- Winter 2020
Syllabus Description:
Professor Christine Ingebritsen
(206) 403-8852
Office 305R Raitt Hall
Course Meets MTWTH Paccar 192, 12:30-1:20
Scandinavia in World Politics (Scand 326, PoliSci 326) introduces students to the particular challenges and opportunities in the foreign policy making of small states in international relations. The course focuses on a comparison of how and why Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden respond and adapt in distinct ways to global economic, security, and ecological imperatives. The role of norms, institutions, prominent individuals, historic and path dependent policy choices will be critically evaluated.
Learning Goals: Upon completion of the class, students will be able to explain Scandinavian--EU and NATO relations; trance patterns of responses to globalization and who wins and who loses; identify challenges to Scandinavia's historically unique policies due to a growing global population; name individuals who are "norm entrepreneurs" in peacemaking, global environmental institution-building and economic and social justice; and outline the historic evolution of European integration from the vision of the founders to the ways in which the EU increasingly matters to Scandinavia and the rest of the world.
Required Readings:
Christine Ingebritsen, Scandinavia in World Politics
Peter Katzenstein, Small States in World Markets
Mark Kurlansky, Cod
Christine Ingebritsen, The Nordic States and European Unity
Steve Strid and Claes Andreasson, The Viking Manifesto
University of Washington, Small States in International Relations
Europe Today, Scandinavian Chapter
Anu Partanen, The Nordic Theory of Everything
*The readings are available for purchase or on loan at the University Bookstore.
Students should also be reading The Economist, The Financial Times, or The New York Times to follow current events relevant to the course.