POL S 407 A: International Conflict

Spring 2021

POLS 407: INTERNATIONAL CONFLICT

MW, 10:00-11:20

Prof. Kier

office hrs: Wed, 230-400pm, https://washington.zoom.us/j/93313826157

Teaching Assistants:

 Ian Callison (AB/AD): office hrs: Thurs, 11am-1pm https://washington.zoom.us/j/92864865118 

Inhwan Ko (AA/AC): office hrs: Thurs, 11am-1pm, https://washington.zoom.us/j/99188048824

War is a central feature of international politics. After an overview of the development of modern warfare, we will examine the causes of interstate war. Is war inevitable given the structure of the international system? Or can changes in beliefs affect the likelihood of war? Does the spread of democracies eliminate the security dilemma? What role does the military play in the potential for armed conflict? Or might misperceptions lead countries into wars that no one intended to start? We will examine these questions through a focus on World War I and World War II. The course will conclude with an examination of the origins of two contemporary conflicts: the Persian Gulf War and the 2003 war in Iraq.

Remote Instruction

Lectures and sections are synchronous on Zoom. Lecture recordings will be posted on Canvas, but they will not be accessible while you are writing your exams. Sharing recordings outside of class violates student rights under FERPA. Office hours and section are not recorded.

UW students taking courses while overseas are subject to the laws of their local jurisdiction. Local authorities may limit access and take punitive action towards you. UW has no authority over these laws or their enforcement. If you are living abroad, exercise caution when enrolling in courses that cover issues censored in your jurisdiction. Contact your academic advisor who will assist you in exploring options if you have concerns regarding this course. 

Students can borrow laptops, tablets, and other equipment for free from the Student Technology Loan Program. For help navigating online instruction, see Zoom Instructions.

Readings

Most of the readings are available on Canvas under “Files.” The book (Michael Howard, War in European History, 1976) is available online through the UW library. However, only three students at a time can access the book so you may wish to purchase it.

Readings questions are available on Canvas under "Files" to guide your reading and to take notes.

Daily reading of the New York Times (or another national news source) is also required. For the reduced college rate, see NYTimes.com/UWashington. Students can gain free access to the Wall Street Journal here: WSJ.com/ActivateUW

Requirements

Two exams (30% each); research paper (30%); and section (10%).

The EXAMS will be available on Canvas. You’ll have 48 hours to complete each, but it should take less than two hours if you study prior to the exam date. The exams will be open book, open note, but you are required to work independently. Consulting others is a violation of university policies on academic honesty.

Late exams will lose .5 for each late day unless you receive prior authorization. No make-up exams without a written excuse from a physician or other recognized authority. Attempts at a fait accompli (“already bought my ticket”) will fail without exception. For additional information on courses, grading, academic conduct, and university policies, see https://www.polisci.washington.edu/department-and-university-policies

You are expected to go to SECTION well prepared and to actively participate in section discussion. Section will focus on discussing some of the course readings, developing your research papers, and applying course themes to current events. Section will not address all the reading questions so it is important that you use the questions to guide your reading and to take notes. If you are unable to attend a section, submit a 350-550 word essay that discusses the week’s readings.

The RESEARCH PAPER is discussed below.

Accommodations  

Contact the Disability Resources office to request accommodation. 543-8924 (voice), 543-8925 (TTY), 616-8379 (fax), uwdss@uw.edu. With a letter from them, we can easily arrange accommodations.

Washington state law requires that UW develop a policy for accommodation of student absences or significant hardship due to reasons of faith or conscience, or for organized religious activities. The UW’s policy, including more information about how to request an accommodation, is available at Religious Accommodations Policy (https://registrar.washington.edu/staffandfaculty/religious-accommodations-policy/). Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course using the Religious Accommodations Request form (https://registrar.washington.edu/students/religious-accommodations-request/).

Grading Policy: To request a re-grading of your work (outside of tabulation errors):

1. Within a week of receiving your exam, give your TA your work and a typed statement of no more than one page that explains why you believe the grade should be altered. This must be about the substance of your work, not the effort you put into the class.
2. Your TA will review and return your materials within a week.
3. If you’re still dissatisfied, the other TA will review your materials.
4. If the second evaluation is still to your dissatisfaction, your TA will pass the materials to Kier for her evaluation.

Research Paper on the Causes of War

This course focuses on explanations for the outbreak of war. The research paper provides an opportunity to take this knowledge and apply it to a war of your choosing. You will test how one explanation for war stands up against the historical record. You can choose any interstate war that we have not discussed in detail in class.

The paper has four purposes. First, it will give you a better understanding of what it means to use evidence to assess an argument. Second, it will sharpen your analytical skills. Third, it will broaden your substantive knowledge and allow you to pursue regional or historical interests. Finally, it will improve your research and writing skills.

Choosing a war

We encourage you to speak with us about your topic, but here’s a list of possible interstate wars. We recommend against choosing an internal war, which the class does not explore. 

War of 1812; Russo-Turkish (1828), Mexican-American (1846), Firs Schleswig-Holstein (1848); Platine War (1851); Crimean (1853), Second Schleswig War (1864); Franco-Prussian (1870), Sino-French War (1885); Sino-Japanese (1894-95), Spanish-American (1898), Russo-Japanese (1904-05), Italo-Turkish (1911-12); Russo-Finnish (1939); Korean (1950-53), Sino-Indian (1962), Indo-Pakistani (1965); Vietnam (1965); Six Day (1967); Indo-Pakistani (1971); Yom Kippur (1973), Turco-Cypriot (1974); Sino-Vietnamese (1979); Iran-Iraq (1980), Falklands (1982); Chad-Libya (1987), Iraq-Kuwait (1990), Armenia-Azerbaijan (1992), Eritrea-Ethiopia (1998); Kargil War (1999); Russian-Georgia (2008); Russo-Ukrainian (2014-); Nagorno-Karabakh (2020).

Writing your paper topic

Your paper topic assignment should answer four questions:       

1. What's your case? (Be specific).   
2. What's your puzzle? ("Why did [State A] fight [State B]?")
3. What explanation are you testing (e.g., security dilemma, power transition, nationalism, diversionary war, offense bias, military preferences, misperception).
4. What books and articles have you collected?  Ideally identify 5 or 6, but 1 or 2 is fine at this stage.  

Finding sources

Your paper should cite 10-12 sources. Be careful in your use of the web: do not rely on blogs or other unfiltered sources. Use the UW library website to access journal and newspaper articles. See https://guides.lib.uw.edu/research/faq/scholarly for instructions on how to access peer-reviewed journals.

We also encourage you to consult reference librarians to ensure that you take full advantage of search engines. You can email Emily Keller, the Political Science and Public Policy Librarian, for an appointment. She will introduce you to, or refresh your knowledge of, search engines, and help you find books and articles on your topic. emkeller@uw.edu

Writing your paper

We’ll discuss the paper in lecture and section, but in should include four parts.

I.  Introduction (one short paragraph). What war are you examining? What explanation are you testing? What is your overall conclusion?

II. Background (½ page). When did the war occur? Who are the major players and what are the major issues?

III. Testing the explanation (8-10 pages)

A. Present the key parts of the explanation that you are testing. Discuss the explanation’s assumptions, who or what it identifies as the crucial actors or variables, and detail its causal argument. Also identify the argument’s empirical implications: what do you expect to see/not expect to see if it is correct?

B. Test the argument against empirical evidence.

1. 1. 1. Discuss evidence that supports the explanation
      2. Discuss evidence that challenges it 

Your goal is not to “prove” that your argument is correct, but to show that you know how to use evidence to assess an argument. Evidence that challenges your argument is as important as evidence that confirms it.

C. Assess the evidence. What does it say about the explanation that you are testing? What does it indicate about the plausibility of one of the other explanations discussed in class?

IV. Conclusion (½ page). Evaluate your case study: what does it say about the causes of war?

Writing well 

Your papers should be 2,500-3000 words not including bibliography. Put word count on the first page. Your paper should include citations and a bibliography.  To ensure the correct formatting of each, see http://depts.washington.edu/pswrite/Handouts/CitingPrintSources.pdf   For more detailed discussions, see https://guides.lib.uw.edu/c.php?g=341448&p=2802215. 

Your paper must be well written and carefully edited (and will be assessed on content and style). An indispensable guide is Strunk & White’s, Elements of Style. You may wish to exchange your paper with a colleague for assistance with your writing. Even the most accomplished authors profit from editorial feedback.

See the “Criteria for Grading Research Papers” posted on Canvas for a discussion of how your paper will be assessed.

You will submit your exams and research paper through SimCheck, an educational tool that identifies plagiarism. It indicates the amount of original text and whether material that you quote, paraphrase, summarize, or use from another source is appropriately referenced. If you are uncertain about the meaning of plagiarism and how to avoid it, see: http://depts.washington.edu/pswrite/plag.html

 Important due dates

May 6:             Topic selection: Submit on Canvas by 9am. Not graded, but late   
                         submission will lower the grade on the final paper (.2 pts. for each day).

May 7:             Discussion of topic: Go to section prepared to discuss your paper topic.

June 4:             Poster session: Present your findings in section (or lose .5 pts. on final paper).

June 7:             Final paper: Submit on Canvas by 11am. Late papers lose .5 pts. for each day ).

War through the Movies

In addition to the films recommended on the syllabus, you are encouraged to view some of the following. Some are wartime Hollywood propaganda films (e.g. The Green Berets); some are powerful anti-war movies (e.g. All Quiet on the Western Front). None can replace a close reading of history and a clear understanding of theory, and most should be recognized for what they are: fiction. But even if films are less useful in describing the larger political, social, and economic context, they can powerfully depict the heroic, tragic, and morally ambiguous aspects of war. 

American Civil War: Glory (1989) African-American volunteer regiment from Massachusetts; Gettysburg (1993) depicts this crucial battle.

South African War: Breaker Morant (1980) explores the morality of attacks on civilians.

World War I: All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) adaptation of German anti-war novel; Gallipoli (1981) one of WWI’s great disasters - Australian soldiers decimated in trying to invade Turkey; La Grande Illusion (1937) Renoir's film about WWI’s effects, as reflected in the lives of French POWs and their German warden; Paths of Glory, Kubrick (1957) French soldiers wrongfully court-martialed; They shall not grow old (2018) critically-acclaimed documentary remasters original filming from WWI; 1917 (2019) Two British soldiers race to deliver a message that could save 1,600 British soldiers.

World War II: Stalingrad, German anti-war drama released to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the battle; Slaughterhouse Five (1972) Vonnegut's story about a man who comes "unstuck in time" after witnessing Dresden’s firebombing; Catch 22 (1970) satire about an aviator trying to escape the war; The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) three servicemen return home and adjust to civilian life; Bridge over the River Quai (1957) true story of POWs forced to build the Bangkok-Rangoon railway bridge; Why We Fight, Capra (1940s) propaganda series made during the war; Das Boot (1981) heroic efforts of a German U-boat captain and crew; Days of Glory/Indigènes,(2006) North African soldiers who enlist to free France;  Band of Brothers (2001) 101st Airborne division in Western Europe; Dunkirk (2017) dramatic depiction of the evacuation.

Korean War: M*A*S*H (1970) medical unit in Korea that satirizes Vietnam; Pork Chop Hill, (1959); The Manchurian Candidate (1962) on the consequences of brainwashing.

Vietnam: Full Metal Jacket, Kubrick (1987) Marines in boot camp and Vietnam prior to the Tet Offensive; Hearts and Minds, Davis (1974) Academy Award for best documentary; The Green Berets (1968) John Wayne’s pro-Vietnam depiction of the war; Platoon, Oliver Stone’s (1986) depiction based on his experience as an infantryman; Apocalypse Now, Coppola (1979) epic vision of war’s madness, loosely based on Joseph Conrad's novel Heart of Darkness; Born on the 4th of July (1989) Ron Kovic becomes an anti-war activist after feeling betrayed by the country he fought for; The Anderson Platoon (1967) Academy Award - focuses on daily life of a grunt; The Deer Hunter (1978) steelworkers who found only horror and death in Vietnam; The Killing Fields (1984) fall of Cambodia and the American evacuation; Fog of War (2003) documentary about McNamara, Secretary of Defense during Vietnam; Da 5 Bloods (2020) Black vets return to Vietnam to find the remains of their squad leader and the fortune he helped them hide.

Yugoslavia: Before the Rain; Welcome to Sarajevo

Nuclear war: Dr. Strangelove, Kubrick’s (1964) political satire of Cold War nuclear strategy; On the Beach (1959) depicts the aftermath of a nuclear war.

Afghanistan and Iraq: Restrepo (2010) documentary about U.S. platoon in one of deadliest valleys in Afghanistan; The Hurt Locker (2008) follows a War Explosive Ordnance disposal team in Iraq.

International Conflict

(course outline)

I. The Development of Modern Warfare

A. From Dynastic to Napoleonic Warfare 

B. Total War:  World War I 

C. Total War:  World War II 

II. Causes of War (with a focus on World War I & World War II).

A. The International System

1. Polarity

2. Power Transitions

3. Security Dilemma

B. The State

1. Nationalism

2. Diversionary War

3. Democratic Peace

4. Democracies and War

C. The Military 

1. Bureaucratic Interests

2. Military Doctrine: Offense, Defense, and Stability                   

D. The Individual

1. Misperceptions and War

2. Beliefs and War

III. Contemporary Case Studies

A. The Persian Gulf War, 1991

B.  The War in Iraq, 2003

Mon, March 29:  Introduction

Wed, March 31: The Development of Modern Warfare

Michael Howard, War in European History, chaps. 4-6, pp. 54-93.

Mon, April 5:  The Age of Total War: World War I

Michael Howard, War in European History, chap 7, pp. 95-135.

Wilfred Owen, "Dulce et Decorum Est," 1918. Read: http://www.warpoetry.co.uk/owen1.html or listen http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qts3K3KznN4

Recommended: A global interactive guide to WWI. interactive/2014/jul/23/a-global-guide-to-the-first-world-war-interactive-documentary

Recommended movie: All Quiet on the Western Front. The trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grapXipP3fM  

Wed, April 7:  The Age of Total War: World War II

Edward H. Bonekemper, The Myth of the Lost Cause: Why the South Fought the Civil War and Why the North Won. Washington, DC: Regnery’ 2015. Read chap. 1 and excerpts from Chap 3: pp. 31-51, 56-59,  66-95.

Recommended movie: Days of Glory (Indigènes). The trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aip0EjFwWr4

Mon, April 12:   The International System: Polarity

Kenneth Waltz, "The Origins of War in Neorealist Theory," in Rotberg & Rabb, The Origin & Prevention of Major Wars.

Margaret MacMaillan, Which Past Is Prologue? Heeding the Right Warnings From History. Foreign Affairs, 99, 5, Sept-Oct 2020.  

Wed, April 14:   The International System: Power Transitions

The White House, “Prevent our Enemies from Threatening Us, Our Allies, and Our Friends with Weapons of Mass Destruction,” Section V of The National Security Strategy of the USA (Sept 2002).

David E. Sanger, “Beating them to the prewar: The ‘anticipatory self-defense’ talk,” NYT (Sept 28, 2002).

Lawrence Wilkerson, “I helped sell the false choice of war once. It’s happening again,” NYT (Feb 5, 2018).

Michael Beckley and Hall Brands, “Competition With China Could Be Short and Sharp: The Risk of War Is Greatest in the Next Decade,” Foreign Affairs, Dec. 17, 2020.

Mon, April 19:  The International System: The Security Dilemma

Joseph Stalin, "The Hostile Anglo-American Alliance; "Clark Clifford, "American Military Firmness vs. Soviet Aggression;" and Henry A. Wallace, "The American Double Standard," in Thomas G. Paterson, ed., The Origins of the Cold War (Lexington: DC Heath, 1970).  

David Cloud & Jay Solomon, “How U.S., North Korea turned broken deals into a standoff,” Wall Street Journal (March 4, 2003).

Steven Lee Myers, “Bush backs Ukraine’s bid to join NATO, despite Putin’s objections,” NYT (April, 2, 2008); and John J. Mearsheimer, “Getting Ukraine Wrong,” NYT (March 13, 2014).

Wed, April 21: The State: Nationalism

Jack S. Levy, “Domestic Politics and War,” Journal of Interdisciplinary History (spring 1988): 653-673.

Paul T. Miller, “How World War III Could Start in Latvia,” Foreign Policy (Nov 16, 2016).

James Stavridis and Elliot Ackerman, “How the U.S. Could Sleepwalk into a War with China,” Time, March 9, 2021. 

Mon, April 26:  The State: Diversionary

Thomas Erdbrink, “Long divided, Iran unites against Trump and the Saudis in a nationalist fervor,” NYT (Nov 26, 2017).

Aron Leon, “Could Putin Launch Another Invasion?” Politico (Opinion), March 15, 2021.

Recommended movie: Wag the Dog (1997). The trailer:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNo0BicRM8k

The first exam will be available under “Assignments” at 1pm, Mon, April 26.  The exam is open book, open notes, but you are required to work independently. The exam will specify the word count and when your TA will be available to answer questions. You will have 48 hours to complete it.  

Wed, April 28:  No lecture: submit your exam by lpm today.

Note instructions immediately above

* No section Friday, April 30 *

Your TA will hold additional office hours to discuss your paper topics.

Mon, May 3:  The State: The Democratic Peace

Christopher Layne, “Kant or Cant: The Myth of the Democratic Peace,” in Karen Mingst and Jack Snyder, eds., Essential Readings in World Politics (Norton, 2001).

David Plotz, “Greens Peace,” New York Times Magazine (June 4, 2000).

Wed, May 5:  The State: Democracies and War

See “Democracies and the conduct of foreign policy” questions posted on website.

No assigned reading. Focus on researching your paper. Gain a general understanding of the situation prior to war and possible explanations for it. Your paper topic is due by 9am on Thurs., May 6. 

* Submit paper topic on Canvas by 9am on Thurs., May 6 *

You will discuss your topic in section on May 7

Mon, May 10:  The Military: Bureaucratic Interests

Stephen Van Evera, “The Cult of the Offensive & the Origins of the First World War," International Security (summer 1984): 58-107.

 Wed, May 12:  The Military: Offense-Defense and Stability

Jonathan G. Panter, Will Americans Die for Freedom of Navigation?  The Navy's favorite tool in Asia is deeply flawed," Foreign Policy, April 6, 2021.  

Chris Horton, “Airliners have become China’s newest means of pressuring Taiwan,” NYT (Jan. 19, 2018).

Mon, May 17:  The Individual: Misperceptions and War

Richard Fontain and Vance Serchuk, “Pick your Prism: How foreign policy makers view pivotal years says a great deal about how they act in 2014,” Politico Magazine Excerpt. (Nov 28, 2014).

Recommended movie: Fog of War (2003). The trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0Sjq-i0bTI

Wed, May 19:  The Individual: Beliefs and War

Steven Lee Myers, “In Putin’s Syria intervention, Fear of a Weak Government hand,” NYT (Oct 4, 2015).

Margaret Mead, "Warfare Is Only an Invention - Not a Biological Necessity," ASIA (1940).             

Mon, May 24: The Gulf War, 1991

Background: Read Anthony Cordesman, “The Persian Gulf War,” in John Whiteclay Chambers II, ed., The Oxford Companion to American Military History (Oxford, 1999): 544-546.  Or watch: The Gulf War 1991: “Desert Storm: The War Begins” CNN documentary discusses Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait and the Bush administration’s response https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udk-f4yqTSs

George H. W. Bush, “The Liberation of Kuwait has Begun,” (Speech of Jan 16, 1991), reprinted in The Gulf War Reader, edited by Micah L. Sifry and Christopher Cerf (Random House, 1991).

Thomas Friedman, "Confrontation in the Gulf: U.S. Gulf policy – vague ‘vital interest," NYT (Aug 12, 1990).

Wed, May 26: The War in Iraq, 2003

Background: “War in Iraq,” in Richard Samuels, editor, Encyclopedia of United States National Security (Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage, 2006).

Colin Powell, “We reserve our sovereign right to take military action,” (excerpts from a speech at the World Economic Forum), NYT (Jan 27, 2003); and George W. Bush, “Domestic security,” “Disarming Iraq,” and “The military,” (excerpts from the State of the Union), NYT (Jan 28, 2003).

Jeffrey Record, “The Neoconservative Vision and 9/11,” in Dark Victory: America's Second War against Iraq, (Annapolis, Md., Naval Institute Press, 2004), pp. 17-29.

 Recommended movie: The Hurt Locker. The trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIbFvqFYRT4

Mon, May 31: Memorial Day:  The second exam will be available under "Assignments" at 1pm

The exam is open book, open notes, but you are required to work independently. The exam will specify the word count and when your TA will be available to answer questions. You will have 48 hours to complete the exam.

Wed, June 2:  No lecture: submit second exam by 1pm today.

Note instructions immediately above

* Poster Session in section on Friday, June 4 *

The session is designed to be a collaborative and low-stake opportunity to share your research, receive feedback from your colleagues, and to provide them with assistance on theirs. See the “Poster Session Guidelines” under "Files" for tips about how to design your poster. 

Mon, June 7:  Research paper due by 11am

Submit on Canvas

See the discussion of the research paper for instructions on length and formatting