21988 - Comparative Foreign Policies

Learning outcomes

At the end of this course, the student will acquire an advanced knowledge on the origins and conduct of the foreign policy of Great and emerging powers, with particular reference to the decision-making process and to those coercive, economic and diplomatic instruments employed by states to further their interests and values.  The student will acquired a detailed knowledge of the foreign policy traditions of Great powers and will be able to apply complex theories to the conduct of their foreign affairs.

Course contents

The course is divided into three main parts. The first section is devoted the study of the variables that influence the nature, content and formulation of foreign policy. International constraints, domestic interests, bureaucratic politics , and organizational and psychological models will be analyzed. The second part is dedicated to the analysis of the most important foreign policy instruments that states employ to further their interests and values, such as the use of force, economic statecraft, soft power, and diplomacy. While the first and the second sections have mainly a lecture nature, the third and final section is construed as a series of seminars on the foreign policy of Great and emerging powers like the US, China, Russia, Britain, Germany, France etc.

 

1.       Introduction

 

-           Nessuna lettura

 

I SECTION: International and Domestic Determinants

 

2.       International Politics vs Foreign Policy?

 -    Colin Elman, "Why Not Neorealist Theories of Foreign Policy?" Security Studies, 6,1 (Autumn 1996), 7-53.

-     Waltz, K.N. (1996)  “International Politics is Not Foreign Policy”, Security Studies, pp. 54-61.

-           Plutarco, “Vita di Lisandro”, in Vite parallele, qualsiasi edizione.

-           Machiavelli, Il principe, capitoli 17, 18, 25.

 

3.       The Domestic Sources of Foreign Policy I

 

-           J.W. Taliaferro, S.E. Lobell, and N.M. Ripsman, "Introduction: Neoclassical Realism, the State, and Foreign Policy", in Lobell, Ripsman, and Taliaferro, eds., Neoclassical Realism, the State, and Foreign Policy, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2009, pp. 1-41.

 

-           Schweller, R. (1994) “Bandwagoning For Profit: Bringing The Revisionist State Back In”, International Security, 19 (1): 72-107.

 

4.       The Domestic Sources of Foreign Policy II

 

-           Moravcsik, A. (1997) “Taking Preferences Seriously: A Liberal Theory of International Politics”, International Organization, 51 (4): 513-553.

 

-           John J. Mearsheimer and Stephen M. Walt, "The Israeli Lobby and U.S. Foreign

Policy." London Review of Books, 28, 6 (March 23, 2006). www.lrb.co.uk

-           Andrew J. Bacevich, Review of “John J. Mearsheimer and Stephen M. Walt,

“The Israel Lobby and U. S. Foreign Policy.” Diplomacy & Statecraft 19, 4,

(December 2008): 787-795.

 

 

5.       Rationality and its limits

 

-           Colin F. Camerer and Ernst Fehr, “When Does "Economic Man" Dominate

Social Behavior?” Science, 311, 47 (6 January 2006): 47 – 52.

-           James G. March, “Limited Rationality.” In March, A Primer on Decision Making: How Decisions Happen. New York: Free Press, 1994. Chap. 1

-      Bryan D. Jones, “Bounded Rationality.” Annual Review of Political Science, 2 (1999), 297-321.

 

 

 

6.       Foreign Policy Models: II e III

 

-           Graham Allison and Philip Zelikow, Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban

Missile Crisis . New York: Longman, 1999. Intro & chap. 1-2.

 

-           Jack S. Levy and William R. Thompson, Causes of War, chap. 6: "Decision-

Making: The Organizational Level." Oxford, UK: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010.

 

 

7.       Groupthink and Analogies

-           Janis, I. (1981) Groupthink Psychological studies of policy decisions and fiascoes, Boston, Houghton Mifflin.

-           Yuen Foong Khong, Analogies at War. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992. Chap. 2, 8.

 

 

II SECTION: Foreign Policy Tools

 

8.       War and military interventions

 

-           Mueller, J. (2004) The Remnants of War, Ithaca, Cornell University Press.

-           Finnemore, M. (2004) The Purpose of Intervention, Ithaca, Cornell University Press.

 

9.       Economic statecraft

-     Baldwin, D. (1985) Economic Statecraft, Princeton, Princeton University Press, cap. 2,3, 7.

-     Kirshner, Jonathan. 2008. “Dollar Primacy and American Power: What's at Stake?” Review of International Political Economy, vol. 15, no. 3: 418-431.

-     Loeffler, Rachel. 2009. “Bank Shots: How the Financial System Can Isolate Regimes,”

Foreign Affairs, vol. 88: 101-110.

 

10.   Culture and Soft Power

 

-           Nye, J. (2005) Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics, Ithaca, Cornell University Press.

 

-           Hopf, Ted, “Common Sense Constructivism and Hegemony in World Politics”, International Organization, 67, 2, pp. 317-354.

 

 

11.   Diplomacy

 

-           Morgenthau, H., Politica tra le nazioni, pp. 503-540.

-           Miroslav Nincic, “The Logic of Positive Engagement: Dealing with Renegade

Regimes,” International Studies Perspectives 4 (November 2006): 321-34.

III SECTION: Great Powers and Emerging Powers

 

12.   The United States

-          Pastor, R.A., The United States: Divided by a Revolutionary Vision, in Pastor (2000),  A Century's Journey, pp. 191-238

-           Beckley, Michael. 2012. “China's Century? Why America's Edge Will

Endure.” International Security, vol. 36, no. 3: 41-78.

 

13.    China

 

-          Oksenberg, M., China: A Tortuous Path onto the World's Stage, in Pastor (2000),  A Century's Journey, pp. 291-331.

-           Drezner, Daniel W. 2009. “Bad Debts: Assessing China's Financial Influence in Great Power Politics.” International Security, vol. 34, no. 2: 7-45.

 

 

14.   Italy

 

-           Andreatta, F. (2008) “Italian Foreign Policy: Domestic Politics, International Requirements and the European Dimension”, European Integration, 30, 1, pp. 169-181.

 

 

15.   France

 

-          Hoffmann, S., France: Two Obsessions for One Country, in Pastor (2000),  A Century's Journey, pp. 63-89.

 

 

16.   Germany

 

-           Joffe, J., Germany: The Continuities from Frederick the Great to the Federal Republic, in Pastor (2000),  A Century's Journey, pp. 91-138

 

 

17.   The United Kingdom

 

-          Lieber, R.J., Great Britain: Decline and Recovery, in Pastor (2000),  A Century's Journey, pp. 33-62.

 

 

18.   Russia

 

-          Levgold, R., The Three Russias: Decline, Revolution, and Reconstruction, in Pastor (2000),  A Century's Journey,  pp. 139-190.

 

 

19.   Japan

 

-           Pyle, K., Opportunism in the Pursuit of Power, in Pastor (2000),  A Century's Journey,  pp. 333-364.

 

20.   Conclusione

 

-           Nessuna lettura

Readings/Bibliography

See the course contents

Teaching methods

Lectures in the first part of the course and then seminars.

Assessment methods

Class participation: 20%

Presentation: 30%

Final Essay: 50%

Office hours

See the website of Lorenzo Zambernardi