National Security Policy (DIP
600)
Fall 2008
Wednesday 1:00pm-3:30pm
Dr. Robert M. Farley
Office: Patterson 467
Office Hours: Wednesday, 3:30pm-5:30pm
Office Telephone: 859-257-4668
E-mail: farls0@gmail.com
Introduction
Welcome to DIP 600, National Security. The goal of this course is to provide
students with a foundation in the major debates on national security
policy. In the first third of the course
we will study some of the great works on national security, as well as
commentaries on those works. The second
third of the course focuses on contemporary policy debates in the
Format
Discussion will take up the bulk of class time. I expect everyone to attend, have studied the
readings, and have a familiarity with current events. Any major reputable newspaper will suffice
for the latter, although I prefer the New York Times.
Grading
Grading will be based on class participation (20%),
class blog participation (10%), three 4-6 page memos (15% each), and one final
examination (25%).
Each student is required to post at least once to the
class blog, nationalsecuritypolicy.blogspot.com,
in each of five weeks during the course of the semester. The idea of the blog is to promote serious
discussions of the readings and of current events tied to national security. I
will monitor blog postings and assign a grade based on quantity and quality of
participation. Postings should integrate specific material from class readings
and extend class debates.
Each of the three 4-6 page memos must be typed and
double-spaced. Please do not exceed the
page limit. The point of the assignment
is to present information in a cogent and concise manner. The topic is up to you, but ideally will
concern the convergence of a current event or situation with assigned reading
from the class day in question. Memos
are due at the beginning of class on the day of the relevant reading. You will be expected to turn in one memo
during each third of the course. Thus,
the last day for turning in your first memo is September 24, and the first day
for turning in your last memo is November 5.
The memos will be evaluated on both content and presentation. Information must be accurate, arguments must
be well thought out, and style must be compelling.
You will be required to make an oral presentation and
defense of one of your three memos during class. Note that this means you will have to write
and turn in a memo on the day of your defense.
The strength of your presentation and defense will contribute to your
participation grade. You must indicate
to me a preference for which week to present by the second week of the course
so that I can stagger the presentations.
The presentation should last about fifteen minutes, and will be followed
by a fifteen minute question and answer period.
The presentation will make up 50% of your participation grade, or 10% of
the total grade.
A comprehensive final exam will be held on Tuesday,
December 16 at 8am. The exam will be
communicated and completed electronically; thus, there is no need for you to be
in
Class Materials
Purchase of the following books is recommended, but
not required.
The rest of the class readings are either available
online or can be found in Patterson 469.
Note that many of the online readings are available on JSTOR or other
secure databases. Access to these
databases requires either a University computer or a properly configured
connection.
Week 1 (8/27): Values and
the National Interest
Arnold
Wolfers, National Security as an Ambiguous Symbol
Political Science Quarterly, 67, 4 (Dec., 1952), pp. 481-502
David Brin, Thor meets Captain America
Rethinking the
National Interest Condoleezza Rice, Foreign Affairs
Week 2 (9/3):
War and Deterrence
Week 3 (9/10): Coercion and
the Use of Force
Thomas Schelling, Arms and Influence.
Week 4 (9/17):
Cooperation?
Week 5 (9/24): Challenges
National Security
Strategy of the United States
The Future of American
Power Fareed Zakaria, Foreign Affairs
The Age of Nonpolarity Richard N. Haass,
Foreign Affairs
The Rise of China and
the Future of the West G.
John Ikenberry, Foreign Affairs
An Agenda for
Human Dignity ,
Marc Perrin De Brichambaut, Survival
Final week to turn in first
memo assignment.
Week 6 (10/1): Visions of National Security
William
Kristol and Robert Kagan,
“Towards a Neo-Reaganite Foreign Policy,” Foreign
Affairs v.75, no. 4, July/August 1996
Philip
Gordon, “End of the Bush Revolution,” Foreign Affairs 85,4
(July/August 2006)
Joseph S. Nye,”The Decline of America’s
Soft Power,” Foreign Affairs 83/3 (May/June 2004).
US
Counter-terrorism Options: A Taxonomy, Daniel
Byman, Survival
Week 8 (10/15): Primacy
Week 9 (10/22): The Allies
Robert Kagan, “Power and Weakness”, Policy Review 113(June/July
2002), pp. 3-29.
William
Drozdiak, “The North Atlantic Drift”, Foreign Affairs
84/1 (January/February 2005).
Lawrence
Freedman, “The Special Relationship, Then and Now” Foreign Affairs 85,3 (May/June 2006)
Ryan
C. Hendrickson, The Miscalculation of NATO’s Death
Week 10 (10/29): Iraq and Afghanistan
Final week to turn in second
memo assignment.
Week 11 (11/5): Bureaucracy and Policy
Week 12 (11/12):
Architecture of the
Week 13 (11/19): President and Congress
Week 14 (12/3): Strategic Communication
“Retiring
Hitler and “Appeasement” from the National Security Debate”, Jeffrey Record
“Strategic
Communication”, Richard Halloran
“Propaganda:
Can a Word Decide a War?”, Dennis M. Murphy and James F.
White
Week 15 (12/10): Public Opinion
John
Mueller, “The Iraq Syndrome,” Foreign Affairs 84, 6 (November/December 2005)
Dan Drezner, The Realist Tradition in
American Public Opinion
Michael
Horowitz, Erin Simpson and Allen Stam, Domestic Institutions
and Wartime Casualties
James Fallows, Why
Americans Hate the Media
Final week to turn in final
memo assignment.