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Fall 1998
Giulio Gallarotti
T 6-8:30
Office Hours:
Room 421 PAC
T 4-5
W 11-12
Office: 309 PAC
Email: ggallarotti@
wesleyan.edu
Ext 2496
Online Syllabus:
http://www.wesleyan.edu/~ ggallarotti/glsp625.htm
I. Course Description
Nations have increasingly attempted to manage their interdependence
collectively through the use of international organizations. This course
represents a systematic study of these organizations: their structures,
impact, successes, and failures. Emphasis will be placed on analyzing competing
theories of international organization and evaluating current scholarship
on the performance of these institutions in today's most important international
issue-areas: security, economic efficiency, economic development, food
aid, human rights, and the environment. In addition, the class will participate
in several simulated diplomatic bargaining sessions on current international
issues.
II. Assignments
The final grade will be based on two 8-page research
papers on topics to be handed out during the semester, and participation
(each will count for one-third). The first paper is due on or before November
10. The final paper will be due during final exam period.
The format of the course will be principally
discussion. Each class will be preceded by a handout which will help you
prepare for the discussion.
III. Readings
All readings on this syllabus are required, unless stated otherwise. The readings are on reserve at the Olin Library Reserve Room (you can find them by looking either under Socs 625, or the name of the instructor). The following books will serve as texts for the course, and are recommended for purchase at the Atticus book store:
Harold Jacobson, Networks of Interdependence 2nd Edition
Robert Riggs and Jack Plano, The United Nations, 2nd Edition
UNA-USA, Issues Before the 53th General Assembly of the
United Nations
IV. International Organization as a Force for Peace and Stability
International organization (IO) is a fairly recent phenomenon. The last 100 years have seen the growth of international governmental organizations (IGOs) and international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs) from very few to over 600 and 6,000 respectively. Much debate has gone on over the origins and nature of this new means of managing interdependence among nations. But even more attention has gravitated around the issue of the effects of international organization. A cursory reading of the daily press will show that the world is far from a federated system of nations being governed by powerful organizations like the UN. We see that issues are much discussed in these international fora, but the resolutions (which themselves are never ubiquitous) are never binding in an absolute legal sense. We also see that the laws and norms of these organizations are rarely enforced. These circumstances lead many (both cynics and non-cynics) to conclude that international organization is not a central player in international politics. And when it does make an impact, it is at a very low level of salience (i.e., IOs are given more power over less politicized issues such as transportation and communication).
This view is compelling, but hardly unproblematic. It assumes that the impact of an actor is proportional to its involvement in a situation and its ability to influence other actors in that same situation. However, in international politics, as in social relations in general, this is not the case. Sometimes very small functions can generate great influence over outcomes. How many wars has the discussion which has gone on in the UN prevented? How many revolutions has the economic aid of the IMF and World Bank prevented? Considering the fact that many international crises are ignited by very small incidents (e.g., the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand), very small functions which are normally played by IOs may very well generate a disproportionate impact on international relations. Hence, in this case, small might very well carry a big impact (e.g., "for want of a horse, my kingdom was lost").
This is an important consideration when judging the effectiveness
of IO in solving the principal problems of international relations. Each
function which is intended to stabilize some set of relations must be carefully
scrutinized independently of its scope and direct impact. Of central
importance is the idea of preventive maintenance, or what we can call "solving
international problems by the back door." Peace can be preserved by direct
and indirect means. A direct means might be a collective security system
where a group of nations rises up against any perceived aggressor. An indirect
means may be the avoidance of war by improving the economic conditions
of poorer countries (e.g., providing them with the resources they would
otherwise be forced to take by war). No complete judgement of the success
of international organization in specific issue-areas is possible without
a sensitivity to all the complex effects. Sometimes, such a judgement might
be facilitated by indulging in counter-factuals: e.g., how would this event
have turned out differently without U.N. intervention? There are many issues
on the world diplomatic agenda, and all of them are being influenced by
international organizations. This creates both a complex and challenging
array of cases for those interested in understanding international organization.
V. Course Outline
1. INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION AND INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
A. Theoretical Traditions of International
Politics
(Introductory Class-Sept 15)
Art and Jervis, International Politics, pps. 2-7
Hans Morgenthau, Politics Among Nations, Chapter 1
Hedley Bull, "Does
Order Exist in World Politics"
in Art and Jervis,
International Politics,
pps. 29-41
B. The Structure and Functions of the
U.N.: Building
a World Government
The class will watch
two documentaries, "The UN in a Revolutionary World"
and "Dag Hammarskjold".
The films
highlight the origins
of the structures and roles of
the U.N. ("Hammarskjold"
centers of the role of the
U.N. Secretary General).
We will discuss the
nature and effectiveness of U.N.supranational governance
in the two documentaries
and the following reading:
Robert Riggs and Jack
Plano, The United Nations,
Chapters Chapters
1,2,3
C. Theories of International Organization
(Sept 22)
Harold Jacobson, Networks, Chapter 4
David Mitrany, "The
Functional Alternative"
in Charles Beitz and
Theodore Herman, eds.,
Peace and War
Robert Cox, "The Crisis
of World Order and
the Problem of International
Organization in
the 1980s" International
Journal 35 (Spring 1980)
Samuel Huntington,
"Transnational Organizations
in World Politics"
World Politics 25 (April 1973)
2. MANAGING GLOBAL ISSUES
A. The Collective Management of International
Security
(Sept 29)
Harold Jacobson, Networks, Chapters 7-9
Robert Riggs and Jack
Plano, The United Nations,
Chapters 5,6
Brian Urquhart, "United
Nations Peace Forces and
the Changing United
Nations"
International Organization
17 (Spring 1963)
UNA-USA, Issues, Chapters
1 and 2
B. Managing Economic Stability
(Oct 6,13)
Harold Jacobson, Networks, Chapter 11
Robert Riggs
and Jack Plano, The United Nations,
Chapter 10
UNA-USA, Issues,
Chapter 3, all sections except
Economic Development
B.1. International
Trade Relations
(Oct 6)
Jock Finlayson and Mark Zacher, "GATT and
the Regulation of Trade Barriers"
International Organization 35 (Autumn 1981)
John Jackson, "The Crumbling Institutions of the
Liberal Trade System" Journal of World Trade Law
12,2
J. Michael Finger, "The GATT as an International
Discipline over Trade Restrictions: A Public Choice
Approach" in Roland Vaubel and Thomas Willett, ed.,
The Political Economy of International
Organizations
B.2. International
Monetary Relations
(Oct 13)
The class will watch the documentary "One World,
One Economy." The film explores how the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) has attempted to
promote economic growth and stability in Mexico, Poland, and Ghana.
We will discuss the film in light of the following
readings: IMF background material (handouts will be
given out in a previous class)
Ismail Abdalla, "The Inadequacy and Loss of
Legitimacy of the International Monetary Fund"
Development Dialogue (1980)
Cheryl Payer, "The World Bank and the Small
Farmers" Journal of Peace Research 16 (1979)
C. Global Hunger and Food Aid
(Oct 20)
Raymond Hopkins, "Reform
in the International Food Aid
Regime: The Role of Consensual
Knowledge"
International Organization
46 (Winter 1992)
Foreign Policy Association,
"Farmers, Food and the Global
Market" Great Decisions 1989
Frances Moore Lappe, Joseph
Collins, and David Kinley,
Aid as Obstacle, Chapters
12-17,20
UNA-USA, Issues, Chapter
4, section on "Food and
Population"
D. The Collective Management of Development
(Oct 27)
D.1. The Nature of Underdevelopment
Harold Jacobson, Networks, Chapter 12
Ian Little, Economic Underdevelopment,
Chapters 1,2
Jagdish Bhagwati, The Economics of
Underdeveloped Countries, Chapters 1-3
UNA-USA, Issues, Chapter 3, section on Economic
Development
D.2. Solving the Problem
Through Aid
Bruno Frey, International Political Economy,
Chapter 5
Frances Moore Lappe, et. al., Aid as Obstacle,
Chapters 1,3,5,9,11,18
Melvyn Krauss, Development Without Aid,
Chapter 8
Peter Bauer and Anthony Daniels, "No Aid at All"
Cato Policy Report (November\December 1991)
Robert Riggs and Jack Plano, The United Nations,
Chapters 5,6
First Paper Due Nov 10
Nov 3,10
Simulated North-South bargaining
sessions in UNCTAD:
instructions and background
materials will be distributed
before the first meeting
E. Confronting the Problem of International
Human Rights
(Nov 17)
Harold Jacobson, Networks, Chapters 13-15
Robert Riggs and Jack Plano,
The United Nations,
pp. 204-212
Giulio Gallarotti and
Arik Preis: ‘Politics,
International Justice and
The United States: Toward a Permanent International
Criminal Court’ Australian
Journal of International Affairs, forthcoming
UNA-USA Issues, Chapter 5
F. Managing the Global Commons: Preserving
Our
Environment
(Nov 29)
The Earth in the Balance
UN Chronicle 34, 2 1997
Giulio Gallarotti,
It Pays to be Green: The Managerial
Incentive Structure
and Environmentally Sound
Strategies Columbia Journal
of World Business
30,4 (Winter 1995)
Per Wijkman, "Managing the
Global Commons"
International Organization
36 (Summer 1982)
Peter Haas, Marc Levy, and
Edward Parson, "Earth Summit
Judging its Success" Environment
34 (October 1992)
UNA-USA, Issues, Chapter
4
PRESENTATIONS AND DISCUSSION OF RESEARCH
PROJECTS
(Dec 1,8)