PS 455/555
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Theories of International Politics
Winter 2015
Lars Skalnes
929 PLC
Tuesday 9-12; or by appointment
6-4886
lskalnes@uoregon.edu
This is an advanced introduction to international relations theory. International relations theory is
struggling to come to grips with recent and future developments in international politics. The course
focuses on some of these developments, all of which present significant challenges to current
theories: nationalism and ethnicity; the end of the Cold War; how best to respond to the rise of
China; and globalization. Before we tackle these difficult issues, however, we need a better grasp of
what the current theories are. We will therefore spend the first six weeks discussing various general
frameworks or paradigms for thinking about international relations.
Course requirements:
1. Midterm:
2. Final paper (based in large part on the last four weeks of reading plus additional readings
relevant to your particular topic). Topic to be posted on Blackboard. Date of posting to be
announced in class. A an electronic copy of your paper must be submitted to
lskalnes@uoregon.edu no later than . No extensions will be given, and no late papers will be
accepted. You cannot take an incomplete in this course.
The midterm accounts for 50% and the final paper for 50% of your grade.
Required readings available at the University of Oregon bookstore:
•
•
Tim Dunne, Milja Kurki, and Steve Smith, International Relations Theories: Discipline and
Diversity, 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013.
John J. Mearsheimer, The Tragedy of Great Power Politics (updated edition). New York: W.
W. Norton, 2014.
Required readings not listed above are available online. The articles listed under additional readings
below will prove useful in writing the final paper.
Academic Misconduct. The University Student Conduct Code (available at available at
http://uodos.uoregon.edu/StudentConductandCommunityStandards/StudentConductCode/tabid/69/D
efault.aspx) defines academic misconduct. Students are prohibited from committing or attempting to
commit any act that constitutes academic misconduct. By way of example, students should not give
or receive (or attempt to give or receive) unauthorized help on assignments or examinations without
express permission from the instructor. Students should properly acknowledge and document all
sources of information (e.g. quotations, paraphrases, ideas) and use only the sources and resources
authorized by the instructor. If there is any question about whether an act constitutes academic
misconduct, it is the students’ obligation to clarify the question with the instructor before committing
or attempting to commit the act. Additional information about a common form of academic
misconduct, plagiarism, is available at www.libweb.uoregon.edu/guides/plagiarism/students.
Disability. The University of Oregon is working to create inclusive learning environments. If there
are aspects of the instruction or design of this course that result in disability related barriers to your
participation, please notify me as soon as possible. You may also wish to contact Disability Services
in 164 Oregon Hall at 346-1155 or disabsrv@uoregon.edu.
1. International Relations as a Social Science
Steve Smith, “Introduction: Diversity and Disciplinarity in International Relations Theory.” In
Dunne, Kurki, and Smith, pp. 1–13.
Milja Kurki and Colin Wight, “International Relations and Social Science.” In Dunne, Kurki, and
Smith, chapter 1.
Ole Wæver, “Still a Discipline After All These Debates?” In Dunne, Kurki, and Smith, chapter 15.
2. Realism I
Richard Ned Lebow, “Classical Realism.” In Dunne, Kurki, and Smith, chapter 3.
Robert A. Pape, “Soft Balancing against the United States,” International Security 30 (Summer
2005), pp. 7–45.
Jack S. Levy and William R. Thompson, “Balancing on Land and at Sea: Do States Ally against the
Leading Global Power?” International Security 3 (Summer 2010), pp. 7–43.
3. Realism II
John J. Mearsheimer, “Structural Realism.” In Dunne, Kurki, and Smith, chapter 4.
Mearsheimer, The Tragedy of Great Power Politics.
4. Liberalism I
Bruce Russett, “Liberalism.” In Dunne, Kurki, and Smith, chapter 5.
Erik Gartzke and Yonatan Lupu, “Trading on Preconceptions: Why World War I Was Not a Failure
of Economic Interdependence,” International Security 36 (Spring 2012), pp. 115–50.
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John M. Owen, “How Liberalism Produces Democratic Peace,” International Security 19 (Fall
1994), pp. 87–125.
5. Liberalism II
Jennifer Sterling-Folker, “Neoliberalism.” In Dunne, Kurki, and Smith, chapter 6.
George W. Downs, David M. Rocke, and Peter N. Barsoom, “Is the Good News about Compliance
Good News about Cooperation?” International Organization 50 (Summer 1996), pp. 379–406.
Judith L. Goldstein and Lisa Martin, “Legalization, Trade Liberalization, and Domestic Politics: A
Cautionary Note,” International Organization 54 (Summer 2000), pp. 603–32.
6. Constructivism
K. M. Fierke, “Constructivism.” In Dunne, Kurki, and Smith, chapter 9.
Frank Schimmelfennig, “The Community Trap: Liberal Norms, Rhetorical Action, and the Eastern
Enlargement of the European Union,” International Organization 55 (Winter 2001), pp. 47–80.
7. Nationalism, Ethnicity and International Conflict
Barry Posen, “The Security Dilemma and Ethnic Conflict,” Survival 35 (Spring 1993), pp. 27–47.
Chaim Kaufmann, “Rational Choice and Progress in the Study of Ethnic Conflict: A Review Essay,”
Security Studies 14 (January-March 2005), pp. 178–207.
Diana Dumitru and Carter Johnson, “Constructing Interethnic Conflict and Cooperation: Why Some
People Harmed Jews and Others Helped Them during the Holocaust in Romania,” World Politics
61 (January 2011), pp. 1–42.
Additional readings:
William Rose, “The Security Dilemma and Ethnic Conflict: Some New Hypotheses,” Security
Studies 9 (Summer 2000), pp. 1–51.
James D. Fearon and David D. Laitin, “Explaining Interethnic Cooperation,” American Political
Science Review 90 (December 1996), pp. 715–35.
James D. Fearon and David D. Laitin, “Violence and the Social Construction of Ethnic Identity,”
International Organization 54 (October 2000), pp. 845–77.
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Stuart J. Kaufman, “An ‘International Theory’ of Inter-Ethnic War,” Review of International Studies
22 (April 1996), pp. 149–71.
Lars-Erik Cederman, “Nationalism and Ethnicity.” In Handbook of International Relations, edited by
Walter Carlsnaes, Thomas Risse, and Beth A. Simmons, pp. 409–428. London: Sage, 2002.
V.P. Gagnon, Jr., “Ethnic Nationalism and International Conflict: The Case of Serbia,” International
Security 19 (Winter 1994/1995), pp. 130–66.
David A. Lake and Donald Rothchild, “Containing Fear: The Origins and Management of Ethnic
Conflict,” International Security 21 (Fall 1996), pp. 41–75.
Stuart J. Kaufman, “Spiraling to Ethnic War: Elites, Masses, and Moscow in Moldova’s Civil War,”
International Security 21 (Fall 1996), pp. 108–38.
Stuart J. Kaufman, Modern Hatreds: The Symbolic Politics of Ethnic War. Ithaca: Cornell University
Press, 2001.
8. The End of the Cold War
Randall Schweller and William C. Wohlforth, “Power Test: Evaluating Realism in Response to the
End of the Cold War,” Security Studies 9 (Spring 2000), pp. 60–107.
Thomas Risse-Kappen, “Ideas Do Not Float Freely: Transnational Coalitions, Domestic Structures,
and the End of the Cold War,” International Organization 48 (Spring 1994), pp. 185–214.
Janice Gross Stein, “Political Learning by Doing: Gorbachev as an Uncommitted Thinker,”
International Organization 48 (Spring 1994), pp. 155–83.
Additional readings:
William C. Wohlforth, “Realism and the End of the Cold War,” International Security 19 (Winter
1994/95), pp. 91–129.
Richard Ned Lebow, “The Rise and Fall of the Cold War in Comparative Perspective,” Review of
International Studies 25 (December 1999), pp. 21–39.
John Lewis Gaddis, “International Relations Theory and the End of the Cold War,” International
Security 17 (Winter 1992/93), pp. 5–58.
Richard Ned Lebow, “The Long Peace, the End of the Cold War, and the Failure of Realism,”
International Organization 48 (Spring 1994), pp. 249–77.
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Rey Koslowski and Friedrich V. Kratochwil, “Understanding Change in International Politics: The
Soviet Empire's Demise and the International System,” International Organization 48 (Spring
1994), pp. 215–47.
9. The Rise of China
Jonathan Kirshner, “The Tragedy of Offensive Realism: Classical Realism and the Rise of China,”
European Journal of International Relations 18 (March 2012), pp. 53–75.
Randall L. Schweller and Xiaoyu Pu, “After Unipolarity: China’s Visions of International Order in
an Era of U.S. Decline,” International Security 36 (Summer 2011), pp. 41–72.
M. Taylor Fravel, “Regime Insecurity and International Cooperation: Explaining China’s
Compromises in Territorial Disputes,” International Security 30 (Fall 2005), pp. 46–83.
Additional readings:
Aaron L. Friedberg, “The Future of U.S.-China Relations: Is Conflict Inevitable?” International
Security 30 (Fall 2005), pp. 7–45.
Injoo Sohn, “After Renaissance: China’s Multilateral Offensive in the Developing World,” European
Journal of International Relations 18 (March 2012), pp. 77–101.
Robert J. Art, “The United States and the Rise of China: Implications for the Long Haul,” Political
Science Quarterly 125 (Fall 2010), pp. 359–91.
Alastair Iain Johnston, “How New and Assertive Is China’s New Assertiveness?” International
Security 37 (Spring 2013), pp. 7–48.
Robert Jervis, “Thinking Systemically About China,” International Security 31 (Fall 2006), pp. 206–
8.
Thomas J. Christensen, “Fostering Stability or Creating a Monster? The Rise of China and U.S.
Policy toward East Asia,” International Security 31 (Summer 2006), pp. 81–126.
Kai He and Huiyun Feng, “If Not Soft Balancing, Then What? Reconsidering Soft Balancing and
U.S. Policy toward China,” Security Studies 17 (May 2008), pp. 363–95.
Albert B. Wolf and M. Taylor Fravel, “Structural Sources of China’s Territorial Compromises,”
International Security 31 (Fall 2006), pp. 199–205.
M. Taylor Fravel and Evan S. Medeiros, “China’s Search for Assured Retaliation: The Evolution of
Chinese Nuclear Strategy and Force Structure,” International Security 35 (Fall 2010), pp. 48–87.
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Thomas J. Christensen, “The Meaning of the Nuclear Evolution: China’s Strategic Modernization
and US-China Security Relations,” Journal of Strategic Studies 35 (August 2012), pp. 447–87.
Robert Ross, Chinese Security Policy: Structure, Power and Politics. Routledge, 2009.
Daniel W. Drezner, “Bad Debts: Assessing China’s Financial Influence in Great Power Politics,”
International Security 34 (Fall 2009), pp. 7–45.
10. Globalization
Colin Hay, “International Relations Theory and Globalization.” In Dunne, Kurki, and Smith, chapter
14.
Maria Gritsch, “The Nation-State and Economic Globalization: Soft Geo-Politics and Increased State
Autonomy?” Review of International Political Economy 12 (February 2005), pp. 1-25.
Daniel W. Drezner, “Globalization and Policy Convergence,” International Studies Review 3 (Spring
2001), pp. 53–78.
Additional readings:
Peter Evans, “The Eclipse of the State? Reflections on Stateness in an Era of Globalization,” World
Politics 50 (October 1997), pp. 62–87.
John B. Goodman and Louis W. Pauly, “The Obsolescence of Capital Controls? Economic
Management in an Age of Global Markets,” World Politics 46 (October 1993), pp. 50–82.
Thomas Oatley, “How Constraining Is Capital Mobility? The Partisan Hypothesis in an Open
Economy,” American Journal of Political Science 43 (October 1999), pp. 1003–27.
Daniel Verdier, “Domestic Responses to Capital Market Internationalization under the Gold
Standard, 1870–1914,” International Organization 52 (Winter 1998), pp. 1–34.
Geoffrey Garrett, Partisan Politics in the Global Economy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1998.
Mauro F. Guillén, The Limits of Convergence: Globalization and Organizational Change in
Argentina, South Korea, and Spain. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2001.
Alícia Adserà and Carles Boix, “Trade, Democracy, and the Size of the Public Sector: The Political
Underpinnings of Openness,” International Organization 56 (April 2002), pp. 229–62.
Dani Rodrik, Has Globalization Gone Too Far? Washington, DC: Institute for International
Economics, 1997.
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James H. Mittelman, The Globalization Syndrome: Transformation and Resistance. Princeton, NJ:
Princeton University Press, 2000.
Robert Gilpin, The Challenge of Global Capitalism: The World Economy in the 21st Century.
Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2000.
Michael D. Bordo, Alan M. Taylor and Jeffrey G. Williamson, eds., Globalization in Historical
Perspective. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005.
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