Political Science 263
Third World Foreign Policy
Spring 2000

Purpose:  Do all states act the same in international relations?  That is the assumption of many of the major theories in the field.  Both neo-realism and liberal institutionalism argue that state behavior in the international realm is best explained by the international context within which states act -- be it the "balance of power" for realist or "webs of interdependence" for liberals.  In similar international situations, they argue, different states will act in a similar way.

I wonder if that is true.  Both realists and liberals base their theories largely on the behavior of European and North American states.  Those states generally have a long history of state-building behind them.  They enjoy relative domestic stability.  They have thriving, industrial and post-industrial economies.  For the most part, their borders are no longer contested.  In short, they are very different from the great number of states in Asia and Africa that have become independent during the 20th century and still struggle with the challenges of building stable domestic polities and economies.

This course suggests that the experience of colonialism and the particularities of the state-building process in the late 20th century present a different set of foreign policy issues and challenges to these states than those that dominate the agendas of the great powers.  We will concentrate this semester on the security challenges that states in certain parts of Asia and Africa are facing, in an effort to discern just how different the foreign policy environment is for "Third World" states.  We will begin the course with a review of the political histories of a number of regions in Asia and Africa.  In the second half of the course, we will examine theoretical literatures on Third World foreign policies and regional security, testing the validity of their conclusions against the evidence from the regions we have examined.

Grading:  This is a seminar course.  All students are expected to attend every session, and be prepared to participate in class discussions.  To that end, class participation will account for 20% of each student's grade.  The remaining 80% of each student's grade will be drawn from a major research project of the student's choosing.  The process for completion of that research project is as follows: a) students interested in the same region will present an oral presentation to the class, in the week assigned for that region in the syllabus, on the political history of that region.  Each student's performance in the oral presentation will account for 20% of the final grade; b) each student will present a research paper of not less than 15 pages (double-spaced, typed) on the background and current politics of the security picture in his or her chosen area.  That paper will be due on March 17.  It will account for 20% of the final grade; c) each student will present a research paper, building on the work done for the earlier paper, that assesses his or her region in light of one or more of the theoretical issues discussed in the second half of the class.  Minimum length is 20 pages (double-spaced, typed).  This paper will be due on May 8.  It will account for 40% of the final grade.

Books:  The following books are available for purchase at the Bookstore.  NONE of these texts is on reserve, so I strongly recommend that you purchase them.

Other readings will be posted on the class website or will be available on the Bailey-Howe Library reserve reading website (http://voyager.uvm.edu).  At that website, select "Course Reserves."  Then select the course number (POLS 263) to access the readings.  You will be prompted for your name and password at some point in that process.  Your name is simply your last name.  Your password is the last 7 digits of your University bar-code number, on your University ID.  Direct links to all posted readings can be found on the class website.  One of the readings, noted in the syllabus, is available only in hard-copy at the Bailey-Howe Reserve desk.

Classroom Protocol -- The Department of Political Science requires that this classroom protocol, defining minimum standards of conduct, be included in all syllabi.

1. Students are expected to attend and be prepared for ALL regularly scheduled classes.

2. Students are expected to arrive on time and stay in class until the class period ends. If a students knows in advance that s/he will need to leave early, s/he should notify the instructor before the class period begins.

January 19:  Housekeeping, Overall Introduction, Choice of World Areas

                -in this week's meeting we will discuss the overall organization of the course. Students will choose the region on which they wish to focus

January 26:  Research Week

                -2 page bibliography on your world area due (part of oral presentation grade)

                -we will meet only briefly this week. The rest of class period should be used by the various groups to coordinate their tasks for the oral presentation.

February 2:  Research Week

                -outline of presentation due (part of oral presentation grade)

                -we will once again meet only briefly.  Class time should be used for library research and to coordinate group work.

February 9:  Horn of Africa

                -first oral presentation. ALL STUDENTS are responsible for the assigned readings. The first hour of class will be the oral presentation. Then each student will be expected to ask a question or series of questions of those giving the presentation (part of classroom participation grade).

                -Terrence Lyons, "The Horn of Africa Regional Politics," in Wriggins, Dynamics of Regional Politics
                -Ken Menkhaus and John Prendergast, "Conflict and Crisis in the Greater Horn of Africa," Current History, May 1999 (available on Bailey/Howe reserve reading website)
                -newspaper clipping file on Horn of Africa (class website)

February 16:  Congo/Central Africa

                -Rene Lemarchand, "The Fire in the Great Lakes," Current History, May 1999 (available on Bailey/Howe reserve reading website)
                -David Shearer, "Africa' Great War," Survival, Summer 1999 (available on Bailey/Howe reserve reading website)
                -newspaper clipping file on Congo crisis (class website)
                -Edmond Keller, "Rethinking African Regional Security," in Lake and Morgan, Regional Orders

February 23:  Persian/Arabian Gulf and Southern Cone of Latin America

March 1:  South Asia

March 8:  South-East Asia

                -Evelyn Colbert, "Southeast Asian Regional Politics: Toward a Regional Order," in Wriggins, Dynamics of Regional Politics
                -Yuen Foong Khong, "ASEAN and the Southeast Asian Regional Security Complex," in Lake and Morgan, Regional Orders

March 15:  Asia-Pacific

                -Susan Shirk, "Asia-Pacific Regional Security: Balance of Power or Concert of Powers?" in Lake and Morgan, Regional Orders
                -Aaron L. Friedberg, "Ripe for rivalry: prospects for peace in multipolar Asia," International Security, Winter 1993 (available on Bailey/Howe reserve reading website)

March 17:  FIRST PAPER DUE

March 29:  Defining Regional Systems

                -Ayoob, The Third World Security Predicament, Chp. 1
                -Lake and Morgan, Regional Orders, Chps. 1-3
                -Buzan, People, States and Fear, Chp. 5

April 5:  Anarchy, Sovereignty and State-Building: The Context of Third World Foreign Policy

                -Ayoob, The Third World Security Predicament, Chps. 2, 4, 8, 9
                -Buzan, People, States and Fear, Chps. 2-4

April 12:  War and Alliance -- Security Agendas of Third World States

                -Buzan, People, States and Fear, Chp. 5
                -Ayoob, The Third World Security Predicament, Chp. 3
                -Wriggins, Dynamics of Regional Politics, Chps. 1, 6

April 19:  The International System and Regional Systems

                -Ayoob, The Third World Security Predicament, Chps. 5-6
                -Lake and Morgan, Regional Orders, Chps. 5, 6, 8

April 26:  Globalization, Liberalization and Regional Security

                -Buzan, Peoples, States and Fear, Chp. 6
                -Etel Solingen, "Economic Liberalization, Political Coalitions and Emerging Regional Orders," in Lake and Morgan, Regional Orders

May 3: Brief Presentations (10 minutes each) of paper topics.

May 8: FINAL PAPER DUE

Links to the World-Wide Web

In your research for your papers you might want to make use of the following sites on the Web.  These are by no means an exhaustive list.  I am sure that you will find specialized sites on your area of the world.  But they might be useful starting points. 

                * New York Times International Section -- Connects you to the international section of today's New York Times.
                * Washington Post International Section -- Connects you to the international section of today's Washington Post.
                * Foreign Affairs -- The links page of the journal Foreign Affairs, which can connect you to news services, think tanks, international organizations, regional sites and other interesting international sites.
                * Gulf 2000 -- An internet-based research project at Columbia University that focuses on the Persian/Arabian Gulf area.  The best Web starting point for research on the Gulf.