The Politics of War

 

Politics 332w

 

Fall, 2008

Michael Clancy

Phone: x4284

E-mail me

Hours: T-Th 11-12

MAIN
SCHEDULE
REQUIREMENTS

 

 

 

Schedule

             

Week 1:

9/4-9/9: Introduction

  Video: "War Letters"
CDI: "The World at War," Jan-Feb., 2008 edition of Defense Monitor
 
  

Week 2-3

Rationalist vs. Instinctual Approaches

9/11

 *Martin Van Creveld, "The Art of War and Military Thoughts"
*Thomas Schelling, "The Diplomacy of Violence"
9/16
 *Konrad Lorenz, "On Aggression"
*Irenaus Eibl-Eibesfeldt, "The Biology of Peace and War"
*Dave Grossman, On Killing, pp. 1-16, 29-36
   

Week 3-4

Realism
9/18
 Nye, Understanding International Conflicts, pp. 1-20
*Kenneth Waltz, "The Origins of War in Neorealist Theory"
9/23
 *Robert Gilpin, "The Theory of Hegemonic War"
*Mary Kaldor, New and Old Wars, ch. 1
   

Week 4

Challenges to Realism

9/25
 Nye, Understanding International Conflict, ch. 2
*Carol Cohn, "Sex and Death in the Rational World of Defense Intellectuals"
 
  

Week 5

The Human Factor and War

9/30
 *Ole Holsti, "Theories of Crisis Decision Making
Nye, Understanding International Conflicts, pp. 71-84; 97-112
10/2
 No class!!
   

Week 6

Regime Type and War

10/7
 Spencer Weart, Never at War, ch. 1
Plotz, Greens Peace
Film: Wag the Dog
10/9
 Film: Wag the Dog, conclusion
*Geis, et al., "From Democratic Peace to Democratic War?" Peace Studies 19:2 (2007), 57-63
   

Week 7

Weapons and War

10/14
 Nye, Understanding International Conflict, pp. 265-7
* William M. Evan, "The Global Arms Trade"
*Kenneth Waltz, "The Spread of Nuclear Weapons: More may be Better"
Film: Lord of War
10/16
 Nye, Understanding International Conflict, pp. 145-55
Film: Lord of War, conclusion
*Chaim Kaufmann, "Why Nuclear Proliferation is Getting Easier," Peace Review 18:3 (2006), 315-24
Updates on Iran, North Korea
   

Week 8

Nationalism in the Post-Cold War World

10/21
 *Mary Kaldor: Old and New Wars, chs. 3-4
   
10/23

*Ruth Seifert, "War and Rape," Women's International League for Peace
   

Week 9

Humanitarian Intervention

10/28
 Nye, Understanding International Conflict, pp. 163-73
* David Gibbs, "Why do We Intervene?" International Politics 37:1, March 2000
10/30
 Case Study: Steve Lamy, "The Dutch in Srebrenica"
60 Minutes segment on Srebrenica
   

Week 10

Contemporary Conflict: Case 1 Darfur

11/4
 Flint and de Waal, Darfur: A Short History of a Long War, part 1
11/6
 Flint and de Waal, Darfur: A Short History of a Long War, part 2
   

Week 11

Contemporary Conflict: Case 2 Iraq

11/11
 Seymour Hersh, "The Iraq Hawks," chapter 4 in Chain of Command
Max Boot, "The New American Way of War," Foreign Affairs 82:4, 2003
11/13
 Steven Simon, "The Price of the Surge," Foreign Affairs 87:3, 2008
"Breaking the Army," Mother Jones, March 1, 2007
   

Week 12

A New Form of War?

11/18
 Hammes, The Sling and the Stone: On War in the 21st Century
11/20
 Hammes, The Sling and the Stone: On War in the 21st Century
   

Week 13

War and Profit

11/25
 Daniel Bergner, "The Other Army," New York Times Magazine
11/27
 Thanksgiving Break: No Class !!
   

Week 14

Children and War

12/2
 Beah, Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, pp. 1-125
12/4
 Beah, Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, pp. 126-226
   

Week 15

The Aftermath of War

12/9
 Rand, Establishing Law and Order After Conflict, read summary (pp. xi-xxvi)
Marcus Power, "War Veterans, disability, and Postcolonial Citizenship in Angola and Mozambique," in Cowan and Gilbert, eds., War, Citizenship, Territory
12/11
 Course Wrap up: No reading