The American University in Cairo Department of Political Science
POL2405-01 History and International Politics Fall Semester 2021
Dr. Sophie Haspeslagh [email protected]
Class sessions Monday
10-11:15 Lecture and discussion Thursday
10-11:15 Student presentation and class discussion Teaching Assistant
Nourhan Ibrahim
[email protected] Course Resources
Available on Blackboard Office Hours
Office hours are Mondays 11:15-12:30 pm and Thursdays 11:30-12:30 pm.
Please email me to make an appointment. We can meet in my office (2016 HUSS) or on zoom.
PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES
What key historical events shaped international politics? How did the study of international politics emerge? Was International Relations only ‘born’ in 1919? What do we mean by terms such as sovereignty, modernity or nationalism, where did they come from? How have wars between states shaped international society?
This course addresses these questions by providing students with a foundational
understanding of the historical events that gave shape to international politics and that today form the discipline of International Relations. It will give students the historical and
conceptual foundations necessary to pursue a specialization in International Relations by introducing key events and their consequences in international politics. This includes wars, revolutions, and key ideological developments, such as the Peace of Westphalia, the
development of European sovereignty and colonial expansion. With this course, students will become familiar with the language used in International Relations and be able to reference important historical events that are explored and discussed in future classes. They will also understand the links between the practice of international relations and the development of International Relations as an academic discipline.
This course is useful for any political science major, but is especially useful to those specializing in IR.
• Acquire key vocabulary and understanding;
• Become familiar with key historical events;
• Become familiar with the evolution and development of international politics.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
Upon successful completion of the course, you will:
• Acquire an understanding of key terminology for describing and analyzing international politics, such as “international society”, “Peace of Westphalia”, or
“colonialism”;
• Know the main historical events that shaped international politics;
• Develop your ability to present, substantiate and defend complex arguments;
• Develop your ability to write a clear, well-argued and substantiated papers and exams.
COURSE FORMAT
We will meet twice a week, on Mondays and Thursday. During the Monday session I will give a short (max 20 minutes) lecture and then have a class discussion based on the weekly reading. During the Thursday session there will be a student presentation and then we will focus our discussion and class exercises on a case-study or sub-topic.
Please note:
• It is very important that you do your weekly reading.
• Classes are expected to be heavily interactive.
• Students are expected to attend all classes and come prepared having done the required reading.
• Students are encouraged to ask questions in class. No question is a bad question!
• Students are encouraged to come see me during my Office Hours (in person or on zoom).
COURSE MATERIALS
All course materials can be found on blackboard.
Each week we will focus on one article/chapter according to the key topics and cases of the course (outlined below). These are the required reading for the week.
The texts under recommended reading will be useful as you write your essays and prepare your presentations.
Textbooks
Two key textbooks will be used throughout the course:
Amitav Acharya and Barry Buzan, 2019, The making of global international relations:
origins and evolution of IR at its centenary, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
https://lib.aucegypt.edu/record=b2979896
Barry Buzan and George Lawson, 2015, The global transformation: history, modernity and the making of international relations, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
https://lib.aucegypt.edu/record=b2979897 ASSESMENT AND GRADES
The final assessment for this course will be based on the following:
Assignment % of final grade Due Date Active class
participation 10% Over whole course
Presentation 10% To be assigned
Historical film analysis
15% 4 October
Mid-term exam 20% 18 October
Essay 20% 22 November
Final exam 25% 13 December
Grade Scale
A 93+ C+ 77-79
A- 90-92 C 73-76
B+ 87-89 C- 70-72
B 83-86 D+ 67-69
B- 80-82 D 60-66
F 59 and below Grade Policy
The instructor does not accept late assignments. The grade that you receive at the end of the semester is the sum of grades received for your completed coursework and active
participation. This is not negotiable and no additional coursework will be provided to supplant grades. All assignments should be uploaded on blackboard.
Active class participation 10%
Students are expected to attend the classes and show knowledge of – and engagement with – the essential readings, that need to be read before the relevant class.
Presentation 10%
In pairs, students will be required to do one presentation on one weekly readings. These will be chosen during week 2 of term. Presentations will be no longer than 15 minutes. Please prepare a handout and/or Power Point slides to accompany your presentation.
The presentation should answer the following questions about the article/chapter:
1. What is the context of the article/author?
2. What is the main argument?
3. Do you agree or disagree, and why?
4. How does it relate to the required reading?
Historical film analysis 15%
Choose a historical/political film. Watch it and write a 2-3page review. The review should answer the following questions:
1. What period in international history is the film about?
2. What story does it tell? What story does it not tell?
3. What political meaning/message does it convey?
4. How does the film portray characters of different genders/races/social class?
5. What is your personal opinion of the film?
In your answers please ensure you go beyond a mere review/evaluation of the film and achieve a level of explanation/analysis. Please link your analysis to the class
discussions/readings.
You can choose any historical film you want. Here are some suggestions: The Battle of Algiers (1966), Days of Glory (2006), Dr Strangelove (1964), The Lives of Others (2006), The Diary of Anne Frank (1959), Thirteen Days (2000), The Quiet American (2002), Good Bye Lenin! (2003), Hotel Rwanda (2004) or a biopic on a key historical figure such as Malcom X (1992), Ghandi (1982), Frost/Nixon (2008), The Iron Lady (2011), The Last King Of Scotland (2006), Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom (2014) etc.
Mid-term exam 20%
Will be offered in class:
• The midterm will contain short answer questions and short essays.
• Questions will be drawn from lectures, readings and class discussions.
• The essays are graded on students’ ability to (a) answer the question coherently, (b) incorporate and reference arguments from readings, and (c) demonstrate knowledge of relevant historical events.
• Students are expected to respond to the questions ethically and responsibly.
Essay 20%
Please submit an essay of 1,500 words, selecting one of the questions provided by the instructor ahead of time. The essay must clearly answer the question selected by the student while: (i) engaging with the topics and readings provided in class (ii) developing a clear argument (iii) being properly referenced. The paper must include at least 4 academic references (journal articles, chapters in edited books, academic books, etc.). These can include “required readings” or “recommended readings” listed below, or other credible academic sources not listed in the syllabus.
Final exam 25%
Will be offered in class:
• The final exam will contain short answer questions and short essays
• Questions will be drawn from lectures, readings and class discussions.
• The essays are graded on students’ ability to (a) answer the question coherently, (b) incorporate and reference arguments from readings, and (c) demonstrate knowledge of relevant historical events.
• It will only deal with material covered in the second half of the course though being able to make connections across the course topics and historical moments will be an advantage.
• Students are expected to respond to the questions ethically and responsibly.
Please note that this syllabus is effective for face to face instruction. If changes are made to the AUC mode of instruction delivery due to the Covid-19 pandemic, some adjustments may need to take place in order to meet the course outcomes and demands of partial face-to-face or online instruction delivery
COURSE SCHEDULE Week 1: 6 and 9 September
Introduction: Time and space in world politics
After introducing ourselves, we will go over the syllabus and the expectations of the course.
• Question for the class: What (international) historical moment marked your family’s story?
• Focus: The dangers of the single story No reading
Watch:
https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story Week 2: 13 and 16 September
Sovereignty
• Focus: Peace of Westphalia Required:
Derek Croxton, 1999, “The Peace of Westphalia of 1648 and the Origins of Sovereignty”, The International History Review, 21.3: 569-591.
Presentation: Andreas Osiander, 2001, “Sovereignty, International Relations, and the Westphalian Myth”, International Organization, 55.2: 251-287.
Recommended:
Leo Gross, 1948, “The Peace of Westphalia, 1648-1948”, The American Journal of International Law, 42.1: 20-41
Stephen Kranser, Sovereignty: Organized Hypocrisy (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1999), Chapter 1.
Week 3: 20 and 23 September Nineteenth Century
• Focus: Modernity Required:
George Lawson and Barry Buzan, 2015, Introduction (pp,1-14), The Global Transformation:
History, Modernity and the Making of International Relations, Cambridge University Press.
Presentation: Andrew Linklater, 2016, Enlightenment Thought and Global Civilization, Ch 7, Violence and Civilization in the Western States System, Cambridge University Press.
Recommended:
George Lawson and Barry Buzan, 2015, Part I Global Transformation and IR (pp.15-45), The Global Transformation: History, Modernity and the Making of International Relations, Cambridge University Press.
Week 4: 27 and 30 September
European expansion
• Focus: Colonialism Required:
George Lawson and Barry Buzan, 2016, Establishing a Core-Periphery International Order, Ch 6 (pp.171-196), The Global Transformation: History, Modernity and the Making of International Relations, Cambridge University Press.
Presentation: Andrew Delatolla and Joanne Yao, 2018, Racializing Religion: Constructing Colonial Identities in the Syrian Provinces in the Nineteenth Century, International Studies Review.
Recommended:
Frantz Fanon, 1963, On Violence, Ch. 1, The Wretched of the Earth, Penguin Classics.
Liliana Obregon, 2018, Empire, Racial Capitalism and International Law: The Case of Manumitted Haiti and the Recognition Debt, Leiden Journal of Internal Law, 31:597-615.
Timothy Mitchell, 1988, Enframing, Ch 2, Colonizing Egypt, University of California Press.
Matthew Lange, 2004, Colonial Legacies and Political Development, World Development, 32.6: 905-922.
Week 5: 4 and 7 October (Armed forces day)
• No classes this week
• Take the time to watch your film and write the review
• *Film review due on 4 October Week 6: 11 and 15 October
Nationalism
• Focus: Identity Required:
John Hutchinson and Anthony D. Smith,1994, I. The Question of Definition, Nationalism, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Presentation: Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism (London: Verso, 1983), Chapter 8: Patriotism and Racism Watch: La Marseillais, from La Vie en Rose,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMbNBHguW0U Recommended:
Giorgio Agamben, 2000, “What is a People?”, Means without End: Notes on Politics, Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press.
Rogers Brubaker, 2009, “Ethnicity, Race, and Nationalism”, The Annual Review of Sociology, 35: 21-42.
Week 7: 18 and 21 October (El Mawled El Nabawi)
• Mid-term exam on campus on 18 October
Week 8: 25 and 28 October:
* 28 October is drop course deadline
First World War and the birth of global governance
• Focus: League of Nations Required:
Amitav Acharya and Barry Buzan, 2019, Chapter 2 and 3, The making of global international relations: origins and evolution of IR at its centenary, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://lib.aucegypt.edu/record=b2979896
Presentation reading: Antoine Fleury, 1998, The League of Nations: Toward a New Appreciation of Its History, In Manfred F. Boemeke, Gerald D. Feldman, and Elisabeth Glaser (eds.), The Treaty of Versailles: A Reassessment after 75 Year, Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, pp. 507-522.
Recommended:
Antony Anghie, 2002, “Colonialism and the Birth of International Institutions: Sovereignty, Economy, and the Mandate System of the League of Nations,” Journal of International Law and Politics, 34: 513-523.
E.H. Carr, 1945, Nationalism and After, London: Macmillan.
Week 9: 1 and 4 November
Second World War to the Cold War
• Focus: Nuclear weapons
• Dr Heba Taha will lead the class discussion on 4/11
Required: Len Scott, 2020, “International history of the twentieth century”, Chapter 3 (pp.54- 69). In Baylis, Smith and Owens, The Globalization of World Politics, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Presentation:Kyoko Iriye Selden and Mark Selden, eds. The Atomic Bomb: Voices from Hiroshima and Nagasaki (London: Routledge, 1989), pp. xi - xxxv.
Week 10: 8 and 11 November Decolonisation
• Focus: Resistance and Revolt Required:
Jansen and Osterhammel, 2017, Decolonization as Moment and Process, Decolonization Chapter1.
Presentation: Alf Gunvald Nilsen, 2016, “Power, Resistance and Development in the Global South: Notes Towards a Critical Research Agenda”, International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society, 29.3: 269-287.
Listen: Audre Lorde, A Song for Many Movements, performed by Jamara,
https://jamaramychellewakefield.bandcamp.com/track/a-song-for-many-movements Recommended:
Amitav Acharya and Barry Buzan, 2019, Chapter 5, The making of global international relations: origins and evolution of IR at its centenary, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Albert Camus, 1956, The Rebel, Ch 1, Alfred A. Knopf, 13-23.
Megan A O’Branski, 2014, “The Savage Reduction of the Flesh: Violence, Gender, and Bodily Weaponisation in the 1981 Irish Republican Hunger Strike Protest”, Critical Studies on Terrorism, 7.1: 97- 111.
Week 11: 15 and 18 November Gender and the international
• Focus: Masculinity and power Required:
Johanna Kantola, 2007, The Gendered Reproduction of the State in International Relations, British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 9: 270-283.
Watch: Stromae, ‘Tous les memes,’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAMWdvo71ls Presentation: Paul Amar, 2011, Middle East Masculinity Studies: Discourses of ‘Men in Crisis,’ Industries of Gender in Revolution, Journal of Middle East Women’s Studies, 7.3: 36- 70.
Recommended:
Anne Phillips, 2018, Gender and Modernity, Political Theory: 1-24.
Cynthia Enloe, 2014, Gender makes the world go round, Chapter, Bananas, Beaches and Bases: Making Feminist Sense of International Politics, Berkley: University of California Press.
Lola Olufemi, 2020, The saviour complex: Muslim women and gendered Islamophobia, Chapter 5, Feminism Interrupted, Pluto Press.
Week 12: 22 and 25 November (Thanksgiving)
• No classes
• Essay due on 22 November
Week 13: 29 November and 2 December War on terror
Required:
Martha Crenshaw, “The Logic of Terrorism: Terrorist Behavior as a Product of Strategic Choice,” in Terrorism in Perspective, 2nd edition (Los Angeles: Sage, 2008), pp. 24-33.
Presentation: Michael V. Bhatia, “Fighting Words: Naming Terrorists, Bandits, Rebels and Other Violent Actors”, Third World Quarterly, Vol. 26, No. 1: 5-22.
Recommended:
Henrique Tavares Furtado, 2015, Against State Terror: Lessons on Memory,
Counterterrorism, and Resistance from the Global South, Critical Studies on Terrorism, 8.1:
72-89.
Sophie Haspeslagh, 2021, Chapter 2, “Tying the act to the actor: a short history of
international proscription”, Proscribing Peace: How listing armed groups as terrorists hurts negotiations”, Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Week 14: 6 and 9 December Empire in Decline?
Required: Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri, 2000, The Decline and Fall of Empire, Part 4, Empire, Harvard University Press.
Presentation: Tarak Barkawi and Mark Laffey, “Retrieving the Imperial: Empire and International Relations” Millennium 31: 1 (2002), pp. 109-127.
Final exam 13 December
FURTHER READING
Agathangelou, Anna and LHM Ling, 2009, Transforming World Politics: From Empire to Multiple Worlds, Routledge.
Anievas, Alexander, Nivi Manchanda, and Robbie Shilliam, 2015, Race and Racism in International Relations: Confronting the Global Colour Line, Routledge.
Brown, Carolyn A, 2015, African Labor in the Making of World War II, Ch 3, eds. Judith A Byfield, Carolyn A Brown, Timothy Parsons, and Ahmad Alawad Sikainga Africa and World War II, Cambridge University Press.
Doty, Roxanne Lynn, 1996, Imperial Encounters: The Politics of Representation in North- South Relations, Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.
Hobson, John, 2012, The Eurocentric Conception of World Politics: Western International Theory, 1760-2010, Cambridge
University Press.
Hobson, John, 2004, The Eastern Origins of Western Civilization, Cambridge University Press.
Hutchings, Kimberly, 2008, Time and World Politics: Thinking the Present, Manchester University Press.
Ling, LHM, 2002, Postcolonial International Relations: Conquest and Desire Between Asia and the West, Palgrave.
Nexon, Daniel H. 2009, The Struggle for Power in Early Modern Europe: Religious Conflict, Dynastic Empires, and International Change, Princeton University Press.
Marx, Anthony W. 2003. Faith in Nation: Exclusionary Origins of Nationalism, Oxford:
Oxford University Press.
Parsons, Timothy, 2015, The Military Experiences of Ordinary Africans in World War II, Ch 1, eds. Judith A Byfield, Carolyn A Brown, Timothy Parsons, and Ahmad Alawad Sikainga Africa and World War II, Cambridge University Press.
Peterson, V. Spike, 1992, Gendered States: Feminist (re)Visions of International Relations Theory, Lynne Rienner.
Ranciere, Jacques, “Who Is the Subject of the Rights of Man?” The South Atlantic Quarterly.
Volume 103, Issue 2/3, (2004): pp. 297-310.
Smith, Anthony D. “The Origins of Nations,” Ethnic and Racial Studies. 12, 3, 1989: 340- 367.
Spivak, Gayatri Chakravorty, 2010, Nationalism and the Imagination. New York: Seagull Books, selections.
Suzuki, Shogo, 2009, Civilization and Empire: China and Japan’s Encounter with European International Society, Oxford University Press.
Teschke, Benno, 2011, The Myth of 1648: Class, Geopolitics and the Making of Modern International Relations, Verso.
Tickner, J. Ann, 2001, Gender in International Relations, Cambridge University Press.
Wekker, Gloria, 2016, White Innocence: Paradoxes of Colonialism and Race. Duke University Press.
Zarakol, Ayse, 2010, After Defeat: How the East Learned to Live with the West, Cambridge University Press.
ACDEMIC INTEGRITY AND PLAGIARISM
Students are expected to commit to the principles of academic integrity.
Academic integrity includes a commitment to not engage in or tolerate acts of falsification, misrepresentation or deception. Such acts of dishonesty include cheating or copying,
plagiarizing, submitting another person's' work as one's own, using Internet or other sources without citation, fabricating field data or citations, stealing examinations, tampering with the academic work of another student, facilitating other students' acts of academic dishonesty, etc.
Plagiarism for assignments and/or reports may result in a zero grade for the assignment and/or the report in question. Cheating during an examination may result in a zero grade for this examination. Further action, according to university regulations, would also be
implemented.
You should be aware that all written work will be submitted to “Turnitin.com”, the
plagiarism detection and prevention software. By reading this syllabus, you will acknowledge that you have understood that any detected plagiarism will have to be reported.
The University's statement on academic integrity, from which the above statement is drawn, is available at http://www.aucegypt.edu/academics/integrity/Pages/default.aspx
STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES
Generally, AUC informs instructors about any disabilities a student may have and works with the instructor to make sure each and every study has equal opportunity to participate in the course. If you have not done so already, please visit the AUC Disability Service
(http://www.aucegypt.edu/studentlife/gethelp/Pages/disabilityserv.aspx). However, even if your specific case has not been documented I am willing to work individually with you.
Please make an appointment to speak with me as soon as possible to discuss any accommodation necessary to guarantee your full participation.
STUDENT-FACULTY COMMUNICATION PROCEDURES: Due to remote and hybrid teaching and learning there is likely to be more email contact and individual zoom calls between faculty and students. The following points are intended to foster clarity in communication and to provide information on response time and response frequency.
Office hours will be conducted via zoom hours. Individual meetings with students will be conducted during established office hours (Mondays 11:15-12:15pm and Wednesdays 11:30- 12:30pm). In the event that the student has another course scheduled during the scheduled office hours, another meeting time can be requested, but this needs to be set and agreed upon by both parties at least 1-2 working days in advance.
During the Sunday-Thursday work week, student emails and queries will generally be answered within 24 hours. During weekends students can expect a typical response time of 48 hours. Email correspondence that is professional, considerate and well written will lead to more effective communication and clearer answers. Please take the time to formulate and proofread well thought out emails. Clearly stated questions will be answered within 1- 2 working days. Students should look for answers to their questions in the syllabus and on Blackboard before emailing using their AUC email accounts.