Syllabus

All students are obligated to be familiar with the policies and procedures governing the administration of exams and quizzes.

Course Objectives

Students successfully achieving the objectives of this course should be able to:

• delineate the historical antecedents and trends in the growth of international organizations;
• identify the various types of international organizations and discuss the important characteristics of each;
• discuss the various theories and concepts used to study international organizations;
• describe the structure and activities of the principal organs and specialized agencies of the United Nations;
• develop a more specialized knowledge about a particular international institution or global problem area;
• evaluate the past performance and future prospects of international organizations in the global community.

Texts

Most assigned readings are from the texts listed below which are available for purchase. A few additional readings will be available through electronic reserves.

Diehl, Paul F. ed. 1997. The Politics of Global Governance: International Organizations in an Interdependent World. Boulder, CO: Lynne Reinner.

Mingst, Karen A. and Margaret P. Karns. 1995. The United Nations in the Post-Cold War Era. Boulder, CO: Westview.

Pease, Kelly-Kate. 2000. International Organizations: Perspectives on Governance in the Twenty-First Century. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Swisher, Karen L. ed. 1997. The United Nations. San Diego: CA: Greenhaven.

Students should routinely maintain an awareness of the international events shaping our world. The best way to do this is by reading one of the major national newspapers (e.g., New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, International Herald Tribune) on a regular basis. There are now easily accessable electronic versions of these newspapers and other news services (e.g., ABC News, CNN Interactive, BBC World Service). In addition, daily subscriptions to the print version of the New York Times are available on campus for a very attractive discount.

Reading assignments

Part I: Introduction

Week 1: Origins and Development of IOs

Mingst and Karns, chap. 1

Pease, chap. 1

Cuppitt, Whitlock, and Williams, "The (Im)mortality of IGOs" in Diehl

Week 2: Contemporary International Organizations

Mingst and Karns, chap. 2, pp. 157-175

Pease, chap. 2

Week 3: Decision-Making in International Organizations

Mingst and Karns, chap. 3

Week 4: Voting in International Organizations

Wallenstein, "Representing the World" in Diehl

*Dixon, William J. 1983. "The Evaluation of Weighted Voting Schemes for the UN General Assembly," International Studies Quarterly 27: 295-314.

*Kim, Soo Yeon and Bruce Russett. 1996. "The New Politics of Voting Alignments in the UN General Assembly," International Organization 50:629-652.

Part II: Theories

Week 6: Conventional Theories: Realism and Liberalism

Pease, chap. 3

Week 7: Critical Theories: Marxism and Feminism

Pease, chap. 4

Week 8: Amalytical Theories: Collective Goods

*Abbot, Kenneth and Duncan Snidal. 1998. "Why States Act through Formal Organizations," Journal of Conflict Resolution 42:3-24.

*Kaul, Inge, Isabelle Grunberg, and Marc A. Stern. 1999. "Defining Global Public Goods," pp.2-15 in Kaul, et. al., Global Public Goods (New York: Oxford).

Part III: Global Problems

Weeks 9 & 10: International Peace and Security

Mingst and Karns, chap. 4

Pease, chaps. 5, 6

Week 11: Global Economic Problems

Mingst and Karns, pp. 107-126

Pease, chaps. 7, 8

Week 12: Environmental Problems

Mingst and Karns, pp. 126-138

Pease, chap. 9

Week 13: Human Rights

Pease, chap. 10

Part IV: The Future

Mingst and Karns, chap. 6

Pease, chap. 9