Fall 2015 / T & R 1:00pm - 2:15pm / Woodburn Hall 003

Political Science Y109: Introduction to

International Politics
William Kindred Winecoff
Indiana University at Bloomington
Office: Woodburn 403
Hours: T & R 2:30-4 oba
wkwineco@indiana.edu

course description
This is an introductory course on international politics and the relations
between actors in the global political system. The purpose of this course is
to systematically study international interactions between actors with different interests and ideas. In this course we will explore topics, encounter
puzzles, examine theories, and evaluate evidence to try to gain a greater
understanding of world politics. The overarching goal of the course is to
understand how the contemporary global political system originated, and
what historical processes and actors drove its development and change.
We will focus on analyzing global politics as one system, within which
are three interrelated subsystems: the global security subsystem, the
global exchange subsystem, and the global development subsystem. While
these distinctions will structure the course, we will consider each of them
in the context of the others. For example, we will seek to explain how
global trade affects security (and vice versa). We will consider how crossnational financial flows enhance or inhibit economic development in less
developed countries. In each of these areas we will consider how the
present system was created, how it has changed, and how it may change
in the future.
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The basic structure of the course is as follows. First, we will consider

the global security subsystem, and learn such concepts as anarchy, order,
and hegemony/polarity. We will analyze such topics as terrorism, civil conflict, humanitarian intervention, and the democratic peace. We will consider why the United Nations was created, how its purpose has evolved
over time, and how it has been effectual/ineffectual in providing global
security. Second, we will consider the global subsystem of production,
investment and exchange. We will learn how preferences towards trade
openness are formed and aggregated, and examine how the World Trade
Organization regulates the global trading subsystem. Additionally, we will
consider the benefits and costs of global capital movements, paying particular attention to the recent financial crises, and the environmental impact
of global capitalism. Finally, we will seek to explain why some countries
are wealthy while others are poor. We will link our study of development
to the global security and exchange subsystems, and examine the role of
the World Bank and International Monetary Fund in historical political
perspective. We conclude the course by considering what the impact of
rapid development in major emerging economies (especially Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) will be on the broader international
system.

requirements
Students are expected to attend all lectures having read the assigned material in advance. This class requires approximately 100 pages of reading
per week, and it is essential that you keep up. I will not take attendance
but may periodically quiz the class on material from the days readings.
Quiz grades will be combined with the exam grades for that section of the
course. There will be three examinations that will draw from the readings
and lectures. These will primarily be multiple choice but there may be an
additional essay component.
Additionally, there will be timed weekly quizzes that ask you to respond
to that weeks readings and lectures. These will be a mix of multiple
choice and short answer, and can be taken with open notes. The quizzes
will be taken on the course website. Each students lowest quiz score will
be dropped. These quizzes will be available on the course website in the
Tests & Surveys tab.
Students are expected to attend all lectures having read the assigned

material in advance. I will not take attendance, but I will periodically pop
quizzes on the class. These quizzes will be designed to reward students
who attend class regularly and read the assigned material.
The overall course grade breaks down as follows:

Midterm 1: 25%.
Midterm 2: 25%.
Final Exam: 30%
Quizzes 20%.
In my experience, students who attend class, do the readings, and
come to office hours when they are confused do well in my classes. Students who do not do these things often suffer.

grading policy
I will not give make-up examinations except in the case of a documented
medical emergency. Grade appeals must be made in writing, with an explanation of why additional points are deserved, no sooner than one week
after a graded assignment is returned to allow for appropriate reflection
and no later than two weeks after a graded assignment is returned.

current events
We will spend the beginning of each class session discussing current events
related to the course. Its a very interesting time to be studying the world
politics, so theres plenty to talk about. In order for this to be worthwhile,
you need to know whats going on. So pick a reputable news source I
dont care which one and follow along. If youd like recommendations
let me know.

academic honesty
The Indiana University Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities, and Conduct defines academic misconduct [as]:

any activity that tends to undermine the academic integrity of

the institution . . . Academic misconduct may involve human,
hard-copy, or electronic resources . . . Academic misconduct
includes, but is not limited to . . . cheating, fabrication, plagiarism, interference, violation of course rules, and facilitating
academic misconduct. (II. G.1-6).
More here:
http://teaching.iub.edu/policies_misconduct.php?nav=policies.
And here:
http://www.iu.edu/~code/index.shtml.
Please note that if you are unsure whether some conduct is a violation
of the Code, it is fine to ask. There is no penalty involved with seeking a
clarification on policies, or advice on how to stay within them, and I am
happy to help. The goal of these policies is to help you, not hurt you. That
said, I take violation of these rules very seriously and will take appropriate
action if I find that you are not living up to them.

disability
If any student will require assistance or academic accommodations for a
disability, please contact me after class, during my office hours, or by individual appointment. You must have established your eligibility for disability support services through the Office of Disability Services for Students
in Wells Library W302, 812-855-7578.

student privacy
It is expected that the privacy of the class will be respected. Personal
information disclosed in course discussions should not be repeated outside
of the course, especially with students not enrolled in the course.

technology policy
The use of laptops and tablets is permitted for class-related activities (i.e.
note-taking) only. The use of cellphones is not permitted at all. Note: its
pretty obvious (to me) when youre text messaging, instant messaging, or
otherwise using technology for purposes unrelated to the course. This is

disrupting to your classmates, and to me. I reserve the right to deduct

points from your final grade if I observe you failing to observe by these
rules.

extra help
Do not hesitate to come to my office during office hours or by appointment to discuss course materials, examination results, paper projects, or
any aspect of the course. The Associate Instructor for the course, Maria
Waqar, will also have some open times to meet with students. You also
may want to consider the tutoring services offered by Indiana University
(which is free). Information is available at:
http://studentaffairs.iub.edu/academic-resources-and-support/.

readings and schedule

There is no required textbook. All course materials will be available on the
course website, including the syllabus, readings, lecture slides, and other
materials. Please let me know immediately if you have difficult logging on
or accessing any readings.

i: introduction (aug. 25)

No readings.

ii: sovereignty, anarchy, and order (aug. 27)

G. John Ikenberry. After Victory: Institutions, Strategic Restraint, and the Rebuilding of Order After Major Wars. Princeton University Press, Princeton,
NJ, 2001.
Note: chapter one only.
Thomas P.M. Barnett. The pentagons new map. Esquire, March, 2003.

iii: bargaining, cooperation, & conflict (sept. 1)

Joshua S. Goldstein. Think again: War. Foreign Policy, September/October, 2011.
Central Intelligence Agency. Misreading intentions: Iraqs reaction to inspections
created picture of deception. WMD Retrospective Series, January 5 2006.

iv: (sept. 3)
NO CLASS: Conference Travel.

v: hierarchy (sept. 8)
Susan Strange. The persistent myth of lost hegemony. International Organization, 41(4):551574, 1987.
Nuno P. Monteiro. Unrest assured: Why unipolarity is not peaceful. International
Security, 36(3):940, 2011.

vi: institutions (sept. 10)

Anne-Marie Burley. Regulating the world: Multilateralism, international law, and
the projection of the new deal regulatory state. In John Gerard Ruggie,
editor, Multilateralism Matters: The Theory and Praxis of an Institutional
Form, pages 12556. Columbia University Press, York, 1993.
Robert O. Keohane. The demand for international regimes. International Organization, 36(2):325355, 1982.

vii: ideology & identity (sept. 15)

Francis Fukuyama. The end of history? The National Interest, Summer, 1989.
Samuel P. Huntington. The clash of civilizations? Foreign Affairs, 72(3):2249,
1993.

viii: malthusian conflict (sept. 17)

Paul Collier. The market for civil war. Foreign Policy, May-June(136):3845, 2003.
Michael T. Klare. The new geography of conflict. Foreign Affairs, 80(3):4961,
2001.
Jared Diamond. Malthus in africa: Rwandas genocide. In Collapse: How Societies
Choose to Fail or Succeed, chapter 10, pages 311328. Viking, 2004.

ix: civil conflict and terrorism (sept. 22)

Alexander B. Downes. More borders, less conflict? partition as a solution to ethnic
civil war. SAIS Review, 26(1):4961, 2006.
Charles Kurzman. Why is it so hard to find a suicide bomber these days? Foreign
Policy, September/October, 2011.

x: intervention and r2p (sept. 24)

Samantha Power. Bystanders to genocide. The Atlantic, September, 2001.
Joshua S. Goldstein and Jon Western. Humanitarian intervention comes of age:
lessons from somalia to libya. Foreign Affairs, 90(6), 2011.

xi: (sept. 29)

Exam One.

xii: overview of the world economy (oct. 1)

Thomas Oatley. International Political Economy. Longman, 5th edition, 2011.
Moises Naim. Think again: Globalization. Foreign Policy, February, 2009.

xiii: the global trading system (oct. 6)

Paul Krugman. Ricardos dangerous idea. Unpublished Manuscript
Jagdish Bhagwati. Coping with antiglobalization: A trilogy of discontents. Foreign
Affairs, 81(1):27, 2002
Daniel W. Drezner. The outsourcing bogeyman. Foreign Affairs, May/June, 2004.

xiv: the wto & ptas (oct. 8)

Global Exchange. Top ten reasons to oppose the world trade organization. Flyer.
World Trade Organization. 10 common misunderstandings about the wto. Flyer.
David S. Christy. round and round we go... World Policy Journal, Summer:1927,
2008.

xv: the global monetary system (oct. 13)

Barry Eichengreen. Hegemonic stability theories of the international monetary
system. In Can Nations Agree? Issues in International Economic Cooperation, pages 255298. The Brookings Institution, Washington, D.C., 1989.
W. Kindred Winecoff. The triffin dilemma, the lucas paradox, and monetary politics in the 21st century. In Thomas Oatley and W. Kindred Winecoff, editors,
Research Handbook on the International Monetary System. Edward Elgar
Publishing, Cheltenham, UK, 2014.

xvi: the (im)balance of payments (oct. 15)

Lorenzo Bini Smaghi. The triffin dilemma revisited. Speech by Lorenzo Bini
Smaghi, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, at the Conference on
the International Monetary System: sustainability and reform proposals,
marking the 100th anniversary of Robert Triffin (1911-1993), at the Triffin
International Foundation, Brussels, 3 October 2011., 2011.
Michael Pettis. An exorbitant burden. Foreign Policy, 2011.

xvii: the subprime crisis (oct. 20)

Thomas Oatley, W. Kindred Winecoff, Sarah Bauerle Danzman, and Andrew Pennock. The political economy of global finance: A network model. Perspectives on Politics, 11(1):133153, 2013.
Daniel W. Drezner. The irony of global economic governance: The system worked.
World Politics, 66(1):123164, 2014.

xviii: the euro crisis (oct. 22)

Martin Feldstein. The failure of the euro. Foreign Affairs, 90(1):105116, 2012.
Barry Eichengreen. When currencies collapse. Foreign Affairs, 90(1), 2012.

xix: global environmental politics (oct. 27)

Garrett Hardin. The tragedy of the commons. Science, 162:12431248, December 1968.
Elinor Ostrom. Nested externalities and polycentric institutions: must we wait for
global solutions to climate change before taking actions at other scales?
Economic Theory, 49:353369, 2012.
Erik Gartzke. Could climate change precipitate peace? Journal of Peace Research, 49(1):177192, 2012.

xx: the future of globalization (oct. 29)

Mathew J. Burrows and Jennifer Harris. Revisiting the future: Geopolitical effects
of the financial crisis. The Washington Quarterly, 32(2):2738, 2009.
G. John Ikenberry. The liberal order remains robust. Millenium, 38(3):509521,
2010.

xxi: (nov. 3)
Exam Two.

xxii: the problem of poverty (nov. 5)

William Easterly. The failure of economic development. Challenge, 45(1):88103,
2002.
Jeffrey D. Sachs. The development challenge. Foreign Affairs, 84(2):7890, 2005.
Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo. More than 1 billion people are hungry in the
world. Foreign Policy, May/June, 2011.

xxiii: political economies of development (nov. 10)

David N. Balaam and Bradford Dillman. Introduction to International Political
Economy. Longman, 2010.
Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson. Response to jeffrey sachs. Blog post:
http://whynationsfail.com/blog/2012/11/21/response-to-jeffrey-sachs.html, November 21 2012.

xxiv: isi vs. eoi (nov. 12)

James Fallows. How the world works. The Atlantic, December 1993.
Dani Rodrik. Trading in illusions. Foreign Policy, March 2001.

xxv: the world bank and imf (nov. 17)

Joseph Stiglitz. The insider: What i learned at the world economic crisis. The
New Republic, 222(16/17), 2000.
Kenneth Rogoff. An open letter to joe stiglitz, July 2 2002.
Kenneth Rogoff. The imf strikes back. Foreign Policy, January 2003.
Robert Zoellick. Why we still need the world bank. Foreign Affairs, March/April,
2012.

xxvi: the politics of immigration (nov. 19)

Jonathon W. Moses. The politics of immigration: Introduction to a special issue
on u.s. immigration. European Journal of American Studies, Special issue,
2009

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Richard H. Morgan. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness: Human rights and
immigration. Forum on Public Policy, 2011.

xxvii: (nov. 24)

NO CLASS - Thanksgiving Break.

xxviii: (nov. 26)

NO CLASS - Thanksgiving Break.

xxix: rising powers and reform (dec. 1)

G. John Ikenberry. Power and liberal order: Americas postwar world order in
transition. International Relations of the Asia-Pacific, 5:133152, 2005
Gideon Rachman. Think again: American decline. Foreign Policy, January/February,
2011.
Ian Bremmer and Nouriel Roubini. A g-zero world. Foreign Affairs, 90(2):27,
2011.

xxx: the washington vs. beijing consensus (dec. 3)

Arvind Subramanian. The inevitable superpower. Foreign Affairs, 90(5):6678,
2011.
Michael Pettis. A brief history of chinas growth model. Blog post, 2013.
Scott Kennedy. The myth of the beijing consensus. Journal of Contemporary
China, 19:461477, 2010.

xxxi: politics of power transitions (dec. 8)

M. Taylor Fravel. International relations theory and chinas rise: Assessing chinas
potential for territorial expansion. International Studies Review, 12:505
532, 2010.
Andrew J. Nathan and Andrew Scobell. How china sees america. Foreign Affairs,
September/October, 2012 2012.

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xxxii: power transition or decline of the brics? (dec. 10)

Ruchir Sharma. Broken brics. Foreign Affairs, November/December, 2012.
Barry Eichengreen, Donghyun Park, and Kwanho Shin. Growth slowdowns redux:
New evidence on the middle-income trap. NBER Working Paper 18673,
January 2013

xxxiii: fin. (dec. 17)

Final Exam - 5:00 - 7:00.