Final Exam, Mercer, pol s 203: Introduction to International Relations (March 14, 2016)
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. Provide short answers and, where appropriate, definitions and significance for FOUR of
the following questions (25 points total)
1. tragedy of the commons
4. “beggar-thy-neighbor”
2. instrumental view of identity
5. carbon market
3. "naïve realism" and its effect on cooperation? 6. “the Girl Effect”
II. Answer THREE essay questions (25 pts. each; 75 pts. total).
A. Answer one of the following two questions:
7. An unnamed developing country hires Jagdish Bhagwati, Ken Silverstein, and
Kristoff/WuDunn (KW) as policy advisors. What are each likely to highlight as major problems
facing the developing world, and what solutions will each propose? Who is most likely to ally
with whom, and over what issue?
OR
8. Critics complain that free trade kills jobs. How so? Is protectionism better? Discuss the pros
and cons of protectionism, using both historical and contemporary examples. Do advanced
capitalist states view this issue differently than the developing world?
B. Answer one of the following two questions:
9. Based on Samuel Huntington’s article, “Clash of Civilizations,” is Huntington more of a realist
or more of a liberal? Detail those aspects of his argument that capture your view as well as a
competing view. Would Huntington be supportive or skeptical of Tajfel’s argument about the
sources of inter-group competition?
OR
10. Katzenstein and Snyder get into a debate with a liberal and a Marxist to convince them that
their “expediency” approach to human rights is the best one. Detail two of their arguments and
provide examples. How would the liberal and Marxist respond? Finally, which side do you agree
with and why?
C. Answer this question:
11. “Aside from college professors, no one uses theory, and for two excellent reasons: First,
theory gives us biases that hinder understanding. Second, truth is found in facts, not in theory. We
would all see more clearly if we would just focus on the relevant facts.” Do you agree or disagree
with this quotation? Explain why, and use one of the three issues below to make your argument:
* Origins of WWI
* Origins of the Cold War
* Origins of the Gulf War (aka first US-Iraq War)
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):
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,”
Marvin S. Soroos, “The Tragedy of the Commons in Global Perspective,” in The Global
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): 22Interview 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
Part one: 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 European Era:
Rudyard Kipling, "White Man's Burden," [1899] from Rudyard Kipling, The Works of Rudyard Kipling,
Thucydides, "The Melian Dialogue," A History of the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC), trans. Rex
Robert Gilpin, "The Theory of Hegemonic War," J. of Interdisciplinary History (Spring 1988): 591-613.
John Mearsheimer, “Why the Ukraine Crisis Is the West's Fault,” Foreign Affairs September/October 2014.
John Mearsheimer, “What should be the purpose of American Power?” The National Interest (SeptemberMichael Doyle, "Kant, Liberal Legacies, and Foreign Affairs," Philosophy and Public Affairs (Summer
Michael McFaul, “Confronting Putin’s Russia,” NYT (24 March 2014).
“Faulty Powers: Who Started the Ukraine Crisis?” McFaul, Mearsheimer’s
Ann-Marie Slaughter, “What should be the purpose of American power?” The National Interest
John Cassidy, “The Return of Karl Marx,” The New Yorker (20 October 1997): 248-259.
K. Zilliacus, “Economic and Social Causes of War,” Mirror of the Past: A History of Secret Diplomacy
Ben Norton, “U.S. imperialism was the real winner of the presidential debate,” Salon (12 November 2015).
Michael Gordon, “Domestic Conflict and the Origins of the First World War: The British and the German
Part two: 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.
Stephen Walt, “ISIS as a Revolutionary State,” Foreign Affairs (Nov/Dec 2015):42-51.
Dwight Garner, “Carpet-Bombing Falsehoods About a War That’s Little Understood,” NYT (July 21 2010).
Bruce Cumings, “A ‘Forgotten War’ That Remade the United States and the Cold War,” The Korean War (NY:
John Lewis Gaddis, “The Long Peace,” International Security 10/4 (1986): 99-142.
Part three: Miller and Yetiv, “The New World Order in Theory and Practice: The [G.H.W.] Bush Administration's
John Stoessinger, “From Sarajevo to Kosovo,” Why Nations Go To War (St. Martin’s, 2001), pp. 217-250.
Video, “Triumph of Evil,” Frontline, watch it (in readings), or read the transcript,
Samantha Power, “Bystanders to genocide: Why the United States let the Rwandan tragedy happen,” The Atlantic
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): 361-366.