McIntyre Hall Room 309
University of Puget
Sound Department
of International Political Economy
Professor Patrick Van
Inwegen
e-mail: [email protected]
Office:
McIntyre Hall 213Q Office
Hours: T/TH 1 – 2 & W 2 – 3
Office Phone: 879-3490 or by appointment
International political economy (IPE) is very much a dynamic outlook or an “approach to” understanding something rather that a strict discipline. Rooted in history and philosophy, IPE offers us the opportunity to approach a number of subjects and issues from a multidisciplinary perspective. IPE draws upon the interconnections between historical, political, economic, and sociological phenomena resulting in more complex and more accurate interpretations and explanations of international and global events and behavior. IPE attempts to understand the world of human interaction in a comprehensive fashion. This is a very ambitious undertaking, but a necessary one for the people who live in the world and for those who will have to deal with its economic, political, and social problems. This course is a first step toward this important goal. By the end of the course students should be able to:
2.) Demonstrate familiarity with the basic terms and
concepts of IPE.
3.) Have an increased awareness of
the international world and some of the events and structures that shape our
world.
4.) Have a working knowledge of some
of the methodological tools useful in understanding and interpreting
international events and trends.
Balaam, David N. and
Yergin, Daniel. 1992. The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money and Power.
New York: Free Press. (Yergin)
Several
additional required readings are available on-line at the instructor’s web
page:
www.geocities.com/pvaninw noted by designation
(online)
Class Participation – attendance and
participation in class will be required.
Students should come to class prepared to ask questions for
clarification and respond to the assigned readings as well as participate in
class. Half of the participation portion
of the grade will be calculated based attendance. The other half of the participation grade
will be based on active class participation.
Students will above all else treat others with respect.
Exams – the mid-term exam will be held
during normal class hours on Friday, March 4. The final exam will be held Thursday May 12 from 4:00pm-6:00pm. Attendance is
mandatory, and no make-ups will be allowed, per university policy.
Papers – Students will write two brief (1,000
to 1,300 word) papers intended to allow application of the theoretical
frameworks discussed in class and in the readings to historical
situations. The first paper will be due Monday,
February 14, and the second paper will be due Wednesday, April 13. Papers must be received as an e-mail
attachment in Microsoft Word by 1pm. If
you are concerned about computer issues, send it earlier. I will send a confirmation reply that I have
received your attached paper and can open it that afternoon. Late papers will be penalized half a grade
per day it is late (e.g., from 92 to 87).
Out of Class – There will be a number of
opportunities for students to participate in activities that relate to the
class but that take place out side of class.
Students must attend three such activities, at least one off campus and
at least one on-campus lecture/discussion (the third being either). After attending an activity, students will
e-mail a 500-600 word analysis of the event to the instructor
([email protected]). The activities
should be somewhat oriented toward or from the perspective of politics,
economics and sociology. The responses
are due no later than February 21, April 1, and April 29.
Grading Percentages Grading Scale
Class Participation: 5% 93-100 A 73-76 C
Paper #1: 15% 90-92 A- 70-72 C-
Mid-term Exam: 20% 87-89 B+ 67-69 D+
Paper #2: 20% 83-86 B 63-66
D
Out of Class: 15% 80-82 B- 60-62 D-
Final Exam: 25% 77-79 C+ 0-59 F
The University is a
community of faculty, students, and staff engaged in the exchange of ideas
contributing to individual growth and development. Essential to the successful
functioning of the academic community is a shared sense of enthusiasm for
learning and respect for other persons. The successful functioning of the
academic community also demands honesty, which is the basis of respect for both
ideas and persons. The suspicion of dishonesty in the academic community is a
serious matter because it threatens the atmosphere of respect essential to
learning. Academic dishonesty can take many forms, including but not limited to
the following: plagiarism, which is the misrepresentation of someone else's
words, ideas, research, etc. as one's own; submitting the same paper for credit
in more than one course without prior permission; collaborating with other
students on papers and submitting them without instructor permission; cheating
on examinations; and mistreatment of library materials.
Any
act of plagiarism will result in a failing grade for the course. Additional rules concerning academic
integrity and examples of acceptable and unacceptable conduct can be found in
the undergraduate catalogue.
Have assigned readings and assignments completed by class time for the dates below.
19 January First Class – Introduction to the course,
content, and syllabus
21 January B&V Chapter 1: What is International
Political Economy?
24 January Yergin Prologue
II. Mercantilism
26 January B&V Chapter 2: Mercantilism and Economic
Nationalism
28 January Yergin Chapter 10:
Opening the Door on the Middle East
31 January B&V Chapter 9: The Global Security
Structure
2 February U.S. National Security Policy (online)
4 February Yergin
Chapter 15: The Arabian Concessions
7 February B&V Chapter 13: Japan at the
Crossroads (282-290)
9 February B&V Chapter 13: Japan at the
Crossroads (291-302)
11 February Yergin
Chapter 21: The Postwar Petroleum Order
III. Liberalism
14 February B&V Chapter 3: The Liberal IPE
Perspective
PAPER #1 DUE
16 February The Golden
Arches Theory (online)
18 February Yergin
Chapter 22: Fifty-Fifty: The New Deal in Oil
21 February B&V Chapter 6: International Trade
OUT
OF CLASS #1 DUE
23 February B&V Chapter 7: A Beginner’s Guide
to International Finance
25 February Yergin
Chapter 35: Just Another Commodity?
28 February Yergin
Chapter 24: The Suez Crisis
2 March Yergin OPEC origins: pp. 510-525
4 March MIDTERM
IV. Structuralism
7 March
B&V Chapter 4: Marx, Lenin,
and the Structuralist Perspective
9 March Spend $150
Billion Per Year to Cure World Poverty (online)
Good News About Poverty (online)
11 March B&V
Chapter 15: The Development Dilemma
14-18 March Spring Break – NO CLASSES
21 March Guns,
Germs and Steel (online)
23 March Yergin Chapter 31: OPEC’s Imperium
25 March
Yergin
Chapter 29: The Oil Weapon AND pp. 630-632
28 March B&V
Chapter 8: The IPE of International Finance: Mad Money
30 March Yergin Chapter 36: The Good Sweating: How Long Can It Go?
(except pp. 764-8)
1 April B&V
OPEC in the 1990s: pp. 412-419
OUT
OF CLASS #2 DUE
4 April B&V
Chapter 5: The Rational Choice Critique only pages 93-100
6 April B&V
Chapter 19: The IPE of Food and Hunger
8 April B&V
Chapter 16: The Human Connection
11 April Yergin pp. 205-211 AND Chapter 27: Hydrocarbon Man
13 April Will
Globalization Make You Happy? (online)
PAPER
#2 DUE
15 April B&V
Chapter 5: The Feminist Critique only pages 103-106
18 April Yergin Iran-Iraq War pp. 706-714 and 764-768
20 April B&V
Chapter 5: The Green Critique only pages 100-103
Climatic
Changes That Make the World Flip (online)
22 April B&V
Chapter 20: The Environment: The Green Side of IPE
25 April Yergin pp. 568-574
27 April Ecological
Footprint Calculator www.myfootprint.org
29 April Yergin Epilogue
OUT
OF CLASS #3 DUE
2 May B&V
Chapter 5: The Postmodern Critique only pages 107-111
B&V
Chapter 21: Conclusion: Where Do We Go From Here?
4 May A Special Moment in History
(online)
12 May
Final
Exam (Thursday) 4:00pm-6:00pm