POLI 205/B – INTRODUCTION TO INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Poli 205
Professor Schofield
Fall 2011
(julian.schofield@sympatico.ca)
Tuesday/Thursday 10:15-11:30, Room: H-415
Office: H-1225-65
Office Hrs: Mon 13:45-14:45, 20:30-21:30; Tues 11:30-12:30
Course Description
The purpose of this course is to familiarize students with the basic concepts and
approaches to the study of international relations, an important sub-field of political
science dealing with world politics. Part one of the course will survey contemporary
political history to provide a theoretical context for discussions. Part two examines
different approaches to international relations (IR). Part three examines paradigms in
world politics. Part four takes a focus on war and the use of force. Part five examines
international political economy (IPE). Emphasis will be placed on the ability to use these
concepts toward the analysis of current political issues, disputes, and trends. Therefore,
keep informed about current events. Your ability to synthesize concepts and coherently
examine political issues is the end product of this course.
Marking Breakdown
2 short-answer in class exams
1 term paper
Conference attendance and participation
Final exam
25%
30%
10%
35%
Due Nov 22 2011
To be determined by the exam office
Required Texts (available at downtown bookstore):
Bloodgood, Schofield, and Hülsemeyer, Readings in International Relations (Dubuque,
IA: Kendall Hunt, 2011); ISBN: 978-0-7575-8726-9
Course requirements
The mid-terms consist of two in-class short-question exams that will be given on
Lectures 6 and 11. The final exam will be scheduled during the final exam period by the
exams office. If you do the readings each week, the exams should present no difficulty.
You will be required to write a term paper. A topic will be provided by the professor and
the paper will be due during the class of Lecture 12. Any students that missed mid-terms
for legitimate reasons (with full and appropriate documentation) will be required to write
these during a designated mid-term make-up date to be announced by the department at
the end of the semester. All papers must be typed and late papers will be penalized and
will not have instructor comments. The professor lectures for the course, although select
classes may have a seminar period in which the readings are reviewed and discussed in
context of contemporary developments. Attendance will be taken.
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At the beginning of some classes, students will have a few minutes within which to
answer a question in a paragraph on that week’s readings. The best eight answers will
(each worth 0.5%) account for 4% of the participation grade. There will also be twelve
seminar assignments each worth 0.5% for a total of 6% of the participation grade.
There is a required text and one reading on reserve in the downtown library (James Lee
Ray). The text can be purchased from Concordia’s Downtown Bookstore. If the
bookstore runs out of texts, it is the student’s responsibility to reserve a copy with
the bookstore. Students will be expected to complete the assigned readings prior to class
each week. Note that the articles can be read in their original journals, which you may
well find on the shelves in their appointed places.
Administrative Issues: Current university policy is that there is no professorial
discretion with regard to incomplete assignments – assignments not received before a
reasonable time before the required date of grade submission must proceed through
regular grade change channels. Late assignments will not receive comments. I cannot
replace one poorly done assignment with another assignment arrived through a private
arrangement with a student – I am required by the university to apply the syllabus.
Significant changes to the syllabus require unanimous consent of students and professor.
Please do not bombard the professor with twitter-like emails. For letters of
recommendation, drop the required pre-filled forms (including my name, title, etc),
stamped and addressed envelopes (including return address), your transcript, letter of
intent, and instructions. I will not do online recommendations unless they don’t require
an institutional email. You will receive a much better letter of recommendation if I know
who you are. I will only mail out letters of recommendation, and not hand them back to
students, nor will I produce letters for non-specific purposes.
Department of Political Science Statement on Plagiarism
The Department of Political Science has zero tolerance for plagiarism.
1. What is plagiarism? The University defines plagiarism as “the presentation of the work of another
person, in whatever form, as one’s own or without proper acknowledgement” (Concordia
Undergraduate Calendar 2009-2010, p. 65). Plagiarism is an academic offence governed by the Code
of Conduct (Academic). To find out more about how to avoid plagiarism, see the Concordia
University Student Learning Services guidelines at:
http://cdev.concordia.ca/CnD/studentlearn/Help/handouts/WritingHO/AvoidingPlagiarism.html
2. a.) Reprimand the student; b.) Direct that a piece of work be resubmitted; c.) Enter a grade of “0”
for the piece of work in question; d.) Enter a grade reduction in the course; e.) Enter a failing grade for
the course; f.) Enter a failing grade and ineligibility for a supplemental examination or any other
evaluative exercise for the course; g.) Impose the obligation to take and pass courses of up to twentyfour (24) credits in addition to the total number of credits required for the student’s program as
specified by the Dean. If the student is registered as an Independent student, the sanction will be
imposed only if he or she applies and is accepted into a program; h.) Impose a suspension for a period
not to exceed six (6) academic terms. Suspensions shall entail the withdrawal of all University
privileges, including the right to enter and be upon University premises; i.) Expulsion from the
University. Expulsion entails the permanent termination of all University privileges. In the case of a
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student who has graduated, the only two available sanctions are i) a notation on the student’s academic
record that he or she has been found guilty of academic misconduct; or ii) a recommendation to
Senate for the revocation of the degree obtained.
Complete regulations can be found on pages 64-73 of the Undergraduate Calendar.
3. See also “Resources on Avoiding Plagiarism” at:
http://politicalscience.concordia.ca/plagiarism_resource/
Guides for Students on Avoiding Plagiarism
These guides usually include information about the university code of conduct but most importantly
they tell students what is considered acceptable paraphrasing and what is not, and they provide
information on proper citation of documents.
Avoiding Plagiarism (Concordia University, Student Learning Services)
http://cdev.concordia.ca/CnD/studentlearn/Help/handouts/WritingHO/AvoidingPlagiarism.html
Plagiarism: What It Is and How to Avoid It (MIT)
http://libraries.mit.edu/guides/courses/fall2001/2lf.222/plagiarism.html
How Not to Plagiarize (University of Toronto)
http://www.utoronto.ca/writing/plagsep.html
Plagiarism: Its Nature and Consequences (Duke University)
http://www.lib.duke.edu/libguide/plagiarism.html
Avoiding Plagiarism: Mastering the Arts of Scholarship (University of California, Davis)
http://sja.ucdavis.edu/avoid.html
Of vital importance is good behavior in the classroom. For example, students must never
insult another person in a classroom. Please see the Code of Rights and Responsibilities.
Students not respecting these rules will be asked to leave.
Lecture Topics and Reading Assignments
Part (I) – Introduction.
Lecture 1 – Introduction (Sep 6).
Key Concepts: theory, hypothesis, independent and dependent variables, causation,
correlation.
Introduction (Sep 8).
Lecture 2 – Political History & Theory I (Sep 13).
Key Concepts: First World War, Great Depression, Second World War, Cold War, Cuban
Missile Crisis, post-Cold War era.
James Lee Ray Chs.1-2, Global Politics, 7th Edition (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co,
1998), 2-79 (on reserve)
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Political History & Theory I (Sep 15).
Political History & Theory I (Sep 20).
Political History & Theory I (Sep 22).
Part (II) – Approaches to IR.
Lecture 3 – Realism and the Balance of Power (Sep 27).
Key Concepts: power, classical realism, neo-realism, national interest, relative gains,
anarchy, self-help.
Waltz, “The International System and Balances of Power”
Grieco, “Anarchy and the Limits of Cooperation”
Hans Morganthal, “Six Principles of Political Realism”
Walt, “Alliances: Balancing and Bandwagoning”
Thucydides, “The Melian Dialogue”
Realism and the Balance of Power Class Seminar (Sep 29).
Lecture 4 – Liberalism (Oct 4).
Key Concepts: Absolute gains, democratic peace theory, commercial liberalism,
international organizations.
Doyle, “Liberalism and World Politics”
Kant, “Containing the Definitive Articles for Perpetual Peace Among States”
Liberalism (Oct 6).
First In Class-Exam (Oct 11).
Lecture 5 – Rational Choice Theories of Cooperation (Oct 13).
Key Concepts: Language, power, deconstruction, identity, gender.
Oye, Kenneth A. “Explaining Cooperation Under Anarchy”
Hardin, Garrett, “The Tragedy of the Commons”
Rational Choice Theories of Cooperation Class Seminar (Oct 18).
Lecture 6 – Constructivism and Feminism (Oct 20).
Key Concepts: Game theory, pay-offs, cooperation, iteration, prisoner’s dilemma, suboptimal outcomes, collective action problem, hegemony.
Wendt, “Anarchy is What States Make of It”
Tickner, “Feminist Perspectives on National Security”
Robert Pape, “The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism”
Constructivism and Feminism Class Seminar (Oct 25).
Lecture 7 – Force and Statecraft (Oct 27).
Key Concepts: statecraft, foreign policy, deterrence, compellence.
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Huntington, Samuel P., “The Clash of Civilizations?”
Schelling, “The Diplomacy of Violence”
Force and Statecraft Class Seminar (Nov 1).
Lecture 8 – War (Nov 3).
Key Concepts: War, peace, causes thereof.
Jervis, “Offense, Defense, and the Security Dilemma”
Kaufmann, “Possible and Impossible Solutions to Ethnic Civil War”
Waltz, “Peace Stability and Nuclear Weapons”
War Class Seminar(Nov 8).
Second In Class-Exam (Nov 10).
Lecture 9 – Three Approaches in Political Economy (Nov 15).
Key Concepts: Marxism, mercantilism, comparative advantage, liberalism, economic
nationalism, protectionism.
Gilpin, Robert ,”The Study of International Political Economy”
Michael J. Hiscox, "The Domestic Sources of Foreign Economic Policies"
Three Approaches in Political Economy Class Seminar(Nov 17).
Lecture 10 – Theories of Underdevelopment and Globalization (Nov 22).
Key Concepts: Developing world, core, periphery, import substitution industrialization,
export-led industrialization.
Frankel, Jeffrey, “The Globalization of the Economy”
Rosencrance, “The Trading World”
Course Paper Due
Theories of Underdevelopment and Globalization (Nov 24).
(Nov 29) To Be Announced
(Dec 1) To Be Announced
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