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Prof. Jean Y. Haine.
Alliance Politics in Theory and Practice.
Tuesdays 17h00-19h00.
1) Module description.
This short course is about alliances in world politics. Using mainstream I.R. theories, the
course will review the literature about alliances’ formation, dissolution and persistence. It
will confront theoretical concepts with actual decision-making processes using historical
as well as contemporary cases, with a focus on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
The course will thus present an overview of the main dilemma in alliance politics.
2) Assignments.
Each student will have a presentation on the theme covered in the course (30% of the
Grade), and a research paper for the end of the term (50%). Each student will also have
to write an Op-ed (700 words) that will count for 10%. Participation (10 %) is part of the
requirements. The presentation, most likely in groups of several students, will address a
specific theme from the class, as defined below by the bullet points at the end of the
reading list. These presentations will demand sources outside the reading list of the day
and they will need theoretical and an empirical research. Since you are likely to present in
a group, coordination inside the group will be required. The op-ed topic will be given in
due course. You will have one week to write a 700 words column as if it was for a
national newspaper.
3) General readings
Edward V. Gulick, Europe’s Classical Balance of Power, W.W. Norton, 1955.
Paul Schroeder, The Transformations of European Politics, 1763-1848, Clarendon Press, 1994.
George Liska, Nations in Alliance. The Limits of Interdependence, John Hopkins University
Press, 1962.
Stephen M. Walt, The Origins of Alliance, Cornell University Press, 1987.
Glenn H. Snyder, Alliance Politics, Cornell University Press, 1997.
Gustav Schmidt (Ed.), A History of NATO, Vol. 1, 2 and 3, Palgrave Publishers, 2001.
Sten Rynning, NATO renewed: the power and purpose of transatlantic cooperation , Basingstoke:
Palgrave Macmillan, 2005.
Wallace J. Thies, Why NATO endures, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009.
4) Classes
1) Alliance Creation: Power and Identity
The correlation between power and alliances has been one of the oldest but also one of
the most elusive in I.R. Balancing behavior and alliance formation remain a matter of
controversy in theory and in practice. Similarly, the identity factor in alliance creation will
be reviewed.
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Readings:
Stephen M. Walt, “Alliance Formation and the Balance of World Power”, International
Security, (Spring 1985), Vol. 9, n°4, pp. 3-41.
Robert G. Kaufman, “To Balance or To Bandwagon? Alignment Decisions in 1930s
Europe”, Security Studies, (Spring 1992), Vol. 1, n°3, pp. 417-447.
Mark V. Kauppi, “Strategic Beliefs and Intelligence: Dominoes and Bandwagons in the
Early Cold War”, Security Studies, (Autumn 1994), Vol. 4, n°1, pp. 5-39.
Alexander Wendt, “Collective Identity Formation and the International State”, American
Political Science Review, (June 1994), Vol. 88, n°2, pp. 384-396.
Thomas Risse-Kappen, “Collective Identity in a Democratic Community: The Case of
NATO”, in Peter J. Katzenstein (Ed.), The Culture of National Security, Norms, and Identity in
World Politics, Columbia University Press, 1996, pp. 357-399.
 George Kennan and the creation of NATO
2) Alliance Persistence: Institutions and Endowment
Realists say that an alliance dies with victory. Alliances considered as security institutions
lead to different directions. Moreover, insights from prospect theory will help us to
understand why States may decide to maintain an alliance.
Readings:
Gunther Hellmann and Reinhard Wolf, “Neorealism, Neoliberal Institutionalism and the
Future of NATO”, Security Studies, (Autumn 1993), Vol. 3, n°1, pp. 3-43.
Philip Zelikow, “The Masque of Institutions”, Survival, (Spring 1996), Vol. 38, n°1, pp. 618.
Stephen M. Walt, “Why Alliances Endure or Collapse?”, Survival, (Spring 1997), Vol. 39,
n°1, pp. 156-179.
Celeste Wallander and Robert Keohane, “Risk, Threat and Security Institutions”, in
Helga Haftendorn, Robert O. Keohane and Celeste A. Wallander (Eds.), Imperfect Unions,
Security Institutions over Time and Space, Oxford University Press, 1999, pp. 21-48.
Daniel Kahneman, Jack L. Knetsch and Richard Thaler, “The Endowment Effect, Loss
Aversion and Status Quo Bias”, Journal of Economic Perspectives, (Winter 1990), Vol. 5, n°4,
pp. 193-206.
Jack S. Levy, “Prospect Theory, Rational Choice and International Relations”,
International Studies Quarterly, (March, 1997), Vol. 41, No. 1 pp. 87-112.
 Why NATO survived the Cold War?
3) Alliance dilemma: Entrapment and chain-gangs
Alliances may have unintended consequences for allies, who may find themselves
dragged into a conflict that they don’t want, while other allies may found themselves
excessively constrained in fighting it. These dilemmas will be illustrated by the near death
experience of NATO and the conflict in Iraq.
Readings:
Thomas J. Christensen and Jack Snyder, “Chain Gangs and Passed Bucks: Predicting
Alliance Patterns in Multipolarity”, International Organization, (Spring 1990), Vol. 44, n°2,
pp. 137-168.
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Paul W. Schroeder, “Iraq: The Case Against Preemptive War”, The American Conservative,
(October 21 2002), pp. 12-27.
Irwin M. Wall, “The French-American War Over Iraq”, Brown Journal of World Affairs,
(Winter/Spring 2004), Vol. X, n°2, pp. 123-139.
Robert Jervis, “Reports, Politics, and Intelligence Failures: The Case of Iraq”, The Journal
of Strategic Studies, (February 2006), Vol. 29, n°1, pp. 3-52.
• NATO’s near death experience with Iraq
4) NATO and contemporary security
As Former Sec. D. Rumsfeld famously said, “the mission makes the coalition”. Has
NATO maintained its added value for its members in the current security environment?
The class will debate the transformations NATO should undertake to keep its relevance,
among them the elaboration of a new strategic concept.
Readings:
Timo Noetzel and Benjamin Schreer, “Does a multi-tier NATO matter? The Atlantic
Alliance and the process of strategic change”, International Affairs, (March 2009), Vol. 85,
n°2, pp. 211-226.
Sten Rynning, “Coalitions, institutions and big tents: the new strategic reality of armed
intervention”, International Affairs, Vol. 89, n°1, (January 2013), pp. 53-68.
Simon Chesterman, “Leading from Behind”: The Responsibility to Protect, the Obama
Doctrine, and Humanitarian Intervention after Libya”, Ethics & International Affairs,
(2011), Vol. 25, n°3, pp. 279-285.
Ivo H Daalder and James G. Stavridis, “NATO's Victory in Libya: The Right Way to
Run an Intervention”, Foreign Affairs, (March/April 2012), Vol. 91, n°2, pp. 2-7.
Dana H. Allin and Erik Jones, “As Good as it Gets?”, Survival, (June–July 2011), Vol. 53,
n°3, pp. 205-216.
Alan J. Kuperman, “A Model Humanitarian Intervention? Reassessing NATO’s Libya
Campaign”, International Security, (Summer 2013), Vol. 38, n°1, pp. 105-136.
• Can NATO do Humanitarian Intervention?
5) A World without Alliances?
The class will discuss the prospect of alliances in an emerging multipolarity. Is the US
retrenchment a lasting perspective? What does ‘leading from behind’ mean in an alliance
framework? What does that tell us about security cooperation, and NATO in particular,
in the future?
Readings:
Stephen M. Walt, “Alliances in a Unipolar World”, World Politics, (January 2009), Vol. 61,
n°1, pp. 86–120.
Alexander Wendt, “Why a World State is Inevitable”, European Journal of International
Relations, Vol. 9, n°4, (December 2003), pp. 491–542.
Keir A. Lieber and Gerard Alexander, “Waiting for Balancing: Why the World Is Not
Pushing Back”, International Security, (Summer 2005), Vol. 30, No. 1, pp. 109–139.
Stephen G. Brooks, G. John Ikenberry, William C. Wohlforth, “Don't Come Home,
America: The Case against Retrenchment”, International Security, (Winter 2012), Vol. 37,
n°3, pp. 7-51.
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Campbell Craig, et alii, “Debating American Engagement: The Future of U.S. Grand
Strategy”, International Security, (Fall 2013), Vol. 38, n°2, pp. 181-199.
Zbigniew Brzezinski, “An Agenda for NATO: Toward a Global Security Web”, Foreign
Affairs, (Sep/Oct 2009), Vol. 88, n°5, pp. 2-21.
James M. Goldgeier, The Future of NATO, Council on Foreign Relations, February 2010.
• Is NATO Obsolete?
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