INTERNATIONAL POLITICS SEMINAR

This seminar attempts to blend theory and contemporary policy choices. We shall seek explanations and prescriptions for activities that cross â "nationalâ" borders. Particular attention will be paid to two problems: creating economic and social gains through exchanges and the role of institutions via regimes and distinctive political agentsâ - from terrorists to states to IGOs--in facilitating gains [or the reverse]. In our explorations we will assess how well various concepts, approaches and theories explain empirical events and how well individual humans are carrying out tasks within various "institutional", i. e. position derived roles. In most weeks we will focus on specific cases. Students will be expected to complete core reading each week [marked with *], glean understanding from other literature, doing so thoroughly in weeks in which they prepare papers for seminar discussion. Grades will be based on evaluation of papers, seminar discussion, and a final exam (each weighed equally). Feel free to substitute materials you uncover; let the seminar members and myself know in advance if these are important to our discussion. The politics of the 21st Century involve a globalized world. Increasingly effective governance at all levels, and certainly global governance, as well as economic well-being are affected by actions within states elsewhere. Even more so, cross border actions and their effects make it important to consider who is doing what to whom, how and why for a vast array of human actions. We will, therefore, consider "within border" activities among people [for example civil wars or human rights violations] as well as cross border actions among governments of nation-states, and among various other "actors" in the world [NGOs, multinational firms, the UN and IFIs]. We will also consider the growth of informal and illegal activities in world affairs over the last 20 years, the prospect for institutional remedies, and balance between public and private, economic and political theory as aides to problems.

The complete version of the syllabus is available as a pdf by clicking here.