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Political Science 301Issues in International RelationsINTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLITICSFall 2006 TTh 10:50 to 11:20 am HAL 114Dr. Samuel S. Stanton, Jr.Office: HAL 217GOffice Hours: MWF 8 am to 10 am, TTh 2:30 pm to 4:30 pm, by appointmentPhone: 724.458.3854Email: [email protected]“Environmental policy is set apart from other policy areas by a simple but very importantfact. Environmental policy has to do with sustaining the ecological basis of life. Other policy areas have to do with the quality of life…”--Donald T. Well, Environmental PolicyNatural resources exist, but Nature does not. Economic survival is imperative, but the commodity logics driving it need to be grounded in sound ecological common sense lest the limitless dynamism of commodification be permitted to submit everything to exchange logics immediately.--Timothy Luke, Ecocritique“There are few, if any, parts of the world that are untouched or unmodified by human activities. We must therefore be careful about imagining that there is, somewhere, a pristine environment, untouched by human hands…Our challenge is to explore the feasibility of a union between “what is” and what could be.”--Ronnie D. Lipschutz, Global Environmental Politics, Power, Perspectives, and PracticeOverview: This course is designed to engage students in the realm of possibilities. Why possibilities? Isn’t this course about international issues, and specifically about international environmental issues? Yes, but the environment is about possibilities—whatmight be viewed against what is in reality. What makes this an issue area is that what really is and what might be are both debatable, and in the case of the environment—hotlyor coldly debated.First we must develop some background, so we will look at what environmental politics and policy are in the international arena. We will look at how science plays a role in the politics of the environment. Then we will look at how environmental issues are different between the United State, the developing world, and the post-Communist countries.Second, in international politics there are two primary theoretical frameworks by which the world is understood—Structural Realism (what is referred to as realism and neo-realism in the literature) and Liberal Co-Dependency (what is referred to as liberalism and neo-liberalism in the literature). In either theoretical framework the discussion turns to how actors will interact with each other. This is often discussed in terms of regimes. Stephen Krasner defines regimes as “implicit or explicit principles, norms, rules, and decision-making procedures around which actors expectations converge in a given area,” (1983, 2). The questions are: One, what type of regimes are formed to deal with international environmental issues? Two, are these regimes successful? Third, we will look at how globalization and reduction of the classical notion of sovereignty are affecting the environment. What is the connection between increased free-market economics and the environment? What happens to local flora and fauna when commerce and travel introduce new species, new pollutants, and other potential hazards? Is there a way to manage these connections and the issues that they create? Next, are the gloom and doom prognosticators really correct? Are we headed to environmental calamity? Or, are there some reasons to believe that the environment is not really as damaged and fragile and failing as the preponderance of literature on the subject would lead one to believe? Are there scholars who are concerned about the environment and the political issues thereof who do not believe all is gloomy? What is their argument? Here we examine the work of Bjorn Lomborg.Finally, all international issues eventually end up as discussions of international security. How does the environment enter into this discussion? Is the environment an internationalsecurity issue—is it even a national security issue? We will examine the nexus of environment and security at the inter- and intra-state levels and see where the environment becomes a security issue. Course Requirement: This course requires participation, 2 take home essay exams, a final exam, and a course paper.Participation: You cannot participate if you are not present. I do not expect that every student will be present for every class period. However, I do expect you to be present unless there are mitigating circumstances such as illness and university sanctioned event participation. Participation is more than simply being in the room, participation is discussion, questioning, and answering. Participation is crucial to learning and thus to your grade in this course (see grading). This represents 20% of your grade.Essay Exams: You will be given a set of questions and one week to answer the questions in type-written essays. The essays will be double-spaced, in a standard 10 or 12 point font, with 1.5” top and 1” bottom margins, 1.5” left margin and 1” right margin. Style and grammar do matter (PAPERS MUST BE DONE IN ONE OF THE FOLLOWING STYLES: APA, APSA, or CHICAGO [Turabian]) and will account for 20% of the overall grade of the exam. Generally, I will ask you to answer 3 out of 4 questions, Iexpect that each question will be thoroughly answered—while I set no limits, I generally expect that a thorough answer will require at least 2 or 3 pages. These exams each represent 20% of your grade (40% combined).Final Exam: A comprehensive essay exam given during the final exam period. Questions are based on questions given in the take home essay exams. This exam is 10%of your grade.Course Paper: The course paper is a 15-20 page research paper. See the attached guide to writing a research paper for more detail on what is expected of you. The same stylisticrequirements exist as required for the essay exams; style and grammar are 30% of the score on this assignment. We will take at least one class period to discuss what is expected in a research paper. You should not put this assignment off until the end of the semester. This paper is 30% of the overall grade in the course. Grades:Participation 20%Exams 50% (2 @ 20% each, 1 @10%)Course Paper 30% Grading Scale:90-100 A80-89 B70-79 C60-69 DBelow 60 FI rarely give +/- grades. A +/- grade is give at the discretion of the instructor based on student performance. For instance, a student with an 89.5 grade


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