William E. DeMars
Chairman of the Department of Government

Foundations of World Politics, GOV 203
Spring 2005
Wofford College

Prof. William DeMars
E-mail: demarswe@wofford.edu
Office: 216 Daniel
Phone: x4598
 Office Hours: M/W/F 9:00 – 10:00 AM

Goals and Expectations
This course aims to provide a world-class foundation for understanding how the world works—who lives and dies, who flourishes and who declines, who rules and who obeys. At the same time, the course is for beginners—it presumes no prior knowledge or experience in world affairs. Finally, the course takes power seriously, and seeks to cultivate the ability to discern power at work even when it is hidden or indirect.
The course incorporates lecture, discussion, text, video, and web sources. Two in-class exams will promote integrated understanding of both facts and causal arguments. One analytical paper (about 5-7 double-spaced pages) will be required on a topic to be determined. In accord with the college, we are governed in this course by the norms and procedures of The Honor Code of Wofford College.
New Internet and library research tools now level the playing field so that Wofford students, well-guided and motivated, can match the research quality of students anywhere. A Research Exercise early in the semester will familiarize students with these tools. Using them, each student will choose a topic, research it using a range of sources, and prepare an Annotated Bibliography of those sources.
Serious engagement in class is essential to success in this course. Attendance is required—any student who misses more than six class sessions for any reason will be asked to withdraw from the course. There will be frequent quizzes on assigned readings, political geography, and news stories. Class participation will be measured for grading purposes by: 1) class attendance and participation in discussion, 2) the research exercise, 3) quizzes, and 4) attendance at two convocations or presentations during the semester.
Required Texts

 Required texts include one book and a subscription to the Washington Post National Weekly Edition. Other required readings will be made available by professor.

1. Geoffrey Stern, the Structure of International Society: An Introduction to the Study of International Relations, 2nd Edition (London: Pinter, 2000).
Grading System (400 points total)
10% (40) Class Participation
20% (80) Annotated Bibliography
20% (80) Analytical Paper
25% (100) Midterm Exam
25% (100) Final Exam

Plan of Study
(* indicates readings available from professor or on reserve)
Week 1:  Thinking about World Politics
W Feb 9 Introduction to Course, Realism, Liberalism, Constructivism
F Feb 11 * Kenneth E. Boulding, Chapters 1-3, Three Faces of Power (Sage, 1990).
 
Week 2:  International Society
M Feb 14 Stern, Chap 4, Pre-Modern International Societies, and page 14
W Feb 16 Stern, Chap 5, Modern International Society
F Feb 18 Bibliographic Instruction, Sandor Teszler Library
Stern, Chap 9, Constraints and Rules of International Behavior
 
Week 3:  The United States in International Society
M Feb 21 * Paul Kennedy, “The Eagle Has Landed,” Financial Times, Feb. 2, 2002.
* Michael Kelly, “The Air-Power Revolution,” Slow Squeeze,” and “The
American Way of War,” The Atlantic Monthly, April, May, and June, 2002.
W Feb 23 * Bill Keller, “The Thinkable,” New York Times Magazine, May 4, 2003.
* William J. Broad, David A. Sanger and Raymond Bonner, “A Tale of Nuclear
Proliferation,” The New York Times, February 12, 2004.
F Feb 25

* Bruce Hoffman, Insurgency and Counterinsurgency in Iraq (RAND
Corporation Occasional Paper, June, 2004).
Week 4 International Society in the Middle East
M Feb 28 * Barry Rubin, “The Real Roots of Arab Anti-Americanism,” Foreign Affairs
(Nov/Dec 2002), pp. 73-85.
W Mar 2 * Robert Baer, “The Fall of the House of Saud,” The Atlantic Monthly (May 2003).
* Michael Scott Duran, “The Saudi Paradox,” Foreign Affairs (Jan/Feb 2002).
F Mar 4 * Giacomo Luciani, “Allocation vs. Production States: A Theoretical
Framework,” in Beblawi and Luciani, eds., The Rentier State (1987).
Week 5 Oil Change?
M Mar 7 * Edward L. Morse and James Richard, “The Battle for Energy Dominance,”
Foreign Affairs (March/April 2002), pp. 16-31.
* Packet of additional readings on oil and energy policy
W Mar 9 * Wirth, Gray, & Podesta, “The Future of Energy Policy,” Foreign Affairs
(Jul/Aug 2003), pp. 132-155.
F Mar 11 * Daniel Yergin and Michael Stoppard, “The Next Prize,” Foreign Affairs
(Nov/Dec 2003), pp. 103-114.
Week 6:  Transatlantic Partnership in NATO, the EU, and the United Nations
M Mar 14 * Kendall W. Stiles, Case 22, “Europe Uniting”
W Mar 16 * Tony Blair, Speech on Iraq Crisis in the House of Commons, March 18, 2003.
* William Drozdiak, “The North Atlantic Drift,” Foreign Affairs (Jan/Feb 2005),
pp. 88-98.
F Mar 18 * Stephen Schlesinger, “Can the United Nations Reform?” World Policy Journal,
(Fall 1997), pp. 47-52.
Week 7
M Mar 21 Wrap Up Day
W Mar 23 Midterm Exam (Day 1)
F Mar 25 Midterm Exam (Day 2)
Week 8:  Who’s Running the World Economy?
M Mar 28 * Kendall W. Stiles, Case 21, “OPEC”
W Mar 30 * Kendall W. Stiles, Case 22, “Third World Debt”
F Apr 1 * Robert S. Walters and David H. Blake, chap 3, “The Global Monetary Order:
Interdependence and Dominance,” in The Politics of Global Economic
Relations, 4th Edition (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1992): pp. 64-102.
Spring Break, April 4-8
Week 9
M Apr 11 Walters and Blake, continued
W Apr 13 TBA
F Apr 15 * Carl J. Friedrich and Zbigniew K. Brzezinski, chap 2 of Totalitarian
Dictatorship and Autocracy (New York: Praeger, 1965).
Week 10: Totalitarianism and Democratization
M Apr 18 * Samuel P. Huntington, chap. 1, “What?” in The Third Wave: Democratization
in the Late Twentieth Century (University of Oklahoma Press, 1991), pp. 3-30.
W Apr 20 * Huntington, chap. 2, “Why?” in The Third Wave, pp. 31-72.
F Apr 22 * Huntington, chap. 2, “Why?” in The Third Wave, pp. 73-108.
Week 11:  Non-Governmental Movements and Organizations
M Apr 25 Annotated Bibliography Due
* Peter Ackerman and Jack Duvall, “Poland: Power From Solidarity,” chapter 3 in
A Force More Powerful (New York: Palgrave, 2000).
W Apr 27 * William DeMars, “War and Mercy in Africa,” World Policy Journal (2000): 1-10.
F Apr 29 * William DeMars, “Dancing in the Dark: NGOs and States in Former
Yugoslavia,” chapter 5 in NGOs and Transnational Networks: Wild Cards in
World Politics (London: Pluto Press, 2005).
Week 12:  The History of Progress
M May 2 * Rudolph J. Rummel, “Power, Genocide and Mass Murder,” Journal of
Peace Research (1994): pp. 1-10.
W May 4 * Nicholas Eberstadt, “The Population Implosion,” Foreign Policy (Mar/Apr 2001).
F May 6 * Gautam Naik, et al., “Global Baby Bust,” Wall Street Journal, January 24, 2003.
* Sebastian Moffett, “Going Gray,” Wall Street Journal, February 11, 2003.
Week 13:  The Future of Progress
M May 9 * Bjorn Lomberg and Fred Krupp, from “Debating the Skeptical Environmentalist,”
(April 9, 2002)
W May 11 * “Abortion is Common,” Prochoice Views Website, accessed May 2002
(prochoice.about.com/newsissues/prochoice/library/weekly/aa020199.htm)
* William Pfaff, “Here is a New Age, With Humanity at Last Alone,”
International Herald Tribune, Dec. 30, 1999.
F May 13 Wrap Up Day
Final Exam:

Thursday, May 19, 2:00 – 5:00 (for 11:30 class)
Friday, May 20, 9:00 – 12:00 (for 1:00 class)

Homepage for William E. DeMars

Last Update: April 23, 2005
demarswe@wofford.edu