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SOCS 611
An Age of Danger? International Security in the Post-September 11 World

Douglas Foyle

Course Description

Are you safer today than you have ever been? The post-Cold War and post-September 11 eras have seen the end of some threats to international security and the rise of others. Although the central threat of global nuclear war that infused the Cold War has receded, it has been replaced with a myriad of threats that appear to belie easy solutions.

This course considers alternative ways to conceive of "international security" and how differences in these perspectives can affect our response to international threats. The course focuses on the relationship between force and international security, the prospects for peace and conflict in specific regions of the world, and some of the new vexing issues such as terrorism, nuclear proliferation, nationalism and ethnic conflict, environmental issues, disease, and migration among other issues.

Since this is an intensive course, students are expected to have completed the two short papers as well as all the reading before the class has begun. It is suggested that students take brief notes or outline the readings as they go along to ease in their review before the material is dealt with in the class.
Course Grading

Grades will be based on two short papers (20% each), an essay final (40%), and participation (20%).

Class periods will be devoted to a mixture of lecture and discussion. Students must come to class prepared to discuss the assigned reading.
Short Papers
The short papers should be 4-5 pages in length. Students are required to write one paper for two of the course sessions (two papers in total). The paper topic can address any one of the discussion questions listed in the class schedule below (questions are listed after the reading). Please note the question you are addressing at the top of your paper. There are four Roman numeral sections for the course. Papers must be written on questions from different sections (e.g., one paper from Section I and one from Section II; one from II and one from IV; etc.). Please contact me if you have a question regarding this requirement.

Papers should be submitted on the first day of class (August 10).

Papers should be typed, double-spaced, single-sided, 12 point font, 1 inch margins, and stabled together (if submitted in paper form). All pages should be numbered.

Comments and grades will be provided through the Blackboard.

References to material assigned for the course can be of the form: (Author Name, page number). Any references to material not assigned for the course should conform to the style outlined in: Kate L. Turabian, A Manual For Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 6th ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996).
Final

Take-Home Essay Final: A take-home essay final will be due on Friday, August 21 at 10 p.m. The essay should be e-mailed to me as an attachment. Comments and grades will be provided through the Blackboard. The page limit is 6-8 pages. The question is:

Given what you have learned in this course, do you think the world is likely to be a more or less secure place in the future? Why or why not?

Be sure to formulate your answer in reference to the concepts and material from the course.
Participation

Participation will be evaluated based upon the student's contribution to discussion, responsiveness to other students, and quality of insight.

If a student has more than one excused absence from class, the student has the option of completing extra work to make up for the missed participation. The make-up work is a 1 page reaction paper to one of the readings for that section Essentially, pick one of the readings from the day missed and give your view on why the article is useful, not useful, etc. (e.g., "Professor Murray completely misses the point that...").
Readings

The following book is required reading and is available for purchase at Broad Street Books:

Dan Caldwell and Robert E. Williams, Jr. Seeking Security in an Insecure World

It is on reserve at Olin Library. All the other readings are available directly from the course Blackboard as indicated on the syllabus.
Course Schedule
August 10

I. Introduction: How to View International Security

**Morning Session 1: How Do You Spell "Security"? Differing Visions

Caldwell & Williams, pp. 1-16
Frank Trager, "Introduction to the Study of National Security," in National Security and American Society, ed. Frank Trager and Philip Kronenberg (Manhattan: University Press of Kansas, 1973), pp. 35-48. (Blackboard)

1. What makes an issue an "international security issue"? Why?  

**Morning Session 2: Why We Can't All Get Along: The Security Dilemma

Robert Jervis, "Cooperation Under the Security Dilemma," World Politics 30 (January 1978): 186-214. (Blackboard)
Roland Paris, "Human Security: Paradigm Shift or Hot Air?" International Security Fall 2001 (Blackboard)

1. How is the human security view distinct from the other perspectives (international security in Jervis and national security in Trager) in terms of its assumptions about the nature of security issues?
2. Does human security push the bounds of international security too far? Why or why not?
3. How dangerous is the world in terms of the security dilemma? In other words, which of Jervis' four worlds do we currently live in? Why?  

**Lunch

II. Traditional Approaches: "National Security" and "International Security"

**Afternoon Session 1: War: What is it Good for?

Caldwell & Williams, pp. 17-33
Bernard Brodie, Strategy in the Missile Age, pp. 390-409. (Blackboard)
Peter Paret, "Clausewitz," in Peter Paret, ed., Makers of Modern Strategy, pp. 186-213. (Blackboard)
Ann Tickner, "Gendered Dimensions of War, Peace, and Security," Gendering International Politics, pp. 36-64 (Blackboard)
Edward N. Luttwak, "Give War a Chance," Foreign Affairs 78 (July/August 1999): 36-44. (Blackboard)

1. Is war the continuation of politics by other means (as Clausewitz suggests)? Do you agree or disagree with his view? Why or why not?
2. Does the advent of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction negate the Clausewitzian dictum referenced in question 1?
3. In Brodie's view, what is the political purpose of military forces? Does his view still apply today?
4. Is war a masculine endeavor? Why or why not?
5. What is the purpose of war in Luttwak's view? Do you agree? Why or why not?  

**Afternoon Session 2: Making an Offer They Can't Refuse: The Use of Force

Thomas C. Schelling, "The Diplomacy of Violence," Arms and Influence, pp. 1-34. (Blackboard)
Robert Art, "To What Ends Military Power," International Security 4 (Spring 1980): 4-35. (Blackboard)

1. After reading Schelling and Art, do you believe force is an effective tool of foreign policy? Why or why not?
2. What does Schelling mean by the diplomacy of violence? Does it apply in today's world? Why or why not?
August 11

**Morning Session 1: Thinking the Unthinkable: Nuclear Diplomacy

Caldwell & Williams, pp. 34-46
Robert Jervis, "The Political Effects of Nuclear Weapons," International Security 13 (Fall 1988): 80-90. (Blackboard)
John Mueller, "The Essential Irrelevance of Nuclear Weapons," in Sean Lynn-Jones and Steven E. Miller, eds., The Cold War and After, pp. 45-69. (Blackboard)
Carol Cohn, "Sex and Death in the Rational World of Defense Intellectuals," Signs Summer 1987 (Blackboard)
Ivo Daalder and Jan Lodal, "The Logic of Zero: Toward a Word Without Nuclear Weapons," Foreign Affairs 87 November/December 2008 (Blackboard)

1. The Jervis, Mueller, and Cohn were all written during the Cold War. Do their core insights still apply in today's world? Why or why not?
2. Can nuclear weapons be used in diplomatic relations? To what end? Why?
3. Do nuclear weapons affect the way we think about war? Should they? Why?  

**Morning Session 2: Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? American Hegemony

Barry Posen, "Command of the Commons," International Security Summer 2003 (Blackboard)
Robert A. Pape, "Soft Balancing Against the United States," International Security Summer 2005 (Blackboard)Stephen M. Walt, Taming American Power, 2005 (Blackboard - selections)

1. What effect does American power have on the international system? Why?
2. How effective are the options that states have at their disposal if they wish to oppose the United States?  

**Lunch

III. Regional Security

**Afternoon Session 1: Where in the World is Matt Lauer Today?: Regional Security as a Concept

Diehl, Lepgold , Diehl, Regional Conflict Management, pp. 1-80 (Blackboard)

1. How is regional security view similar or different than national security view?
2. How is regional security view similar or different than international security view?
3. Does this concept add to our understanding of security? Why or why not?  

**Afternoon Session 2: Asia

Evelyn Goh, "Great Powers and Hierarchical Order in Southeast Asia: Analyzing Regional Security Strategies," International Security, Winter 2007/2008 (Blackboard)
David Martin Jones and Mark L.R. Smith, "Making Process, Not Progress: ASEAN and the Evolving East Asian Regional Order," International Security Summer 2007 (Blackboard).

1. How would you describe the nature of security problem in this region?
2. Does regional security concept work for these countries?
August 12

**Morning Session 1 Middle East

Niall Ferguson, The Next War of the World," Foreign Affairs September/October 2006 (Blackboard)
F. Gregory Gause III, "Can Democracy Stop Terrorism?" Foreign Affairs, September/October 2005 (Blackboard)Vali Nasr and Ray Takeyh, "The Costs of Containing Iran: Washington's Misguided New Middle East Policy," Foreign Affairs 87 January/February 2008 (Blackboard)

1. How would you describe the nature of security problem in this region?
2. How is the security problem in the Middle East similar to that described in the readings regarding Asia?
3. How is the security problem in the Middle East different to that described in the readings regarding Asia?

**Morning Session 2 Latin America

Peter Hakim, "Is Washington Losing Latin America?" Foreign Affairs, January/February 2006. (Blackboard)
Jorge G. Castaneda, "Latin America's Left Turn," Foreign Affairs May/June 2006 (Blackboard)
Francis Fukuyama, "A Quiet Revolution: Latin America's Unheralded Progress," Foreign Affairs 86 November/December 2007 (Blackboard)

1. How would you describe the nature of security problem in this region?
2. How is the security problem in the Latin America similar to that described in the readings regarding Asia and the Middle East?
3. How is the security problem in the Latin America different to that described in the readings regarding Asia and the Middle East?

**Lunch

**Afternoon Session 1: Africa

Boaz Atzili, "When Good Fences Make Bad Neighbors: Fixed Borders, State Weakness, and International Conflict" International Security Winter 2006/2007 (Blackboard)
Pierre Englebert and Denis M. Tull, "Postconflict Reconstruction in Africa: Flawed Ideas about Failed States," International Security Spring 2008 (Blackboard)

1. How would you describe the nature of security problem in this region?
2. How is the security problem in the Africa similar to that described in the readings regarding Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America?
3. How is the security problem in the Africa different to that described in the readings regarding Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America?

**Afternoon Session 2: Europe and Regional Security Conclusions

Diehl, Regional Conflict Management, pp. 269-282 (Blackboard)
Renée De Nevers, "NATO's International Security Role in the Terrorist Era," International Security Spring 2007 (Blackboard)
Ronald D. Asmus, "Europe's Eastern Promise: Rethinking NATO and EU Enlargement," Foreign Affairs 87 January/February 2008 (Blackboard)
Caldwell & Williams, pp. 144-153

1. How would you describe the nature of security problem in this region?
2. How is the security problem in the Europe similar to that described in the readings regarding Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America?
3. How is the security problem in the Latin America different to that described in the readings regarding Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America?
4. Are economic concerns an international security issue? Why or why not?
August 13

IV. Alternative Approaches: Global Security and Human Security

**Morning Session 1: The Day After Tomorrow: The Environment

Caldwell & Williams, pp. 154-169
Homer-Dixon, "Environmental Scarcities and Violent Conflict: Evidence from Cases," International Security Summer 1994 (Blackboard)
Scott G. Borgerson, "Arctic Meltdown The Economic and Security Implications of Global Warming," Foreign Affairs March/April 2008 (Blackboard)

1. Homer-Dixon says the violence is "subnational, persistent, and diffuse" (p. 6). If true, is the environment an international security issue?
2. How is our understanding of international security expanded or undermined by discussing the environment as international security?

**Morning Session 2: Flowing Like a River: Migration and Water (and Oil)

Fiona B. Adamson, "Crossing Borders: International Migration and National Security," International Security Summer 2006 (Blackboard)
Sarah Kenyon Lischer, "Security and Displacement in Iraq: Responding to the Forced Migration Crisis" International Security Fall 2008 (Blackboard)
Roland Dannreuther, "The Struggle for Resources: Oil and Water," International Security: The Contemporary Agenda 2007 (Blackboard).

1. Should migration based issues be seen as an international security issue or just problems of human suffering in the world? Why?
2. Is access to water inherently different from access to any other resources as a basis for conflict? Why?

**Lunch

**Afternoon Session 1: Are You Talking to Me?: Ethnic and National Conflict

Caldwell & Williams, pp. 117-143
Michael E. Brown, "The Causes of Internal Conflict: An Overview," Nationalism and Ethnic Conflict (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1997), pp. 3-25. (Blackboard)
Sarah Kenyon Lischer, Collateral Damage: Humanitarian Assistance as a Cause of Conflict" International Security Summer 2003 (Blackboard)

1. Are internal conflicts a problem for international security? Why or why not?  

**Afternoon Session 2: Everybody's Doing It: Nuclear Proliferation

Caldwell & Williams, pp. 61-72
Kenneth Waltz, "Peace, Stability, and Nuclear Weapons," in Robert Art and Kenneth Waltz, eds. The Use of Force 5th edition (New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 1999): 357-371. (Blackboard)
Scott Sagan, "Why Nuclear Spread is Dangerous," in Robert Art and Kenneth Waltz, eds. The Use of Force 5th edition (New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 1999): 372-84. (Blackboard)
Sumit Ganguly, "Nuclear Stability in South Asia" International Security Fall 2008 (Blackboard)
S. Paul Kapur, "Ten Years of Instability in a Nuclear South Asia," International Security Fall 2008 (Blackboard).

1. What assumptions do Waltz and Sagan make about the way leaders make decisions? What affect does this have on the policies they recommend?
2. What does the experience of the US and Soviet Union have to say about the possible spread of nuclear weapons?
3. Why might we consider proliferation an issue for the world community rather than one just between two states (e.g., India/Pakistan)?
August 14

**Morning Session 1: Should You Believe the Hype? Terrorism

Caldwell & Williams, pp. 170-181
Andrew Kydd and Barbara Walter, "Strategies of Terrorism," International Security Summer 2006 (Blackboard)
Jessica Stern, "Weapons of Mass Impact," Politics and Life Sciences 1996 (Blackboard) Mueller, John. "Radioactive hype.(Clear and Present Dangers)(Essay)." The National Interest 91 (Sept-Oct 2007) (Blackboard) Allison, Graham. "The three 'nos' knows.(Apocalypse When?)(Essay)." The National Interest 92 (Nov-Dec 2007) (Blackboard)

1. How much of a threat is terrorism relative to other threats (nuclear, ethnic conflict, disease, nuclear proliferation)? Why?
2. How real is the threat from weapons of mass destruction as a terrorist weapon? Why?

**Morning Session 2: The Reigning and Undisputed Champion: Disease (and Biological Weapons)

Caldwell & Williams, pp. 47-60, 75-88
Laurie Garrett, "The Next Pandemic?" Foreign Affairs July/August 2005 (Blackboard)
Susan Peterson, Epidemic Disease and National Security," Security Studies 2002 (Blackboard)
Michael Slenske, "The Next Plague," Atlantic Monthly, (June 2005) (Blackboard)
Gregory Koblentz, "Pathogens as Weapons: The International Security Implications of Biological Weapons," International Security Winter 2003/2004 (Blackboard)

1. A scholar once observed that "infectious diseases are potentially the largest threat to human security." Do you agree or disagree with this view? Why?
2. Does the purposeful nature of bioweapons affect in how we conceive of them or prepare to deal with them? Why or why not?

**Lunch

**Afternoon Session 1: Lions, and Tigers, and Bears: Cyberthreats, Drugs, Gender, and a Geriatric Peace. Oh My!

Caldwell & Williams, pp. 89-114
Francis Fukuyama, "Women and the Evolution of World Politics," Foreign Affairs 78 (September/October 1998) (Blackboard)
Joshua S. Goldstein, War and Gender (Blackboard)
Nadelmann, Ethan. "Drugs" Foreign Policy 162 (Sept-Oct 2007) (Blackboard)
Mark L. Haas, " A Geriatric Peace? The Future of U.S. Power in a World of Aging Populations," International Security Summer 2007 (Blackboard)
Randall Mikkelsen, "U.S. Not Ready for Cyber Attack," Reuters, December 19, 2008 (Blackboard)

1. If world were run by women, would it be more peaceful? Why or why not?
2. How seriously should we take concerns like drugs, aging, and cyber attacks as security threats relative to other issues in the course?

**Afternoon Session 2: What? Me Worry?: Conclusions - A More or Less Secure Future?

Caldwell & Williams, pp. 182-194

Note: Do not write papers on these questions.
1. After taking this course, do you feel the world is safer or more dangerous than you originally thought?
2. How easy or difficult do you believe it will be to achieve security in the world?
3. Are the "new" issues of security truly "new" or are they just old issues that are getting new attention?