Theories and Concepts of International Relations: PUBADM 631:
Professor Michelle Jurkovich
Classroom: W04-0028
Class Time: Tuesdays 5:30-8:15pm
Office: Wheatley Hall 5-71 (5th floor)
Office hours: Wed. 11-2pm and
by appointment
Michelle.Jurkovich@umb.edu
Course Objective
The course will provide MA students with an overview of key concepts and theories in the
field of international relations. We will cover central debates including why do states go to
war? Under what conditions do states cooperate? Is peacekeeping effective? Why do
states commit to human rights treaties? What is the role of activism and activists in
international affairs?
Students will leave this course with the ability to think critically about international affairs,
apply relevant theories to contemporary problems, and a greater understanding of how
political scientists engage in this field of study.
Required texts
• E.H. Carr (1964) The Twenty Years’ Crisis: 1919-1939
• Tim Dunne, Milja Kurki, Steve Smith (2013). International Relations Theory:
Discipline and Diversity. Oxford University Press.
• Martha Finnemore (2003). Purpose of Intervention: Changing Beliefs about the Use of
Force. Cornell University Press.
*All other readings will be uploaded to Blackboard or available through the library’s online
journal subscriptions.
Assignments:
Critical Review Essays: 20% (each CR will be worth 10%)
Participation: 25%
Midterm Exam: 25%
Case Study: 30% (5% for the rough draft; 25% for the final paper)
Final grades will be calculated according to the following formula:
A: 93-100
A-: 90-92
B+: 88-89
B: 83-87
B-: 80-82
C+: 78-79
C: 73-77
C-: 70-72
D+: 68-69
D: 63-67
D-: 60-62
F: 0-59
Participation Policy: It is essential that you participate actively in this course. This means
not only attending class but also that you engage with the course materials by participating
in lecture and small group activities. Exams will cover material presented in lecture as well
as the readings. Do not assume that class is cancelled (i.e. for weather) unless I email you
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directly. Update your email address with UMB and Blackboard to ensure you receive all
emails for the class. Attendance will be taken at the beginning of lecture and will be
considered part of your participation grade. You are permitted to miss one class without
penalty but beyond that all unexcused absences will affect your participation grade.
Excused absences require documentation.
Part of the participation grade is posting two discussion questions based on the
assigned reading by 8am Tuesdays (the morning of class), starting on 9/15. These will be
posted on Blackboard. You should review your classmates’ questions prior to class that
evening as we will use these to launch our course discussions.
Midterm Exam: You will take one take-home mid-term exam. Information from course
readings, lecture, and class discussions are fair game for inclusion on the midterm exam
and you may use your notes and readings when taking the exam. You cannot make up the
midterm exam unless you have a documented medical emergency. This is not a group
exam. You are expected to do your own work, without consulting others. The exam will be
distributed in class on November 3 and is due emailed back to me by November 8 by
midnight. More details on the exam will be provided in class.
Critical Review Essays: You will complete two short critical review essays (CRs) in this
course. These papers are 2 pages double-spaced and address four questions: 1) What was
the author’s research question? 2) What was the author’s answer to that question (i.e. the
thesis)? 3) What types of evidence did the author use to make his/her argument? 4) What
were the strengths and weaknesses of the piece and how could it have been improved?
Critically evaluate the argument. The purpose of this assignment is to ensure that you
understand how to read and analyze political science scholarship. You may do these CRs
for any two readings during the course, but a hard copy of the CR is due at the beginning of
class the day we are scheduled to discuss the reading. You must complete 1 CR by October
27th and the second by December 8th.
Case Study Paper: You will apply two theories (or theoretical approaches) to an empirical
case of your choosing. This case could be a contemporary political event or an historical
event. Papers will be ten (10) pages double-spaced. Rough drafts of at least five (5) pages
are due in class on December 1 for peer review. Final papers are due December 15
emailed and uploaded to Blackboard via the SafeAssign link by midnight. More details on
this assignment will be provided in class.
Class Policies
Special accommodations: Please see me or email me in the first two weeks of class if you
require any special accommodations due to learning disabilities, religious practices,
physical or medical needs, athletic commitments, or for any other reason.
Academic integrity: I do not tolerate any academic dishonesty. The university’s Academic
Integrity code can be found
at: https://www.umb.edu/life_on_campus/policies/academics/academic_honesty.
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Ignorance is not an excuse. Please consult with me if you are in doubt about what
constitutes academic dishonesty.
Late Assignments: Please turn in your assignments on time. Late assignments will be
penalized 1/2 letter grade per day late. Exceptions will be made only in serious
circumstances, and will require documentation of the emergency from a person of
authority.
Course Schedule
PART 1: WHAT IS INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS?
9/8: What is International Relations? (Part 1)
• No assigned readings for this class.
9/15: What is International Relations? (Part 2)
• Read E.H. Carr (1964): Entire book.
9/22: How do we study international relations?
• Singer, David (1961). The levels of analysis problem in international relations.
World Politics 14(1): 77-92.
• Smith, Steve. “Introduction” In Dunne, Kurki, and Smith (2013)
• Mahoney, James, and Gary Goertz. 2006. “A Tale of Two Cultures: Contrasting
Quantitative and Qualitative Research.” Political Analysis 14(3): 227–49.
9/29: Why are people always talking in “–isms”?
• Lebow, Richard Ned. “ Classical Realism” & Mearsheimer, J. J. “Structural Realism” in
Dunne, Kurki, and Smith (2013).
• Waltz, Kenneth (1979). Theory of International Politics. Random House. Chapters 5-6
(available on Blackboard).
• Russett, Bruce. “Liberalism” in Dunne, Kurki, and Smith (2013)
10/6: The ‘-isms’ continued…
• Finnemore, M., & Sikkink, K. (1998). International norm dynamics and political
change. International organization, 52(04), 887-917.
• Fierke, K.M “Constructivism.” In Dunne, Kurki, and Smith (2013).
• Feminist Theory: Tickner, J.A. & Sjoberg, L. “Feminism.” In Dunne, Kurki, and Smith
(2013)
PART 2: IR CONCEPTS
10/13: Anarchy & Power
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•
Wendt, A. (1992). Anarchy is what states make of it: the social construction of power
politics. International organization, 46(02), 391-425.
• Milner, Helen. 1991. “The Assumption of Anarchy in International Relations Theory: a
Critique.” Review of International Studies 17(1): 67–85.
• Barnett, Michael, and Raymond Duvall. 2005. “Power in International Politics.”
International Organization 59(1): 39–75.
10/20: Sovereignty & the National Interest
• Finnemore (2003) The Purpose of Intervention (entire book).
PART 2: IR TOPICS AND QUESTIONS
WAR
10/27: Why do states go to war?
• Fearon, James (1995). “Rationalist Explanations for War,” International
Organization 49(3): 376-414.
• Waltz, Kenneth (1988). “The Origins of War in Neorealist Theory.” The Journal of
Interdisciplinary History 18(4): 615-628.
• Stein, Rachel (2015). “War and Revenge: Explaining Conflict Initiation by
Democracies,” 109 (3): 556-573.
11/3: How do states go to war? Do states treat civilians, weapons, and/or plunder the same
now as they did in the past?
• Sandholtz, Wayne. Prohibiting Plunder: How Norms Change. Chapters 1-2
• Reading on Geneva Conventions TBD
• Tannenwald, Nina (1999). “The Nuclear Taboo: The United States and the
Normative Basis of Nuclear Non-Use,” International Organization 53(3): 433-68.
• MIDTERM EXAM DISTRIBUTED IN CLASS TODAY. DUE EMAILED BACK TO ME
BY SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8TH AT MIDNIGHT.
INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL ECONOMY
11/10: International Trade and the WTO
• Deardorff, Alan & Stern, Robert (2002). “What you Should Know about Globalization
and the World Trade Organization,” Review of International Economics 10(3): 404413
• Strange, Susan (1996). Retreat of the State [Selected Chapters on Blackboard]
• Additional reading TBD
FOREIGN POLICY DECISION-MAKING
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11/17: Tentative: Meet in the lobby of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and
Museum at 4pm to look at Cuban Missile Crisis papers (pending approval from the
archive staff)
• Allison, Graham (1969). “Conceptual Models and the Cuban Missile Crisis,” 63 (3):
689-718.
HUMAN RIGHTS, PEACEKEEPING & HUMANITARIAN INTERVENTION
11/24: Human Rights
• Donnelly, John. (2007) Human rights as an issue in world politics. In International
Human Rights (pp. 3-19). Westview Press.
• Simmons, Beth. (2009). Mobilizing for human rights: International law in domestic
politics. Cambridge University Press, pp. 57-111.
• UN Declaration of Human Rights (available on Blackboard)
12/1: Peacekeeping & Humanitarian Intervention & ROUGH DRAFT OF CASE STUDY PAPER
DUE IN CLASS TODAY!!!!
• Fortna, Virginia (2003). “Inside and out: Peacekeeping and the Duration of Peace
after Civil and Interstate Wars.” International Studies Review 5(4):97-114.
• Power, Samantha (2002). “Rwanda: Mostly in a Listening Mode,” In A Problem from
Hell: America in the Age of Genocide. Basic Books: 329-389.
• Bellamy, Alex (2005). “Responsibility to Protect or Trojan Horse? The Crisis in
Darfur and Humanitarian Intervention After Iraq.” Ethics and International Affairs
19(2): 31-54.
12/8: Transnational Activism
• Keck, Margaret. and Sikkink, Kathryn. (1998). Activists beyond borders: Advocacy
networks in international politics. Cornell University Press, pp. 1-38.
• Risse, Thomas & Sikkink, Kathryn (1999). The socialization of international human
rights norms into domestic practices: Introduction. In Thomas Risse, Stephen C.
Ropp, and Sikkink.
• Jurkovich, Michelle (2015) Not all Rights have Norms: Blame Diffusion in
International Anti-Hunger Campaigns
12/15: Final Case Study Paper Due by Midnight!
• Paper must be submitted to Blackboard under the SafeAssign link (this program
checks for plagiarism) AS WELL AS emailed directly to me.
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