Harvard University

Spring 2004


 

 

GOVERNMENT 2710

FIELD SEMINAR ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

(click for course website)

 

This page has reading notes and essays written by students in the Government department’s 2004 IR field seminar. For notes written in previous years, see here.

 

There are also links to the articles if they are available online (click the article titles).

However, the article links will probably not work unless you have a Harvard ID and PIN.

 

If you have a question about the content of one of the notes, email the note writer. If you have a question about this page, email me.

 

Overview

(click to jump to appropriate week)

 

Part 1: Overall Approaches

 

Week 1 (Skipped)        International Relations Research Methods

 

Week 2 (Feb 11)         The Strategic Choice Approach: Realism and Liberalism

            Response by Tatsuya

 

Week 3 (Feb 18)         Non-Rationalist Approaches: Psychology and Constructivism

            Response paper by Ben

 

Part 2: Preference and Identity Formation

 

Week 4 (Feb 25)         Domestic Society and Institutions

            Response by Ben with comments by Andy and Al

            Response by Tatsuya

            Response by Sara (in Word)

 

Week 5 (Mar 3)           The International System, Evolution, and Transnational Socialization

            Response by Paul

 

Part 3: Bargaining and Conflict

 

Week 6 (Mar 10)         Power and Conflict

            Response by Erin

            Response by Siddharth

 

Week 7 (Mar 17)         Offense-Defense, Power Transition and Preventive War

            Response by Sam

            Response by Erin

 

Week 8 (Mar 24)         Domestic Institutions and Conflict

            Response by Paul

            Response by Siddharth

 

Week 9 (Apr 7)           Balance of Power, Institutions and Alliances

            Response by Ben

            Response by Erin

            Response by Tatsuya

 

Part 4: Cooperation and Compliance

 

Week 10 (Apr 14)       Cooperation Theory and Collective Action

            Response by Paul

            Response by Ed

 

Week 11 (Apr 28)       Information, Institutions and Cooperation

            Response by Ed

            Response by Sam

 

Week 12 (May 5)        Ideas, Identity, Norms and Cooperation

            Response by Ed

            Response by Siddharth

            Response by Sam

 


PART I: OVERALL APPROACHES

 

Week 1        International Relations Research Methods (skipped, no summaries)

 

            *King, Gary, Robert O. Keohane, and Sidney Verba. 1994. Designing Social Inquiry: Scientific Inference in Qualitative Research. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Chapter 1-3, 6.

 

            Sprinz, Detlef F. and Yael N. Wolinsky (eds., under review): Cases, Numbers, Models: International Relations Research Methods Volume introduction, introduction to each section, plus one additional chapter from each section according to interest.

 

           

Week 2 (Feb 11)   The Strategic Choice Approach: Realism and Liberalism

 

Summary by Alex       * Lake, David A., and Robert Powell, eds. 1999. Strategic Choice and International Relations. Princeton: Princeton University Press.  Chapter 1.

 

Summary by Susan       Hans Morgenthau, Politics among Nations: The Struggle for Power and Peace (New York: Knopf, 1960), pp. 3-15, 228-235.

 

Summary by Siddharth  * Kenneth Waltz, Theory of International Politics (Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1979) Chapters 4, 5, 6.

 

Summary by Sam         * Mearsheimer, John J. 2001. The Tragedy of Great Power Politics. New York: Norton. Chapters 1 and 2. 

 

Summary by Paul          * Robert O. Keohane, After Hegemony: Cooperation and Discord in the World Political Economy (Princeton University Press, 1984). Chapter 1.

 

Summary by Llewelyn   ** Andrew Moravcsik, "Taking Preferences Seriously: A Liberal Theory of International Politics," International Organization (Fall 1997), 512-553.

 

Summary by Erin          ** Jervis, Robert. 1978. “Cooperation under the Security Dilemma”. World Politics 30 (2):167-214.

 

Week 3 (Feb 18)   Non-Rationalist Approaches: Psychology and Socialization

 

Summary by Ed         * Jervis, Robert. 1976. Perception and Misperception in International Politics. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Chapters 1-4.

 

Summary by Dean        Robert Jervis, “Political Implications of Loss Aversion,” in Barbara Farnham, ed. Avoiding Losses/Taking Risks: Prospect Theory and International Conflict (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, 1994), pp. 23-40.

 

Summary by Siddharth  Stephen P. Rosen, 2001 “Emotions, Memory, and Decision Making” unpublished manuscript. (63 pp.)

 

Summary by Alex         * Alastair Iain Johnston, Cultural Realism: Strategic Culture and Grand Strategy in Chinese History (Princeton 1995), Ch. 2 (pp. 32-60) –or- Chapter 7 (Johnston) in Katzenstein, ed. Culture of National Security.

 

Summary by Sam         * Wendt, Alexander. 1999. Social Theory of International Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Chapter 1. 

 

Summary by Llewelyn   ** Martha Finnemore and Kathryn Sikkink, “International Norm Dynamics and Political ChangeInternational Organization 52, no. 4 (Autumn 1998), pp. 887-917.

 

           

PART II: PREFERENCE AND IDENTITY FORMATION

 

Week 4 (Feb 25)   Domestic Society and Institutions

 

Summary by Alex         * Frieden, Jeffry A. 1999. Actors and Preferences in International Relations. In Strategic Choice and International Relations, edited by D. A. Lake and R. Powell. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

 

Summary by Ben          * Ronald Rogowski, “Institutions as Constraints on Strategic Choice,” in Lake and Powell, eds. Strategic Choice and International Relations, pp. 115-136.

 

Summary by Siddharth  ** Graham Allison, “Conceptual Models and the Cuban Missile CrisisAmerican Political Science Review 63 (September 1969), pp. 689-718.

 

Summary by Sara            Downs, George W., and David M. Rocke. 1990. Tacit Bargaining, Arms Races, and Arms Control. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan. Pages 92-100.

 

Summary by Susan       ** Michael Doyle, “Kant, Liberal Legacies, and Foreign Affairs, Part IPhilosophy and Public Affairs, vol. 12, no. 3 (Summer, 1983), pp. 205-235.

 

Summary by Ed            * Helen V. Milner, Interests, Institutions, and Information: Domestic Politics and Information (Princeton University Press, 1997), Chapters 3 and 4. (pp. 67-134)

 

Summary by Paul             ** John Owen, “How Liberalism Produces Democratic PeaceInternational Security 19:2 (Fall 1994), pp. 87-125.

 

Summary by Sara         ** Philip G. Roeder, “Soviet Policies and Kremlin PoliticsInternational Studies Quarterly, vol. 28 (1984), pp. 171-193

 

           

 

Week 5 (Mar 3)    Global Society and Transnational Socialization

 

Summary by Siddharth  ** Peter Alexis Gourevitch, “The Second Image ReversedInternational Organization, vol. 32, no. 4, (Autumn, 1978), pp. 881-912.

 

Summary by Dean        * Robert O. Keohane and Helen V. Milner, eds., Internationalization and Domestic Politics (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996), Chs. 1-3, 5, 7. (pp. 3-75, 108-136, 159-185)

 

Summary by Llewelyn   ** Jeffry A. Frieden, “Invested Interests: The Politics of National Economic Policies in a World of Global FinanceInternational Organization vol. 45, no. 4 (Autumn 1991), pp. 425-51.

 

Summary by Paul          ** Ronald Rogowski, “Political Cleavages and Changing Exposure to TradeAmerican Political Science Review 81, no. 4 (December 1987), pp. 1121-38.

 

Summary by Dean        Wendt, Alexander. 1999. Social Theory of International Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Chapters 3 and 4. 

 

Summary by Tatsuya    **Price, Richard. 1998. “Reversing the Gun Sights: Transnational Civil Society Targets Land Mines”. International Organization 52 (3):613-644.

 

Summary by Sara         * Margaret E. Keck and Kathryn Sikkink, Activists Beyond Borders: Advocacy Networks in International Politics (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1998), Chs. 1, 3. (pp. 1-38, 79-120)

 

Summary by Dean        Kahler, Miles. 1999. Evolution, Choice and International Change. In Strategic Choice and International Relations, edited by D. A. Lake and R. Powell. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

 

Summary by Erin          **Cederman, Lars-Erik. 2001. “Modeling the Democratic Peace as a Kantian Selection Process”. Journal of Conflict Resolution 45 (4):470-502.

 

Summary by Sam         Spruyt, Hendrik. 1994. The Sovereign State and its Competitors. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Chapter 8.

 

           

PART III: BARGAINING AND CONFLICT

 

Week 6 (Mar 10)  Power and Conflict

 

Summary by Sara            ** David A. Baldwin, “Power Analysis and World PoliticsWorld Politics 31 (January 1979), pp. 161-194.

 

Summary by Erin          ** Stephen D. Krasner, “State Power and the Structure of International TradeWorld Politics vol. 28, no. 3 (April 1976), pp. 317-347.

 

Summary by Paul          * Kalevi J. Holsti, Peace and War: Armed Conflicts and International Order 1648-1989 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991), pp. 1-24, 306-334.

 

Summary by Sam            * Mearsheimer, John J. 2001. The Tragedy of Great Power Politics. New York: Norton.  Chapters 3 and 4. 

 

Summary by Alex         * Schelling, Thomas C. 1960. The Strategy of Conflict. Cambridge: Harvard University Press Chapters 2, 3.

 

Summary by Susan       * Schelling, Thomas C. 1966. Arms and Influence. New Haven: Yale University Press Chapters 2, 3. 

 

Summary by Sara         * Blainey, Geoffrey. 1988. The Causes of War. Third ed. New York: The Free Press. Chapter 8. 

 

Summary by Llewelyn   Fearon, James D. 1995. Rationalist Explanations for War. International Organization 49 (3):379-414.

 

Summary by Alex         * James Morrow, “The Strategic Setting of Choices: Signaling, Commitment, and Negotiation in International Politics,” in Lake and Powell, eds. Strategic Choice and International Relations, pp. 77-114.

 

Summary by Tatsuya    Powell, Robert. 1999. In the Shadow of Power. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Chapters 1-3. 

 

Summary by Sara         Branislav L. Slantchev, “The Power to Hurt: Costly Conflict with Completely Informed StatesAmerican Political Science Review (February 2003), pp. 123-133.

 

Summary by Ben          Robert Powell,  "Bargaining and Learning While Fighting", American Journal of Political Science (April 2004) Vol 48, No. 2 pp.334-361

 

Summary by Ben          Darren Filson and Suzanne Werner.“A Bargaining Model of War and Peace: Anticipating the Onset, Duration, and Outcome of WarAmerican Journal of Political Science (October 2002) Vol 46, No. 4, pp 819-838.

 

               

Week 7 (Mar 17)  Offense-Defense, Power Transition and Preventive War

 

Summary by Llewelyn   Stephen Van Evera, “The Cult of the Offensive and the Origins of the First World War,” in Steven E. Miller, ed., Military Strategy and the Origins of the First World War, Princeton University Press, 1984, pp. 58-107.   Dean claims that this article in International Security Vol. 9, No. 1. (Summer, 1984), pp. 58-107 is identical.

 

Summary by Siddharth  Sagan, Scott D. 1986. “1914 Revisited: Allies, Offense and InstabilityInternational Security 11 (2):109-133. (Also in Miller, Military Strategy and the Origins of the First World War.)

 

Summary by Erin          Marc Trachtenberg, “The Meaning of Mobilization in 1914International Security 15, no. 3 (Winter 1990-91).

 

Summary by Ed            Stephen Van Evera, Causes of War: Power and the Roots of Conflict (Cornell, 1999), Ch. 6. (pp. 117-192)

 

Summary by Sam         * Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War (New York: Norton Critical Edition, 1998), (up to the Pentecontaetia). According to Sam, this means up to I.73. Here is a link to a different translation that could be justified on convenience grounds.

 

Summary by Dean        Organski, A. F. K., and Jacek Kugler. 1980. The War Ledger. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, Chapter 1. 

 

Summary by Alex            Robert Gilpin, War and Change in International Politics (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981), pp. 1-49, 85-105, 156-210.

 

Summary by Ben          Copeland, Dale. 2000. The Origins of Major War. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, Chapters 1-4.

 

Summary by Ben          Powell, Robert. 1999. In the Shadow of Power. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Chapter 4. 

 

Summary by Tatsuya    Schweller, Randall L. 1992. “Domestic Structure and Preventive War: Are Democracies More Pacific?” World Politics 44 (2):235-69.

 

Summary by Susan       Posen, Barry R. 1993. “The Security Dilemma and Ethnic Conflict”. Survival 35 (1):27-47.

 

Summary by Susan       Fearon, James D. 1998. Committment Problems and the Spread of Ethnic Conflict. In The International Spread of Ethnic Conflict, edited by D. A. Lake and D. Rothchild. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

 

Week 8 (Mar 24)  Domestic Institutions and Conflict

 

Summary by Erin             ** James Fearon, “Domestic Political Audiences and the Escalation of International DisputesAmerican Political Science Review 88, no. 3 (Sept. 1994), pp. 577-592.

 

Summary by Ben          ** Kenneth A. Schultz, “Domestic Opposition and Signaling in International CrisesAmerican Political Science Review 92, no. 4 (December 1998), pp. 829-44.

 

Summary by Sara         ** Dan Reiter and Alan C. Stam, 2002, Democracies at War, Princeton: Princeton University Press. Chapters 2, 6, 7

 

Summary by Alex         ** Robert D. Putnam, “Diplomacy and Domestic PoliticsInternational Organization, vol. 42, no. 3 (Summer, 1988), pp. 427-461.

 

Summary by Paul          Peter Evans, Harold K. Jacobson, and Robert Putnam, eds. Double-Edged Diplomacy: International Politics and Domestic Politics (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993), Chapters by Odell, Kahler, Evans. (pp. 233-264, 363-394, 397-430)

 

Summary by Susan         ** Morgan, T. Clifton, and Sally H. Campbell.  1991 “Domestic Structure, Decisional Constraints, and War:  So Why Kant Democracies Fight?” Journal of Conflict Resolution, vol. 35, pp. 187-211.

 

Summary by Siddharth  Bear F. Braumoeller, “Deadly Doves: Liberal Nationalism and the Democratic Peace in the Soviet Successor StatesInternational Studies Quarterly, vol. 41 #3 (1997), pp. 375-402.

 

Summary by Llewelyn   ** Kenneth A. Schultz, “Do Domestic Institutions Constrain or Inform? Contrasting Two Institutional Perspectives on Democracy and WarInternational Organization 52, no. 2 (Spring 1999), pp. 233-66.

 

Summary by Sara         Bueno de Mesquita, Bruce, James D. Morrow, Randolph M. Siverson, and Alastair Smith. 1999. “An Institutional Explanation of the Democratic PeaceAmerican Political Science Review 93 (4):791-807.

 

 

Week 9 (Apr 7)     Balance of Power, Institutions and Alliances

 

Summary by Ed            ** Karl Deutsch and J. David Singer, “Multipolar Power Systems and International StabilityWorld Politics 16:3 (1964): 390-406.