AMERICAN UNIVERSITY IN CAIRO School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Department of Political Science
POLS 2405 - 02: History and International Politics (Fall 2021) Sundays and Wednesdays 10am-11.15am | Jameel C113
Dr Heba Taha
Office Hours: Sundays and Wednesdays 1-3pm, or by appointment | HUSS 2014
Catalogue description
This course will provide 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.
Prerequisites RHET 1010 Format
This course covers important concepts and moments in history but is not a history course. Students will be expected to gain knowledge of key historical events, their effects, and their implications for the development of the international system and International Relations as a discipline. The lectures operate on the assumption that students have read the required materials before class. Please come to class prepared to answer questions about the readings. If you are facing difficulties with following the lectures or understanding the readings, get in touch with me by email or visit office hours.
Learning outcomes
Upon completion of this course, students are expected to:
(1) Become acquainted with historical events that have shaped international politics and the context of their emergence
(2) Understand some of the key concepts that have shaped International Relations (3) Analyze and critically reflect upon debates in the field
(4) Make connections between different historical processes and phenomena
(5) Learn how to read articles in IR journals as well as book chapters as well as how to analyze and synthesize a range of different sources
Readings
Required readings are drawn from different academic journals and books and will be made available via Blackboard. In addition, each week includes an optional film, poem, novel, or game that relates to the theme. They will not all be made available via Blackboard. If you are interested in a source but are having difficulty finding it, get in touch with me.
Covid-19
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 see the course outcomes and demands of partial face-to-race or online instruction delivery.
ASSESSMENT
Reading analysis and presentation (20%) Midterm (25%)
Analysis of historical film or novel (30%) Final exam (25%)
Reading analysis and presentation: In pairs, students will be asked to present an optional reading in class. Presentations will take place every Wednesday, starting from Week 3 until Week 13, except for Week 7 due to the midterm. Presentation should be no longer than 15 minutes. The schedule for the presentations will be posted on Blackboard at the start of Week 2.
You are graded on whether you (i) cover the context of the reading; (ii) communicate the main argument(s) of the source; (iii) tie the reading to the larger discussions in the course; (iv) answer questions from peers about the reading; and (v) pose questions to the class based on the reading.
Midterm: In the midterm, you will be asked to answer five of eight short questions (each worth ten points) as well as two of five essays (each worth 25 points).
Short answer questions are graded on whether your answer (i) is clear and succinct and (ii) demonstrates an understanding of the relevant concepts and processes. Essays are graded on whether they (i) have an argument that clearly answers the question; (ii) reference and incorporate at least two readings from the course; (iii) demonstrate knowledge of relevant historical events and debates; and (iv) are well-written and well-structured.
Analysis of historical film or novel: Choose a film or novel and indicate which source you’ve chosen by September 29. You will analyze this source in a paper of around 1,500 words. You are strongly encouraged to see me in Office Hours to discuss your source while brainstorming. If you do not submit a source by deadline, I will assign you one. The paper is due November 17. Late
submissions will be marked down (-5% every working day). The paper should include appropriate referencing. Do not describe the source at length; the objective is to analytically engage the source and tie it to IR.
You are graded on whether your paper (i) is focused, with one argument and thread throughout; (ii) is analytical, rather than merely descriptive; (iii) incorporates at least two readings from the course;
and (iv) is well-written and well-structured, with appropriate citations.
Final exam: The final exam will contain short answer questions and essays, like the Midterm, will be graded in the same way. It will deal with material covered in the second half of the course.
Student work and responsibilities
All assignments must be turned in on Blackboard. P
Grade breakdown
A 93-100 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
Classroom behavior
To ensure the classroom remains a safe space for all, students are not allowed to record one another or the instructor. If caught doing so, you will be expelled from the class. Any personal information that might be disclosed by students during class discussion is to remain confidential.
SCHEDULE AND READINGS
Week 1: Introduction (September 5; September 8)
Introduction to class, discussion of syllabus, expectations, and assignments Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, “The danger of a single story,”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9Ihs241zeg
Week 2: Sovereignty (September 12; September 15) | Focus: Treaty & Myth of Westphalia Andreas Osiander, “Sovereignty, International Relations, and the Westphalian Myth,”
International Organization 55: 2 (2001), pp. 251-287.
(Optional) Stephen Kranser, Sovereignty: Organized Hypocrisy (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1999), Chapter 1.
Optional game: RISK: Thirty Years War (2015)
Week 3: Modernity (September 19; September 22) | Focus: Industrial revolution
George Lawson and Barry Buzan, The Global Transformation: History, Modernity, and the Making of International Relations (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016), pp. 1-10.
(Optional) John Foster, Class Struggle and the Industrial Revolution: Early Industrial Capitalism in Three English Towns (London: Methuen & Co, 1974), pp. 8-20.
Optional novel: Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist (1838)
Week 4: Empire, colonization, race (Sep 26; Sep 29) | Focus: European colonialism
Tarak Barkawi and Mark Laffey, “Retrieving the Imperial: Empire and International Relations,”
Millennium 31: 1 (2002), pp. 109-127.
(Optional) Gloria Wekker, White Innocence: Paradoxes of Colonialism and Race (Durham: Duke University Press, 2016), Introduction.
Optional documentary: King Leopold’s Ghost (2006) Source for Analysis Paper due on Wednesday September 29
Week 5: International community (October 3; October 6) | Focus: League of Nations
Antony Anghie, “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 (2002), pp. 513-523.
(Optional) Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism (London: Verso, 1983), Chapter 8: Patriotism and Racism
Optional poem: Wilfred Owen, “Dulce et Decorum Est”
Week 6: Identity (October 10; October 13) | Focus: Holocaust
Mahmood Mamdani, Neither Settler nor Native: The Making and Unmaking of Permanent Minorities (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2020), pp. 101-120.
(Optional) Hannah Arendt, “Eichmann in Jerusalem,” February 1963,
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1963/02/16/eichmann-in-jerusalem-i Optional film: The Diary of Anne Frank (1959)
Week 7: Nuclear war (October 17; October 20) | Focus: Cold War
Kyoko Iriye Selden and Mark Selden, eds. The Atomic Bomb: Voices from Hiroshima and Nagasaki (London: Routledge, 1989), pp. xi - xxxv.
(Optional) Paul Thomas Chamberlin, The Cold War’s Killing Fields: Rethinking the Long Peace (New York: Harper Collins, 2018), Introduction.
Optional film: Dr Strangelove (1964) Midterm on Wednesday October 20
Week 8: Citizenship and borders (October 24; October 27) | Focus: Migration
John Torpey, The Invention of the Passport: Surveillance, Citizenship, and the State (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 2000), Chapter 1
(Optional) Mark B. Salter, “The Global Visa Regime and the Political Technologies of the International Self: Borders, Bodies, Biopolitics,” Alternatives 31: 2 (2006), pp. 167-189.
Optional video game: This War of Mine (2014) | Optional novel: Leila Lalami, Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits (2005)
Week 9: Resistance and gender (October 31; November 3) | Focus: Algerian war of independence Adom Getachew, Worldmaking after Empire: The Rise and Fall of Self-Determination (Princeton:
Princeton University Press, 2019), pp. 1-13.
(Optional) Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth, translated by Constance Farrington (New York: Grove Press, 1963), Chapter 1: On Violence
Optional film: The Battle of Algiers (1966) | Optional text: Ryme Sferdjeli, “Two views of women fighters during the Algerian War of National Liberation, 1957”
Week 10: Global economy & development (November 7; November 10) | Focus: International aid Arturo Escobar, Encountering Development: The Making and Unmaking of the Third World (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2012), Introduction
(Optional) Bentley B. Allan, Scientific Cosmology and International Orders (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 2018), Chapter 5: Neoclassical Economics
Optional film: The Take (2004)
Week 11: Globalization (November 14; November 17) | Focus: End of the Cold War
Gordin. J. Ikenberry, After Victory, Institutions, Strategic Restraint, and the Rebuilding of Order after Major Wars (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2001), pp. 3-20.
(Optional) Julia Sonnvend, Stories without Borders: The Berlin Wall and the Making of a Global Iconic Event (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016), Chapter 5.
Optional film: Goodbye Lenin! (2003) Analysis Paper due Wednesday November 17
Week 12: Humanitarian intervention (November 21; November 24) | Focus: R2P
David Cortright, Peace: A History of Movements and Ideas (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008), pp. 279-299.
(Optional) Eyal Weizman, The Least of All Possible Evils: Humanitarian Violence from Arendt to Gaza (London: Verso Books, 2011), Chapter 3.
Optional graphic novel: Joe Sacco, Safe Area Goražde (2000)
Week 13: Terrorism (November 28; December 1) | Focus: War on Terror
Martha Crenshaw, “The causes of terrorism,” Comparative Politics 13: 4 (1981), pp. 379-199.
(Optional) Joseph Masco, “Terror as normality,” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 69: 6 (2013), pp.
26-32.
Optional novel: Ahmad Al Saadawi, Frankenstein in Baghdad (2014) Guest lecture: Dr Sophie Haspeslagh
Week 14: Technology (December 5; December 8) | Focus: The digital age
Brandon Valeriano and Ryan C. Maness, “International Relations Theory and Cyber Security” in The Oxford Handbook of International Political Theory (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018).
(Optional) James Bridle, “The Age of Surveillance Capitalism by Shoshana Zuboff review,” The Guardian, 2 February 2019, https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/feb/02/age-of-
surveillance-capitalism-shoshana-zuboff-review Review and wrap-up on Wednesday December 8 Final Exam (December 12)
UNIVERSITY POLICIES Code of Ethics/Academic Integrity
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 persons' 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 will result in a zero grade for the assignment and/or the report in question. Cheating during an examination will result in a zero grade for this examination. Further action, according to university regulations, will also be implemented.
Students should be aware that all written work might be submitted to “Turnitin.com”. By enrolling in AUC students acknowledge that they have understood that any detected plagiarism will have to be reported to the Academic Integrity Office. Students need to be familiar with and committed to the University's policy on academic integrity, ie. The Code of Academic Ethics which is available here:
https://documents.aucegypt.edu/Docs/about_Policies/Code%20of%20Academic%20Ethics.pdf
Attendance
Students are expected to attend all class sessions. Students are permitted to miss as many as three weeks (one-fifth of the sessions) of any course during the semester due to illness, extracurricular activities, or sports commitments, provided the course instructor is notified in a timely manner.
There are no excused absences beyond this amount. A student who exceeds this limit will be subject to serious penalty, including potential failure of the course. Please review the AUC policy on
attendance here: https://catalog.aucegypt.edu/content.php?catoid=27&navoid=1333
Non-Discrimination and Anti-Harassment
The American University in Cairo is committed to maintaining learning and working environments that are free from all forms of harassment and discrimination. Discrimination and harassment based on sex, gender, marital status, pregnancy, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, disability, religion, gender identity or expression, or any other protected characteristic under Egyptian law are
prohibited. The University will not tolerate discrimination, harassment, sexual harassment (including sexual assault) or retaliation in the workplace or educational environment whether committed by students, alumni, staff, faculty, vendors, or by visitors to AUC while they are on campus. The Title IX coordinator can be contacted at [email protected]. The full AUC policy for Anti-Harassment and Non-Discrimination can be found here:
https://documents.aucegypt.edu/Docs/Policies/Anti-Harassment%20and%20Non- Discrimination%20Policy%208-5-20.pdf
Accommodations/Students with Special Needs
AUC has numerous facilities available to ensure that your educational endeavors will be successful.
Students with special needs/disabilities who want to request special accommodations, should contact the Student Disability Services unit at the Center for Student Well-being during the first few days of the semester: [email protected]. AUC complies with the American Disabilities Act of 1990 and Section 504 of the Federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973. More information can be found here:
https://www.aucegypt.edu/student/well-being/disability-services University Writing Center
AUC’s Writing Center provides a place where all University students, faculty, and staff are welcome to discuss their writing with trained writing consultants. Students with specific writing needs are recommended to contact the Writing Center for information and advice. More information can be found here: https://www.aucegypt.edu/academics/mohamed-taymour-writing-and-communication- center/writing-center-reservation-system
Technology
Students will need Internet access and a PC computer or a Macintosh with the latest version of a web browser. Students can access Blackboard anywhere Internet access is available. Firefox Web or Google Chrome browser work best with Blackboard. If wireless connectivity problems are
encountered, please switch to a hardwired connection. The student Blackboard link can help answer questions here:
https://help.blackboard.com/Learn/Student?utm_medium=Learn&utm_campaign=Product_link&ut m_content=Student?mode=cpview
Student and Faculty Communication
Student and faculty meetings will be conducted during established office hours. 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 2 working days in advance.
During the work week, student emails and queries will generally be answered within 24-48 hours.
During weekends students can expect a typical response time of 48-72 hours. Email correspondence that is professional, considerate and well written will lead to more effective communication and clearer answers. Students need to take the time to formulate and proofread well thought out emails.
Students should look for answers to their questions in the syllabus and on Blackboard before emailing the faculty using their AUC email accounts.