PS500 Ron
Linden
Spring 2006 4436 Posvar Hall,
648-7258
TH 9:30-10:45 Office
Hrs.: Thurs., 3:00-4:00
and by appointment
INTRODUCTION TO WORLD POLITICS
The course:
At the beginning of the twenty-first century, the world still faces some
of the same challenges as at the beginning of the last century. Politically, the territory of the earth
is divided up and governed by nearly 200 entities, each of whom claim something
like sovereign control over their piece of the earth, its people and
resources. Not surprisingly, this
situation leads to frequent struggles over who should control what, and what
form that control should take.
As if that were not
complex enough, these entities, called states or nation-states, are not the
only claimants to human loyalty.
Other forms of human organization, some on a global scale, like the
United Nations, some regional, like the European Union, and some based not on
regions at all but on function, like the World Bank or International Monetary
Fund, mobilize and affect human behavior and resources. The actions of these
organizations are often the product of the desires of nation-states but also
conflict with the will of nation-states. And in charge of all these actions are those most complex
actors on the world stage: human beings.
This course is designed to introduce
students to the complexities of world politics. As such, it treats many subjects, some in greater depth than
others. It seeks to treat world
politics in both a substantive manner, i.e. what is the setting and status of
world political interactions, and an analytical and theoretical manner, i.e.
how do people study the subject and what are the consequences of the approach
they bring to the subject. We will
move back and forth across these dimensions as well as back and forth in time
and across the globe in order to offer a glimpse of these multiple aspects.
It
will help enormously if you keep up with world events. This can be done by reading a daily
national newspaper, e.g. The New York Times or Washington Post, or by keeping up with broadcast forms
of international news such those of PBS or CNN. In addition, there are numerous excellent websites which can
keep you abreast of global developments and those in specific regions.
Course
Requirements: The reading for this course is not
heavy, but it is important to keep up, as the lectures will build upon and not
duplicate material in the book.
The course text, World Politics: Trend and Transformation (10th Edition) by Charles W.
Kegley with Eugene R. Wittkopf, has been ordered for the bookstore and put on
Reserve at Hillman Library. The
grade for this course will be determined by students’ performance on a midterm
exam, final exam and writing assignments.
More information on each of these aspects will be forthcoming in class.
Reading: World Politics: Trend and
Transformation (10th
Edition) by
Charles
W. Kegley with Eugene R. Wittkopf
Dates Subject Reading
Jan. 5, 10 Introduction
and Chapter 1
12 Levels of Analysis
Jan. 17,
19 Theoretical
Approaches Chapter 2
Jan. 24,
26 The
Nation-State and Chapter 3
31 Foreign Policy
Feb. 2, 7, 9 The
Contemporary Setting: Chapters 4 & 5
Where are We and How Did
We Get Here
Feb. 14,
16 International
Conflict Chapter 11
Feb. 21 Power
in the Contemporary Chapter 12
World, I
Feb. 23 MIDTERM
EXAM
Feb. 28 Power
in the Contemporary Chapter 12
March 2 World, II
March 14, 16 Security
through Arms Control, Chapter 13
Alliances and Balance of Power
March 21, 23 Restraining
States: IO’s, NGO’s Chapters 14 & 6
28 and Law
March 30 The
End of States? Globalization Chapters 8 & 9
April
4, 6 and Global Economics
April 11, 13 The
Human Equation Chapter 7
April 18 Population
and the Chapter 10
Environment
April 20 Facing
the Future Chapter 15
April 28 FINAL EXAM 2:00 p.m. - 3:50 p.m