Final Exam, Mercer, pol s 203: Introduction to International Relations (June 10, 2015)
Instructions: Do not use the same arguments or evidence to address different questions.
Refer to class readings and lectures when appropriate. Think before you write. Budget your
time. Other side for course readings.
I. Give the definition & significance of FOUR IDs with a few sentences (25 pts. total).
1. TPP
2. "gendercide"
3. “human rights imperialism”
4. Two social dilemmas Katzenstein/Snyder identify as undermining human rights efforts
5. GMO and WTO
6. Ricardo and the corn laws
II. Answer THREE essay questions (25 pts. each; 75 pts. total).
A. Answer one of the following two questions:
7. How do liberals view protectionism, and why? How would either a realist or a Marxist
view protectionism? Illustrate your arguments for each position with historical or
contemporary examples.
OR
8. Some say "outsourcing" is part of the problem, others say it’s part of the solution. After
defining and explaining the term, discuss the logic of two competing perspectives and
illustrate each with examples.
B. Answer one of the following two questions:
9. Does identity explain interests or do interests explain identity? First, discuss realist and
liberal views of this relationship. Second, explain how each view (of the relationship between
identity and interest) influences realist and liberal understandings of the role that human
rights play in international relations. Third, what does a Marxist add to the debate? Use a
contemporary example to develop the Marxist contribution.
OR
10. What is the tragedy of the commons? Pick one contemporary global issue and use the
tragedy of the commons model to explain it. Detail one solution from the Schwartz reading,
and one from Soroos.
C. Answer this question:
11. Thucydides, Kant, and Marx all meet at a séance and begin to argue over which
theoretical approach best explains international politics. One uses an event or issue from the
first half of the 20th century, another uses an event/issue from the second half of the 20th
century, and a third picks a current event/issue discussed in this course. (Each theorist picks a
different time period.) Who chooses which event/issue and why? Avoid using evidence
discussed elsewhere in this exam.
David Ziegler, “War in the Past,” War, Peace and International Politics (Harper Collins, 1993),
Felix Gilbert and David Large, “The quest for hegemony and world power,” The End of the
Rudyard Kipling, "White Man's Burden," [1899] from Rudyard Kipling, The Works of Rudyard
Thucydides, "The Melian Dialogue," A History of the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC), trans.
Robert Gilpin, "The Theory of Hegemonic War," J. of Interdisciplinary History (Spring 1988),
John Mearsheimer, “Why the Ukraine Crisis Is the West's Fault,” Foreign Affairs
Michael Doyle, "Kant, Liberal Legacies, and Foreign Affairs," Philosophy and Public Affairs
Ryan Lizza, “The Consequentialist: How the Arab Spring Remade Obama’s Foreign Policy,” The
Michael McFaul, “Confronting Putin’s Russia,” NYT (24 March 2014)
John Cassidy, “The Return of Karl Marx,” The New Yorker (20 October 1997).
K. Zilliacus, “Economic and Social Causes of War,” Mirror of the Past: A History of Secret
Dennis the Peasant
Michael Gordon, “Domestic Conflict and the Origins of the First World War: The British and the
Ziegler, “Results of WWI” and “WWII,” pp. 39-51.
Paul Kennedy, “A Time to Appease,” The National Interest (July/Aug 2010): 7-17.
Ziegler, “The Cold War and the Korean War,” pp. 53-73.
Dwight Garner, “Carpet-Bombing Falsehoods About a War That’s Little Understood,” NYT (July 21
Bruce Cumings, “A ‘Forgotten War’ That Remade the United States and the Cold War,” The Korean War
John Lewis Gaddis, “The Long Peace,” International Security 10/4 (1986) pp. 99-142.
Eric Miller and Steve Yetiv, “The New World Order in Theory and Practice: The [G.H.W.] Bush
John Stoessinger, “From Sarajevo to Kosovo,” Why Nations Go To War (St. Martin’s, 2001), pp. 217-250.
Andrew Radin, “The Misunderstood Lessons of Bosnia for Syria,” The Washington Quarterly (Winter
Video, “Triumph of Evil,” Frontline,
Samantha Power, “Bystanders to genocide: Why the United States let the Rwandan tragedy happen,” The
Paul Kennedy, “The Perils of Empire,” Washington Post (April 20, 2003).
Max Boot, “Neither New nor Nefarious: The Liberal Empire Strikes Back,” Current History (Nov 2003).
Robert Gilpin, “The Nature of Political Economy,” excerpts from U.S. Power and the
John Cassidy, “Winners and Losers: The truth about free trade,” New Yorker (2 August 2004), pp.
Jagdish Bhagwati, “Banned Aid: Why international assistance does not alleviate poverty,”
Nicholas Kristof, “Where Sweatshops are a Dream,” The New York Times (14 January 2009).
Ken Silverstein, “Shopping for Sweat: The human cost of a two-dollar T-shirt,” Harper’s
Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, “The Women’s Crusade,” New York Times Magazine
The girl effect, watch “We have a situation on our hands,”
Marvin S. Soroos, “The Tragedy of the Commons in Global Perspective,” in The Global Agenda:
Barry Schwartz, “Tyranny for the Commons Man,” The National Interest (July/August 2009).
Samuel P. Huntington, “The Clash of Civilizations?” Foreign Affairs 72/3 (Summer 1993).
Interview with Huntington, “A head-on collision of alien cultures?” NYT (10/20/2001).
Suzanne Katzenstein and Jack Snyder, “Expediency of the Angels,” The National Interest