MVZ480 Perspectives on Foreign Policy Decision Making

Faculty of Social Studies
Spring 2015
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 6 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Eszter Simon, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. et Mgr. Veronika Velička Zapletalová, Ph.D. (assistant)
Guaranteed by
prof. PhDr. Petr Kaniok, Ph.D.
Department of International Relations and European Studies – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: Olga Cídlová, DiS.
Supplier department: Department of International Relations and European Studies – Faculty of Social Studies
Timetable
Tue 11:30–13:00 U32
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 20 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/20, only registered: 0/20
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
Course description This course intends to familiarize students with theoretical approaches to the foreign policy decision-making process. The course starts with revisiting the grand IR theories (realism and liberalism) and then proceeds to critically review alternative approaches that build on factors (the individual, groups, organizations) not considered by grand theories. The course discusses such classical approaches to decision-making as analogical reasoning, bureaucratic politics, manipulation, and groupthink. In exploring these theories, the course relies on in-class situational exercises and, to a larger extent, historical cases studies (e.g. The Cuban Missile Crisis, Korean and Vietnam Wars or the Israeli Invasion of Lebanon in 1982). Learning out comes By the end of the course students will be able to: * identify and describe theories of foreign policy analysis * be aware of the strengths and weaknesses of theories of foreign policy analysis * use these theories to explain historical events
Syllabus
  • WEEK 1 17.02 Course introduction WEEK 2 24.02 Democratic Peace Immanuel Kant. 1795. “Perpetual Peace” Only Sections I and II at https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/kant/kant1.htm & Maoz, Zeev and Bruce Russett. 1993. “Normative and Structural Causes of Democratic Peace 1946-1986” American Political Science Review 87 (3): 624-627 (until “Spatial and Temporal Domain”) WEEK 3 03.03 Realism Yetiv, Steve A. 2004. Explaining Foreign Policy: U.S. Decision-Making and the Persian Gulf War. Baltimore MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 13-29. & Baylis, John, and Steve Smith. 2010. The Globalization of World Politics. An Introduction to International Relations. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 167, 169-170, 172-176. WEEK 4 10.03 Realism as rational choice Yetiv, Steve A. 2004. Explaining Foreign Policy: U.S. Decision-Making and the Persian Gulf War. Baltimore MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 30-57. WEEK 55 17.03 What is fpa Hudson, Valerie and Christopher S. Vore. “Foreign Policy Analysis Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow.” Mershon International Studies Review 39 (2): 209-238. WEEK 6 24.03 Prospect theory Haas, Mark L. 2001. “Prospect Theory and the Cuban Missile Crisis.” International Studies Quarterly 45: 241-270. WEEK 7 31.03 Two-level games Putnam, Robert D. 1998. “Diplomacy and Domestic Politics: The Logic of Two Level Games” International Organization 42 (3): 427-460. WEEK 8 07.04 READING WEEK WEEK 9 14.04 Organizational Theory and Bureaucratic politics Allison, Graham T. 1969. “Conceptual Models and the Cuban Missile Crisis” American Political Science Review 63 (3): 689-718. WEEK 10 21.04 Groupthink Janis, Irving L., 1982. Groupthink (2nd ed.) Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 14-47. WEEK 11 28.04 Analogical Reasoning Yetiv, Steve A. 2004. Explaining Foreign Policy: U.S. Decision-Making and the Persian Gulf War. Baltimore MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 58-81. WEEK 12 05.05 Manipulating decisions Maoz, Zeev. 1990. “Framing the National Interest: The Manipulation of Foreign Policy Decisions in Group Settings.” World Politics 43: 77-110. WEEK 13 13.05 TAKE HOME PAPER
Teaching methods
The course relies on interactive teaching methods that allows students to actively engage with the material at hand.
Assessment methods
PLEASE CONSULT THE SYLLABUS AMONG THE STUDY MATERIALS FOR DEADLINES Requirements: The final grade is going to be made up of the following components and weights: Participation: 20%; Presentation 20%; Weekly quizzes: 30%; A take-home paper: 30%; DETAILS • Active in-class participation – 20% Since this course is based on the seminar format, its success heavily depends on the active contribution of each student. Therefore, students are expected to actively participate in class by asking and answering questions, working with each other, and offering comments on the readings and related issues. Students will not be evaluated on the basis of the correctness of their contributions. To foster in-class participation, students must bring a copy of the required readings to class. Although the most helpful is to bring a printed and marked-up copy to class, students are allowed to work with electronic versions in class (please note that smart phones are not allowed in the classroom). • Presentation – 20% Student will present once during the term individually or in pairs. The purpose of the presentation is to take a critical approach to the given approach. Students are expected to consult at least two other academic sources for their presentations and send them to the instructor two weeks (by 11 a.m.) prior to their presentations. Undergraduate students must approach the instructor two weeks prior to their presentations and they will be given the articles to present. The grade on the presentations will be given collectively by the instructor (50%) and the students collectively (50%). Presentations should be 15 minutes long. Students are not allowed to use powerpoint, prezi or anything that might involve using a computer on their part, but they are invited to be creative and use any other means available for their presentation. Further guidelines on presentations will be discussed in class. • Weekly quizzes – 30% There is a substantial amount of reading for this course. Students are expected to finish readings prior to each class and bring a copy of the readings with them to class. To make sure that each student prepares regularly and, thus, to ensure classroom discussion, each class (except classes on weeks 1 and 13) will start with a short 8-minute quiz on the required readings for the given week. Quiz questions will be general, not requiring deep understanding of readings. Quizzes will consist of five short questions each worth 20 points (∑ 100). To pass the course, students will have to write at least 8 of the 10 quizzes. Quizzes will only be offered once in class. If a student fails to write a quiz, they will earn 0 point for that quiz. However, the results of the worst two quizzes will be automatically dropped when calculating the final grade. • Take-home paper – 30% During the last week of the term – week 13 – students will complete a take-home paper. The take-home paper will contain 5 shorter or longer exercises and will be completed individually. There will be an intentional time limit on this exercise – 24 hours. The class will not meet during the last week, and students will choose collectively the day of week 13 they wish the take-home paper to be distributed. Take-home papers shall be submitted through the information system.
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught only once.
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2013.
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