Geography 4712 Fall Semester 2008 POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY Instructor: John O’Loughlin 201h Guggenheim 303-492-1619 or 303-492-3671 email: [email protected] Office Hours: MW 4-5pm or by appt. Personal Homepage: http://www.colorado.edu/IBS/PEC/johno/johno.html Teaching Assistants: Adam Levy Ted Holland Guggenheim 312 Guggenheim 314 492-3728 492-3684 [email protected] [email protected] Office Hours: W4-5pm; Th 2-3pm Office Hours: M 4-5pm; W10-11am. This course focuses on the international and cross-national perspectives of political geography. It deals with political, economic and social aspects of international relations from a geographical perspective and examines societies in transition in the post Cold War and 9-11 world. As such, the course has an integrative character and requires basic knowledge about international affairs. Frequent reading of a substantive newspaper or magazine, such as The New York Times, The Guardian, Christian Science Monitor, the Economist or the BBC News webpage (news.bbc.co.uk) would help significantly to acquire (or develop) knowledge of global locations and current events. The course is designed for the upper-division level. It surveys some important aspects of the discipline of political geography but does not engage in a systematic survey of regional issues and conflicts. Instead, contemporary developments in the world’s regions (especially the Balkans and the former Soviet Union, the Middle East and Africa) are used to illustrate the concepts from the lectures and readings. In response to student requests, we restructured the course in 1996 as a two lectures- one discussion period per week. (Formerly we had 3 lectures per week). This experiment is successful when all students come to the discussion sections having already read the material and with questions. The TA will pass out a list of key concepts/terms from the lectures and readings and will organize discussion around them; students will be assigned to a group for purposes of leading a discussion. Further details in the first recitation section meeting. Details about the format and requirements of the research paper will also be given in the discussion sections. There is no text though we will read various text-like chapters as well as research articles on electronic reserve. Details on accessing the electronic files are given on the course webpage - http://www.colorado.edu/geography/class_homepages/geog_4712_f08/ PDF files of the class materials (text-only and key diagrams/maps) used in lecture are also available via the website for pre-lecture printing and this should help to alleviate frantic note-taking. The username for these notes is geog4712 and the password is xxxxxx (see print copy or ask the TAs) Success is this course is a function of the well-proven formula (class attendance, staying current with the readings, and asking for help when needed). Use of the lecture notes from the website is no substitute for class attendance. The TAs will take weekly recitation attendance.Course Overview: We begin with a short review of “geopolitics” particularly as the field developed in the U.S. before and after the Cold War. Then we examine the “Third Wave of Democracy” and examine the recent developments in Russia, the Middle East and Africa. After the midterm, we turn to a comprehensive framework for understanding contemporary global economic and political changes, “world-systems theory” and we then use this theory to understand contemporary changes in the world regions. We examine economic changes first, particularly under the rubric of “globalization” and look at what effects these dramatic changes have on localities in parts of the Third World. Finally, we analyze the reasons why “nationalisms” and civil wars seem to be booming, both literally and figuratively. By looking at postwar scenarios, we consider the possibilities of further conflict. We conclude with some considerations of how the political geography of the post 9-11 world might evolve. Grades are assigned on the basis of 30% midterm; 30% final examination; 30% term paper and 10% discussion section performance. NOTA BENE: The midterm will be held on 20th October at 7pm in Humanities 150. Proposals for the paper are due on October 24 at 5pm and the paper must be submitted to the TA by 5pm on November 21. The final examination will be held on Saturday 13th December, 7:30pm-10pm (the first day of final exams). Lecture Outline Week 1: (Aug. 25) Introduction What is political geography? Illustration from Bosnia-Herzegovina Week 2: (Sept 1) Labor Day (no class) Classical Geopolitics Week 3: (Sept. 8) Heartland Theory and Eurasia German Geopolitics Week 4: (Sept. 15) U.S. (“Democratic”) Geopolitics Cold War US Geopolitics Week 5: (Sept. 22) Critical Geopolitics US Geopolitics and the Promotion of Democracy Week 6: (Sept.29) Democratization and its Discontents Restructuring in the Third World Week 7: (Oct. 6) Globalization and Geopolitics Week 8: (Oct 13) Globalization and its Effects World Cities and Uneven Development Week 9: (Oct. 20) Review for MIDTERM EXAMINATION October 20 at 7pm World-Systems Theory - Wallerstein Week 10: (Oct. 27) World-Systems Theory - Modelski Critiques of World-System Theories Week 11: (Nov. 3) Crises of the State in Capitalist SocietiesThe Politics of Failure in the Third World Week 12: (Nov. 10) Theories of Nationalism Applications of Theories of Nationalism Week 13: (Nov. 17) Ethno-territorial conflicts The political geography of civil wars THANKSGIVING WEEK – No classes or recitations Week 14: (Dec. 1) The aftermath of war: Bosnia and the North Caucasus US hegemony and conflicts Week 15: (Dec. 8) The nature of conflicts in the future Chaos and Cosmos in the World System ________________________________________________________________________ Geography 4712 Fall 2007 Discussion Sections and Readings NOTE: DISCUSSION SECTIONS BEGIN ON WEEK OF AUGUST 25th. (The keyword in ALL CAPS after the title is the title of the electronic reserve.) Week 1 (Aug.25) Introduction Reading: Dahlman/ Ó Tuathail “Broken Bosnia: localized displacement.” (BROKEN BOSNIA) Week 2 (Sept 1) Classical Geopolitics Reading: Taylor and Flint, pp. 49-62 (TF_GEOPOLITICS_1) Agnew “The three ages of geopolitics” (THREE AGES) Week
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