Political Science 205: Introduction to International Relations
Faculty of Liberal Arts
Sophia University
Office: Building #10, Room 525
Instructor: Tadashi Anno
E-mail: t-anno@ sophia.ac.jp
Phone: 3238-4027
COURSE OBJECTIVES
This is a lecture course designed to introduce the student to the study of international
relations. It emphasizes the broad historical and theoretical foundations of contemporary
international relations. As such, this course should provide a good springboard for taking courses on
security and international political economy (IPE), and other international relations-related courses.
While the course is primarily designed for beginning students of international relations, it may also
benefit those students who have already taken “standard” courses on security or IPE, but who wants
to broaden their perspective by exploring the historical and theoretical foundations of contemporary
international relations.
Students successfully completing this course will 1) understand the basic principles
underlying the system of sovereign states; 2) understand how this system has evolved over the
centuries; 3) be familiar with the basic perspectives for understanding international relations; 4) be
familiar with some of the most significant contemporary issues in IR; and 5) be able to apply
theoretical perspectives to concrete international issues.
In this course, we will focus on the historical evolution of the theory and the practice of
international relations. We treat theories of IR not as purely “scientific” theories constructed to grasp
the “truth” about international relations, but as hypotheses which evolved in close interaction with
the historical reality – reflecting the latter while at the same time “constituting” them.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
The course requirements include attendance and reading the required texts, one
take-home mid-term examination, a final, in-class exam, as well as other assignments, including
8-10 quizzes and one or two “current topics assignments.”
Quizzes are designed to allow you to check on a regular basis the extent of your
understanding of the course contents. They are given in class after the completion of each major
lecture topic. Current topics assignments are given once or twice during the semester. You will be
asked analyze current international events by applying the concepts you learned in class.
The mid-term questions will be handed out in class, and the essays (4-6 pages) are due in
class 10-11 days later. The final exam will be conducted during the final exam week.
Announcements on current topics assignments will be made on-line and in class. Grading will be
based on the student’s performance in the course requirements.
The mid-term paper and the final exam combined will count for 65% of the grade, with the
higher grade of the two counting for 35% and lower grade for 30%. Attendance, and current topics
assignments will each count for 10% of the term grade. Quizzes will count for 20% of the grade. The
total adds up to 105%, and the extra 5% is a bonus point. .Although the weight of attendance in the
term grade is low, you will receive a failing grade (or a low grade) if you miss many classes without
legitimate, compelling reasons. Failing to do a large part of required readings may also result in a
failing or low grade.
There is one required textbook for this course: Robert Jackson & Georg Sorensen,
Introduction to International Relations: Theories and Approaches, 4th ed. (Oxford University Press,
2010). The textbook may be purchased at the Enderle bookstore. (In the basement of Building
#10). The 3rd edition of the same book is also acceptable. One copy of the 3rd edition is on reserve at
the Library counter. However, it is recommended that students purchase a copy for easy reference.
Other readings will be made available through the Moodle course website. The required readings
tend to become heavier towards the end of the course. It is recommended that in the early part of the
semester, students do the required readings ahead of schedule, so that they will be able to handle the
readings for the latter part of the course.
COURSE READINGS AND SCHEDULE
Readings in bold typeface are required. Other readings are recommended. All the required readings
except for those from the textbook can be found on the Moodle course website.
Introduction: Between Theory and History (1 session)
Readings:
Tadashi Anno, “Essential Guide to Doing Academic Readings” (Moodle)
Textbook, Chapter 1
E.H. Carr, What Is History (Alfred Knopf, 1965), entire – Japanese translation available as E.H.カー、
『歴史とは何か』(岩波新書) (this is one book you MUST read before you graduate)
Stephen Walt, “International Relations: One World, Many Theories” Foreign Policy, No. 110 (Spring
1998), pp. 29-46.
1) Gender and International Relations (1 session)
Readings:
Joshua Goldstein and Jon Pevehouse, International Relations, 8th ed. (New York: Pearson
Longman, 2008), pp. 105-125. (how gender affects politics/ IR)
Francis Fukuyama, “Women and the Evolution of World Politics” Foreign Affairs, Vol. 77. No. 5,
September / October 1998, pp. 24-40.
2) Foundations of Political Analysis (2 sessions)
Readings:
Tadashi Anno, “Three Aspects of Culture and Action,” adopted from Yasusuke Murakami, An
Anticlassical Political-Economic Analysis (Stanford UP, 1996), pp. 393-394.
3) The Modern European States System (3 sessions)
Quiz 1 -- Foundations of Political Analysis
Readings:
RE-READ Textbook, Chapter 1, pp. 7-26
George Ostrogorsky, “Byzantine Empire,” in S.N. Eisenstadt, ed. The Decline of Empires
(Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1967), pp. 21-30.
Yasusuke Murakami, Anti-Classical Political Economic Analysis (Stanford UP, 1997), pp. 33-56.
Current Topics Assignment #1 (Sovereign Immunity) handed out
3) Realism and the Balance of Power (3 sessions)
Quiz 2—The Modern European States System
Readings:
Textbook, Chapter 3
Thomas Hobbes, “Leviathan” (“translated” into modern English by Prof. Jonathan F.
Bennett), Chapters 13 & 17. (taken from Prof. Bennett’s website:
http://www.earlymoderntexts.com/index.html)
Max Weber, “Politics as Vocation,” in Weber, Political Writings (Cambridge UP, 1994), [マックス･
ウェーバー、
『職業としての政治』(岩波文庫)](a classic statement of a realist position on
the relationship between politics and morality – a must-read for students and practitioners
of politics)
Current Topics Assignment #2 (Balance of Power) handed out
4) Liberalism and Progress in International Relations (3 sessions)
Quiz 3 – Realism and the Balance of Power
Readings:
Textbook, Chapter 4
Immanuel Kant, “Eternal Peace,” in Carl Friedrich, ed., The Philosophy of Kant: Immanuel
Kant’s Moral and Political Writings, New York: The Modern Library, 1949,
pp.430-476.
Immanuel Kant, “An Idea for Universal History with a Cosmopolitan Intent” in The Philosophy of
Kant, pp. 116-131.
Current Topics Assignment #3 (Regional Organizations) handed out
MID-TERM TAKE-HOME EXAM HANDED OUT (May 31)
Due Date for All Current Topics Assignments – One Week after Assignment #3 is handed out
5) Socialism and the Revolutionary Imagination (2 sessions)
Quiz 4 -- Liberalism
Readings:
Stephen Hobden and Richard Wyn Jones, “Marxist Theories of International Relations,” in
John Baylis and Steve Smith, eds., The Globalization of World Politics, 3rd ed.,
(Oxford UP, 2004), pp. 225-234.
V.I. Lenin, “Imperialism,” in Carl Cohen, ed. Communism, Fascism, Democracy pp. 148-164
(classic statement of the “Marxist-Leninist” theory of capitalist international politics)
6) Sociological Approaches to International Relations (2 sessions)
Readings:
Textbook, Chapter 6 (Chapter 5 is recommended)
John Meyer, “Keynote Address: Standardizing and Globalizing of the Nation-State,” AGLOS
News, No. 5 (November 2004), pp. 5-11.
7) Western Expansion and Non-Western Responses (2 sessions)
MID-TERM TAKE HOME EXAM DUE IN CLASS
Quiz 5, 6 – Socialism and Sociological Approaches
Readings:
Theodore Von Laue, Why Lenin? Why Stalin? (J.B. Lippincott, 1964), pp. 7-9, 15-36.
(psychological dilemma faced by non-Western elites especially those of Russia)
Samuel Kim, “The Traditional Chinese Image of the World Order” in Kim, China, United
Nations, and the World Order, (Princeton UP, 1979), pp. 367-389.
Sato Seizaburo, “Response to the West,” in Albert Craig, ed. Japan: A Comparative View
(Princeton UP, 1979), pp. 105-129. (A rigorous comparison of East Asian states’
responses to the West)
平川祐弘、
「西洋の衝撃と日本」(講談社学術文庫､1985 年― a very readable account of Japan’s
response to Western impact, from the viewpoint of comparative literature)
8) The Crisis of the Liberal World Order, 1914-1945 (1 session)
Quiz 7 – Western Impact
Readings:
Susan Carruthers, “International History, 1900-1945,” in John Baylis and Steve Smith, eds.,
The Globalization of World Politics, 3rd ed., (Oxford UP, 2004), pp. 63-89.
E.H. Carr, The Twenty Years’ Crisis (Harper & Row, 1964), pp. 41-88.
Anno Tadashi, “The Liberal World Order and Its Challengers: Nationalism and the Rise of
Anti-Systemic Movements in Russia and Japan, 1860-1950,” (Ph.D. Dissertation), pp.
318-411. [analysis of changes in Japanese foreign policy in the context of the crisis of the
world order in the interwar period]
9) The Reconstitution of the Liberal World Order under US Leadership (2 sessions)
Quiz 8 – Crisis of the Lieral World Order
Samuel Huntington, “American Ideas and American Institutions” in G. John Ikenbery, ed.,
American Foreign Policy, pp. 223-258 (a incisive account of the basic characteristics of
US foreign policy from the viewpoint of one of its most prominent advocates today).
10) The United Nations System (2 sessions)
Quiz 9 –Reconstruction of the Liberal World Order under US Leadership
Readings:
Paul Taylor and Devon Curtis, “The United Nations,” in Baylis and Smith, eds., The
Globalization of World Politics, 3rd ed., (Oxford UP, 2004), pp. 405-424.
11) International Political Economy (2 sessions)
Readings:
Textbook, Chapter 8
Joshua Goldstein International Relations , Excerpts from Chapters 8-9. (the basis of
international trade theory, particularly the notion of the comparative advantage).
谷口智彦、
『通貨燃ゆ―円・元・ドル・ユーロの同時代史』(日経ビジネス人文庫、2010 年)
12) International Relations in the 21st Century (2 sessions)
Daniel Deudney and G. John Ikenberry, “The Nature and Sources of Liberal International
Order,” Review of International Studies, Vol. 25, No. 2 (April 1999), pp. 179-196.
Stewart Patrick, “Irresponsible Stakeholders?: The Difficulty of Integrating Rising Powers,”
oreign Affairs, Vol. 89, No. 6 (November / December 2010), pp. 44-53.
John J. Mearsheimer, The Tragedy of Great Power Politics (New York: Norton, 2001), pp.
360-402.
Final Examination During the Exam Period