Global Arc

Twenty years after the September 11th terrorist attacks, America's national security regime continues to be shaped by an indefinite "War on Terror," notwithstanding the death of Osama Bin Laden, the U.S. military's withdrawal from Afghanistan and Iraq, and the effective defeat of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). The laws and policies passed over the past two decades have generated heated debates on how to balance individual rights with national security priorities. This course examines in depth these debates through a survey of select post-9/11 national security laws and policies and their impact on civil liberties.

Military strategy was defined by Clauswitz as the use of battle to achieve the objectives of war. Grand strategy is broader, encompassing the attempted use by political leaders of financial economic, and diplomatic, as well as military, power to achieve their objectives in peacetime and in war. This seminar will examine the theory and practice of grand strategy both to illuminate how relations among city-states, empires, kingdoms and nation states have evolved over the centuries and also to identify some common challenges that have confronted all who seek to make and execute grand strategy, from Pericles to Barack Obama.

This course will review and analyze the foreign policy of the People's Republic of China from 1949 to the present. It will examine Beijing's relations with the Soviet Union, the United States, Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Third World during the Cold War, and will discuss the future of Chinese foreign policy in light of the end of the Cold War, changes in the Chinese economy, the post-Tiananmen legitimacy crisis in Beijing, and the continuing rise of Chinese power and influence in Asia and beyond.

Disruption across the globe has place U.S. diplomacy in the spotlight in the spotlight. What are the secrets to the art of diplomacy at the highest levels? What have been the great successes and failures of American statecraft? What is the proper role of the U.S. in the world today?

Since the end of World War II the developing world has experienced numerous violent conflicts. These conflicts often pit government and allied forces against those of relatively small armed groups, often called "insurgents." This course will explore the roots of insurgency, the organization and tactics of insurgent groups (including the use of terrorism), counterinsurgency campaigns, and efforts at conflict resolution. It will focus on the conditions under which insurgents are most likely to prevail in their fight against better-resourced armed forces.

This course will familiarize students with the practical aspects of policy formulation and implementation that pertain to issues in the Middle East. The primary focus will be on the challenges associated with improving governance at the national and sectoral levels. It will also examine effective national strategies for capacity-building, rehabilitation, and economic development, particularly in the oil-exporting countries in the region.

The course examines the history and dynamics of the struggle between the Jewish and Palestinian national movements for sovereignty and control over territory each claims as its historic homeland. The course will review the inter-state dimension: the competition between national movements; wars and their aftermath; and diplomatic efforts to achieve peace.

As we have increasingly looked to the federal government to provide and protect policies and rights that benefit its population, how have the branches of government risen to this occasion? Where have they struggled? What obstacles have they faced? What barriers have they created? This course is an investigation of the institutional, political, and legal development of the unique "American state" in the contemporary era.

This course focuses on the problems of crime and violence in the United States, and considers how to confront these problems. The semester is organized into four parts: 1) How to think about and study the problems of crime and violence; 2) Ideas and theories explaining crime and violence; 3) The challenge of violence in the United States; and 4) Approaches to confronting violence. Over the course of the semester, students will carry out two research projects analyzing data and policy related to crime and violence.

This course emphasizes the lessons for policy makers from comparative political economy, emphasizing the interaction between political institutions and economic goals, the better to understand the reasons for the differences among countries' levels of economic and political development, and to analyze the factors that foster or hinder effective policy making. The class is compatible with the political economy track in the politics department.