Pol 660

Week 1:  Introduction to the Seminar

      

Week 2:  What is IR?

(On level of analysis)

   Singer, 1961. “The Level of Analysis Problem in International Relations.” World Politics 14:77-92.

   Levy, 2007. “International Sources of Interstate and Intrastate War,” in Crocker et al., Leashing the Dogs of War: Conflict Management in a Divided World. Washington: US Institute of Peace.

   Carter and Smith, 2020. “A Framework for Measuring Leaders’ Willingness to Use Force,” American Political Science Review 114: 1352-1358.

(On policy substitutability)

   Most and Starr, 1984. “International Relations Theory, Foreign Policy Substitutability, and ‘Nice’ Laws,” World Politics 36:383-406

(On what is IR)

   Acharya, Amitav. 2014. “Global International Relations (IR) and Regional Worlds: A New Agenda for International Studies,” International Studies Quarterly 58: 647–59.

   Russett, Bruce. 2003. “Reintegrating the Subdisciplines of International and Comparative Politics,” International Studies Review 5(4):9-12.

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Week 3:  Realist and Neorealist Approaches

(Realism)

   Wohlforth, 1994/95. “Realism and the End of the Cold War.” International Security 19: 91-129.

   Huth, Paul, et al. 1993. “The Escalation of Great Power Militarized Disputes: Testing Rational Deterrence Theory and Structural Realism,” APSR, 87, 3.

   (OPTIONAL but often cited) Fearon, 1995. “Rationalist Explanations for War,” International Organization 49: 379-414. 

(Structural realism)

    Waltz, 1993. “The Emerging Structure of International Politics.” International Security 18: 44-79.

    Mearsheimer 2001. “Chapter 2: Anarchy and the Struggle for Power.” In Mearsheimer, The Tragedy of Great Power Politics, 1-28

    Brooks and Wohlforth, 2023. “The Myth of Multipolarity,” Foreign Affairs, May/June.

(Classical realism)

    Ripsman, Norris, et al. 2016. “Chapter 1: Neoclassical Realist Theory and the Limits of Structural Realism,” In Ripsman et. al. Neoclassical Realist Theory of International Politics. Oxford: Oxford U Press.

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Week 4:   Structural Realism: Power Transition and Long Cycle Global Leadership

(Power transition)

   DiCicco and Levy, 1999. “Power Shifts and Problem Shifts: The Evolution of Power Transition Research Program.” Journal of Conflict Resolution 43: 675-704.

   Lemke and Werner, 1996. “Power Parity, Commitment to Change and War.” International Studies Quarterly 40: 235-260.

   Benson, Michelle, 2007. “Status Quo Preferences and Disputes Short of War,” International Interactions, 33: 271-288

(Long cycles, hierarchy, and global leadership)

   Thompson, 2006. “Systemic Leadership, Evolutionary Processes, and International Relations Theory: The Unipolarity Question.” International Studies Review 8:1-22.

   Rapkin and Thompson, 2003. “Power Transition, Challenge and the (Re)emergence of China.” International Interaction 29: 315-342.

   McDonald, Patrick. 2015. “Great Powers, Hierarchy, and Endogenous Regimes: Rethinking the Domestic Causes of Peace.” International Organization 69: 557–588. (NOTE: keep this piece in mind also for next week)

   (Optional) Butt, Ahsan. 2013. “Anarchy and Hierarchy in International Relations: Examining South America's War-prone Decade, 1932-1941." International Organization 67(3): 575-607.

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Week 5:   Liberal and Neoliberal/Institutionalist Perspectives

(Liberalism)

   Moravchik, 1997. “Taking Preferences Seriously: A Liberal Theory of International Politics.” International Organization 51: 39-51. 

   Maoz, Zeev and Bruce Russett. 1993. “Normative and Structural Causes of Democratic Peace, 1946-1986." American Political Science Review 87(03): 624-638.

   Michael Mousseau. 2021. “The Liberal Peace,” in Sara McLaughlin Mitchell and John A. Vasquez (eds.), What do we Know About War (3rd edition)? Lanham, Rowman & Littlefield.

   (Optional) Hegre, Havard, Michael Bernhard, and Jan Teorell. 2020. “Civil Society and the Democratic Peace,” Journal of Conflict Resolution, 64: 32-62

   (NOTE: Recall McDonald from previous week)

(Liberal institutionalism)

   Keohane and Martin, 1995. “The Promise of Institutionalist Theory.” International Security 20: 39-51.

   Botcheva, Liliana, and Lisa L. Martin, 2001. “Institutional Effects on State Behavior: Convergence and Divergence.” International Studies Quarterly 45: 1-26.

   Bearce, David H., and Stacey Bondanella. 2007. “Intergovernmental Organizations, Socialization, and Member State Interest Convergence.” International Organization 61: 703-733.

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Week 6:   Impact of UN Peacekeeping on Conflict-Affected Countries

       (Professor Mailhot requests that you read these in order)

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   Fortna, V. Page. 2004. “Does peacekeeping keep peace? International intervention and the duration of peace after civil war.” International Studies Quarterly, 48(2): 269-292.

   Hultman, Lisa, Jacob Kathman, and Megan Shannon. 2013. “United Nations peacekeeping and civilian protection in civil war.” American Journal of Political Science, 57(4): 875-891.

   Mailhot, Cameron. 2024. “How UN peacekeeping missions enforce peace agreements.” American Journal of Political Science: 1-16.

   Blair, Robert A., Jessica Di Salvatore, and Hannah M. Smidt. 2023. "UN peacekeeping and democratization in conflict-affected countries." American Political Science Review, 117(4): 1308-1326.

   Nordås, Ragnhild and Siri C. A. Rustad. 2013. “Sexual exploitation and abuse by peacekeepers: Understanding variation.” International Interactions, 39(4): 511-534.

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Week 7: Unarmed, non-violent conflicts and International Politics

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   Schock, Kurt. 2015. “Chapter 1: Conceptualization and Debates.” In Civil Resistance Today. Polity.

   Butcher, Charles, and Isak Svensson. 2016. “Manufacturing Dissent Modernization and the Onset of Major Nonviolent Resistance Campaigns.” Journal of Conflict Resolution 60 (2): 311–39. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022002714541843.

   Schaftenaar, Susanne. 2017. “How (Wo)Men Rebel: Exploring the Effect of Gender Equality on Nonviolent and Armed Conflict Onset.” Journal of Peace Research 54 (6): 762–76. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022343317722699.

   Chenoweth, Erica, and Maria Stephan. 2011. Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict. New York: Columbia University Press. Chapter 1.

    Chenoweth, Erica, and Maria Stephan. 2011. Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict. New York: Columbia University Press. Chapter 2.

Nepstad, Sharon Erickson. 2013. “Mutiny and Nonviolence in the Arab Spring Exploring Military Defections and Loyalty in Egypt, Bahrain, and Syria.” Journal of Peace Research 50 (3): 337–49. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022343313476529.

       

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Week 8:   Constructivist and "Critical" Perspectives

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   Wendt, Alexander. 1992. “Anarchy is what States Make of it: The Social Construction of Power Politics,” International Organization 46 (2): 391-425.

   Wendt, Alexander. 1994. “Collective Identity Formation and the International State.” American Political Science Review 88: 384-396.

   Finnemore, Martha and Kathryn Sikkink. 1998. “International Norm Dynamics and Political Change.” International Organization 52 (4): 887-917.

   Tannenwald, Nina. 2005. “Stigmatizing the Bomb: Origins of the Nuclear Taboo.” International Security 29: 5-49.

(Race and Gender)

   Hemmer, Christopher and Peter J. Katzenstein. 2002. “Why is there no NATO in Asia?” International Organization 56: 576-607. 

   Sjoberg, Laura, and Cameron G. Thies, 2023. “Gender and International Relations,” Annual Review of Political Science, 26: 451-467.

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Week 9:   Rivalries in International Politics

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Week 10: Foreign Policy Analysis

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(Decision-making)

   Allison, 1969. “Conceptual Models and the Cuban Missile Crisis.” American Political Science Review 63: 689-718.

   Bendor and Hammond, 1992. “Rethinking Allison’s Models.” American Political Science Review 86: 301-322.

   (Optional) Gordell and Volgy, 2022. “Political Shocks in Foreign Policy and International Politics: An Alternative Approach,” Canadian Foreign Policy Journal 28: 109-126.

(Domestic politics)

   Bueno de Mesquita and Smith. 2012. “Domestic Explanations of International Relations,” Annual Review of Political Science, 161-181.

   Keller et al. 2020. “Presidential Risk Propensity and Intervention in Interstate Conflicts,” Foreign Policy  Analysis 16:2972-291.

   Crescenzi, 2007. “Reputation and Interstate Conflict.” American Journal of Political Science 51: 382-397.

   Volgy et al., 2004. “The G7, International Terrorism, and Domestic Politics: Modeling Policy Cohesion in Response to Systemic Disturbance,” International Interactions 30: 191-209

 

Week 11: Russian Foreign Policy in Post-Communist Space and Beyond

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Week 12:   Human Rights

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Week 13:   Terrorism

   

   Kydd, Andrew H., and Barbara F. Walter. "The strategies of terrorism." International security 31, no. 1 (2006): 49-80.

   Abadie, Alberto. "Poverty, political freedom, and the roots of terrorism." American Economic Review 96, no. 2 (2006): 50-56.

   Findley, Michael G., and Joseph K. Young. "Terrorism and civil war: A spatial and temporal approach to a conceptual problem." Perspectives on Politics 10, no. 2 (2012): 285-305.

   Chenoweth, Erica. "Terrorism and democracy." Annual Review of Political Science16 (2013): 355-378.

   Helbling, Marc, and Daniel Meierrieks. "Terrorism and migration: An overview." British Journal of Political Science 52, no. 2 (2022): 977-996.

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Week 14:  Thanksgiving Recess

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Week 15:   The Life Cycle of Civil Wars

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Week 16:   Comparative Regional Analysis in International Politics

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   Solingen, Etel. 2007. “Pax Asiatica versus Bellan Levantina: The Foundation of War and Peace in East Asia and the Middle East.” American Political Science Review 101:757-780.

   Johnston, Alastair Ian.  2012. “What (If Anything) Does East Asia Tell Us About International Relations Theory?” Annual Review of Political Science, 15: 53-78.

   Acharya, Amitav. 2014. “Power Shift or Paradigm Shift? China’s Rise and Asia’s Emerging Security Order,” International Studies Quarterly, 58:158-173.

   Haftel, 2007. “Designing for Peace: Regional Integration Arrangements, Institutional Variation, and Militarized Interstate Disputes.” International Organization 61: 217-237.

   Nolte, Detlef. 2010. “How to Compare Regional Powers: Analytical Concepts and Research Topics,” Review of International Studies, 36:881-901.

   Volgy, Thomas J., et al, 2017. “Conflicts, Regions, and Regional Hierarchies.” In W.R. Thompson (ed.), The Oxford Encyclopedia of Empirical International Relations Theories. New York: Oxford University Press.