POLS 2220: International Politics “Battlefield Detectives”
Fall 2014, Monday, Wednesday & Friday: 830am-930am, Smith 222
Instructor: Professor John A. Tures ([email protected])
Office: Callaway Academic Building, Room 206; Phone: 706-880-8066
Office Hours: MWF 940am-1040am, TR 130pm-230pm, & by appt.
"LaGrangeCollege is called through the UnitedMethodistChurch tochallenge the minds and inspire the souls of students
by improving their creative, critical and communicative abilitiesin a caring and ethical community."
The hallmark of the LaGrangeCollege community is the quest for civility, diversity, service, and excellence.
Course Overview:
One of the best produced series on televisions “The History Channel” is the show
“Battlefield Detectives.” The detectives analyze historical conflicts to determine the
answers to a series of mysteries. For example, in the episode “The Battle of Palo Alto,”
these detectives seek to understand why a smaller American force defeated a larger
Mexican army, especially when the archival maps imply at least a draw. In the episode
“The Battle of the Somme,” detectives attempt to understand how so many British troops
were killed in such a short time, while others in the same force accomplished their
objectives on the first day. These analysts formulate and test a variety of theories,
finding support for some arguments, rejecting others.
In this class, each of you will act as “Battlefield Detectives,” analyzing classic theories,
or arguments, of international relations. Some of these will involve conflict and
diplomacy, while others will cover economic power, population pressures and
environmental concerns.
You will formulate your own theories on a variety of subjects, to discuss and debate in
class. We'll work on a Battlefield Detectives research project of our own, examining
whether democracies or autocracies are more likely to go to war, and who is starting
wars. Furthermore, you will engage in a service learning project that will likely involve
getting local students to play a Model United Nations. We’ll see if the game has any
impact on their ideas about international organizations in general and the United Nations
in particular, just as the Battlefield Detectives team would do.
Course Objectives:
The course objectives are tied to LaGrange College’s institutional objectives of creativity,
critical thinking and the development of communication skills found in the undergraduate
bulletin. These state that (IO1) students will demonstrate creativity by approaching
complex problems with innovation and from diverse perspectives, (IO2) students will
demonstrate critical thinking by acquiring, interpreting, synthesizing, and evaluating
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information to reason out conclusions appropriately, and (IO3) students will demonstrate
proficiency in communication skills that are applicable to any field of study.
These institutional objectives are tied to our student learning outcomes for this course,
which include the following.
SLO1: Creativity and Content -- Evaluations of student creativity come from
understanding the course material of international politics, how international politics
theories come from a diverse array of academic disciplines, and conducting an
imaginative evaluation of these theories and their application to the course material.
SLO2: Critical Thinking -- Evaluations of student critical thinking come from assessing
whether students are employing the analytical method (theories, hypotheses, variables,
and their relationship to each other) and testing the evidence generated from this method,
SLO3: Communication Skills -- Evaluations of student communication skills include a
combination of oral and written communication assignments. These are designed to
reflect lessons learned in SLO1 and SLO2.
Student Learning Outcomes for POLS 2220 will be assessed in the following manner:
SLO1 = International Organization Resolution and in the Service Learning Project
SLO2 = Exams and the SERMAL Preparation
SLO3 = Performance at the SERMAL and in the Service Learning Project
After completing this class, students should be able to
A) Understand the key elements of social science research, including theory, hypothesis,
variables, their relationship to each other, and how to conduct a simple test of the
evidence. These will be assessed in all of the assignments.
B) Learn about the important theories and concepts of international politics (such as
realism and idealism, the levels of analysis or images) and how they have been applied to
international conflict, foreign policy, international organizations, and international
political economy. These will be assessed in all of the assignments.
C) Apply what has been learned to a research project or international organization
simulation, putting the elements of social science and international political analysis into
practice.
D) Continue development of one’s writing and presentation skills, learning to conduct
both “like a political scientist.”
Course Reading Materials:
Substantial portions of the course material will be taken from the required text; obtain it
as quickly as possible.
Charles W. Kegley, Jr. and Shannon L. Blanton (2013) World Politics: Trend and
Transformation, 14th.Edition.NY: St. Martin’s Press.
Alan D. Monroe (2000) Essentials of Political Research, Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Greg Hodgin (2012) Model UN Handbook, Landham, MD: Rowman& Littlefield.
In addition, I would like for you to read the following article: Sebastian Rosato (2003)
"The Flawed Logic of the Democratic Peace Theory." American Political Science
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Review, Vol. 97, No. 4 (November): pp. 585-602. You will also read a pair of articles of
mine (see the schedule) so you can get a sense of my writing style.
Course Requirements:
Your final course grade is calculated as follows:
Exams (2x)
60%
International Politics Project
20%
Service Learning Project
20%
92-100= A, 90-91 = A-, 88-89 = B+, 82-87 = B, 80-81 = B-, 78-79 = C+,
72-77 = C, 70-71 = C-, 68-69 = D+, 62-67 = D, 60-61 = D-, 00-59 = F.
Exams:
The Mid-Term Exam will be given at the start of class on October 10, and will account
for 25% of your overall grade. The Final Exam will be given at the start of the class on
Saturday, December 6th, from 8am to 11am and will account for 30 percent of your total
course grade. Make-up exams will be given only to students with medical or personal
emergencies. If an emergency arises, you will need to contact me BEFORE the exam or
you will not receive any credit. If the class receives an average greater than or equal to
80%, the final exam will not be cumulative, so study in groups!
International Politics Project
One of the best ways to learn about a subject is to do it, not just listen about it. In this
class, we will work on a topic of great interest to international politics: the Democratic
Peace Theory. It's the argument that no two democracies go to war with each other. It
isn't just interesting to political scientists: leaders have cited in their speeches (nearly
every U.S. President has mentioned it in their State of the Union Address), military
personnel have discussed this in their strategic planning, and for many countries, it serves
as the cornerstone of their foreign policy.
But it's also one of the most debated topics in international politics. In this class, you'll
read a pair of scholarly articles on the subject. Like a scientist, you'll investigate the
matter, rather than be caught up in the ideological or academic biases that have often
plagued the research, just like the folks in the Battlefield Detectives video.
In this class, you will read the articles, and try to determine what are the logical
arguments underpinning the argument. Are democracies more peaceful, or less peaceful,
and why? Are they doing the attacking, or are they prone to being attacked? If they are
going to war, who are they going to war? Is it fellow democracies, or autocracies (nondemocratic countries) who are the targets of the attacker?
An important part of the social science process is presenting your findings to your
colleagues, for discussion and debate. We will seek to present our findings, either to the
Georgia Political Science Association (GPSA) in Savannah on November 13-15, or at
the Alabama Political Science Association (ALPSA) in the Spring. The GPSA
conference has an undergraduate paper contest. Regardless, the paper will be due this
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semester. It will be student-written as well, so you will have to make the arguments and
gather your research yourself, though I will certainly work with all of you to grade your
papers in a way that helps you prepare for this conference. Such experience has helped
our graduates excel after LaGrange College, in political and non-political fields.
The first paper will focus on developing a theory. This involves generating a creative
logical argument. You will first read one of the Democratic Peace articles (Rosato or
Tures) to find the author's creative logical argument. Then specify it as a theory. The
second paper will focus on deriving and testing a hypothesis from the theory using a
small, manageable dataset, or evidence from legitimate sources.
For example, an argument given is that undemocratic countries are less likely to go to
war because all of their energies are devoted to repressing the domestic population. We
can look at a list of wars since 1816 (a smaller number than you might think) and a
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dataset of democratic measures to see whether the countries that started the wars were
democratic or undemocratic. A related project would examine who gets attacked in war.
Another example comes from the argument that democracies discuss, or don't discuss,
with their public, whether or not they will go to war with another country. We can look
at what has happened in a past case (like Obama with Syria or LBJ with Vietnam) in a
democracy, or perhaps how autocracies (undemocratic countries) behaved before going
to war (like Nazi Germany and Poland in 1939, or Russia and the Ukraine today). We
can also look at
Service Learning Project:
The final 20 percent of your grade will come from a service learning project. My
International Organizations class is looking to host a local Model United Nations for high
schools in Troup County and the surrounding areas. It would take place in November,
and would involve the students playing a series of countries caught in a crisis (in the past,
we had a Turkey-Iraq War, a Venezuela-Colombia militarized dispute, and a second
Korean War). You would serve as members of the United Nations Secretariat,
bureaucrats that would facilitate the discussion, break them into teams to prepare
resolutions about the crisis, with security, economic, political and human rights/refugee
concerns to consider. We will be working with the International Organizations class,
who will run the simulation.
There is also a chance that the LGMUN (LaGrange Model United Nations) class won't
work out, as planned. If that is the case, then we will work on hosting a current events
discussion as a Cultural Enrichment event on December 2nd. We will be discussing the
Ukraine and the international crisis involving Russia as well as the Crimea. That will
take place during the contact hour at 1115am, with a location to be determined. If we
have the LGMUN, then this assignment can take the place of a final exam essay question.
Additional rubrics will be posted which assess how you will be evaluated, and how points
will be awarded for the service learning project. But these rubrics will reflect how much
effort, energy and enthusiasm you put into the project, as well as your professionalism in
appearance and attitude in the project..
Course Participation:
Students are required to attend class having read the assigned readings PRIOR to the
beginning of class. To receive an acceptable participation grade, students are to attend
and participate in class discussion. I will also frequently call on attending students to
summarize, explain or critique the readings; consistent blank stares and silent responses
to questions posed will hurt your exam grade; try out your answers in class, so you get an
idea of whether such answers will be acceptable on exams. I will periodically make sure
you are taking notes in class and on the readings; note taking is a good way to learn the
material, and stay awake in class!
As a rule, any student who misses a class due to an unexcused absence will lose 3% from
his or her final grade. An absence is not excused unless it is submitted to me, in writing,
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on the day of the absence. Each tardy appearance (after the lecture/discussion has begun)
will also be subject to participation grade penalties. After one unexcused tardy
attendances, each subsequent tardy attendance will reduce the overall grade by 1%.
Course Rules & Regulations:
The following rules govern the requirements of this course:
1: Make-up exams are only given with prior instructor notification and approval, and
must be completed in the time frame deemed by the instructor.
2: Failure to complete an assignment or failure to take any exam will result in a zero for
the assignment, and will hamper your ability to pass the course. Tardy assignments will
be reduced by one full letter grade per day, including weekends.
3: Exceptions to the rules are only given with instructor approval in well-documented
emergencies. It is up to the student to provide the documentation.
4: Students are required to keep an extra copy of all assignments until they are graded and
returned by the instructor. Print out a copy to send to me and post your copy to the
Learning Portal.
5: I will post examination grades on the Learning Portal, releasing them by any other
form only with student permission.
Academic Honor Code:
“As a member of the student body of LaGrangeCollege, I confirm my commitment to the
ideals of civility, diversity, service and excellence. Recognizing the significance of
personal integrity in establishing these ideals within our community, I pledge that I will
not lie, cheat, steal, nor tolerate these unethical behaviors in others.” (Part I of Student
Handbook)
Responsibilities include:
 Being honest and truthful in all academic matters, abiding by the letter and spirit
of the Honor Code.
 Consulting with the appropriate persons to clarify issues regarding plagiarism, the
correct attribution of sources, and the use of allowable materials for examinations,
reports or any academic work.
 Signing a pledge that no unauthorized aid has been given or received on any
academic work.
 Reporting any incident believed to be a violation of the Code. (Part I of Student
Handbook)
Plagiarism in this class will not be tolerated. Any attempts to present source material as
one’s own work will be subject to as an honor code violation. Penalties for such action
are described in the Student Handbook, Article 9. Failure to present source material in
one’s own words, often described as “lazy paraphrasing,” will be turned over to the
Honor Council.
Course Schedule:
August 27 (Wednesday): Opening Day & The “Science” of Political Science
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August 29 (Friday): Analytical Method (Read Monroe 1-15)
September 03 (Wednesday): Analytical Method (Read Monroe 17-30)
September 05 (Friday): Unsolved History: Suicide Terrorism
September 08 (Monday): Conventional IR Theories: Idealism
Kegley & Blanton: Chapter 2
September 10 (Wednesday): Conventional IR Theories: Realism
Kegley & Blanton: Chapter 2
September 12 (Friday): Democratic Peace (Read Rosato)
Tures, John A. “The Dearth of Jointly Dyadic Democratic Interventions”
International Studies Quarterly, December 2002, pgs. 579-589.
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/118941717/abstract?CRETRY=1&S
RETRY=0
Film Clip: “James Bond: Never Say Never Again”
September 15 (Monday): Levels of Analysis: “Images” of International Relations
Kegley & Blanton: Chapter 1
September 17 (Wednesday): 1st. Image: Individuals in IR (“Hero in History Model”)
Kegley & Blanton: Chapter 1
Film Clip: “Fatherland”
September 19 (Friday): 1st. Image: Individuals & IR (Rational Choice & Impediments)
Kegley & Blanton: Chapter 1
September 22 (Monday): Film Clip: “History Channel: Hitler & Stalin”
September 24 (Wednesday): 1st. Image: The Role of Public Opinion
John A. Tures “How Moammar Gadhafi Lashes Out At Western Governments To
Distract Libyans At Home.” Miller McCune Magazine, March 28, 2011.
http://www.miller-mccune.com/politics/the-wizard-of-oz-wag-the-dog-andmoammar-gadhafi-29559/
September 26 (Friday): More About Public Opinion
Film Clip: “Crucible of Empire: Spanish-American War
Film Clip: “Canadian Bacon”
September 29 (Monday): 2nd. Image: States & Their Characteristics
Kegley & Blanton: Chapter 4
October 01 (Wednesday): States & Decision-Making
Kegley & Blanton: Chapter 4
Film Clip: “Cuban Missile Crisis”
October 03 (Friday): NO CLASS (Fall Break)
October 06 (Monday): Power Characteristics & Measures
Kegley & Blanton: Chapter 8
J. David Singer “Correlates of War Project: National Material Capabilities Data
Codebook” http://www.umich.edu/~cowproj/capabilities.html
Film Clip: “James Bond: Octopussy”
October 08 (Wednesday): 3rd. Image: System & Polarity (Balance of Power)
Kegley & Blanton: Chapter 8 and 13
October 10 (Friday): MID-TERM EXAM
October 13 (Monday): 3rd. Image: System & Polarity (Power Transitions)
Kegley & Blanton: Chapter 8
October 15 (Wednesday): Long Cycle Theory: World Wars & Beyond
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Kegley & Blanton: Chapter 7
Film Clip: “Cold War: Back From The Brink”
October 17 (Friday): Anarchy, Security Dilemma & Solutions
Prisoners’ Dilemma: http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/playground/pd.html
International Politics Project: Creative Logical Argument Paper Due
October 20 (Monday): International Organizations
Kegley & Blanton: Chapter 3
Film Clip: “Military Blunders”
October 22 (Wednesday): International Organizations
Kegley & Blanton: Chapter 3
Film Clip: “Black Hawk Down”
October 24 (Friday): Human Rights
Kegley & Blanton: Chapter 13
October 27 (Monday): International Law
Kegley & Blanton: Chapter 9
October 29 (Wednesday): Terrorism
Kegley & Blanton: Chapter 6
John A. Tures: “Is Our ‘Soul Prepared?’ Testing the Myth of Suicide Terrorists
As ‘The Ultimate Smart Bomb.’”Homeland Security Review, Fall 2008, v2 (3), p.
167-199. Film Clip: “The Siege”
October 31 (Friday): Nuclear Weapons (In-Class Evaluation)
November 03 (Monday):Nuclear Weapons and Other WMDs
Kegley & Blanton:: Chapter 8
Film Clip: “Cold War: Life With The Bomb
November 05 (Wednesday): Research Day
International Politics Project: Evidence Paper Due
November 07 (Friday): International Political Economy
Kegley & Blanton: Chapter 10
November 10 (Monday): West-West Economic Relations (Finance)
Kegley & Blanton: Chapter 10
November 12 (Wednesday): West-West Economic Relations (Trade)
Kegley & Blanton:: Chapter 11
November 14 (Friday): NO SCHOOL (GPSA Conference In Savannah)
November 17 (Monday):North-South Economic Relations
Kegley & Blanton: Chapter 5
November 19 (Wednesday): Demographics
Kegley & Blanton: Chapter 12
Film Clip: “AIDS and National Security”
November 21 (Friday): NO SCHOOL (Model United Nations in Atlanta)
December 01 (Monday): Environmentalism
Kegley & Blanton: Chapter 14
December 03 (Wednesday): The Future
Kegley & Blanton: Chapter 15
December 06 (Saturday): FINAL EXAM (8am-1130am)
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