POL S 521 A: International Relations Core

Spring 2023
View in MyPlan View in Time Schedule
Meeting:
M 1:30pm - 4:20pm / SMI 109
SLN:
19157
Section Type:
Seminar
Instructor:
Syllabus Description (from Canvas):

Introduction to International Relations

POL S 521

 

Aseem Prakash

Spring 2023

Monday, 1:30‐4:20 p.m.

Course Objective 

 This is a core course for graduate students seeking to specialize in international relations, international politics, and/or global public policy. My objective is to expose you to important concepts, themes, and debates in this subfield. Importantly, this course will give you a sense of the state-of-the-art literature in this area. It will also provide you the opportunity to develop a research proposal in order to examine specific issues that are germane to your research interests.

Readings

 Given the short duration of the quarter system, and the rather large array of topics covered by IR scholars, designing a comprehensive syllabus is a challenge. I have decided to assign articles that cover important IR themes, especially new and emerging issues.  All readings are available on Canvas. 

Course Expectations

 This seminar requires active student participation. You are expected to energetically and thoughtfully contribute to class discussions and to contribute to the collective learning processes.

Student Presentations

For every session, students will present and critique the assigned articles. The discussant-presenter should prepare a two-page (single-spaced) summary and critique and email it to me by Sunday, 12:00 noon.

How to structure your memo? Assume a prominent journal has requested you to review the assigned article. How might you evaluate it? First, identify the big idea, the intuition behind the paper, and eventually the core research question. Situate this in the relevant literature. Then, evaluate the clarity of the key hypotheses, the appropriateness of the empirical methods, and the data employed to test them.  Assess if the findings are interpreted correctly. Finally, ask yourself: did this paper move forward our understanding of IR? If so, how? If not, why not?

The discussant-presenter should budget about 10-12 minutes for the in-class presentation. To minimize transaction and governance costs, I will assign the articles. You are free to “trade” (one for one is the exchange ratio) among yourselves and arrive at an equilibrium that suits your intellectual tastes.

I strongly recommend that you save all the memos generated in this course because they will be very helpful in preparing for the IR comprehensive exams.

Class Participation

 To have a meaningful discussion, please review all readings prior to the class. Those not assigned to present any reading should email 2-3 discussion questions to me. I will forward them to the class. This one-page “Discussion Questions” memo should reach me by Sunday, 12:00 noon. Please provide a short discussion on how your questions relate to the theoretical or empirical issues raised in the assigned readings (you are not obliged to cover all). You are encouraged to relate these readings to articles you may have reviewed in other seminars. As scholars, you must learn to cumulate knowledge: drawing connections with readings across different seminars is, therefore, a very good exercise.

Research Proposal

 A five-page (single-spaced) research proposal is due May 30 Treat this as a first cut for a grant proposal or your MA/PhD proposal. One-page proposal outlines are due May 1. The research proposal could be structured as follows:

Research Puzzle: What is the central issue you want to study and why is it theoretically important? It might be helpful to identify your dependent variable(s), the independent variable(s), and the logic connecting the two.

Research Context: How does your topic speak to the IR literature? What are the relevant concepts or models? What are the research contributions?

Research Design: What is the appropriate research strategy to examine your research puzzle? What are your hypotheses? Are they falsifiable? What are your data requirements? How would you analyze and interpret the data?

Contributions: What new theoretical insights your research is expected to provide? What are the implications for future IR research?

Evaluation

Key questions memos                               30 points

Article critique:                                         30 points

Class Participation                                    20 points

Research proposal:                                    20 points

Religious Accommodation

 Washington state law requires that UW develop a policy for the 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/).

 Note

I reserve the right to change the syllabus.

 Class Schedule

 Session 1, March 27

International Relations: An Introduction

 1. Robert Powell. 1994. Anarchy in International Relations Theory: The Neorealist-Neoliberal Debate. International Organization: 313-344. Ji Hyeon

  1. Jack Levy. 1997. Prospect Theory, Rational Choice, and International Relations. International Studies Quarterly, 41(1):  87-112.  Elizabeth
  1. Tannenwald, N., 2007. The Nuclear Taboo. International Organization, 53. Siyu

4. Krasner, Stephen. 1991. Global communications and national power: Life on the Pareto frontier. World politics 43(3): 336-366. Kayla

  1. Mearsheimer JJ. 2019. Bound to fail: The rise and fall of the liberal international order. International Security. 43(4):7-50. Bobby

 

Session 2, April 3

Cooperation under Anarchy

 6. Robert Jervis. 1978. Cooperation under the Security Dilemma. World Politics, 30: 167-214. Elizabeth

7. Terry Moe. 2005. Power and Political Institutions. Perspectives on Politics, 3(2): 215-233.Siyu

8. Minseon Ku and Jennifer Mitzen. 2022. The Dark Matter of World Politics: System Trust, Summits, and State Personhood. International Organization. 76(4), 799-829Bobby

9. Michaela Mattes and Jessica L.P. Weeks. 2022. Reacting to the Olive Branch: Hawks, Doves, and Public Support for Cooperation. International Organization. 76(4), 957-976. Ji Hyeon

  1. Y. Wang. 2022. Leader Visits and UN Security Council Membership. International Studies Quarterly, 66(4). kayla

 

Session 3, April 10

International Regimes and Actors

  1. B. Koremenos, B., C. Lipson, & D. Snidal. 2001. The rational design of international institutions. International Organization, 55(4), 761-799. Siyu

12. Judith Kelley. 2004. International Actors on the Domestic Scene: Membership Conditionality and Socialization by International Institutions. International Organization, 58(3): 425-457. JiHyeon

13. Alexander Thompson. 2006. Coercion through IOs: The Security  Council and the Logic of Information Transmission. International Organization, 60(1): 1-34. Kayla

14. Giovanni Mantilla. Deflective Cooperation: Social Pressure and Forum Management in Cold War Conventional Arms Control. International Organization, forthcoming Bobby

  1. R. Blair. 2021. UN Peacekeeping and the Rule of Law. American Political Science Review, 115(1), 51-68. Elizabeth

 

Session 4, April 17

International Organizations

  1. Michael Barnett and Martha Finnemore. 1999. The Politics, Power, and Pathologies of International Organizations. International Organization, 53:  699-732.  Ji Hyeon
  1. Julia Gray. 2009. International Organization as a Seal of Approval. American Journal of Political Science, 53(4): 931-49. Siyu
  1. Alexandru Grigorescu. 2010. The Spread of Bureaucratic Oversight Mechanisms across Intergovernmental Organizations. International Studies Quarterly, 54: 871–886.  Bobby
  1. Jonas Tallberg, Thomas Sommerer, Theresa Squatrito and Christer Jönsson. 2014. Explaining the Transnational Design of International Organizations. International Organization, 68: 741-774.  Elizabeth
  1. Nicola Chelotti, Niheer Dasandi, Slava Jankin Mikhaylov. 2022. Do Intergovernmental Organizations Have a Socialization Effect on Member State Preferences? Evidence from the UN General Debate. International Studies Quarterly, 66(1). Kayla

 

Session 5: April 24

Conflict

 21. James Fearon. 1995. Rationalist Explanations for War. International Organization, 49: 379-414. Siyu

  1. Brett Ashley Leeds. 2003. Do Military Alliances Deter Aggression? The Influence of Military Alliances on the Initiation of Militarized Interstate Disputes. American Journal of Political Science, 47(3): 427-39. Bobby
  1. Matthew Gottfried and Robert Trager. 2016. A Preference for War: How Fairness and Rhetoric Influence Leadership Incentives in Crises. International Studies Quarterly, 60(2): 243-257.  Elizabeth
  1. Christopher W. Blair, Guy Grossman, and Jeremy M. Weinstein. Forced Displacement and Asylum Policy in the Developing World. International Organization, 76(2), 337-378.Ji Hyeon
  1. A. Coe and J. Vaynman. (2020). Why Arms Control Is So Rare. American Political Science Review, 114(2), 342-355. Kayla

Session 6:  May 1 (One Page Project Outline Turned in)

Peace and Peacebuilding  

  1. David Lake. 1992. Powerful Pacifists: Democratic States and War. American Political Science Review, 86(01): 24-37. Bobby

27 Schwartz, J., & Blair, C. (2020). Do Women Make More Credible Threats? Gender Stereotypes, Audience Costs, and Crisis Bargaining. International Organization, 74(4), 872-895. Siyu

  1. S. Daly. (2019). Voting for Victors: Why Violent Actors Win Postwar Elections. World Politics, 71(4), 747-805. Elizabeth
  1. Barnhart, J., Trager, R., Saunders, E., & Dafoe, A. (2020). The Suffragist Peace. International Organization, 74(4), 633-670. Ji Hyeon
  1. Alexander Lee, Jack Paine. 2019. What Were the Consequences of Decolonization? International Studies Quarterly, 63(2): 406–416. Kayla

 

Session 7, May 8

Civil Wars 

  1. James Fearon and David Laitin. 2003. Ethnicity, Insurgency, and Civil War. American Political Science Review, 97(1): 75-90. Bobby
  1. G. Blair, D. Christensen and A. Rudkin. (2021). Do Commodity Price Shocks Cause Armed Conflict? A Meta-Analysis of Natural Experiments. American Political Science Review, 1-8 . Kayla
  1. Virginia Fortna. 2015. Do Terrorists Win? Rebels’ Use of Terrorism and Civil War Outcomes. International Organization, 69(3): 519–556.  Elizabeth
  1. L Schubiger. 2023. One for all? State violence and insurgent cohesion. International Organization, 77(1): 33-64. Siyu
  1. J. Stanton. (2020). Rebel Groups, International Humanitarian Law, and Civil War Outcomes in the Post-Cold War Era. International Organization, 74(3), 523-559. Ji Hyeon

 

Session 8, May 15

Domestic and International Interactions

  1. Colantone, I and P. Stanig. (2018). Global Competition and Brexit. American Political Science Review, 112(2), 201-218. Kayla
  1. Brian Greenhill, Layna Mosley, and Aseem Prakash. 2009. Trade and Labor Rights: A Panel Study, 1986‐2002. American Political Science Review. 103(4): 669‐690.  Elizabeth
  1. Simone Dietrich. 2015. Donor Political Economies and the Pursuit of Aid Effectiveness. International Organization, 70(1): 65–102.    Siyu
  1. David Doyle. 2015. Remittances and Social Spending. American Political Science Review, 109(4): 785-802.  Ji Hyeon
  1. Kyosuke Kikuta and Mamoru Uesugi. Do Politically Irrelevant Events Cause Conflict? The Cross-continental Effects of European Professional Football on Protests in Africa. International Organization, forthcoming. Bobby

 

Session 9: May 22

Non-State Actors

  1. Moonhawk Kim,Amy Liu, Kim-Lee Tuxhorn, David S. Brown and David Leblang. 2015. Lingua Mercatoria: Language and Foreign Direct Investment. International Studies Quarterly, 59(2): 330-343. Bobby
  1. Frederick R. Chen, Jian XuPartners with Benefits: When Multinational Corporations Succeed in Authoritarian Courts. International Organizations, forthcoming. Kayla
  1. Chris Adolph and Aseem Prakash. Does the Economic Decline of the West and the Rise of China Encourage NGO Crackdown? Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly. Siyu
  1. GeoffDancy and Verónica Michel. 2016. Human Rights Enforcement From Below: Private Actors and Prosecutorial Momentum in Latin America and Europe. International Studies Quarterly, 60(1): 173-188. Elizabeth
  1. Amanda Murdie and David Davis. 2012. Shaming and Blaming: Using Events Data to Assess the Impact of Human Rights INGOs. International Studies Quarterly, 56(1):  1-16. Ji Hyeon

 

Session 10, May 29 (Research Proposal Turned in)

New Challenges

  1. Weiss, J., & Wallace, J. (2021). Domestic Politics, China's Rise, and the Future of the Liberal International Order. International Organization, 1-30. Siyu
  1. S Aria. 2022. Who Securitizes? Climate Change Discourse in the United Nations.  International Studies Quarterly, 66(2). Kayla
  1. Goodman, S., & Pepinsky, T. 2021. The Exclusionary Foundations of Embedded Liberalism. International Organization, 1-29. Bobby
  1. Hana Attia, Julia Grauvogel. 2023. Monitoring the Monitor? Selective Responses to Human Rights Transgressions. International Studies Quarterly, 67(2). Ji Hyeon
  1. Azusa Uji, Jaehyun Song, Nives Dolšak, and Aseem Prakash. 2022. Public Support for Climate Adaptation Aid and Migrants: A Conjoint Experiment. in Japan. Environmental Research Letters, 2021, 16: 124073. Elizabeth
Catalog Description:
Key theories, concepts, and debates in the study of world politics and international relations. Provides an overview of the field and prepares students for the IR comprehensive exam.
Credits:
5.0
Status:
Active
Last updated:
April 25, 2025 - 8:36 am