IR 422:Conducting Research on Climate Change, Conflict and Natural Resources
Professor Jonathan Markowitz
Office VKC: 357C
Description of the Course and Goals:
The political implications of climate change and the management of environmental resources will be two of the most important issues for students and scholars of international relations in the 21st century. This unique course focuses on teaching students about the principles of causal inference and applying them to the politics of environmental change, management, and conservation. Specifically, the course will focus on teaching students how to conduct research and evaluate theories related to the political implications of climate change, the governance of the commons and competition over natural resources. Students will receive training in how to design research and collect and manage data. They will then have the opportunity to experience field research first-hand by spending a week at the University of California Natural Reserve at Sedgwick, located in the Santa Barbara mountains. Sedgwick is a 6,000-acre nature preserve that is dedicated to environmental education and research. The reserve is equipped with a state-of-the-art conference facility,where lectures, discussion and training sessions will be conducted.
The goal of the course is to train students in how to collect, analyze, produce and present independent research related to the political implications of climate change and the management of common pool resources. The course is divided into three distinct phases: 1) Reading and Preparation, which takes place during five meetings with the instructor over the course of the Spring Semester; 2) Environmental Research Bootcamp, which takes place during an intensive week of study at Sedgwick Reserve from May 14th to May 21st; and 3) Independent Research Project, which begins once the students return from boot camp and runs from May 22nd to June 12th.
Course Logistics for Research Design Bootcamp
The Bootcamp itself is an intensive week of study at the UC Sedgwick Reserve. Morning sessions will take the form of lectures and discussions of the previous night’s readings. During afternoon sessions, students will learn by doing, working in supervised teams where they will gain experiencecollecting and managing data. There will also be field lectures, which will give students the opportunityto learn about the environmental research projects at the reserve. This is where course topics, such as the management of common pool resources, that students have been studying come to life. It is one thing to think abstractly about how institutions influence the health of the environmental commons in the classroom; it is quite another to see and touch these environmental commons and learn how researchers in the field measure the health of these eco-systems. Learning how natural scientists measure abstract concepts will help students think about how to do so in their own projects.
During the week at Sedgwick, students will have time to further develop their research project proposals, which they will present on the final day of Bootcamp to receive feedback from Professor Markowitz and their fellow students. By the end of the Environmental Research Bootcamp, students will have obtained the skills necessary to produce their own independent research project, developed a research proposal and received feedback that will allow them to hit the ground running on their return to campus.
Students will stay in the environmental researcher quarters, which consist of four newly-installed weatherproofed tent cabins. Each tent has four bunks and is equipped with electricity, heating and lighting. The reserve also has showers, bathrooms and a kitchen where food can be prepared and stored. A course assistant will help to coordinate logistics and prepare meals for the students using the kitchen at the reserve.
Additional Course Expectations
Students will also be expected to stay up to date on global developments related to course topics and are encouraged to read the following news sites:
New York Times Online (
Economist Online (
Financial Times (
BBC News (
Grading Policy and Assignments:
Grades will be based on active participation (10%), reading summaries (20%), a presentation (20%), and a final paper (50%). Details of the reading summary assignment and final paper will be distributed and discussed in class. The final independent research project is due on the final day of this class. No late papers will be accepted without proper medical documentation.
Assignments:
Class Participation 10%
All students are expected to actively participate in all course discussions and field activities. This means preparing appropriately, offering thoughtful comments, asking questions, and listening to lecturers and classmates.
Homework: Summaries and Presentations 20%
I will assign various homework assignments and presentations. Assignments will consist mainly of summarizing, illustrating and critiquing existing research designs.
Research Proposal 20%
Each student will be expected to give a ten-minute research design proposal presentation. This presentation should describe the research design that their independent research project will be based on. Students will presenton the one the final two days of research bootcamp. Students will also be responsible for providing feedback on the designs of their peers.
Independent Research ProjectTotal 50%
The independent research will be at least 30and nomore than 40 pages, double-spaced, with size 12 font. Details about the final paper will be covered in class.
Students with Disabilities
Any student requesting academic accommodations based on a disability is required to register with Disability Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of verification for approved accommodations can be obtained from DSP. Please be sure the letter is delivered to me (or to TA) as early in the semester as possible. The phone number for DSP is 213-740-0776. If you need assistance with the process, please contact me at the phone number or e-mail address above.
Academic Dishonesty
I take academic dishonesty EXTREMELY seriously. Any student violating USC’s Academic Dishonesty or Student Conduct policies will earn an ‘F’ in the course and will be reported to the appropriate administrators for investigation. You are responsible for reviewing the Trojan Integrity Guide: and the guide for avoiding plagiarism: affairs/SJACS/forms/tig.pdf
Outline of Course Contact Hours and Reading Assignments
Phase 1:Readings and Basic Concepts
Five Meetings over the Course of Spring Semester (15 Contact Hours)
Pages of Reading: 2000
Phase 2: Environmental Research Design Bootcampat Sedgwick Reserve
May 14 to May 21 (42 Contact Hours)
Pages of Reading: 700
Phase 3: Independent Research Project
May 23 to June 12 (12 Contact Hours)
Pages of Reading:~500
Total Contact Hours: 64
Total Pages of Reading Assigned: ~3300
Phase 1) Setting the Foundations
Meeting 1:Introduction and Logistics,Deductive Validity and Basic Concepts (~350 pages reading)
Wagner, R. Harrison. War and the State: The Theory of International Politics. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2007. Entire Book.Approximately 250 pages
Gartzke, Erik. "War is in the Error Term." International Organization 53, no. 03 (1999): 567-587.
Tullock, Gordon. "The origin of the rent-seeking concept." International Journal of Business and Economics 2, no. 1 (2003): 1-8.
Olson, Mancur. "Dictatorship, Democracy, and Development."American Political Science Review87, no. 03 (1993): 567-576
John Orme, "The Utility of Force in a World of Scarcity." International Security 22, no. 3 (1997): 138-67.
Meeting 2:Construct Validity, Measuring Environmental Resources and Governing the Commons (~450 pages reading)
UNU-IHDP and UNEP (2014). Inclusive Wealth Report 2014. Measuring progress toward sustainability. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Entire Book—362 pages
Trochim—Construct Validity.
Geddes, B. Paradigms and Sand Castles: Theory Building and Research Design in Comparative Politics: University of Michigan Press, 2003, Chapter 4,“How the Evidence you Use Affects the Answers you Get”—Apporx 50 pages
Thomas Dietz, Elinor Ostrom, and Paul C Stern. "The Struggle to Govern the Commons.
Science 302, no. 5652 (2003): 1907-12.
Elinor Ostrom, "Coping with Tragedies of the Commons." Annual Review of Political Science
2, no. 1 (1999): 493-535.
Meeting 3: Construct Validity and The Resource Curse (~400 pages reading)
Geddes, B. Paradigms and Sand Castles: Theory Building and Research Design in Comparative Politics: University of Michigan Press, 2003, Chapter 2 and 3, “Big Questions, Little Answers. How the Questions you Choose Affect the Anwers you Get”
Ross, Michael. The oil curse: how petroleum wealth shapes the development of nations. Princeton University Press, 2012.
Michael L. Ross. What Have We Learned about the Resource Curse?
Annual Review of Political Science, Vol. 18: 239 -259 (Volume publication date May 2015)
“The curse of oil The paradox of plenty” Dec 20th 2005
Haber, Stephen, and Victor Menaldo. "Do natural resources fuel authoritarianism? A reappraisal of the resource curse." American political science Review 105, no. 01 (2011): 1-26.
Andersen, Jørgen J., and Michael L. Ross. "The Big Oil Change A Closer Look at the Haber–Menaldo Analysis." Comparative Political Studies (2013): 0010414013488557
Meeting 4: Internal Validity--The Relationship Between Conflict and Environmental Scarcity and Abundance (~450 pages reading)
Geddes, B. Paradigms and Sand Castles: Theory Building and Research Design in Comparative Politics: University of Michigan Press, 2003, Chapter 5 and 6.
Klare, Michael T. "The race for what’s left." The global scramble for the world’s last resources (2012).
Trochim,“Internal Validity”
Le Billon, P., 2001. The political ecology of war: natural resources and armed
conflicts. Political Geography 20 (5), 561–584.
Hvid, Anna K. "Fighting for rents: agricultural windfall gains and social change in land-abundant developing countries." Journal of Reviews on Global Economics 2 (2013): 375-389.
Geddes, Barbara. "How the Cases You Choose Affect the Answers You Get: Selection Bias in Comparative Politics." Political Analysis 2, no. 1 (1990):
Thomas F. Homer-Dixon, "Environmental Scarcities and Violent Conflict: Evidence from Cases." International Security 19, no. 1 (1994): 5-40.
Bennett, Andrew, and Jeffrey T. Checkel, eds.Process tracing. Cambridge University Press, 2014. (Chapter 7 by J. Lyall)Ross, Michael L., and Erik Voeten. "Oil and international cooperation." International Studies Quarterly (2015): sqv003
Meeting 5: The Arctic as a case of Climate-Change-driven Resource Competition (~350 pages reading)
Byers, Michael. International law and the Arctic. Vol. 103. Cambridge University Press, 2013.
Oran R. Young, "Governance: A peaceful Arctic," Nature 478, no. 7368 (201
Elana Wilson Rowe & Helge Blakkisrud (2014) “A New Kind of Arctic Power?
Russia's Policy Discourses and Diplomatic Practices in the Circumpolar North,” Geopolitics, 19:1,66-85
Marlene Laruelle (2014) “Resource, state reassertion and international
recognition: locating the drivers of Russia’s Arctic policy,” The Polar Journal, 4:2, 253-270
Hubach, Joseph Long, Kellen Minteer, Shane Young
SAIS Review of International Affairs, Volume 33, Number 2, Summer-Fall
2013, pp. 21-43
Heather Exner-Pirot (2013) “What is the Arctic a case of? The Arctic as a
regional environmental security complex and the implications for policy,” The Polar Journal, 3:1,
120-135
Betsy Baker, "Law, Science, and the Continental Shelf: The Russian Federation and the Promise of Arctic Cooperation," American University International Law Review 25, no. 2
Phase 2)Environmental Research Design Bootcamp: May 14-May21st
Students should arrive at UC Sedgwick Reserve on the evening of May 14th. Class begins at 9:00 am on Monday the 15th.
Monday 5/15
Breakfast 8:00 AM -9:00 AM
Class 9:00 AM- 12:00 PM
Internal Validity, Natural Experiments, As if Randomization—The Resource Curse and the Institutions Curse (~100 pages reading)
Ramsay, Kristopher W. "Revisiting the Resource Curse: Natural Disasters, the Price of Oil, and Democracy." International Organization (2011): pp. 507–29.
Acemoglu, Daron, Simon Johnson, and James A. Robinson. "The Colonial Origins of Comparative Development: An Empirical Investigation." American Economic Review 91, no. 5 (2001): 1369-401
Kenneth L. Sokoloff and Stanley L. Engerman, "History Lessons: Institutions, Factors Endowments, and Paths of Development in the New World," The Journal of Economic Perspectives 14, no. 3 (2000).
Sarsons, Heather. "Rainfall and conflict: A cautionary tale."Journal of Development Economics115 (2015): 62-72.
Alcoholics Anonymous and the Challenge of Evidence-Based Medicine. medicine.html
Lunch 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Field Lecture 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM: Tour of Existing Environmental Research Projects at Sedgwick Reserve
Developing Independent Research Projects 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Dinner 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM
Evening Reading Preparation 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Tuesday 5/16
Breakfast 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM
Class 9:00 AM- 12:00 PM
Internal Validity—Comparing Across Units(~150 pages reading)
Levy, Jack S. "Case Studies: Types, Designs, and Logics of Inference." Conflict Management and Peace Science 25, no. 1 (2008): 1-18.
Ostrom, Elinor. Governing the Commons. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1990. Chapters 1-3-
Mitchell, Ronald B. "Regime Design Matters: Intentional Oil Pollution and Treaty Compliance." International Organization 48, no. 3 (1994): 425-58.
Lunch 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Field Lecture 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM--: Examples of Common Pool Resource Governance in the Field: Visit to Edge of Sedgwick Reserve.
Developing Independent Research Projects 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Dinner 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM
Evening Reading Preparation 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Wednesday 5/17
Breakfast 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM
Class 9:00 AM- 12:00 PM
External Validity,Climate Change and Conflict(~150 pages reading)
Trochim, “External Validity”
Buhaug, Halvard. "Climate–conflict research: some reflections on the way forward." Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change 6, no. 3 (2015): 269-275.
Gleditsch, Nils Petter. "Whither the weather? Climate change and conflict." Journal of Peace Research 49, no. 1 (2012): 3-9.Hsiang, Solomon M., Kyle C. Meng, and Mark A. Cane. "Civil conflicts are associated with the global climate." Nature 476, no. 7361 (2011): 438-441.
Levy, Marc A. "Is the environment a national security issue?." International security (1995): 35-62.
Theisen, Ole Magnus, Helge Holtermann, and Halvard Buhaug. "Climate wars? Assessing the claim that drought breeds conflict." (2011).Lunch 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Field Lecture 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM: Climate Change and Resource Scarcity: Visit to Dry Riverbed at Sedgwick Reserve
Developing Independent Research Projects 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Dinner 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM
Evening Reading Preparation 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Thursday 5/18
Breakfast 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM
Class 9:00 AM- 12:00 PM
Energy Security (~100 pages reading)
Hughes, Llewelyn, and Austin Long. "Is There an Oil Weapon?: Security Implications of Changes in the Structure of the International Oil Market." International Security 39, no. 3 (2015): 152-189
Eugene Gholz and Daryl Press. "Protecting the Prize: Oil and the Us National Interest." Security Studies 19, no. 3 (2010): 453-85.
Duane Chapman. "Gulf Oil and International Security." In Energy Security and Global Politics: The Militarization of Resource Management, edited by D. Moran and J.A. Russell: Taylor & Francis, 2008
Levi, Michael. "The Enduring Vulnerabilities of Oil Markets." Security Studies 22, no. 1 (2013): 132-138
Lunch 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Developing Independent Research Projects 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Reading Preparation
Dinner 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM
After Dinner Documentary:The Prize
Friday5/19
Breakfast 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM
Class 9:00 AM- 12:00 PM
Interstate Resource Competition(~100 pages reading)
Koubi, Vally, Gabriele Spilker, Tobias Böhmelt, and Thomas Bernauer. "Do natural resources matter for interstate and intrastate armed conflict?." Journal of Peace Research 51, no. 2 (2014): 227-243.
Nazli Choucri and Robert C. North, "Dynamics of International Conflict: Some Policy Implications of Population, Resources, and Technology," World Politics 24, no. 1 (1972
Caselli, Francesco, Massimo Morelli, and Dominic Rohner. The geography of inter-state resource wars. No. w18978. National Bureau of Economic Research, 2013.
Reuveny, Rafael, and Katherine Barbieri. "On the effect of natural resources on interstate war." Progress in Physical Geography 38, no. 6 (2014): 786-806.
Van der Ploeg, Frederick, and Dominic Rohner. "War and natural resource exploitation."European Economic Review56, no. 8 (2012): 1714-1729
Lunch 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Field Lecture 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM: Field Trip to Zaca Oil Field(Located Just Outside Sedgwick Reserve)
Dinner 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM
Evening Reading Preparation 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Saturday 5/20
Breakfast 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM
Class 9:00 AM- 12:00 PM
The Resource Curse and Its Implications for Civil and International Conflict(~100 pages reading)
Fearon, James D. "Counterfactuals and Hypothesis Testing in Political Science." World Politics 43, no. 2 (1991): 169-95.
Ross, Michael L. "How Do Natural Resources Influence Civil War? Evidence from Thirteen
Humphreys, Macartan. "Natural resources, conflict, and conflict resolution uncovering the mechanisms."Journal of conflict resolution49, no. 4 (2005): 508-537.
Lunch 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
1:30-4:30Presentations of Research Proposals with Feedback from Instructor and Students
Dinner 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM
6:00-9:00 Pack for Departure Following Day
Sunday 5/21
Breakfast 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM
Class 9:00 AM- 12:00 PM
Presentations of Research Proposals with Feedback from Instructor and Students
Depart Sedgwick 2:00 PM
Phase 3: Independent Research Project: May 23-June 12
May 26th Research Guidance Meeting
June 2nd Research Guidance Meeting
June 9th Final Presentations
June 12th FinalPresentations (papers due)