POLI 717
FOREIGN POLICY ANALYSIS/COMPARATIVE FOREIGN POLICY
(and quite a bit of political psychology)
Spring 2012
tu 3:30-6:00 PM
Jerel Rosati
Department of Political Science
Gambrell Hall 310
777-2981 (777-3109, main office
(Email)
(Rosati website)
This will be a challenging class that requires you (whether Master’s or Ph.D.-oriented) to invest time and energy on your part!
Please read the entire syllabus carefully for I have given great thought and time to the development of this course, and it lays out the objectives, the requirements and the expectations. The syllabus and more can be found on the website above.
PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES
The purpose of the course is to provide you with a strong foundation to think theoretically about foreign policy and politics. The emphasis of the course is conceptual--focusing on “interdisciplinary” theories of human behavior and interaction applied to the study of foreign policy, especially those from a decision-making and political psychological perspectives. In other words, the goal is to better understand the practice, the dynamics, and the major patterns of foreign policy through the use of theory.
The more specific goals of the course to be accomplished are to have you:
1) acquire an overview of different theories applied to the study and practice of foreign policy,
2) acquire an understanding of the evolution of the study of foreign policy and IR,
3) increase your ability to develop a major paper revolving around your interests, and
4) develop your oral and written communication skills as well as to strengthen your ability to reason.
You will be exposed to different bodies of thought throughout the social sciences, to different foreign policy phenomena of different countries throughout time and space, and to different methodological (and epistemological) approaches. Given its breadth, the course should not only improve your ability to understand foreign policy, but should also improve your general learning potential and level of professional competence.
The goals and strategy represent a demanding task and high expectations. My hope is that you will find the material interesting, that you will learn, and that you will grow as a scholar, an analyst, and an intellectual. The prerequisite to accomplishing all this is "time and effort" on your part.
REQUIREMENTS
Students are expected to engage in a considerable amount of reading and will be evaluated through class participation, a major research paper, and a final examination. The intent behind these requirements is to have you study and think about the course material throughout the semester--to provide you with numerous opportunities to demonstrate the knowledge you have acquired and to get feedback--in order to maximize your ability to learn and grow as a student.
1. Class Participation (10%). In order to get the most out of class, you must be prepared when you come to class. Students are required to complete the readings prior to class meetings and to come to class ready to discuss them. I expect everyone to participate actively in the discussion of the day. More on this below.
2. Writing Assignment (90%). You have three writing assignments. Details about the paper are provided below.
3. Final Examination (optional). The final will consist of essays and will be cumulative, focusing on the major questions/ideas and general concepts/points addressed in the readings and class. Your essays should demonstrate your mastery and thoughtful consideration of the material, and should explicitly discuss and integrate the readings. You will receive a study guide in advance of the examination to help you prepare.
If as a student you demonstrate to me throughout the course of the semester that you have been doing the reading AND comprehending it at a “very good” or “excellent” level
I will waive the final exam.Late assignments. If you cannot fulfill a requirement by the due date, I (or the POLI office) MUST BE CONTACTED WITHIN 24 HOURS OF THE DUE DATE (at 7-3109) and provided a legitimate explanation (e.g., medical illness). Assignments which are allowed to be completed after the due date will be expected to meet higher standards given the additional time granted.
GRADES
Your grade will be based, not on how well you do compared to others in the class, but on the quality of substantive knowledge, quality of analysis, and effective communication demonstrated--in other words, the level of understanding demonstrated. An A represents "excellence"; a B+ represents "very good"; a B represents "good". Grades below B indicate that the level of work in the course is below the level expected of graduate students.
TEACHING PHILOSOPHY AND STRATEGY
The class will be structured around what I call a class dialogue in which information, knowledge, and thought will be generated through lecture/background, discussion, and, in particular, the Socratic method. I will often play the role of provocateur and advocate to stimulate participation. The class dialogue emphasizes the importance of student participation and as a means to improve one's skills, interest, information, knowledge, and, ultimately, understanding. In essence, class discussions will consist of an active exchange between the students and the professor. When deemed necessary, background will be provided for some of the more difficult material and to provide active learningappropriate context.
The class is organized around the required readings and their topics. I expect every student to come to class prepared and participate. Every student should be able to summarize, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate each assigned reading by addressing the following questions:
1. What is the author's purpose? Why did I have you read this?
2. What is the basic theme(s) or argument(s) of the reading?
3. What is the theoretical explanation? Based on what bodies of knowledge (and philosophical assumptions)?
4. What research strategy and evidence is provided?
5. What is its overall explanatory power? Explain its strengths and weaknesses and specify the relevant foreign policy phenomena.
6. How does this reading relate to the other readings and to the central themes of the course?
Every student, in other words, should attempt to absorb the basic thesis and substance of each reading. In addition, I expect the student to place what is contained within the readings in perspective relative to the rest of the course material. Students also are encouraged to offer comments or questions which contribute to class discussions on a regular basis.
ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR (should you be interested)
Jerel Rosati is a Professor of International Studies and Political Science, and has been a member of the Department of Political Science at the University of South Carolina since 1982. His area of specialization is the theory and practice of foreign policy, focusing on the United States policymaking process, decision-making theory& bureaucratic politics, and the psychological study of political leaders and human cognition. His scholarly and intellectual interests range from American politics and history, United States foreign policy, the Vietnam War and the sixties to the dynamics of world politics, global change and the rise and decline of civilizations.
He has been a Fulbright Senior Specialist in Colombia, Visiting Scholar at the Institute of Democracy & Human Rights in Yerevan, Armenia, a Fulbright Senior Specialist & Visiting Scholar in Argentina at the University of San Andreas in Buenos Aires, a Visiting Professor at Somalia National University in Mogadishu, and a Visiting Scholar at China’s Foreign Affairs College in Beijing. He also has been a Research Associate in the Foreign Affairs and National Defense Division (FAND) of the Library of Congress's Congressional Research Service (CRS), President of the International Studies Association's (ISA) Foreign Policy Analysis Section, and President of the Southern region of ISA.
He has been awarded, and participated in, a number of grants (usually through the U.S. Department of State, and previously the United States Information Agency, USIS) since 1984 as Academic Director, Field Director, and/or Project Director where he has taught-trained students, scholars and practitioners from all over the world, including Argentineans, Armenians, Bulgarians, Chinese, Colombians, Israelis and Palestinians, Somalis, Master’s of International Business students, and high school teachers.
In 2002 he was the PI (Principal Investigator), Program Director and Academic Director of a six-week U.S. Department of State Fulbright American Studies Institute on U.S. Foreign Policy for 18 scholars-practitioners from all over the world. The Institute included four weeks in Columbia, South Carolina (with trips to Charleston and Atlanta), followed by two weeks in Washington, D.C., New York, & Los Angeles. The Fulbright Institute completed its sixth and final year in 2007 involving 108 international participants from over 60 countries and $1.6 million in grants.
He is the author of over seventy articles and chapters, as well as five books including The Carter Administration's Quest for Global Community: Beliefs and Their Impact on Behavior, The Power of Human Needs in World Society, Foreign Policy Restructuring: How Governments Respond to Global Change, The Politics of United States Foreign Policy (5thedition), and Readings in the Politics of U.S. Foreign Policy (translated in Mandarin Chinese).
The Politics of United States Foreign Policy has been used in colleges and universities throughout the United States (including the National War College, the Foreign Service Institute, and the U.S. Fulbright American Studies Institutes on U.S. Foreign Policy), in over 40 foreign countries (including the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies in Germany), and has been translated in Mandarin Chinese and parts in German and Russian. “It is really the best single source on all aspects of the policy process,” according to Robert Soofer, Professor of National Security Strategy, National War College, Washington, D.C.
He has been the Director and Reader of over 50 Ph.D. Dissertations & 50 Master’s Theses, and mentored many more individuals in promoting both their academic and professional careers, within the U.S. and throughout the world (10 dissertations have resulted in books).He has been awarded the Outstanding Professor of the Year in the Humanities and Social Sciences by the South Carolina (Honors) College, the Outstanding Teacher in International Studies in the department (the only year of the award), Excellence in Teaching by the University of South Carolina Alpha Chapter of the Mortar Board Honor Society, and Outstanding Teacher in Political Science by the American Political Science Association and Pi Sigma Alpha (The National Political Science Honor Society). Roughly one-third of the M.A.I.S. and Ph.D. students in the Department of Political Science are from abroad.
At a more personal level, I enjoy travel, music, movies, athletics, reading, food and spirits, family and friends, good company, and relaxing. My father had duo-citizenship (American and Italian), and fought in World War II (on the allied side); My mother was born and raised in Florence, Italy and came to the United States as a war bride; and I retains close family in Italy. I was raised in the small multi-ethnic city of Gardena in west LA. I came of age during the early seventies as an undergraduate at U.C.L.A. when the events surrounding the Vietnam War and Watergate reached a crescendo, which had a profound impact on my intellectual and personal development to the present day. I have lived half my life in South Carolina and consider myself half-Southern. I have lived abroad in Argentina, China, Italy, Somalia, and 'Washington, D.C.' The past few years I have visited Argentina, Armenia, Barbados, Canada, Colombia, Cuba, Italy, Mexico, and Romania. I usually visit L.A. twice a year and Italy every other year. This spring I will visit my daughter who is studying abroad at Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona.
CONTACTING ME AND INTERACTINGPlease feel free to come see me before or after class. Otherwise, the best way is to communicate through email. If you have any questions or complications that I should be aware, feel free to contact me.
Please check your emails, for we may send you articles and updates on the class.
* * *
THIS SYLLABUS REFLECTS THE EXPECTATIONS AND REQUIREMENTS YOU MUST FULFILL. WeEXPECT YOU TO TAKE THE COURSE SERIOUSLY AND WORK HARD--WHICH IS, AFTERALL, THE KEY TO LEARNING AND INTELLECTUAL GROWTH.
REQUIRED READING
Buy all books ONLINE. There should be plenty of used copies out to make it even cheaper to buy.
1. Torbjorn L. Knutsen, A History of International Relations Theory (Manchester University Press, 1997)
2. Laura Neack, The New Foreign Policy: Power Seeking in a Globalized Era (Rowman & littlefield, 2008)
3. John D. Steinbruner, The Cybernetic Theory of Decision: New Dimensions of Political Analysis (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1974, 2002) NO NEED TO BUY NEW; BUY USED ONLINE-NO REAL CHANGE
4. Jerel A. Rosati, The Carter Administration's Quest for Global Community: Beliefs and Their Impact on Behavior (Columbia, S.C.: University of South Carolina Press, 1987; hardback or paper) BUY ONLINE
5. Doris Kearns, Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream (New York: Signet, 1976, 1991) NO NEED TO BUY NEW; BUY USED ON LINE-NO REAL CHANGE
6. David A. Welch, Painful Choices: A Theory of Foreign Policy Change (Princeton University Press, 2005)
7. Articles and chapters through Cooper Library or email. All other required readings CAN be found through Cooper Library's Electronic Resources or will be emailed to you.
PLEASE CHECK YOUR EMAIL REGULARLY FOR I WILL BE SENDING YOU ARTICLES, REMINDERS, AND UPDATES FOR THE CLASS.
WARNING and helpful hint. The readings are intended to be “accessible and diverse” so as to improve your ability to acquire an understanding of the dynamics of foreign policy and its real-world relevance. But I want you to be aware that, although I have tried to provide you with the most accessible and readable material, the readings will be relatively demanding and challenging given, in particular, their theoretical nature. This will probably require you to spend more time and effort in understanding and absorbing the material.
ABOUT THE LITERATURE. The literature in foreign policy analysis is vast, and while much will be covered, much will necessarily be left out. An attempt has been made to select readings which present, exemplify or apply some of the most significant theories and approaches regarding the sources and explanation of foreign policy. While many of the cases are drawn and applied to Western countries, and in particular the United States, the theories will be relevant for understanding the conduct of foreign policy in a wide variety of states and global actors. Recommended readings have been suggested to enable you to delve more broadly and deeply into particular theoretical approaches.
COURSE THEMES
The course revolves around five major themes or questions. They will be raised and addressed throughout the semester for they are integral to making sense of the topics and the readings.
1. Traditionally–that is, since World War II–foreign policy has been most likely to be explained from a rational actor perspective, embedded predominantly within the realist and power politics tradition emphasizing the role of global, systemic factors and the commonality of states. To the present day the rational actor model remains the ideal type when it comes to explaining policymaking whether from a realist (conservative), liberal, or radical theoretical perspective. This raises the following questions: To what extent do global factors determine foreign policy? To what extent are other factors from other levels of analysis consequential? To what extent is foreign policy a function of rationality? To what extent should the rational actor model be considered an ideal type? What alternatives are available?
2. What are the most powerful ways of explaining foreign policy? Beginning in the 1950s, social scientists attempted to be more systematic in identifying and explaining major empirical patterns of foreign policy in comparison to more traditional historical and policy analyses of foreign policy. Thus, an effort was made to link theory (explanation) and practice (description) in foreign policy. No consensus has evolved; instead, there has been a proliferation of competing theories derived from a variety of different disciplines, such as psychology, sociology, political science, economics, and anthropology, that have been adapted and applied to explain foreign policy. We will attempt to provide an overview and examine (within reason) many of the major theoretical approaches that have developed in the study of foreign policy and international relations in order to better explain foreign policy.
3. What foreign policy phenomena is explained? The social science emphasis during the sixties was on identifying and explaining the key patterns in the foreign policy "decision-making process" and foreign policy "behavior." But this does not run the full gamit of foreign policy phenomena. For example, one can speak at least in terms of foreign policy agenda-setting, decision-making, foreign policy behavior, foreign policy outcomes, and foreign policy consequences. These categories can be further broken down into different types or elements. Therefore, it is important that we be clear as to what type of foreign policy phenomena is to be explained, for different theoretical approaches may be more relevant for certain foreign policy phenomena then others. This is a topic that has been underexplored in the study of foreign policy.
4. When and why does foreign policy change occur? Throughout much of the sixties and seventies, foreign policy studies (and IR theory) by social scientists lacked a dynamic quality. The emphasis was on explaining the foreign policy of different countries at the same point in time. Insufficient attention has been given to explaining patterns of continuity and change in foreign policy over time. Clearly, recent developments and changes throughout the world suggest that much more attention needs to be paid to the sources of foreign policy change. This should not only strengthen explanations of foreign policy throughout history but should also provide a stronger foundation for predicting and understanding foreign policy into the future.