National Security Policy (DIP 600)
Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce
Fall 2010
Monday 3:30pm-6pm
Dr. Robert M. Farley
Office: Patterson 467
Office Hours: Monday, 1:30-3:30pm
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 United States on grand strategy and national security. The final third examines the policy process and focuses on specific national security problems facing the United States.
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%).
Every 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 October 4, and the first day for turning in your last memo is November 8. 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 Wednesday, December 15 at 3:30pm. The exam will be communicated and completed electronically; thus, there is no need for you to be in Lexington on that date. The exam will mimic in structure a minor field comprehensive exam. Yes, second year students ARE required to take the exam.
Class Materials
Purchase of the following books is recommended, but not required. These texts are best acquired through Amazon or similar service.
· Suzanne C. Nielsen, Don M. Snider eds., American Civil-Military Relations: The Soldier and the State in a New Era. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2009
Most of the rest of the class readings are available online. A few will be available through photocopies. Note that many of the online readings are available on JSTOR or other secure databases, which requires either a University computer or a properly configured connection.
Week 1, August 30:
Values, National Security, and the National Interest
Arnold Wolfers, National Security as an Ambiguous Symbol
David Brin, Thor meets Captain America
Week 2, September 13:
War, Politics, and Coercion
Thomas Schelling, Arms and Influence (entire)
Carl Von Clausewitz, On War (selections)
Week 3, September 20:
War and Morality
Michael Walzer, Just and Unjust Wars (entire)
Week 4, September 27:
Grand Strategy I
Mackubin Thomas Owens, Strategy and the Strategic Way of Thinking
James Goldgeier, The Fall of the Wall and American Grand Strategy
Michael Fitzsimmons, The Problem of Uncertainty in Strategic Planning
John Lewis Gaddis, What is Grand Strategy?
Week 5, October 4:
Grand Strategy II
William Kristol and Robert Kagan, Towards a Neo-Reaganite Foreign Policy
Christopher Layne, From Preponderance to Offshore Balancing
G. John Ikenberry and Anne-Marie Slaughter, Forging a World of Liberty Under Law
Stephen G. Brooks and William C. Wohlforth, Reshaping the World Order
Week 6, October 11:
Hegemony?
William C. Wohlforth, The Stability of a Unipolar World
Josef Joffe, The Default Power: The False Prophecy of America’s Decline
Fareed Zakaria, The Future of American Power: How American Can Survive the Rise of the Rest
Remarks by the President on Acceptance of Nobel Prize
Week 7, October 18:
Friends and Competitors
Minxin Pei, Think Again: Asia’s Rise
William Drozdiak, The North Atlantic Drift
Robert Levgold, The Russia File
C. Raja Mohan, India and the Balance of Power
Week 8, October 25:
The War on Terror
Stephen Van Evera, Assessing U.S. Strategy in the War on Terror
Daniel Byman, US Counter-Terrorism Options: A Taxonomy
Norman Podhoretz, World War IV: How it Started, What it Means, and Why We Have to Win
Michael Krepon, The Mushroom Cloud that Wasn’t
Week 9, November 1:
Public Opinion
Dan Drezner, The Realist Tradition in American Public Opinion
Jeffrey Record, Retiring Hitler and ‘Appeasement’ from the National Security Debate
Week 10, November 8:
Strategic Planning
Week 11, November 15:
Organizations and Foreign Policy
Graham Allison, Conceptual Models and the Cuban Missile Crisis
Scott Sagan, The Perils of Proliferation
Week 12, November 22:
The Architecture of the National Security State
Ashton B. Carter, The Architecture of Government in the Face of Terrorism
David Jablonsky, The State of the National Security State
Alan G. Whittaker et al, The National Security Policy Process
Week 13, November 29:
Congress, the Presidency, and the Courts
Rebecca K. C. Hersman, Friends and Fores: How Congress and the President Really Make Foreign Policy (entire)
Christina E. Wells, State Secrets and Executive Accountability
John C. Yoo, Judicial Review and the War on Terrorism
Week 14, December 6:
Civil Military Relations
Suzanne Nielsen, Don Snider eds. American Civil-Military Relations: The Soldier and the State in a New Era (entire)