fall 2013
Monday and Wednesday 3:30-4:45, LA 2303
Twitter Hashtag: #TU447
Instructor: Molly Ruhlman
mruhlman@towson.edu
Office Hours Monday and Wednesday 12-1:30
Office: LA 3206
Course Description:
The nature, structure and sources of international law, the relationship between international law and domestic
U.S. law, the role of international organizations such as the United Nations. Prerequisites – POSC 107 or
consent of instructor.
The last day that you can drop this course with a grade of “W” or change your grade to a Pass/No Pass is April
12.
Course Objectives and Learning Outcomes
The goal of the Department of Political Science is to provide students with an understanding of politics that will
prepare them for further study in graduate or professional education or that will prepare them to enter the world
of domestic or international public service or business. To meet this goal, the department seeks to accomplish
the following four general student learning outcomes:
1. Substantive Knowledge about Politics - Describe the structure and nature of politics in international
relations.
2. Critical Thinking Skills - Identify historical, cultural, and socio-economic assumptions that underlie
understandings about politics and explain how they affect one’s perspectives and actions.
3. Affective Meanings of Politics - Explain the importance of politics in the attitudes and beliefs about
current issues that affect local, national and international affairs.
4. Skills for Learning and Life - Present articulate and persuasive arguments about politics in written and
oral communications.
This course addresses these outcomes by introducing you to the study of International Relations with a focus on
governance through organizations and law. Upon completion of the course, students will have an understanding
of the challenges that states face in their interactions, and the role that international organizations and law play
in global politics. You will understand the difficulties of collective action and strategies for overcoming them.
Students will be familiar with the United Nations system, key International Economic Organizations, and
regional political organizations among other intergovernmental as well as non-governmental organizations and
know how these many actors interact within complex issue areas.
Course Overview
In this class you will learn about international institutions; what they are, how they are created, and how they
help states overcome collective action problems. You will learn that “institution” means both rules and
organizations. While we will study both, this course will emphasize international agreements, rules and law.
The first weeks will be dedicated to obtaining a solid understanding of the institutions and actors of global
politics and several ways to think about global governance. We will then turn to specific challenges in
international politics. Our examination of specific organizations and how they interact with others will be
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guided by a study of real-life situations. By the end of the course you will have gained both a theoretical
understanding of global governance, organizations and law as well as a practical understanding of real foreign
policy. We will regularly discuss current affairs in international politics, and track relevant news.
Our class sessions will focus on discussion of the assigned reading as well as current affairs in international
politics. Students are expected to take an active part in class discussions and to have completed reading
assignments prior to class.
Assignments and Grading
Participation in news sharing*………………
Writing assignments* (10% each)…..………
Midterms (17% each) ……………………...
Final ……………………………………….
04%
40%
34%
22%
*details starting on page 7
Variation for 557
The following information applies only to students who are registered for 557, for graduate level credit.
Students enrolled in 557 are expected to complete all of the assignments as explained in this syllabus, except for
the fourth writing assignment. Instead, 557 students will work individually with the instructor to determine an
individually designed writing assignment that will explore each student’s specific area of interest in
international governance and law. This paper will involve research and argument, and be of 10-15 pages in
length.
Late Work
The first three writing assignments are due during the class period that we are scheduled to discuss the material
that you have elected to write about. At the end of that class period, writing assignments for that material will
no longer be accepted. You must submit one writing assignment before the second exam. Failure to do so will
result in one a grade of zero for one of your writing assignments. There are many opportunities to hand in work
before the second exam, so you must plan ahead. The fourth writing assignment is due on Monday May 13th,
and your grade will be reduced by 10 points each day that it is late, beginning with the end of the class period
on its due date (not including weekends).
Missed Exams: If you have a conflict with the exam period you must speak with me at least one week before
the exam to make arrangements. There will be no “make-ups” for missed exams without DOCUMENTED and
VERIFIABLE evidence of an unavoidable and unplanned EMERGENCY. If you experience such an
emergency you must contact me within 24 hours of the exam.
Attendance
It is your responsibility to attend class. I will not take attendance nor will your presence be directly recorded in
the grade book in any way. However, if you do not attend class you will struggle to pass. You will be tested
on material that is covered both in your reading assignments and that which is covered in class.
Grade Scale
I use the +/- grading system for grades A-, B+, B-, and C+. I do not use +/- below the grade of C. My scoring
for grades is as follows
Letter
Grade
A
AB+
B
B-
Range
92-100
90-91
87-89
82-86
80-81
Score Recorded when only a
Letter Grade is Assigned
95
90
88
85
80
Letter
Grade
C+
C
D
F
Range
78-79
70-77
60-69
Below 60
Score Recorded when only a
Letter Grade is Assigned
78
75
65
Varies
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Academic Integrity and Plagiarism
Copied here is an excerpt from the Towson University plagiarism policy:
“Presenting the work, products, ideas, words, or data of another as one’s own is plagiarism. Indebtedness must
be acknowledged whenever:
1. one quotes another person’s actual words or replicates all or part of another’s product. This
includes all information gleaned from any source, including the Internet.
2. one uses another person’s ideas, opinions, work, data, or theories, even if they are completely
paraphrased in one’s own words.
3. one borrows facts, statistics, or other illustrative materials.
Academic dishonesty will absolutely not be tolerated. Any assignment or exam with evidence of cheating will
receive a zero. Instances of clear intention of deceit will be reported as an honor violation. Cheating and
plagiarizing are violations of the university’s policy on academic integrity (see
http://www.towson.edu/provost/resources/studentacademic.asp).
Cases of cheating and plagiarizing will be handled according to that policy. Under that policy, I will inform
Student Affairs of an infraction and two infractions on your record may be grounds for suspension from the
university.
Individual Student Needs
If English is not your first language special arrangements can be made to improve your performance on the
exams and assignments. Please see me prior to the first exam for more information.
This course is in compliance with Towson University’s policies for students with disabilities. Accommodations
can be made on exams and assignments for students with disabilities. Students with disabilities are encouraged
to register with Disability Support Services (DSS), 7720 York Road, Suite 232, 410-704-2638 (Voice or TDD).
Students who expect that they have a disability but do not have documentation are encouraged to contact DSS
for advice on how to obtain appropriate evaluation. A memo from DSS authorizing your accommodation is
needed before any accommodation can be made.
If you have special needs regarding assignments or exams, please talk with me at the beginning of the term. The
number for Towson disability support services is
410-704-3475
Required Text
 Shirley V. Scott, International Law in World Politics. 2nd edition. Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2010.
 All reading assignments that are not in the Scott text will be posted on Blackboard, or distributed in
class.
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CLASS SCHEDULE
Wednesday August 28th
Introduction to class and each other
Monday September 2nd
TOWSON CLOSED
Wednesday September 4th
Understanding Global Governance and International Law
 Scott chapter 1
Monday September 9th
States in International Law
 Scott chapter 2
Wednesday September 11th
Institutions, Prisoner’s Dilemma Game
Monday September 16
Collective Action and other challenges
 False Promise of Institutionalism, Mearsheimer
 The Promise of Institutionalist Theory, Keohane and Martin
Wednesday September 18
Origins of the current liberal order
 Future of the Liberal Order, Ikenberry
Monday September 23
International Organizations
 Scott chapter 3
Wednesday September 25
IGOs, Continued. Legal personality and responsibility.
 How the UN Caused Haiti’s Cholera Crisis and Won’t be Held Responsible, Rosen
 A short list of blog posts from OpinioJuris, links on BB.
Monday September 30
Non-State Actors in global governance
 Scott chapter 4
Wednesday October 2
Review/Current Events
Monday October 7
Exam 1
Wednesday October 9
The structure of International Law
 Scott chapter 5
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Monday October 14
Reading Multilateral Treaties
 Scott chapter 8
Wednesday October 16
The Evolution of Multilateral Treaties
 Scott chapter 9
Monday October 21
International Law and War
 Scott chapter 6
 When is it Right to Fight?, Evans
Wednesday October 23
Collective Security and the Security Council
 Scott chapter 7
 Why the Security Council Failed, Glennon
 Response to Glennon: Hurd and Slaughter
Monday October 28
Humanitarian Law
 Scott, chapter 12
Wednesday October 30
Humanitarian Law continued: Terrorism and IL
 International Law Under Fire: Interesting Times for International Humanitarian Law: Challenges from
the "War on Terror", Rona
 Can Pakistan Legally Shoot Down US Drones?, Afpak blog
Monday November 4
Weapons, Arms Control
 Scott, chapter 10
 TBD article about Syria and chemical weapons inspection
 Why isn’t tear gas illegal?, Slate Explainer
Wednesday November 6
Human Rights and Law
 Scott chapter 11
 UN Declaration on Human Rights
 ICCPR
 ICESCR
Monday November 11
Review/Current Events
Wednesday November 13
Exam 2
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Monday November 18
IPE; Bretton Woods and Trade
 Biotechnology, the next transatlantic trade war?, Pollack and Shaffer
 Chapter 11 for countries?, Cooper
Wednesday November 20
Environmental Governance
 Scott, chapter 13
Monday November 25
Development
 What’s Wrong with the Millennium Development Goals? , Clemens and Moss
 Emerging Voices, Global Public Participation in the Formation of the SDGs
http://opiniojuris.org/2013/07/12/emerging-voices-we-the-peoples-global-public-participation-in-theformulation-of-the-sustainable-development-goals/
Thanksgiving Break November 27-December1
Monday December 2
Health and Internet as Global Public Goods
 WHO FCTC: Evidence Based Global Public Health Treaty,
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1126513/
 Who Will Control the Internet?, Cukier
 Too Many Stakeholders Spoil the Soup, Dourado
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/05/15/too_many_stakeholders_spoil_the_soup
Wednesday December 4
Legitimacy and democracy in Global Governance?
 Is there a democratic deficit in world politics? Moravcsik
o talk, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kN-nx-Q5xx4 (minutes 4:30-55:00, rest is intro/q&a)
o Or the paper posted on blackboard
 We the people of the Earth, Toward Global Democracy http://upcommons.upc.edu/eprints/bitstream/2117/8979/1/GTI-Perspectives-Global_Democracy.pdf
Monday December 9
The future of International Law and world politics
 Scott, Chapter 14
Wednesday December 11
Review/Current Events day
Thursday December 12th 10:15 - 12:15pm
FINAL EXAM,
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News Sharing (4% class grade)
At least twice (once before November 11 and again before December 11th) you must distribute an article of
news related to the subjects we are discussing in class that week. You will distribute a link to the article to the
entire class via either twitter or emailed via blackboard. Please feel free to send more than two such links
throughout the course of the semester.
Writing Assignments (40% of class grade, 10% each)
1. The purpose of writing this critical memo is to enhance your critical thinking abilities using the assigned
readings and to improve the depth and breadth of our in-class discussions.
2. Simple summaries of the material are not sufficient.
3. As preparation for writing the critical memo paper, think about the following questions and topics as we
do each of the assigned readings. We will be incorporating these questions and topics into our in-class
discussions and activities, so come prepared.
Questions to consider while reading, and that might guide the writing of your memo:
1. What is the intended purpose of the assigned article? Is the author making an explicit argument about a
topic? Does the author purport to present an “objective” description of facts? What are the most
important points the author is trying to convey? How well does the author succeed in conveying these
points?
2. If the author is making a clear argument, what is the author’s normative agenda in making the
argument(s)? More interestingly, to what extent do you agree or disagree with the author? Why?
3. As you think about each individual reading, compare it to the others you have read in this term. How
might the authors of the articles speak to each other or what might they discuss if they were seated at a
seminar table, on the same roundtable panel, on a long flight together overseas? Choose two authors.
What would be their topic of conversation and what would be their points of agreement, disagreement,
and compromise?
4. To what extent are these authors talking about the same issue or different aspects of the same issue?
That is, how do the themes in one reading relate to themes in earlier readings this term or themes and
ideas in our class discussions?
5. If you were invited to participate in their discussion, what would you say? In other words, would you
find yourself siding more with one author than the other? Why? Or would you make an alternative
argument and/or interrupt with additional evidence? What would that argument be or what would the
additional evidence consist of?
6. How has the reading(s) enhanced your understanding of the subject? In what ways did it amplify, differ
from, or change the impression you got from my summaries or our in-class discussions?
Guidelines for writing the Critical Memo paper
Memos are meant not only to assist you in carefully considering the readings you have done for this course, but
also in understanding what they suggest about world politics and international institutions. Memos should not
be used to summarize the readings — I want to see evidence that you have thought analytically about the
readings in some depth and considered their implications.
Each memo should respond to a specific article or set of articles. But your analysis should be informed by what
you are simultaneously reading in the Scott text, and what we have been reading/discussing throughout the
semester. Always remember to use proper citations for any material that you refer to while writing these
memos.
Each memo should be: double-spaced, TNR or equivalent font size 12, 4-5 pages.
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Assignment Choices. You must choose submit at least one memo for each of these groups of deadlines
(demarcated by the line of asterisks). You must submit FOUR memos in total. Write a memo that responds to
the articles listed underneath the deadline. If two articles are listed you respond to both of them as a set (the
authors of these articles are speaking directly to each other). Reminder: you will be reading ALL of these in
preparation for class and for exams.
1) September 6
a) False Promise of Institutionalism, Mearsheimer
b) The Promise of Institutionalist Theory, Keohane and Martin
2) September 18
a) The Future of the Liberal World Order, Ikenberry
3) September 25
a) How the UN Caused Haiti’s Cholera Crisis and Won’t be Held Responsible, Rosen
b) OpinioJuris blog posts on UN responsibility re:cholera outbreak
***********************************************************************
4) October 21
a) When is it Right to Fight?, Evans
5) October 23
a) Why the Security Council Failed, Glennon
b) Response to Glennon, Hurd and Slaughter
6) October 30
a) International Law Under Fire: Interesting Times for International Humanitarian Law: Challenges from
the "War on Terror", Rona
7) October 30
a) Can Pakistan Legally Shoot Down US Drones?, Afpak blog
8) November 4
a) TBD Syria chemical weapons article
************************************************************************
9) November 18
a) Biotechnology, the next transatlantic trade war?, Pollack and Shaffer
10) November 18
a) Chapter 11 for countries?, Cooper
11) November 25
a) What’s Wrong with the Millennium Development Goals? , Clemens and Moss
b) Emerging Voices, Global Public Participation in the Formation of the SDGs
12) December 2
a) Who Will Control the Internet?, Cukier
b) Too Many Stakeholders Spoil the Soup, Dourado
13) December 2
a) WHO FCTC: Evidence Based Global Public Health Treaty
14) December 4
a) Is there a democratic deficit in world politics? Moravcsik
b) We the people of the Earth, Toward Global Democracy
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