PSCI 6401: STRATEGIC STUDIES

Seminar for Penn graduate stidents

This seminar offers graduate students an introduction to the subfield of international relations labeled strategic studies (or security studies). In addition to exploring key theoretical issues, we consider their usefulness for understanding relevant events in international politics, with a focus on the 20th century until the present. Although the course emphasizes the distinctive features of great power strategy in the nuclear age, we also look at the continuing role of conventional forces, civil wars, the strategic choices of lesser powers, and selected security problems in the post-Cold War era (e.g. cybersecurity). We also explore the distinctive methodological and ethical challenges of conducting research on topics related to international security.

PSCI 4450: CHInese foreign policy

Seminar for Penn undergraduate students

This seminar examines the influences on and patterns of China's international relations. Topics to be covered include the following: theoretical approaches to analyzing foreign policy; the historical legacy and evolution of China's foreign policy; contemporary China's foreign policy on traditional national security concerns as well as economic, environmental, and humanitarian issues; China's military modernization; China's foreign policy in Asia, Africa, Europe, and Latin America; China's rise and its implications for relations with the United States. The class is a seminar in which student preparation and participation will essential. Students planning to enroll in the course must have taken PSCI 219 Chinese Politics or PSCI 151 International Security (or, with the instructor's permission, an equivalent course). You are expected to complete all required readings each week and come to seminar meetings prepared to discuss them.

PSCI 151: International Security

Lecture course for Penn undergraduate students

This lecture course introduces students to the subfield of international security or strategic studies. In order to grasp the usefulness of the theoretical ideas presented in readings and lectures, abstract concepts are linked with a study of the national security policies states have adopted in the decades following World War I. Topics include current debates about nuclear proliferation, terrorism, the Iraq war, Europe's changing international role, the rise of China, conflict "flashpoints" (e.g. Korea, the Taiwan Strait), the impact of technological change, and US security policy choices for the 21st century. We will consider some of the main strategic alternatives available to the U.S. to address security challenges from states, non-state actors, and shared threats such as climate change.

IAFF 6168: Coercion in peacetime and war

Seminar for GWU masters students

In the 21st century, governments can use a variety of tools to compel and deter each other, from economic sanctions to nuclear weapons. Decision-makers frequently combine these tools to try to change the behavior of states and other international actors, employing what is often called a “whole-of-government” or “cross-domain” approach to coercion. In this course, students will learn to think systematically about how these tools can be combined to produce more effective foreign policy outcomes in peacetime and war. Using key theories of coercion, and examples from contemporary international relations, we will assess the similarities and differences, and past successes and failures of the following coercive tools: economic sanctions, political influence operations, sanctions in international organizations, cyberattacks, proxies, conventional military power, and nuclear weapons. We will also examine how policy-makers select which tool(s) to use in a specific situation, how to integrate plans to use different tools, and why policy-makers may fail to integrate planning, leading to unintended, negative foreign policy outcomes. Examples will draw primarily from East Asia, in comparative perspective.

Last offered Fall 2019

PSC 2449: INternational security politics

Lecture course for GWU undergraduate students

Will China seek to displace the United States as a global hegemon as its wealth increases? Did Russia annex parts of Ukraine and interfere in the 2016 U.S. elections because of NATO expansion or Russian expansionism? Does the internet make the state irrelevant as an actor in international security politics? Does North Korea’s nuclear arsenal make war in East Asia more or less likely? This course provides upper-level undergraduates with foundational knowledge about the security studies sub-field of International Relations such that they are able to engage with any contemporary and historical debate about international security politics in a sophisticated manner. We will use International Relations theories and empirics to critically analyze arguments about the causes of international security outcomes in areas ranging from U.S. grand strategy to cybersecurity and terrorism. The class will analyze the key causes of security and insecurity in the International Relations literature, how states make themselves secure in their foreign policy choices and actions, and international security actors and influences beyond the state.

Last Offered Fall 2019 

Photo (above): canals of Beijing in summer.