INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION

Government 336

COURSE DESCRIPTION

The traditional realist paradigm sees international relations taking place in a condition of "anarchy" - i.e., the absence of a central governing body with the authority to make laws and settle disputes. In such a system, states must rely on their own devices to protect their security and promote their values and interests. Hence, the international system is characterized as a "self-help" system. However, states pursuing short-term national interests will often contribute to outcomes which make all states, including themselves, worse off - e.g., war, arms races, economic conflict, environmental damage.

This course will examine attempts by states to use international institutions to mitigate anarchy and prevent the short-term pursuit of national interest from undermining collective goals and values. The key concept examined in this class is what scholars refer to as "international regimes" - i.e., patterns of cooperation where state behavior is defined by rules and norms rather than the "every-state-for-itself" ethic of anarchy. The principal questions addressed focus on the factors which tend to facilitate or impede the development of more effective international regimes. Areas of application are the management of violent conflict, multilateral arms control, social and humanitarian cooperation, the promotion of economic development, and the management of the global commons, such as the atmosphere and the oceans.

READING ASSIGNMENTS

The following "required" texts have been ordered at the bookstore

Claude, Swords into Ploughshares (4th Ed.)

Stoessinger, The United Nations and the Superpowers (4th Ed)

Thomas, In Search of Security: The Third World in International Relations

Porter & Brown, Global Environmental Politics

Readings with an asterisk (*) are strongly recommended but not required.

WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS

(1) Students are required to compose three papers and to present those papers in class. The first paper will cover Part II (The Peace and Security Agenda), the second will cover Parts III-IV (Nuclear Nonproliferation and Social and Humanitarian Issues), and the third will cover Parts V-VI (The Development and Environmental Agendas). The papers should be roughly 7-10 pages and is due the day before the scheduled presentation. A list of potential paper topics will be passed out on Tuesday, February 9 and assignments will be made for each section on the following dates:

February 16

March 9

April 6

Each paper will count for 20% of your grade.

(2) There will be a final examination which will count for 30% of your grade. The examination will be given during the regularly scheduled examination period and sample questions will be handed out one week prior to the examination.

(3) Class participation will be structured into the class and count for 10% of your final grade.

COURSE OUTLINE

I. THEORETICAL APPROACHES

February 4: Introduction

There are no required readings for this session. Students should be familiar with classical realist texts and their analyses of international relations. For those relatively unfamiliar with these works, I would recommend Hans J. Morgenthau, Politics Among Nations (6th Ed.), ch. 1

February 9: Realist versus Institutionalist Approaches

Anthology, chs. 1 (Waltz), 2 (Young)

Claude, ch. 18

*Morgenthau, Politics Among Nations, 6th ed., pp. 293-327

February 11: Interdependence and the Creation of International Regimes

Anthology, chs. 3 (Keohane), 4 (Russett & Starr), 5 (Jervis)

*Keohane, "Neoliberal Institutionalism: A Perspective on World Politics" in International Institutions and State Power.

*Grieco, "Anarchy and the Limits of Cooperation" in International Organization (Summer 1988), pp. 485-508.

*Keohane & Nye, Power and Interdependence, pp. 1-37

*Keohane, "The Theory of Hegemonic Stability and Changes in International Economic Regimes, 1967-1977) in Holsti, Siverson & George, eds., Change in the International System

II. THE MAINTENANCE OF PEACE AND SECURITY

February 16: Security Regimes Prior to 1945

Claude, ch. 2, 3, 12

*Morgenthau, Politics Among Nations, 6th ed., pp. 451-462, 481-500

February 18: The United Nations System

Claude, Chs. 4, 6, 7, 8

Stoessinger, ch. 1

February 23: Classic Cases: From Suez to the Congo

Claude, chs. 10 (pp. 206-211), 11, 14

Stoessinger, chs. 3 (pp. 66-75), 5-6

*Morgenthau, Politics Among Nations, 6th ed., pp. 501-521

*Miller, "The United States, the United Nations, and the Cold War" in Miller & Pruessen, eds., Reflections on the Cold War, pp. 160-181

*Finlayson & Zacher, "The United Nations and Collective Security," Gati, ed., The US, the UN, and the Management of Global Change, pp. 162-183

*James, "Unit Veto Dominance in United Nations Peacekeeping" in Finkelstein, ed., Politics in the United Nations System, pp. 75-105

February 25: UN Peacekeeping in the Middle East

Stoessinger, ch. 4

Anthology, ch. 6 (Franck)

March 2: The United States versus the United Nations in the 1980s

Anthology, chs. 7 (Franck), 8 (Kirkpatrick & Gerson, Henkin)

*Finger, "Jeane Kirkpatrick at the United Nations" Foreign Affairs (Winter 1983-84), pp. 436-457

*Krauthammer, "Let It Sink" The New Republic (August 24, 1987), pp. 18-23

*Ruggie, "The United States and the United Nations" International Organization (Spring 1985), pp. 344-356

*Hughes, "The Twilight of Internationalism" Foreign Policy (Winter 1985-86), pp. 25-48

March 4: Post-Cold War Possibilities (I): Conflict Resolution and Peacekeeping

Anthology, chs. 9 (Weiss & Kessler), 10 (Berridge), 11 (UNA-USA)

March 9: Post-Cold War Possibilities (II): The Gulf War and Collective Security

Anthology, chs. 12 (Russett & Sutterlin), 13 (Urquhart), 14 (Boutros Ghali)

*Scheffer, "Use of Force After the Cold War: Panama, Iraq, and the New World Order" in Henkin, ed., Right versus Might, 2nd ed., pp. 109-172

March 11: Post-Cold War Possibilities (III): From Peacekeeping to Peace-Enforcement

Anthology, chs. 15 (Luck & Gati), 16 (Ramet)

*Gardner, "Practical Internationalism" in Allison & Treverton, eds., Rethinking America's Security, pp. 267-278

III. ARMS CONTROL: THE NUCLEAR NONPROLIFERATION REGIME

March 16: From the Baruch Plan to the NPT

Claude, pp. 286-311

Stoessinger, ch. 8

Anthology, ch. 17 (Soroos)

*Nye, "Maintaining a Nonproliferation Regime" in Quester, ed., Nuclear Proliferation, pp. 15-39

*Smith, "Explaining the Nonproliferation Regime" International Organization (Spr 1987), pp. 253-281

*Schiff, "Dominance without Hegemony: US Relations with the International Atomic Energy Agency" in Karns & Mingst, eds., The Politics of Multilateral Institutions, pp. 57-90

March 18: The Strengths and Weaknesses of the NPT - Case Studies

Anthology, chs. 18 (Smith & Cobban), 19 (Spector)

*Potter, "Nuclear Proliferation: US-Soviet Cooperation" Washington Quarterly (Winter 1985), pp. 141-154

*Spector, "Silent Spread" Foreign Policy (Spring 1985), pp. 53-78

March 30: Simulation: The 1995 Negotiations over the Renewal of the NPT

HANDOUT - Renegotiating the NPT

Thomas, ch. 6

IV. THE SOCIAL AND HUMANITARIAN AGENDA

April 2: Functionalism and Cooperation

Claude, pp. 191-206, 378-407

Stoessinger, ch. 3 (pp. 55-66) & 7

Anthology, ch. 20 (Lyons, Baldwin & McNemar)

April 6: Politicization and the Functional Agencies: UNESCO & WHO

Thomas, ch. 5

Anthology, chs. 21 (Franck), 22 (Sikkink)

UNESCO Handout

*Kirkpatrick, "Global Paternalism" Regulation (January/February 1983), pp. 17-22

*Ghebali, "The Politicization of UN Specialized Agencies" Millennium vol 14:3, pp. 317-334

*Williamson, "The UN: Some Parts Work" Orbis (Spring 1988), pp. 187-197

*Johansen, "The Reagan Administration and the United Nations" World Policy Journal (Fall 1986), pp. 601-642

*Finkelstein, "The Political Role of the Director-General of UNESCO" in Finkelstein, ed., Politics in the United Nations System, pp. 324-349

*Mingst, "The United States and the World Health Organization" and Coate, "Changing Patterns of Conflict: The United States and UNESCO" in Karns & Mingst, eds., The Politics of Multilateral Institutions, pp. 205-260

April 8: Human Rights/Humanitarian Activities

Claude, ch. 9 (esp. pp. 181-190)

Anthology, ch. 23 (Forsythe), 24 (Franck)

*Donnelly, "Human Rights at the U.N.: The Question of Bias" International Studies Quarterly (Spring 1988), pp. 275-304

*Goodrich, The United Nations in a Changing World, pp. 159-178

*Farer, "The UN and Human Rights: More Than a Whimper; Less Than a Roar" in Roberts & Kingsbury, eds., United Nations, Divided World, pp. 95-138

V. THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AGENDA

April 13: The North-South Debate

Thomas, ch. 1, 4

Stoessinger, ch. 2

Anthology, chs. 25 (Camps & Gwin)

*Krasner, "Third World Vulnerabilities and Global Negotiations," in Art & Jervis, eds., International Politics, pp. 419-432

April 15: International Aid Institutions (the IMF & World Bank) & the Debt Crisis

Thomas, ch.3

Anthology, chs. 26 (Amuzegar), 27 (Feinberg)

*Krasner, Structural Conflict, ch. 6

*Kahler, "The United States and the International Monetary Fund: Declining Influence or Declining Interest?" in Karns & Mingst, eds., The Politics of Multilateral Institutions, pp. 91-114

*Cohen, "Balance of Payments Financing: Evolution of a Regime," in Krasner, ed., International Regimes, pp. 315-336

April 20: Country Studies

HANDOUT - The IMF and the Mexican Debt Crisis

Thomas, ch. 7

*Girvan, "The IMF and the Foreclosure of Development Options" Monthly Review (February 1982), pp. 34-48

*Haggard & Kaufman, ed., The Politics of Economic Adjustment

April 22: Simulation - North-South Debate on Reforming International Economic Institutions

HANDOUT - Global Debt Negotiations

*Sachs, "Making the Brady Plan Work" Foreign Affairs (Summer 1989), pp. 87-104

*Cohen, "A Global Chapter Eleven" Foreign Policy (Summer 1989), pp. 109-127

*Feinberg, "The Changing Relationship between the IMF and the World Bank" International Organization (Summer 1988), pp. 545-560;

VI. MANAGING THE GLOBAL COMMONS: THE ECOLOGICAL AGENDA

April 27: The "Tragedy of the Commons" & the Environmental Agenda

Stoessinger, ch. 9

Porter & Brown, chs. 1, 2

*Caldwell, ed., International Environmental Policy, 2nd ed., chs. 3, 8

*Wijkman, "Managing the Global Commons" International Organization (Summer 1982), pp. 511-536.

April 29: Simulation: The UN Law of the Sea Treaty

Anthology, ch. 28 (Nossiter), 29 (Coll)

*Krasner, Structural Conflict, pp. 227-251

*Malone, "Who Needs the Seabed Treaty?" Foreign Policy (Spring 1984), pp. 44=63

*Ratiner, "The Law of the Sea: Crossroads for American Foreign Policy" Foreign Affairs (Summer 1982), pp. 1006-1022

May 4 & 6: The Global Environmental Agenda

Porter & Brown, chs. 3-5

*Puchala, "The United Nations and Ecosystem Issues: Institutionalizing the Global Interest" in Finkelstein, ed., Politics in the UN System, pp. 214-245

*Skolnikoff, "The Policy Gridlock on Global Warming" Foreign Policy (Summer 1990), pp. 77-93

*Benedick, "Protecting the Ozone Layer: New Directions in Diplomacy" in Mathews, ed., Protecting the Global Environment, pp. 112-153