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Course Description:
Terrorism has long posed a security challenge to governments around the world, though for much of the last century, policymakers viewed it as a problem of secondary importance. In the last two decades, however, it has become a first tier issue with profound implications for global security and political stability. This course examine key aspects of this changing phenomenon, paying particular attention to the various kinds of organizations, movements and states that have employed terrorism as an instrument for advancing their goals; the different approaches toward violence that they have embraced; the motivations for turning to terrorism; the relative success that these approaches have achieved; and the fate of those who have used terrorist means. The characteristics of terrorist organizations and terrorist violence in any given period depend greatly on the approaches to counterterrorism that states employ. The course will also survey some of the different instruments for conducting a policy of counterterrorism and some of the different approaches nations have adopted toward their terrorist opponents.It is hoped that students will not only master the historical material and analytic perspectives under discussion but also become acquainted with the constraints under which policymakers work as they grapple with the terrorist challenge.
This course provides an in-depth engagement with the political psychology of international security. The course consists of three parts. We first take up fundamental political questions – like "what is power?" and "what is war?" – and engage the diverse answers that psychological IR scholarship currently provides. Noting that war is the most destructive invention in human history, we then use these lenses to critically engage the value-add of psychological theories for why states fight, which necessarily entails an examination of why states don't fight. The final third of the course uses all of this theoretical and empirical knowledge to examine security and war in our lifetime, beginning with the emergence of "terrorism" as a security issue in the post-Cold War world and looking forward to questions like China's reemergence and environmental security. Introductory-level knowledge of international relations (e.g., GOV 5) is recommended but not a required prerequisite.
This course explores the role of the United Nations both as an instrument of its member states and as an influential global actor in its own right. The subject is a matter of current, open debate in the highest diplomatic circles: Is the UN a quaint post World War II relic that has become increasingly irrelevant in a changing geopolitical context? Or is the UN indispensable as the world grapples with global challenges that even the richest and most powerful countries are unable to address alone?
The course will begin by parsing the multiple functions of the United Nations and will review the UN's formative early years and its evolving roles and responsibilities. Key moments of crisis — such as its inability to protect threatened civilians in the Balkans and Rwanda — will be analyzed to reveal the shortcomings of the organization as well as its commitment to corrective measures. The UN's leadership and convening role in addressing long-term global priorities such as sustainable human development and climate adaptation will be assessed. The course will explore calls for reform of the United Nations, to include reimagining the membership and prerogatives of the Security Council. Throughout the course, we will consider the perspectives of the United States, which is the largest financial contributor to the UN and wields veto power as a permanent Security Council member.