DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE
PSC 1200 INTRODUCTION TO INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Instructor: Markus Kreuzer
Office Hours: M/F 3-4 or by appointment
E-mail: Markus.Kreuzer@villanova.edu
Phone: 519 5300
Office: SAC 257
Course Description: Domestic political life always has and increasingly is shaped by events occurring
outside national borders. The discipline of international relations studies how international and domestic
factors interact with one another and how this interaction affects political outcomes. This course surveys
two principal areas of foreign politics – international security and international political economy. It
analyzes how international military and economic interactions have changed over time by focusing on how
states and international organizations have structured such interactions. The course also focuses on three
cases – Mexico, Russia and Iran – to see how international affairs affect domestic politics and vice versa.
Academic Integrity Guidelines: Fair and effective education requires academic honesty and any
violation is a very serious matter. Villanova's rules concerning academic integrity are spelled out in the
Enchiridion (http://davinci.vill.edu/enchiridion/). Note especially the strict prohibition against plagiarism,
i.e. submitting as your own or without proper attribution work done wholly or in party by another person.
Plagiarism includes unauthorized collaboration on course assignments. Unless otherwise indicated, all
assignments in this course are individual and no collaboration with any person is permitted. Any academic
integrity violation will be punished by a grade penalty up to automatic course failure and will without
exception be reported to the student's dean for disciplinary action.
Grading*:
1) Class Participation
30%
2) Three Discussion Memos
20%
3) Five Assignments
50%
Readings ordered:
- Robert Bates. 2001. Prosperity and Violence (New York: Norton)
Readings:
I. Origins of Modern State System
Week 1
Aug. 26 Introduction
Aug. 28 Organization of Domestic Politics
Readings: Jeffrey Kopstein and Mark Lichbach. 2000. “Changing
Global Order,” Comparative Politics in a Global World
Mark Lichbach and Jeffrey Kopstein eds. (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press): 1-10.
Aug. 30 No Class
Week 2
Sept. 2 Labor Day
Sept. 4 Organization of International Politics
Readings: Charles Kegley and Eugene Wittkopf. 2001. World
Politcs. Trends and Transformation. (Eight Edition)
(Boston: Bedford/St. Martins): 171-241.
Sept. 6 Transformation of International Politics
Readings: David Held et al. 1999. Global Transformations
(Stanford: Stanford University Press): 32-35.
- Robert Bates. 2001. Prosperity and Violence (New York:
Norton): 50-69.
Week 3
Sept. 9 cont.
Readings: David Held et al. 1999. Global Transformations
(Stanford: Stanford University Press): 35-49
Sept. 11 Global Order
Readings: David Held et al. 1999. Global Transformations
(Stanford: Stanford University Press): 49-62.
- Jan Scholte. 2001. “The Globalization of World Politics,” In
The Globalization of World Politics (2nd Ed) John Baylis
and Steven Smith eds. (Oxford: Oxford University Press):
13-31.
Sept. 13 cont.
II. Domestic Politics
Week 4
Sept. 16 Domestic Institutions
Readings: Zakaria, Fareed. 1997. "The Rise of Illiberal
Democracy." Foreign Affairs 76/6 (Nov.-Dec.): 22-42
- John Markoff. 1996. Waves of Democracy: Social Movements
and Political Change (Thousand Oaks: Sage): 101-112,
118-25
Sept. 18 cont.
Sept. 20 Domestic Actors and their Preferences
Readings: Sebastian Haffner. 1979. The Meaning of Hitler (New
York: McMillan): 25-35
Week 5
Sept. 23/25 cont.
Readings: TBA
III. Case Studies
Sept. 27 Russia [First Assignment Due]
Readings: Stephen Hanson. 2000. “Russia,” in Comparative
Politics in a Global World Mark Lichbach and Jeffrey
Kopstein eds. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press):
188-222.
Also check headings “Political” & “Rule of Law” for Russia at.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/lo/countries/
index.html
Week 6
Week 7
Sept. 30 cont.
Oct. 2
Mexico [Second Assignment Due]
Readings: Anthony Gill. 2000, “Mexico,” in Comparative Politics
in a Global World Mark Lichbach and Jeffrey Kopstein
eds. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press): 271-300.
Also check headings “Political” & “Rule of Law” for Mexico
at.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/lo/countries/
index.html
Oct. 4
cont.
Oct. 7
Iran [Third Assignment]
Readings: Vali Nasr. 2000. “Iran,” in Comparative Politics in a
Global World Mark Lichbach and Jeffrey Kopstein eds.
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press): 348-72.
Also check headings “Political” & “Rule of Law” for Iran at.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/lo/countries/
index.html
Oct. 9/11 cont.
Week 8 Oct. 12-20 FALL RECESS
IV. International Security
Week 9
Oct. 21 Geopolitical Order
Readings: David Held et al. 1999. Global Transformations
(Stanford: Stanford University Press): 87-103, 123-37, 14348.
Oct. 23 Cold War Order
Readings: Len Scott. 2001. “International History 1945-90,” In
The Globalization of World Politics (2nd Ed) John Baylis
and Steven Smith eds. (Oxford: Oxford University Press):
74-89.
Oct. 25 Post-Cold War Order [no further reading]
Week 10 Oct. 28: Military Insecurity and Democracy
Oct. 30 War and Taxation [Second Memo Due]
Readings: Robert Bates. 2001. Prosperity and Violence (New
York: Norton): 70-83.
Nov. 1 cont.
Week 11 Nov. 4 Case Studies [Fourth Assignment Due]
Readings: see readings for Feb. 15, 20, 25
Nov. 6/8 cont.
IV. International Political Economy
Week 12 Nov.11 What is Political Economy
Readings: Charles Kegley and Eugene Wittkopf. 2001. World
Politcs. Trends and Transformation. (Eight Edition)
(Boston: Bedford/St. Martins): 246-55, 261-75.
Nov. 13 From Gold Standard to Global Economy
Readings: David Held et al. 1999. Global Transformations
(Stanford: Stanford University Press): 149-71, 175-82, 189225.
Nov. 15 Globalization in Latin America and Soviet Union
Readings: - Daniel Yergin and Joseph Stanislaw. 1998.
Commanding Heights (New York Touchstone): 231-48,
259-69, 270-308.
Week 13 Nov. 18 cont.
Nov. 20 Effects of Globalization
Readings: U.S. Catholic Conference Office “The Globalized
Economy: Challenges to the Church in the US”
- UNDP Report. 1999. “Globalization with a Human Face,” in
The Global Transformation Reader David Held and
Anthony McGrew (Cambridge: Polity, 2001) 341-47.
- Economist. 2001. “Who Elected the WTO,” (September 29):
26-28.
- The Economist. 2001. “Profits over People.” (September
2001): 5-7.
Nov. 22 International Political Economy and Democracy: [Third Memo Due]
Readings: Robert Bates. 2001. Prosperity and Violence (New
York: Norton): 85-100
- James Surowiecki. 2001. The Real Price of Oil,” New Yorker
December 3, 2001, p. 41.
Week 14 Nov. 25 cont.
Nov. 27/29 Thanksgiving
Week 15 Dec. 2
Dec. 4
Case Studies: [Fifth Assignment Due]
Readings: see readings for Feb. 15, 20, 25 and April 10.
Also check headings “Economic”, “Money”, “Social” and
“Trade Policy”,
for the three countries at.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/lo/countries/
index.html
cont.
V. Epilogue: Globalization and Future of Democracy
Dec. 6
Future of Democracy
Readings: Hans-Peter Martin and Harald Schuman. 1997. The
Global Trap (New York: Zed Books): 196-208.
- John Markoff. 1999. “Globalization and the Future of
Democracy,” Journal of World-Systems Research vol. 2:
281-98.
- Stephen Krasner. 2001. “Sovereignty,” Foreign Policy
(Jan/Feb.): 20-30.
Week 16 Dec. 9/11 cont.