Contemporary Security Studies
Pol. Sci. 353
Academic Term: Spring 2009
Instructor: Professor Sorpong Peou, Ph. D.
Office Hours: Room 530, Tuesdays, Wednesdays & Fridays: 9:00-10:30
Prerequisites: None
Course Description:
This course seeks to deepen students' understanding of various perspectives on security. We
review them by asking the following questions: What is being secured? What is being secured
against? Who provides for security? How is security provided? The selected perspectives on
security in the sub-field of Security Studies include the following: political realism, liberalism,
socialism, peace studies, functionalism, social constructivism, neo-Marxism, post-modernism,
feminism, and other nontraditional security issues (such as transnational organized crime,
economic and environmental security, migration, population growth, and pandemics).
Grading Scheme:
-
Class participation: 20% (10% for attendance; 10% for discussion)
Three 3-page review essays (each is worth 20%)
One end-of-term exam (20%)
Required Readings: (On the Moodle)
Week 1: Introduction to Security Studies:
Required readings:
Stephen Walt, "The Renaissance of Security Studies," International Studies Quarterly 35
(1991): 211-239
David Baldwin, “Security Studies and the End of the Cold War,” World Politics 48, no.1
(Oct. 1995): 117-41
Michael Klare, “Redefining Security: The New Global Schisms,” in Approaches to Peace,
edited by David Barash ( New York: OUP, 2001)
K. Krause and M. William, “Broadening the Agenda of Security Studies: Politics and
Methods,” Mershon International Studies Review 40 (1996), pp.229-254
Steve Smith, “The Contested Concept of Security,” in Critical Security Studies and World
Politics, edited by Ken Booth (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2005):
Week 2: Political Realist Perspectives:
Required readings:
Gideon Rose, “Neo-classical Realism and Theories of Foreign Policy,” World Politics 51
2
(Oct. 1998): 144-72
Colin Gray, “Clausewitz rules, OK? The Future is the Past with GPS,” British International
Studies Association 1999: 161-82
Kenneth N. Waltz, "Structural Realism after the Cold War," International Security 25, no.1
(Summer 2000), pp.5-41
John Mearsheimer, “The Future of the American Pacifier,” Foreign Affairs (Sept.-Oct.,
2001): 46-61
Glenn H. Snyder, “Mearsheimer’s World – Offensive Realism and the Struggle for
Security,” International Security 27, no.1 (Summer 2002): 149-73
Week 3: International Institutionalism:
Required readings:
Robert Jervis, "From Balance to Concert: A Study of International Security Cooperation,"
World Politics 38, no.1 (October 1985), pp.58-79
L. H. Miller, "The Idea and Reality of Collective Security," in Paul F. Diehl (ed.), The
Politics of Global Governance: International Organizations in an Interdependent
World
Charles Kupchan and Clifford Kupchan, “The Promise of Collective Security,” in Theories
of War and Peace, edited by M. Brown et al.
Inis L. Claude, Swords into Plowshares (New York: Random House, 1971), chap.12
Week 4: Neo-liberal Institutionalist
Perspectives & Domestic Politics:
Required readings:
R. Axelrod and R. Keohane, "Achieving Cooperation under Anarchy: strategies and
institutions," World Politics 38, no.1 (1985), pp. 226-254
Robert Keohane and Lisa Martin, "The Promise of Institutionalist Theory," in Theories of
War and Peace, edited by Michael Brown et al. (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press,
1998)
Robert Keohane, International Institutions and State Power (Boulder, San Francisco &
London: Westview Press, 1989)
Etel Solingen, “Internationalization, Coalitions, and Regional Conflict and Cooperation,” in
Economic Interdependence and International Conflict, edited by Edward D.
Mansfield and Brian M. Pollins (University of Michigan Press, 2003)
Week 5: Commercial & Democratic Liberal Perspectives:
Required readings:
Richard Rosecrance, “The Rise of the Virtual State,” Foreign Affairs 75, no.4 (July-Aug.
1996): 45-61
Patrick J. McDonald, “Peace through Trade or Free Trade,” Journal of Conflict Resolution
48, no.4 (Aug. 2004): 547-72
Carl Kaysen, “Is War Obsolete?” International Security 14, no.4 (1990): 42-64
Bruce Russett, “The Fact of Democratic Peace,” in Debating the Democratic Peace,
edited by Michael Brown et al. (MIT Press, 1996)
Bruce Russett, “The Fact of Democratic Peace,” in Debating the Democratic Peace
Zeev Maoz & Bruce Russett, “Normative and Structural Causes of Democratic Peace,
1946-1986,” American Political Science Review, 87, no.3 (1993): 624-38
John MacMillan, “Beyond the Separate Democratic Peace,” Journal of Peace Research
3
40, no.2 (2003): 233-43
Week 6: Socialist Perspectives:
Required readings:
Michael Doyle, “Socialism,” in Ways of War and Peace: Realism, Liberalism, and
Socialism,
Andrew Gamble, “Marxism after Communism: beyond Realism and Historicism,”
British International Studies Association (1999): 127-44
C. Chase-Dunn, “Interstate system and capitalist world economy: one logic or two?”
International Studies Quarterly 25, no.1 (1981): 19-42
Immanuel Wallterstein, “The rise and future demise of the world capitalist system,”
Comparative Studies in Society and History 16, no.4 (1974): 387-415
Week 7: Perspectives in Peace Studies:
Required readings:
Scott D. Sagan, “Why Do States Build Nuclear Weapons? Three Models in Search of a
Bomb,” International Security 21, no.3 (Winter 1996/97), pp.54-86
John Muller, “The Essential Irrelevance of Nuclear Weapons: Stability in the Postwar
World,” International Security 13, no.2 (Fall 1988), pp.55-79
Alva Myrdal, “The Game of Disarmament,” in Approaches to Peace edited by David
Barash (New York: OUP, 2001)
David P. Barash, “International Law,” in Approaches to Peace
Marrack Goulding, “The Evolution of United Nations Peacekeeping,” in David P. Barash,
“Human Rights,” in Approaches to Peace
Richard Falk, “On Humane Governance,” in Approaches to Peace
Elise Boulding, “Building Utopias in History,” in Approaches to Peace
Week 8: Functionalism & Neo-Functionalist Perspectives
Required readings:
John Gerard Ruggie et al., “The Transformations in World Politics: The Intellectual
Contributions of Ernst B. Haas,” Annual Review of Political Science 8 (2005):
271-96
Ernst B. Haas, “Turbulent Fields and the Theory of Regional Integration,” International
Organization 30, no.2 (Spring 1976): 173-212
Peter M. Haas, “Introduction: Epistemic Communities and International Policy
Coordination,” International Organization 46, no.1 (Winter 1992): 1-35
Emanuel Adler & Peter M. Haas, “Conclusion: Epistemic Communities, World Order, and
the Creation of a Reflective Research Program,” International Organization 46,
no.1 (Winter 1992): 367-90
Week 9: Culturalist & Constructivist Perspectives
Required readings:
Samuel Huntington, “The Clash of Civilizations?” Foreign Affairs (Summer 1993): 22-49
Alexander Wendt, "Constructing International Politics," in Theories of War and Peace,
edited by M. Brown et al. (Cambridge, MA & London, UK: MIT Press, 1998)
Alexander Wendt, “Why a World State is Inevitable,” European Journal of International
Relations 9, no.4 (2003):
4
John Gerard Ruggie, “The False Premise of Realism,” in Theories of War and Peace,
edited by M. Brown et al. (Cambridge, MA & London, UK: MIT Press, 1998)
Peter Katzenstein, "Introduction: Alternative Perspectives on National Security," in The
Culture of National Security: Norms, Identity in World Politics, edited by P.
Katzenstein (New York: Columbia University Press, 1996)
Week 10: Post-Marxist Perspectives:
Required readings:
Ken Booth, “Security and emancipation,” Review of International Studies 17(1991): 31326
Richard Wyn Jones, “On Emancipation: Necessity, Capacity, and Concrete Utopias,” in
Critical Security Studies and World Politics, edited by Ken Booth: 215-235
Andrew Linklater, “Political Community and Human Security,” in Critical Security Studies
and World Politics, edited by Ken Booth: 113-131
Robert Cox, "Production and Security," in Building a New Global Order: Emerging Trends
in International Security, edited by David Dewitt et al. (Toronto: OUP, 1993)
Isabella Bakker & Stephen Gill (eds.), Power, Production and Social Reproduction (NY:
Palgrave Macmillan, 2003), see esp. chaps. 3, 9, 10 & 11
Week 11: Postmodernist Perspectives:
Required readings:
Richard Devetak, “Postmodernism,” in Theories of International Relations, edited by Scott
Burchill et al., (New York, NY: Palgrave 2001)
Richard Ashley, “Living on Border Lines: Man, Poststructuralism, and War,” in
International Relations: The Boundaries of Knowledge and Practice, edited By J.
Der Derian (Lexington Books, 1989)
R.B.J. Walker, “Security, Sovereignty, and the Challenge of World Politics,” Alternatives
15, no.1 (Winter 1990), pp.3-27
Bradley Klein, “After Strategy: The Search for a Post-Modern Politics of Peace,”
Alternatives 13 July 1988
Week 12: Feminist Perspectives:
Required readings:
Terry Terriff et al., “The Impact of Gender on Security,” in Security Studies Today, pp.8298
Francis Fukuyama, “Women and the Evolution of World Politics,” Foreign Affairs
(Sept.-Oct., 1998): 24-40
Betty Reardon, “Sexism and the War System,” in Approaches to Peace, edited by David
Barash (New York: OUP, 2001)
J. A. Tickner, "Hans Morgenthau's Principles of Political Realism: A Feminist
Reformulation," Millennium 17, no.3 (Winter 1988):
J. A. Tickner, “Feminist Responses to International Security Studies,” Peace Review 16,
no.1 *March 2004): 43-48
Week 13: Transnational Organized Crime:
Required readings:
5
Louise I. Shelley, “Transnational Organized Crime: An Imminent Threat to National
Threat to the Nation-State,” Journal of International Affairs 48, no.2 (Winter
1995):463-89
Phil Williams, "Transnational Criminal Organizations and International Security," in World
Security: Challenges for a New Century, edited by M. Klare and Y. Chandrani
Peter Andreas & Richard Price, “From War Fighting to Crime Fighting: Transforming the
American National Security State,” International Studies Review 3, no.3 (Fall
2001): 31-52
Andrew H. Kydd and Barbara F. Walter, “The Strategies of Terrorism,” International
Security 31, no.1 (Summer 2006): 49-80.
Week 14: Economic & Environmental Security:
Required readings:
Terry Terriff et al., “Economics and Security,” in Security Studies Today, pp.136-48
T. H. Moran, “International Economics and National Security,” Foreign Affairs, 69, no.5
(Winter 1990/91):
Terry Terriff et al., “Non-Traditional Security Threats. The Environment as a Security
Issue,” in Security Studies Today, pp.115-134
Gareth Porter, “Environmental Security as a National Security Issue,” Current History
(May 1995): 218-22
Thomas F. Homer-Dixon, “Environmental Scarcities and Violent Conflict: Evidence from
Cases,” in Theories of War and Peace, pp.501-536
Week 15: Migration, Population, & Pandemics:
Required readings:
Fiona B. Adamson, “Crossing Borders: International Migration and National
Security,” International Security 31, no.1 (Summer 2006): 165-99
Myron Weiner, “Security, Stability, and International Migration," in Global Dangers:
Changing Dimensions of International Security, edited by Sean M. Lynn-Jones
and Steve Miller (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1995)
Gro Harlem Brundtland, “Global Health and International Security,” Global Governance 9
(2003): 417-423
N. Eberstadt, "Population Change and National Security," Foreign Affairs 70 (Summer
1991)
Michael Teitelbaum, “The Population Threat,” Foreign Affairs (Winter 1992/93), pp.63-78
Susan Peterson, “Epidemic Disease and National Security,” Security Studies 12, no.2
(Winter 2002/03), pp.43-81
Conclusion
Terry Terriff et al., “Conclusion: Security and Security Studies,” in Security Studies
Today, pp.169-189