Course Syllabus

YONSEI INTERNATIONAL SUMMER SCHOOL 2010

The US and Northeast Asia

CREDIT / 3 / INSTRUCTOR / Seung-Ho Joo
OFFICE / TBA / OFFICE HOURS / TBA
TIME / CLASSROOM LOCATION
E-MAIL /

[COURSE INFORMATION]

COURSE DESCRIPTION
& GOALS / This course is designed to introduce students to US foreign and security relations with Northeast Asian countries. The course first examines the historical evolution of US relations with China, Russia, North and South Korea, and then analyzes current issues confronting the US. The topics to be covered include: American imperialism, China’s rise as a dominant power, the Russian Far East,the US-Japan alliance, North Korea’s nuclear issue, President Obama’s policy toward Northeast Asia, andthe new world order in Northeast Asia. Heavy emphasis will be placed on the current developments in political and security realms. Upon completing the course, you should be able to acquire essential knowledge and analytical toolsto appreciate US foreign policy in the region. Furthermore, you should be able to identify the recurring issues and the patterns of interaction, and critically project future trends in the region.
Each session will consist of lecture and discussion. In addition, brief video clips from documentaries and movies will be shown throughout the term.
PREREQUISITE / None
COURSE REQUIREMENTS / Grades for this class will be based on the following components.
  • Mid-term
  • The mid-term exam will consist of essay and short-answer questions. One week before the exam, the instructor will pass out review questionsand pick questions for the exam from the list of review questions.
  • Final exam
  • The same format as the mid-term.
  • Oral presentation
  • Students will give an oral presentation of an assigned reading
  • Attendance
  • Regular attendance is expected.

GRADING POLICY / The final grade will be calculated as follows:
Midterm exam35%
Final exam35%
Oral presentation 20%
Class Attendance 10%
TEXTS & REFERENCES / John G. Stoessinger. Nations at Dawn: China, Russia, and America(McGraw Hill,1994).
* Supplementary readings (marked “e-reserved”) will be placed on the course website for
your easy access. To download the readings, go to the course
website at
To view e-reserved materials, you need Adobe Acrobat Reader
(Download it free of charge at Adobe Acrobat)
INSTRUCTOR’S PROFILE / Seung-Ho Joo
Professor of Political Science
University of Minnesota, Morris, USA

[WEEKLY SCHEDULE]

WEEK (PERIOD) / WEEKLY TOPIC & CONTENTS / COURSE MATERIAL & ASSIGNMENTS / REFERENCE
1 (06.29 ~ 07.01) / 6/29
1. INTRODUCTION
A.What is Northeast Asia (NEA)?
B. The traditional world order in NEA
6/30
C. Western imperialism and power realignment
7/1
2. The U.S.China
A. U.S. involvement in NEA / Fairbank, The Chinese World Order,
pp. 1-14 (e-reserved)
(E-reserved readings & Optional readings
available at
Stoessinger, ch. 1.
Stoessinger, ch. 2, 3
/ OptionalReadings (OR):
Carter, The Asian
Dilemmain U.S.
Foreign Policy,
vii-45.
Video:
Sentimental
Imperialists
2 (07.05 ~ 07.08) / 7/5
B. The Korean War
7/6
C. The Vietnam War
7/7
D. The Nixon doctrine
7/8
E. Sino-American Normalization / Stoessinger, ch. 4
Stoessinger, ch. 5 (leaf through), 6
Stoessinger, ch. 7 / OR:
Kathryn Weathersby,
“Cold War International
History project: Soviet
Aims in Korea,”
online at

Allen S. Whiting, China Crosses the Yalu, pp. 1-47, 116-172
Video: The Fog of War
Video: Nixon’s China
Game
3 (07.12 ~ 07.15) / 7/12-15
F. Issues in US-China relations
7/15
Mid-term exam / Layne, Christopher.China's Challenge to US Hegemony,Current History (Jan. 2008), p13-18 / OR:
Sutter, Robert.
“The Taiwan Problem in the Second George W. Bush Administration,” Journal
of Contemporary China
(August 2006), 417-441;
Kleine-Ahlbrandt,
Stephanie, Small, Andrew, “China's New Dictatorship Diplomacy,” Foreign
Affairs, Jan/Feb2008.
4 (07.19 ~ 07.22) / 7/19-22
3. Russia in the Asia Pacific
A. Russia’s first encounters with the U.S.
B. Russian expansion into
the Far East
C. Russia-China relations
D. Russia-Japan relations / Stoessinger, ch. 8-10
Video: Surviving in Siberia
Stoessinger, ch. 14, 15
Video: Yeltsin, Putin
Raymond Garthoff, "Northern Territories--or Southern Kuriles?" International Affairs (Moscow) (August 1991), pp. 88-91. / OR: Russian Elite Perceptions of the Russo-Chinese 'Strategic Partnership' (1996-2001), Slovo, Autumn 2006.
5 (07.26 ~ 07.29) / 7/26
E. Russia-Korea relations
7/27-29
4. The US and The Two Koreas
A. South Korea
B. North Korea / Seung-Ho Joo, “Chapter 8. Russia and
the Korean Peace Process,” in
The Korean Peace Process and the Four Powers (Ashgate,2003), pp. 145-169
Seung-Ho Joo, “Allies under Strain: U.S.-ROK Relations under G.W. Bush,” in Terence Roehrig et al (eds.), Korean Security in a Changing East Asia (Praeger, 2007), pp. 171-191. / Video:
Kim’s Nuclear Gamble PBS (2003)
(online at
6 (08.02 ~ 08.05) / 8/2-4
5. The New World Order
8/5
Final Exam / Stoessinger, ch. 16.
Video: Chalmers Johnson"Militarism and the American Empire"
Video: Dangerous Straits / OR: Shaplen, Laney, James, “Washington's Eastern Sunset,”Foreign Affairs, Nov/Dec2007; Ikenberry, G. John, “The Rise of China and the Future of the West,” Foreign Affairs, Jan/Feb2008.