Field Seminar: International Relations Theory

Readings

SES #	TOPICS	READINGS
1	Introduction and organization	No readings
2	Overview of the field	Morgenthau, Hans. Chapters 1 and 2 in Politics Among Nations. Revised by Kenneth Thompson. Alfred A. Knopf, 1948. Kahler, Miles. “Inventing International Relations.” In New Thinking in International Relations. Edited by Michael Doyle and John Ikenberry. Westview Press, 1997, pp. 20–53. ISBN: 9780813399669. [Preview with Google Books] Katzenstein, Peter, Robert Keohane, et al. “International Organization and the Study of World Politics.” International Organization 52, no. 4 (1998): 645–85. Schmidt, Brian C. “On The History and Historiography of International Relations.” In Handbook of International Relations. Edited by Walter Carlsnaes, Thomas Risse, and Beth A. Simmons. SAGE, 2002, pp. 3–22. ISBN: 9780761963059. Waltz, Kenneth. Chapter 1 in Theory of International Politics. Waveland Press, Inc., 2010. ISBN: 9781577666707. Mahoney, James and Gary Goertz. “A Tale of Two Cultures: Contrasting Quantitative and Qualitative Research.” Political Analysis 14, no. 3 (2006): 227–49. (PDF) Frieden, Jeffry A., et al. “International Relations as a Social Science: Rigor and Relevance.” The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 600, no. 1 (2005): 136–56. (PDF) Walt, Stephen M. “The Relationship Between Theory and Policy in International Relations.” Annual Review of Political Science 8 (2005): 23–48. (PDF)
3	Material approaches	Waltz, Kenneth. Chapters 5, 6 and 8 in Theory of International Politics. McGraw-Hill, 1979. ISBN: 9780075548522. Schroeder, Paul. “Historical Reality vs. Neo-Realist Theory.” International Security 19, no. 1 (1994): 108–48. Mearsheimer, John J. Tragedy of Great Power Politics. W. W. Norton, 2001, pp. 1–54. ISBN: 9780393020250. Wagner, R. Harrison. “What was Bipolarity?” International Organization 47, no. 1 (1993): 77–106. Barnett, Michael and Raymond Duvall. “Power in International Politics.” International Organization 59, no. 1 (2005): 39–75. Wohlforth, William C. “The Perception of Power: Russia in the Pre-1914 Balance.” World Politics 39, no. 3 (1987): 353–81. Lake, David. “Anarchy, Hierarchy, and the Variety of International Relations.” International Organization 50, no. 1 (1996): 1–34 (PDF) “Symposium on Realism as a Degenerative or Progressive Research Program.” American Political Science Review 91, no. 4 (1997): 899–935
4	Rationalist approaches	Oye, Kenneth. “Explaining Cooperation under Anarchy.” World Politics 38, no. 1 (1985): 1–24. Keohane, Robert O. After Hegemony: Cooperation and Discord in the World Political Economy. Princeton University Press, 2005, pp. 49–109. ISBN: 9780691022284. [Preview with Google Books] Jervis, Robert. “Cooperation under the Security Dilemma.” World Politics 30, no. 2 (1978): 167–214. Schelling, Thomas C. Arms and Influence. Yale University Press, 1967, pp. 1–125. ISBN: 9780300002218. Lake, David A. and Robert Powell. “International Relations: A Strategic Choice Approach.” In Strategic Choice and International Relations. Princeton University Press, 1999, pp. 1–38. ISBN: 9780691026978. [Preview with Google Books] Morrow, James. “The Strategic Setting of Choices: Signaling, Commitment and Negotiation.” In Strategic Choice and International Relations. Edited by David A. Lake and Robert Powell. Princeton University Press, 1999, pp. 77–114. ISBN: 9780691026978. [Preview with Google Books] Tomz, Michael. Reputation and International Cooperation: Sovereign Debt across Three Centuries Princeton. Princeton University Press, 2007, pp. 1–38. ISBN: 9780691134697. [Preview with Google Books]
5	Ideational and identity-based approaches	Ruggie, John Gerard. “What Makes the World Hang Together? Neo-Utilitarianism and the Social Constructivist Challenge.” International Organization 52, no. 4 (1998): 855–85. (PDF - 3.3MB) Wendt, Alexander. “Anarchy is What States Make of it: The Social Construction of Power Politics.” International Organization 46, no. 2 (1992): 391–425. Finnemore, Martha. National Interests in International Society. Cornell University Press, 1996, pp. 1–33. ISBN: 9780801483233. [Preview with Google books] Weldes, Jutta. “Constructing National Interests.” European Journal of International Relations 2, no. 3 (1996): 275–318. Haas, Mark L. The Ideological Origins of Great Power Politics, 1789–1989. Cornell University Press, 2007, pp. 1–39. ISBN: 9780801443213. [Preview with Google Books] Goddard, Stacie E. “Uncommon Ground: Indivisible Territory and the Politics of Legitimacy.” International Organization 60, no. 1 (2006): 35–68. Goldstein, Judith and Robert Keohane. “Ideas and Foreign Policy: An Analytical Framework.” In Ideas and Foreign Policy. Cornell University Press, 1993, pp. 3–30. ISBN: 9780801481529. [Preview with Google Books] Abdelal, Rawi, et al. “Identity as a Variable.” Perspectives on Politics 4, no. 4 (2006): 695–711.
6	Cognitive and bureaucratic approaches	Allison, Graham T. “Conceptual Models and the Cuban Missile Crisis.” The American Political Science Review 63, no. 3 (1969): 689–718. (PDF - 5.7MB) Bendor, Jonathan and Thomas H. Hammond. “Rethinking Allison’s Models.” The American Political Science Review 86, no. 2 (1992): 301–22 Byman, Daniel L. and Kenneth M. Pollack. “Let Us Now Praise Great Men: Bringing the Statesman Back in.” International Security 25, no. 4 (2001): 107–46. Saunders, Elizabeth. “Transformative Choices: Leaders and the Origins of Intervention Strategy.” International Security 34, no. 2 (2009): 119–61. Jervis, Robert. “Hypotheses on Misperception.” World Politics 20, no. 3 (1968): 454–79. Levy, Jack S. “Prospect Theory, Rational Choice, and International Relations.” International Studies Quarterly 41, no. 1 (1997): 87–112. (PDF - 3.7MB) Hymans, Jacques. The Psychology of Nuclear Proliferation: Identity, Emotions, and Foreign Policy. Cambridge University Press, 2006, pp. 1–46. ISBN: 9780521850766 [Preview with Google Books] Kennedy, Andrew. The International Ambitions of Mao and Nehru: National Efficacy Beliefs and the Making of Foreign Policy. Cambridge University Press, 2011. ISBN: 9780521193511. [Preview with Google Books]
7	Domestic institutions and preferences	Frieden, Jeffry A. “Actors and Preferences in International Relations.” In Strategic Choice and International Relations. Edited by David A. Lake and Robet Powell. Princeton University Press, 1999, pp. 39–76. ISBN: 9780691026978. [Preview with Google Books] Moravcsik, Andrew. “Taking Preferences Seriously: A Liberal Theory of International Politics.” International Organization 51, no. 4 (1997): 512–53. (PDF) Frieden, Jeff A. “Sectoral Conflict and Foreign Economic Policy, 1914-1940.” International Organization 42, no. 1 (1988): 59–90. Narizny, Kevin. The Political Economy of Grand Strategy. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2007, pp. 1–38. ISBN: 9780801474309. [Preview with Google Books] Friedberg, Aaron L. “Why Didn’t the United States Become a Garrison State?” International Security 16, no. 4 (1992): 109–42. Fearon, James D. “Domestic Politics, Foreign Policy, and Theories of International Relations.” Annual Review of Political Science 1 (1998): 289–313. (PDF) Putnam, Robert. “Diplomacy and Domestic Politics: The Logic of Two-Level Games.” International Organization 42, no. 3 (1988): 427–60. (PDF) Rose, Gideon. “Neoclassical Realism and Theories of Foreign Policy.” World Politics 51, no. 1 (1998): 144–72.
8	War and conflict	Van Evera, Stephen. Chapter 6 in Causes of War. Cornell University Press, 2001. ISBN: 9780801432019. [Preview with Google Books] Gilpin, Robert. Chapter 5 in War and Change in World Politics. Cambridge University Press, 1983. ISBN: 9780521240185. [Preview with Google Books] Fearon, James D. “Rationalist Explanations for War.” International Organization 49, no. 3 (1995): 379–414 Snyder, Jack. Chapter 1 in The Ideology of the Offensive: Military Decision Making and the Disasters of 1914. Cornell University Press, 1989. ISBN: 9780801416576. [Preview with Google Books] Levy, Jack. “Organizational Routines and the Causes of War.” International Studies Quarterly 30, no. 2 (1986): 193–222. (PDF) Copeland, Dale. The Origins of Major War. Cornell University Press, 2000. ISBN: 9780801437502. [Preview with Google Books]
9	Peace and international cooperation	Bull, Hedley. Chapter 1-3 in The Anarchical Society: A Study of Order in World Politics. Palgrave Macmillan, 1977. ISBN: 9780333199152. Martin, Lisa L. “Interests, Power, and Multilateralism.” International Organization 46, no. 4 (1992): 765–92. Mearsheimer, John. “The False Promise of International Institutions.” International Security 13, no. 3 (1994): 5–49. (PDF - 5.5MB) Keohane, Robert and Lisa Martin. “The Promise of Institutionalist Theory.” International Security 20, no. 1 (1995): 39–51. (PDF) Fearon, James. “Bargaining, Enforcement, and International Cooperation.” International Organization 52, no. 2 (1998): 269–305. Barnett, Michael and Martha Finnemore. “The Politics, Power, and Pathologies of International Organizations.” International Organization 53, no. 4 (1999): 699–732. Ikenberry, G. John. “Institutions, Strategic Restraint, and the Persistence of American Postwar Order.” International Security 23, no. 3 (1998/99): 43–78.
10	War, Peace and Domestic Politics	Owen, John M. “How Liberalism Produces Democratic Peace.” International Security 19, no. 2 (1994): 87–125. Layne, Christopher. “Kant or Cant: The Myth of the Democratic Peace.” International Security 19, no. 2 (1994): 5–49. (PDF - 4.7MB) Risse-Kappen, Thomas. “Democratic Peace—Warlike Democracies? A Social Constructivist Interpretation of the Liberal Argument.” European Journal of International Relations 1, no. 4 (1995): 491–517. Mansfield, Edward and Jack L. Snyder. “Democratic Transitions, Institutional Strength, and War.” International Organization 56, no. 2 (2002): 297–337. Fearon, James D. “Domestic Political Audiences and the Escalation of International Disputes.” American Political Science Review 88, no. 3 (1994): 577–92. Fravel, M. Taylor. “The Limits of Diversion: Rethinking Internal and External Conflict.” Security Studies 19, no. 2 (2010): 307–41. (PDF) Narang, Vipin, et al. “Who are these Belligerent Democratizers? Reassessing the Impact of Democratization on War.” International Organization 63, no. 2 (2009): 357–79. Schultz, Kenneth A. “Do Democratic Institutions Constrain or Inform? Contrasting Two Institutional Perspectives on Democracy and War.” International Organization 53, no. 2 (1999): 233–66. (PDF) Weeks, Jessica L. “Autocratic Audience Costs: Regime Type and Signaling Resolve.” International Organization 62, no. 1 (2008): 35–64. Snyder, Jack, and Erica D. Borghar. “The Cost of Empty Threats: A Penny, Not a Pound.” American Political Science Review 105, no. 2 (2011): 1–20.
11	Nuclear Proliferation and Deterrence	Schelling, Thomas. Arms and Influence. Yale University Press, 1967, pp. 1–125. ISBN: 9780300002218. Glaser, Charles. “Why Do Strategists Disagree about the Requirements of Strategic Nuclear Deterrence.” In Nuclear Arguments: Understanding the Strategic Nuclear Arms and Arms Control Debates. Edited by Lynn Eden and Steven E. Miller. Cornell University Press 1989, pp. 109–71. ISBN: 9780801494994. Powell, Robert. “The Theoretical Foundations of Strategic Nuclear Deterrence.” Political Science Quarterly 100, no. 1 (1985): 75–96. Singh, Sonali and Christopher R. Way. “The Correlates of Nuclear Proliferation: A Quantitative Test.” Journal of Conflict Resolution 48, no. 6 (2004): 859–85. Rauchhaus, Robert. “Evaluating the Nuclear Peace Hypothesis a Quantitative Approach.” Journal of Conflict Resolution 53, no. 2 (2009): 258–77. Bell, Mark and Nicholas LeSuer Miller. “Questioning the Effect of Nuclear Weapons on Conflict.” Unpublished Manuscript (2011). Montgomery, Alexander H. and Scott D. Sagan. “The Perils of Predicting Proliferation.” Journal of Conflict Resolution 53, no. 2 (2009): 302–28. Tannenwald, Nina. “Stigmatizing the Bomb: Origins of the Nuclear Taboo.” International Security 29, no. 4 (2005): 5–49. (PDF)
12	Unipolarity	Brooks, Stephen, and William Wohlforth. World Out of Balance: International Relations and the Challenge of American Primacy. Princeton University Press, 2008. ISBN: 9780691137841.  [Preview with Google Books] Pape, Robert. “Soft Balancing against the United States.” I_nternational Security_ 30, no. 1 (2005): 7–45. Posen, Barry R. “Emerging Multipolarity:Why Should We Care?” Current History (2009): 347–52. (PDF)) Special Issue, World Politics, January 2009, Selected Articles.
13	Rationalism Revisited	Glaser, Charles. Rational Theory of International Politics: The Logic of Competition and Cooperation. Princeton University Press. ISBN: 9780691143729. [Preview with Google Books]