Department of Government & International Studies

Department of Government & International Studies

POLS 7030

Globalization and the World Trade Organization

Prerequisites: Postgraduate standing

Duration/Frequency:
3 hours/Week / Credits/Units:
3
Language of Tuition:
English / Number of Contact Hours:
42(3 X 14 weeks)
Individual Study Time Required:
42 hours(3 X 14 weeks) / Total Assumed Work Load:
6 hours/week

Course Description/Aims and Objectives:

This course is designed to focus on the historical origins, development, institutions, practices and effects of globalization, with a particular emphasis on international trade and the international organizations which developed to regulate and negotiate it. The WTO will be placed in its historical and development context with other international institutions, with a selection of case studies to highlight particular areas of the WTO’s greatest accomplishments or weaknesses so that one of the key components of modern globalization can be fully understood in its dynamic international context. The effects of the WTO and international trade on the national policy-maker will be examined, such as its impact on Hong Kong and Mainland China.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs) / Competencies:

Knowledge

By the end of this course, students should be able to

1. Describe the historical origins, development, institutions, practices and effects of globalization; and
2. Recognize the effects of the WTO and international trade on the national policy-maker.

Skills

By the end of this course, students should be able to

1. Compare the WTO with other international institutions by the historical and development context; and
2. Identify the WTO’s greatest accomplishments and weaknesses.

Attitudes

By the end of this course, students should be able to

1. Evaluate the acquired knowledge and skills when conducting a research in the daily reality settings.

Course Content:

I.What is Globalization? Origins, actions, institutions and effects
A.World systems and trade—origins to WWI
B.The 19th century gold standard and colonial “international” trade
II.World Wars I and II, lessons learned, international institutions established
A.The Great Depression, the League of Nations and how it failed
B.The United Nations: Purposes, organization and challenges
1.Political aims and institutions under the UN
2.Economic aims and institutions under the UN
III.One World—Two Models of economic development and international trade Cold War, decolonization, and international trade
IV.Free international trade and the solution to war: a frustrated dream, conquest by other means, or a hard road to riches?
A.Theories of international trade (how things should work)
B.The effects of international trade (how things do, and don’t, work)
V.What is the WTO? Origins, structure, actions and effects
A.What was needed and proposed versus the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) How the compromise (GATT) worked, and didn’t work
B. GATT, IMF, World Bank: the institutions of international trade. Divisions of responsibility and disputes over roles
VI.The establishment of the WTO, superceding the GATT
A.New structures and procedures, fit with the IMF and World Bank (also partly reorganized, especially post-1997 Asian economic crisis)
B.New powers and old issues—case studies in early success and failure
1.The banana dispute: favors for old friends (case study)
2.Fair trade versus free trade: dumping disputes between developed and developing nations (case study)
VII.Trans-national corporations (TNCs), the UN and the WTO
A.How corporations support and undermine international organizations and regimes
B.Company versus country: the limits of corporate power and the limits of the state
1.China joins the WTO, disputes in the membership negotiations (case study)
2.Amway: a TNC adjusts the business model to local conditions (case study)
C.Regional blocs, regional business and the WTO (NAFTA, EU and ASEAN)
VIII.Globalization in the twenty-first century
A.Communication, transportation, cultural interaction and international standards
B.Globalization, internationalization and sovereignty: how the WTO strengthens and weakens the local policy-maker

Teaching & Learning Activities (TLAs):

TLAs / ILOs addressed
1. Seminars
The seminars will focus on the historical origins, development, institutions, practices and effects of globalization, with a particular emphasis on international trade and the international organizations which developed to regulate and negotiate it. / 1 to 5
2. Debates
Students will present their national stance on the dispute, with reasons for their view, and present their views on what policies the WTO should adopt or change to settle the dispute. / 3 to 5

Assessment Methods (AMs):

AMs / Weighting / ILOs addressed / Description of Assessment Tasks
2 short essays on assigned readings (in class, 15-20 minutes) / 20% / 1 to 5 / Students are required to submit 2 short essays on assigned readings to evaluate the acquired knowledge and skills when conducting a research in the daily reality settings.
6-7 page country case study paper (written, external) / 40% / 1 to 5 / Each member of the class will select a “country case study” and prepare a short paper (6-7 pages, with current print references and internet references) on their national perspective on the WTO issue. The paper will cover the interests affected by the dispute within the selected nation and detail the negotiating stance of the nation concerning the dispute. These papers will be distributed to all other class members.
Round One/Debate (oral, in class) / 20% / 3 to 5 / Students will present their national stance on the dispute, with reasons for their view, and present their views on what policies the WTO should adopt or change to settle the dispute.
Round Two/Negotiations and votes / 20% / 3 to 5 / The second round will be negotiation over specific proposals concerning the disputed issue, with students responsible to negotiate, within the limits of their country case study national interests, toward a final settlement as determined by vote of the country representatives. These negotiations will proceed as national representatives identify other nations with similar interests and stances and seek to build a majority of votes in the final vote of country representatives on the issue.

References:

Aaronson Susan A., Taking Trade to the Streets: The Lost History of Public Efforts to Shape Globalization. University of Michigan Press, 2002.

Armstrong David and Erik Goldstein (eds.), The End of ColdWar CambridgeUniversity Press, 1991.

Barfield Claude E., Free Trade, Sovereignty, Democracy: The Future of the WTO. American Enterprise Institute Press, 2001.

Bennet A. L., International Organizations, 5th ed. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1991.

Barber Benjamin R., Jihad vs. McWorld. New York: Ballantine, 1996.

Castles Stephen and Mark Miller, The Age of Migration: International Population Movements in the Modern World. New York: Guilford Publications, 1993.

Chang Gordon G., The Coming Collapse of China. Random House, 2001.

Corbett Percy E., The Growth of World Law. Princeton: PrincetonUniversity Press, 1971.

Coyle Diane, Paradoxes of Prosperity. NY: Texere, 2001.

Crane George T., The Political Economy of China's Special Economic Zones. CambridgeUniversity Press, 1990.

Demko George J. and William B. Wood (eds.), Reordering the World: Geopolitical Perspectives on the 21st Century. Boulder: Westview Press, 1994.

Drucker Peter F., Post-Capitalist Society. Butterworth, 1993.

Falk Richard A., Samuel S. Kim, and Saul H. Mendlovitz (eds.), The United Nations and a Just World Order. Boulder: Wesview Press, 1991.

Fukayama Francis, The End of History and the Last Man. New York: Free Press, 1992.

Gilpin Robert and Jean M Gilpin, Global Political Economy: Understanding the International Economic Order. PrincetonUniversity Press, 2001.

Goodrich Leland M., Edvard Hambro, and Anne P. Simmons, United Nations Charter: Commentary and Documents. New York: ColumbiaUniversity Press, 1969.

Goodrich Leland M., “From League of Nations to United Nations,” International Organization 1, 3-21, Feb. 1947.

Gordon Philip H., The French Challenge: Adapting to Globalization. Brookings Institution Press, 2001.

Greenfield Liah, Nationalism: Five Roads to Modernity. Cambridge: HarvardUniv. Press, 1992.

Harold James, End of Globalization: Lessons from the Great Depression. Harvard Univ Press, 2002.

Held David, Globalization and Anti-globalization. Blackwell, 2002.

Hoekman Bernard and Michael Kostecki, The Political Economy of the World Trading System: From GATT to WTO.OxfordUniversity Press, 2001.

Hopkins A.G., Globalization in World History. Vintage, 2002.

Horsman Matthew and Andrew Marshall, After the Nation-state: Citizens, Tribalism, and the New World Disorder. London: Harper-Collins, 1994.

Hovind Elvind (ed.), The Globalization of Liberalism. Palgrave, 2001.

Huntington Samuel S., “The Clash of Civilizations Debate”. Foreign Affairs,1993

Inglehart Ronald, Modernization and Postmodernization. PrincetonUniversity Press, 1997.

Isaak R. A., International Political Economy: Managing World Economic Change. Prentice-Hall, 1990.

Islam Shafiqul, “Moscow’s Rough Road to Capitalism”. Foreign Affairs, Vol. 72, No. 2, pp. 57-66, Spring 1993.

Jackson John H., The World Trade Organization. Cassell, 1998.

______, The World Trading System 2nd ed. MIT Press, 1997.

Kennedy Paul, The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers. New York: Random House, 1987.

Keohane Robert O., After Hegemony, Cooperation and Discord in the World Political Economy. Princeton: PrincetonUniversity Press, 1984.

Keohane Robert O. and Helen V. Milner (eds.), Internationalization and Domestic Politics. CambridgeUniversity Press, 1996.

Kreuger Anne O. (ed.), The WTO as an International Organization. University of Chicago Press, 2000.

Loader Brian D. (ed.), The Governance of Cyberspace Routledge, 1997.

Logan John R., The New ChineseCity: Globalization and Market Reform. Blackwell, 2001.

Luard Evan, Conflict and Peace in the Modern International System: A Study of the Principles of International Order. Albany: University of New York Press, 1988.

______, A History of the United Nations. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1982.

Murphy Craig N., International Organization and Industrial Change: Global Governance since 1850. Cambridge: Polity Press, 1994.

North Douglas C., Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance. CambridgeUniversity Press, 1991.

Northledge F. S., The League of Nations: Its Life and Times 1920-1946. NY: Holmes & Meier, 1986.

Nove Alec and Ian D. Thatcher (eds.), Markets and Socialism. CambridgeUniversity Press, 1994.

Olson William C. and A.J.R. Groom, International Relations Then & Now: Origins and Trends in Interpretation. New York: Routledge, 1991.

Porter G. and J.W. Brown, Global Environmental Politics. Boulder: Westview Press, 1991.

Ritzer George, The McDonaldization of Society. 2nd ed. London: Pine Forge press. 1996.

Robertson Roland, Globalization: Social Theory and Global Culture. London: Sage Publications, 1992.

Rosenau James N., The United Nations in a Turbulent World. Boulder: Lynne Reinner, 1992.

Rosser J. Barkley and Marina V. Rosser, Comparative Economics in a Transforming World Economy.Chicago: Irwin, 1996.

Selden Mark, The Political Economy of Chinese Development. East Gate Books, 1992.

Sen Amartya, Development as Freedom. OxfordUniversity Press, 1999.

Scherm Stefan A., Globalization and the New Regionalism. Blackwell, 2002.

Solinger Dorothy J., China's Transition from Socialism: Statist Legacies and Market Reforms, 1980-1990. East Gate Books, 1993.

Starrs Roy (ed.), Nations under siege: Globalization and Nationalism in Asia. Palgrave, 2002.

Stiglitz Joseph E., Globalization and its Discontents. W. W. Norton, 2002.

Studwell Joe, The China Dream. London: Profile Books, 2002.

Supachai Panitchpakdi and Mark Clifford, China and the WTO. NY: John Wiley, 2002.

Taylor Phillip, Nonstate Actors in International Politics: From Transregional to Substate Organizations.Boulder: Westview Press, 1984.

Ticktin Hillel, Origins of the Crisis in the USSR: Essays on the Political Economy of a Disintegrating System. CambridgeUniversity Press, 1992.

Vernon Raymond, Sovereignty at Bay: The Multinational Spread of US Enterprises. NY: Basic Books, 1971.

Van Brabant Jozef M., The Planned Economies and International Economic Organizations. CambridgeUniversity Press, 1990.

Wade Robert, “The Visible Hand: The State and East Asia’s Economic Growth”, Current History, Vol. 92, No. 578, pp. 431-440, December 1993.

Wallerstein Immanuel, Geopolitics and Geoculture: Essays on the Changing World System. Maison des Sciences de l'Homme, 1991.

Walters R. S., The Politics of Global Economic Relations, 4th ed. Prentice-Hall, 1991.

Wong R. Bin, China Transformed. CornellUniversity Press, 1997.

Wu David Y.H. (ed.), The Globalization of Chinese Food. University of Hawaii Press, 2002.

Websites:

General site for political science related information:

UN and links to affiliated organizations, IMF, WTO, World Bank, etc.

Globalization websites

(Comprehensive list of academic work on globalization, with comments)

(Int’l Forum on Globalization—critical)

(Corporate Watch, an anti-int’l corp. watchdog website)

(Critics of globalization, esp. by corporations and states)

(Foreign Policy magazine website. Very good and more balanced)

(International development advocacy and information center)

(Comprehensive information source from political and economic perspective. Great links.)

Syllabus prepared by: Prof. Michael E. DeGolyer / September 2010

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