DARTMOUTH COLLEGE

Department of Government
GOVT 5 International Politics
Course Description
This course introduces a variety of different theories of international relations
developed in the 20th century in order to stimulate critical reflection on a number of
important questions: What are the main international issues? Who or what are the
principal international actors and structures? What are the roles of power and
morality in world politics? What causes war and global inequality? What is the
relationship between theory and practice of international relations? These are some
of the key concerns to be investigated. The course begins with World War I and
Wilsonian liberal internationalism as the origins of IR as a modern field of study and
subsequently traces the rise of Realism to the position of a dominant school of
thought within the field. Next, it explores the weaknesses and biases of the Realist
tradition and presents alternative ways of explaining and understanding
international relations. The final portion is dedicated to specific issues and topics in
contemporary world affairs, including the end of the Cold War and the New
International Order.
Location and Schedule
This course meets in Carson L02 in the 10 slot (MWF 10-11:05 a.m.). Participants
must also be available during the X period (Th 12-12:50 p.m.).
Instructor
Prof. Milan Babk (Silsby 227, x2902, Milan.Babik@Dartmouth.edu)
Office Hours: By appointment.
Reading Materials
The following required course texts are available from Wheelock Books, Baker
Library, and/or most major book sellers:

Chris Brown and Kirsten Ainley, Understanding International Relations, 4th

ed. (Palgrave Macmillan, 2009), ISBN 978-0-230-21311-1
John Baylis, Steve Smith, and Patricia Owens, eds., The Globalization of
World Politics, 6th ed. (Oxford University Press, 2014), ISBN 978-0-19965617-2
Scott Burchill et al., Theories of International Relations, 5th ed. (Palgrave
Macmillan, 2013), ISBN 978-0-230-36223-9
E.H. Carr, The Twenty Years Crisis, 1919-1939, 2nd ed. (Harper & Row,
1964), ISBN 0-06-131122-7

In addition to these materials, other required readings are available on Canvas,

elsewhere on-line, or at Baker Library as either standard or electronic reserves.
Requirements and Assessment
Your final grade will be based on your performance in the following categories:
a) Attendance and Participation (10% class discussion, 10% quizzes)

This refers to your regular attendance, involvement in discussion, and

performance on several reading quizzes, which will be given without prior
announcement at the start of select classes. Absence will only be excused in
exceptional circumstances (severe illness, family emergency). You must notify
me and secure my approval in advance, as well as arrange to make up any
missed work. Please note that this policy also applies to your athletic
commitments, which do not constitute an automatic reason to skip class.
b) Two Essays (15% each)
Each essay is to be 5-6 pages long, double-spaced, in 12-point font Times New
Roman, with 1-inch margins, and with footnotes and bibliography properly
formatted in the Chicago documentation style. A full draft of Essay I is due in
class on Friday, October 9, and the revised (final) draft is due in class on
Monday, October 19. Essay II is due in class on Friday, November 13. Topics
will be announced well in advance. You will be assessed for both content and
form (grammar, syntax, etc.). Late submissions not accepted.
c) Midterm Examination (25%)
This exam will be given in class on Wednesday, October 14. You will have the
full class period (65 minutes) to complete it.
d) Final Examination (25%)
This test will be given during the regularly scheduled final exam period at the
end of term. It will be cumulative, covering material from the entire course.
Course Outline
I. Origins of IR as a Modern Discipline
Sept. 16 (W)

Welcome and Introduction to IR Theory

o Brown and Ainley, Understanding International Relations, chap.
1.
o Burchill et al., Theories of International Relations, 1-31.

Sept. 18 (F)

World War I: Origins and Character

o Eric J. Hobsbawm, The Age of Extremes: A History of the World,
1914-1991 (Vintage, 1996), chap. 1.
o Michael Howard, The First World War (Oxford University Press,
2002), chap. 2.
o Winston S. Churchill, The World Crisis, vol. 1 (Scribners, 1923),
chap. 1.

Sept. 21 (M)

Impact of "The Great War" and the Birth of the Discipline

o Brown and Ainley, Understanding International Relations, 18-23.
o Baylis, Smith, and Owens, eds., Globalization of World Politics,
50-64.
o John Keegan, Firepower and the Culture of Universal Service, in
idem, A History of Warfare (Pimlico, 1993), 359-366.
o Stefan Zweig, The World of Yesterday (Viking, 1943), v-xi, 1-5, 1220, 24-27, 59-66, 192-200, 214-229.

Sept. 23 (W) Liberal Internationalism and the Drive to Abolish War

o Burchill et al., Theories of International Relations, 60-73.
o Woodrow Wilson, Fourteen Points (1918), on-line at
www.firstworldwar.com/source/fourteenpoints.htm.
o Covenant of the League of Nations (1919), on-line at
www.firstworldwar.com/source/leagueofnations.htm.
o Norman Angell, The Great Illusion, 3rd ed. (G.P. Putnams Sons,
1912), 15-38, 49-53, 85-90.
II. The Rise of Realism
Sept. 25 (F)

Failure of Liberal Internationalism and Origins of Classical Realism

o Brown and Ainley, Understanding International Relations, 23-27.
o Carr, Twenty Years Crisis, vii-40.

Sept. 28 (M) E.H. Carr's Critique of Liberal Internationalism

o Carr, Twenty Years Crisis, 41-101.
Sept. 30 (W) Classical Realism in the United States
o Brown and Ainley, Understanding International Relations, 27-32.
o Michal Joseph Smith, Realist Thought from Weber to Kissinger
(Louisiana State University Press, 1986), chap. 5.
o Hans J. Morgenthau, Politics among Nations: The Struggle for
Power and Peace, 5th ed. (Knopf, 1973), chap. 1.
Oct. 2 (F)

From Classical Realism to Neorealism

o Peter Wilson, Radicalism for a Conservative Purpose: The
Peculiar Realism of E.H. Carr, Millennium 30, no. 1 (2001), 123136.
o Hans J. Morgenthau, The Political Science of E.H. Carr, World
Politics 1, no. 1 (1948), 127-134.
o Christoph Frei, Hans J. Morgenthau: An Intellectual Biography
(Louisiana State University Press, 2001), chaps. 1-2.

Oct. 5 (M)

Neorealism and the Three Images of International Relations

o Brown and Ainley, Understanding International Relations, 40-45.
o Kenneth N. Waltz, Man, the State and War: A Theoretical
Analysis (Columbia University Press, 1959), 1-41.

Oct. 7 (W)

Anarchy as the Cause of War

o Baylis, Smith, and Owens, eds., Globalization of World Politics,
99-112.
o Burchill et al., Theories of International Relations, 37-42.
o Kenneth N. Waltz, Theory of International Politics (AddisonWesley, 1979), chaps. 4-5.

Oct. 9 (F)

Writing Workshop
o Full-length draft of Essay I due at the beginning of session: submit
an anonymized copy for in-class peer review.

Oct. 12 (M)

Midterm Exam Review

o Mock Midterm Exam due (optional).

Oct. 14 (W)

Midterm Examination

III. The Problems of Realism

Oct. 16 (F)

Sovereign State as Unitary Actor

o Brown and Ainley, Understanding International Relations, 65-89.
o Laurence Chang and Peter Kornbluh, Cuban Missile Crisis: A
Chronology of Events, in idem, eds., Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962: A
Documents Reader (The New Press, 1992), 357-380.
o Graham T. Allison, Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban
Missile Crisis (Little, Brown & Co., 1971), 1-9, 245-263.

Oct. 19 (M)

Ambiguous Concepts: Power and Balance of Power

o Brown and Ainley, Understanding International Relations, 90126.
o Brian C. Schmidt, Competing Realist Conceptions of Power,
Millennium 33, no. 3 (2005), 523-549.
o Carl von Clausewitz, On War, ed. and trans. Michael Howard and
Peter Paret (Princeton University Press, 1976), bk. 1, chaps. 1, 7.
IV. Alternative IR Theories

Oct. 21 (W)

Democratic Peace Theory

o Brown and Ainley, Understanding International Relations, 199204.
o Baylis, Smith, and Owens, eds., Globalization of World Politics,
113-125.
o Burchill et al., Theories of International Relations, 57-66.
o Michael W. Doyle, Liberalism and World Politics, American
Political Science Review 80, no. 4 (1986), 1151-1169.
o Francis Fukuyama, The End of History? National Interest 16
(1989), 3-18.

Oct. 23 (F)

Pluralism and Complex Interdependence

o Brown and Ainley, Understanding International Relations, 32-39.
o Robert O. Keohane and Joseph S. Nye, Power and
Interdependence, 2nd ed. (Scott, Foresman and Co., 1989), 23-37.
o Joseph S. Nye, Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics
(Public Affairs, 2004), 1-32.

Oct. 24 (Sat) Special Day of Classes

o no class meeting
o watch movie Syriana (on reserve at Baker)
Oct. 26 (M)

Neoliberal Institutionalism
o Brown and Ainley, Understanding International Relations, 45-48.
o Baylis, Smith, and Owens, eds., Globalization of World Politics,
126-140.
o Burchill et al., Theories of International Relations, 66-69.

Oct. 28 (W)

Dependency Theory
o Brown and Ainley, Understanding International Relations, 153176.
o Baylis, Smith, and Owens, eds., Globalization of World Politics,
141-154, 184-197.
o Burchill et al., Theories of International Relations, 113-146.

Oct. 30 (F)

Critical International Theory

o Brown and Ainley, Understanding International Relations, 52-58.
o Burchill et al., Theories of International Relations, 162-186.
o Robert W. Cox, Social Forces, States and World Orders: Beyond
International Relations Theory, Millennium 10, no. 2 (1981), 126130.
o Mark Hoffman, Critical Theory and the Inter-Paradigm Debate,
Millennium: Journal of International Studies 16, no. 2 (1987),
231-249.

Nov. 2 (M)

Constructivism (System-Level): Anarchy as a Social Structure

o Brown and Ainley, Understanding International Relations, 48-52.
o Baylis, Smith, and Owens, eds., Globalization of World Politics,
155-168.
o Burchill et al., Theories of International Relations, 217-240.
o Alexander Wendt, Anarchy Is What States Make of It: The Social
Construction of Power Politics, International Organization 46,
no. 2 (1992), 391-425.

Nov. 4 (W)

Constructivism (Unit-Level): Nation as an Imagined Community

o Baylis, Smith, and Owens, eds., Globalization of World Politics,
387-400.
o Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the
Origin and Spread of Nationalism, revised ed. (Verso, 1991),
chaps. 1, 10.

Nov. 6 (F)

Gender and Feminism in International Relations

o Baylis, Smith, and Owens, eds., Globalization of World Politics,
258-273.
o J. Ann Tickner, Hans Morgenthaus Principles of Political
Realism: A Feminist Reformulation, Millennium 17, no. 3 (1988),
429-240.
o Burchill et al., Theories of International Relations, 241-265.

Nov. 9 (M)

Postmodernism
o Baylis, Smith, and Owens, eds., Globalization of World Politics,
169-183.
o Burchill et al., Theories of International Relations, 187-216.
o Richard K. Ashley and R.B.J. Walker, Introduction: Speaking the
Language of Exile: Dissident Thought in International Studies,
International Studies Quarterly 34, no. 3 (1990), 259-268.
V. International Relations After the Cold War

Nov. 11 (W)

IR and the End of the Cold War

o Baylis, Smith, and Owens, eds., Globalization of World Politics,
65-94.

Nov. 13 (F)

The New World Order

o Brown and Ainley, Understanding International Relations, 199220.
o Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations? Foreign
Affairs 72, no. 3 (1993), 22-49.
o Robert D. Kaplan, The Coming Anarchy, Atlantic Monthly 273,
no. 4 (1994), 44-77.

Nov. 16 (M)

Final Exam Review

Other Notes and Comments

The use of cell phones in class is strictly prohibited; please kindly turn your phone off
before entering the classroom. If it rings during session, I get to answer it.