IR 499: The United Nations and World Order



DRAFT ONLY

IR 404

POLICY TASK FORCE

Spring 2013

“The United Nations: Reforming the Secretary-General Selection Process”

Professor Geoffrey Wiseman

W 2.00 – 4.50 p.m.

Room: SOS B40

E-mail: gwiseman@usc.edu

Office Hours: (VKC 319) by appointment between 1-2 pm on M, W and Mon. 4.50–5.40 p.m., and after class Wed. 4.50–5.40 p.m., and other times by appointment.

Graduate Student Mentor: Sarah Myers

Course Objectives and Learning Goals:

This course is designed for advanced undergraduates. Substantively, the course will teach students how to study, analyze and conduct research on the contribution of the United Nations system to world order from 1945 to the present. Students will trace the history of the world body from its origins before the Second World War; consider a range of international relations theories about its role as an order-shaping institution; study its principal organs including the Security Council, the General Assembly, and the Secretariat; appraise the UN’s relationships with other global actors, such as the main international financial institutions, civil society, the private sector, the media, and the “global public”; and evaluate the overall effectiveness of the UN regarding key policy issue-areas such as international peace and security, economic and social development, and human rights. Finally, and most importantly, the course will enable students to contribute individually and jointly to a class policy paper on “The United Nations and the Reform of the Secretary-General Selection Process.”

The main learning goals of the course are: (1) to sharpen analytical, presentation, and writing skills with a focus on policy analysis and problem-solving at the United Nations; and (2) to work individually and collaboratively, in a less-structured information context, to develop, research, and write a major policy paper on a critical, controversial and unsettled policy question at the UN.

Grading:

The final grade will be determined as follows:

• Class participation (10%). Students are expected to attend all class sessions, and to participate in class discussions. Participation will be graded on several criteria: evidence of careful reading of weekly course materials; willingness to volunteer for presentations and to answer questions; appropriateness, enthusiasm, and civility of comments; eagerness to contribute to the process of discussion; listening skills; a capacity for building on and encouraging the ideas of others, and posing constructive and thoughtful questions. Full attendance, punctuality, and at least two course-focused office visits are expected during the semester. Points will be deducted for late submission of assignments, for injudicious use of email, and for non-excused class absences and poor punctuality.

• Presentations and written summaries (20%). There is a written and an oral component. Each week in the first part of the course, several students will make a brief, 3-5 minute presentation answering a specific question or questions. Presenters will distribute electronically to the class a one-page (maximum) summary or their “answer” to the question. The presenter will speak to the question, summarizing the main argument and suggesting areas for wider class discussion. Note that some additional readings may be added to the syllabus in response to international developments.

• Mid-term short papers (30%). Students will write two take-home essay-type papers on questions drawing on course materials up that point of the class. (Maximum 1,000 words for each essay).

Individual position paper (30%). Maximum 1,000 words. This paper will be included in the final policy paper.

Contribution to final policy paper (10%). This grade will be determined on your overall contribution to the final class policy paper

Note on electronic devices: Since this a highly interactive discussion course designed inter alia to strengthen listening, verbal and personal communication skills, laptop computers and similar electronic devices are not required, nor permitted. You will have ample opportunity to use these devices to your learning advantage outside the seminar room and in group-work later in the course.

Course Texts (purchase required):

Thomas Weiss and Sam Daws (eds), The Oxford Handbook of the United Nations, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008.

Thomas Weiss, What’s Wrong with the United Nations and How to Fix it, Cambridge, UK: Polity, 2009.

Simon Chesterman (ed.), Secretary or General?: The UN Secretary-General in World Politics, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2007,

You will use the UN website extensively throughout the course:

COURSE CONTENT

1. Course scope, content and themes: Introduction to the United Nations, Diplomatic Underpinnings of Multilateralism, Historical and Theoretical Frameworks (Jan 16)

Michael Barnett and Martha Finnemore, “Political Approaches,” in Weiss and Daws (eds), The Oxford Handbook on the United Nations (hereafter TOHUN), pp. 41-57.

Geoffrey Wiseman, “Norms and Diplomacy: The Diplomatic Underpinnings of Multilateralism,” in James P. Muldoon Jr., et al., The New Dynamics of Multilateralism: Diplomacy, International Organizations, and Global Governance, Boulder CO: Westview Press, 2011, 5–22 (Blackboard).

Thomas Weiss, “Westphalia, Alive But not Well, ch. 1 in What’s Wrong with the United Nations and How to Fix it (hereafter WWUN), pp. 19-48.

2. Principal Organs: Security Council (Jan 23)

Hedley Bull, “The Concept of Order in World Politics,” ch. 1 in The Anarchical Society, 3d.ed., New York: Columbia University Press, 2002, pp. 3-21 (Blackboard).

Geoffrey Wiseman and Soumita Basu, “The United Nations,” in Pauline Kerr and Geoffrey Wiseman, eds, Diplomacy in a globalizing world: theories and practices, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013, pp. 32. A general review article that provides a framework for subsequent classes (Blackboard).

David M. Malone, “Security Council,” in TOHUN, pp. 117-35.

Thomas G. Weiss, “Security Council Reform,” WWUN, pp. 55-60. On the “Oil-for-Food Program”, see pp. 113-15.

Paul Romita, Naureen Chowdhury Fink, and Till Papenfuss, “What Impact? The E10 and the 2011 Security Council,” Issue Brief, International Peace Institute, New York, April 6, 2011 (Blackboard).

James Cockayne and David M. Malone, “Relations with the Security Council,” in Chesterman, Secretary or General?, pp. 69–85.

3. Principal Organs: General Assembly (Jan 36)

M. J. Peterson, “General Assembly,” in TOHUN, pp. 97-116.

John F. Burns, “An Idealist and a Dream Killed in Iraq,” The New York Times, May 2, 2010, pp. 1-3. Please download from the NYT website.

HBO Documentary Video excerpts: “Sergio”, the story of the Brazilian UN diplomat, Sergio Vieira de Mello, killed in the 2003 bombing of the UN headquarters in Baghdad.

Recommended:

Samantha Power, Chasing the flame: Sergio de Mello and the fight to save the world, Penguin Press, 2008.

4. Principal Organs: Secretary-General and Secretariat (Feb 6)

Edward Newman, “Secretary-General,” in TOHUN, pp. 175-92.

Thomas G. Weiss, “Reinvigorating the International Civil Service,” in WWUN, pp. 191-214.

Brian E. Urquhart, “The evolution of the Secretary-General,” in Chesterman, Secretary or General?, pp. 15–32.

Colin Keating, “Selecting the world’s diplomat,” in Chesterman, Secretary or General?, pp. 47–66.

Three short articles from Foreign Policy Magazine on Secretary-General Ban-Ki Moon, pp. 1-6 (Blackboard).

Recommended:

James C. Jonah, “Secretariat: Independence and Reform,” in TOHUN, pp. 160-74.

Abiodun Williams, “Strategic Planning in the Executive Office of the UN Secretary-General,” Global Governance, vol. 16 (2010), pp. 435-449 [BB].

5. The UN Secretary-General’s relations with other actors: Global Civil Society, Private Sector, Media and the Global Public (Feb 13)

Paul Wapner, “Civil Society,” in TOHUN, pp. 254-263.

Craig N. Murphy, “Private Sector,” in TOHUN, pp. 264-74.

Barbara Crosette, “Media,” in TOHUN, pp. 275-84.

Daniel W. Drezner, “Foreign Policy Goes Glam,” The National Interest, no. 92 (Nov./Dec. 2007), pp. 22-8 (on-line).

Recommended:

Peter Willetts, ‘From “consultative arrangements” to “partnership”: The changing

status of NGOs in diplomacy at the UN’, Global Governance vol. 6, no. 2, (2000) pp.191–212.

Peter Willetts, “The Cardosa Report on the UN and Civil Society: Functionalism, Global Corporatism, or Global Democracy,” Global Governance, vol. 12 (2006): 305-324.

6. Role of the Secretary-General in Disarmament and Peacekeeping (Feb 20)

Keith Krause, “Disarmament,” TOHUN, pp. 287-299.

Randy Rydell, “Security Through Disarmament: The Story of the Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission,” The Hague Journal of Diplomacy, vol. 2, no. 1 (2007), pp. 81-91 (Blackboard).

Michael W. Doyle and Nicholas Sambanis, “Peacekeeping,” TOHUN, pp. 323-48.

Compare selected peacekeeping cases as R2P precursors: Kashmir, Somalia, Central America.

• Midterm take-home questions distributed at end of class W Feb. 20.

7. Role of the Secretary-General in Sanctions and Peace Enforcement from Korea to Iraq (Feb 27)

• Midterm take-home due in class: 2 p.m. W Feb. 27

David Cortright et al., “Sanctions,” TOHUN, pp. 349-69.

Michael Pugh, “Peace Enforcement,” TOHUN, pp. 370-86.

James Traub, “Kofi Annan’s Next Test,” New York Times Magazine, March 29, 1998.

Richard Butler, “Why Saddam is Winning the War,” Talk Magazine, (September 1999).

Recommended:

George A. Lopez and David Cortright, “Containing Iraq: Sanctions Worked.” Foreign Affairs, July/August 2004, pp. 90–103.

8. Role of the Secretary-General in Humanitarian Intervention and the Responsibility to Protect, (“R2P”) Norm (March 6)

Ramesh Thakur, “Humanitarian Intervention,” TOHUN, pp. 387-403.

Thomas G. Weiss, “A Rapid Reaction Capability,” in WWUN, pp. 179-81.

Gareth Evans and Mohamed Sahnoun, "The Responsibility to Protect," Foreign Affairs 81, no. 6 (November-December 2002):

David Rieff, “Saints Go Marching In,” The National Interest, July-Aug 2011, pp.10.

Shashi Tharoor, “’The most impossible job’ description”, in Chesterman, Secretary or General?, pp. 33–46.

Recommended:

United Nations, “A more secure world: Our shared responsibility,” Report of the High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change,” New York, 2004.

Weiss, Thomas G. "Misrepresenting R2P and Advancing Norms: An Alternative Spiral?" International Studies Perspectives, vol. 11, no. 4 (November 2010), pp. 354-371.

9. Role of the Secretary-General in Human Rights and the Protection of Civilians (International Criminal Court and Ad Hoc Tribunals) and Human Security and the Protection of Civilians (March 13)

Richard Goldstone, “International Criminal Court and Ad Hoc Tribunals,” TOHUN, pp. 463-478.

Thomas G. Weiss, “Rome Statute,” in WWUN, pp. 161-4.

Fen O. Hampson, and Christopher K. Penny, “Human Security,” TOHUN, pp. 539-57.

Teresa Whitfield, “Good offices and ‘group of friends’”, in Chesterman, Secretary or General?, pp. 86–101.

Recommended:

Bertrand G. Ramcharan, “Norms and Machinery,” TOHUN, pp. 439-62.

Jack Snyder and Leslie Vinjamuri, “Trials and Error: Principle and Pragmatism in Strategies of International Justice,” International Security, vol. 28, no. 3 (Winter 2003/04), pp. 5-44 (Blackboard).

Spring break Mon March 18–Friday March 23

10. Role of the Secretary-General in Reforming and Democratizing the UN (March 27)

Edward C. Luck, “Principal Organs,” TOHUN, pp. 653-74.

Thomas G. Weiss, “Conclusion: What’s Next?”, in WWUN, pp. 215-33.

Quang Trinh, “The bully pulpit”, in Chesterman, Secretary or General?, pp. 102–120.

Ian Johnstone, “The Secretary-General as norm entrepreneur,” in Chesterman, Secretary or General?, pp.123–138.

Recommended:

Vincent Pouliot, “ Multilateralism as an End in Itself,” International Studies Perspectives, vol. 12 (2011), pp. 18-26 (Blackboard).

Chadwick F. Alger, “Widening Participation,” TOHUN, pp. 701-15.

11. (S)election of the Secretary-General: Lessons Learned (April 3)

Note: For the final sessions, you will do more policy-environment memoranda for discussion, rather than scholarly reading summaries. Also, these sessions will consist of some individual and small group work in addition to full plenary PTF class sessions.

• Trygve Lie

• Dag Hammarskjöld

Anthony Gaglione, The United Nations under Trygve Lie, 1945-1953, Scarcrow Press, 2001.

Brian Urquhart, Hammarskjold, New York, Harper Colophon Books, 1984, pp. esp. ch. 1, “Election,” pp. 9-16 [BB]

James Traub, “The Secretary-General’s political space,” in Chesterman, Secretary or General?, pp.185–201.

David Kennedy, “Leader, clerk or policy entrepreneur? The Secretary-General in a complex world,” in Chesterman, Secretary or General?, pp. 158–181

12. (S)election of the Secretary-General: Lessons Learned (April 10)

• U Thant

• Kurt Waldheim

• Javier Perez De Cuellar

Brian Urquhart, “Selecting the World’s CEO: Remembering the Secretaries-General,”

Foreign Affairs, vol.74, no.3 (May/June 1995), pp. 21-26.

Other readings, TBD

13. (S)election of the Secretary-General: Lessons Learned (April 17)

• Boutros-Boutros Ghali

• Kofi Annan

• Ban Ki-Moon

Edward C. Luck, “The Secretary-General in a unipolar world,” in Chesterman, Secretary or General?, pp. 202–231.

Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Unvanquished: A U.S.-U.N. Saga, New York, Random

House, 1999, pp. 3-29, 336-8.

Boutros Boutros-Ghali, “Global Leadership After the Cold War,” Foreign Affairs, vol. 75, no.2 (March/April 1996), pp. 86-98. (blackboard)

Adekeye Adebajo, “Pope, pharaoh, or prophet? The Secretary-General after the Cold War,” in Chesterman, Secretary or General?, pp. 139–157.

Simon Chesterman and Thomas M. Franck, “Resolving the contradictions of the office,” in Chesterman, Secretary or General?, pp. 232–240.

Richard Gowan, “Floating Down the River of History: Ban Ki-moon and Peacekeeping, 2007–2011,” Global Governance, 17 (2011), pp. 399-416.

14. Small group planning/drafting session (April 24)

15. In-class presentation of Draft PTF Report (May 1)

Based on comments on the draft, the PTF will then revise the draft report ready of final submission.

Final Submission of written Policy Paper (in lieu of exam): W May 13 at 2 p.m.

Statement on Academic Integrity


USC seeks to maintain an optimal learning environment. General principles of academic honesty include the concept of respect for the intellectual property of others, the expectation that individual work will be submitted unless otherwise allowed by an instructor, and the obligations both to protect one's own academic work from misuse by others as well as to avoid using another's work as one's own. All students are expected to understand and abide by these principles. Scampus, the Student Guidebook, contains the Student Conduct Code in Section 11.00, while the recommended sanctions are located in Appendix A: http//usc.edu/dept/publications/SCAMPUS/gov/. Students will be referred to the Office of Student Judicial Affairs and Community Standards for further review, should there be any suspicion of academic dishonesty.

DISABILITY NOTE: Any student requesting academic accommodations based on a disability is required to register with Disability Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of verification for approved accommodations can be obtained from DSP. This letter must be delivered to me (or the TA) by the end of the third week. The student is also responsible for consulting the professor or TA before relevant in-class tests/exams to make sure that all arrangements have been made. DSP is located in STU 301 and is open 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Monday – Friday. The DSP phone # is (213) 740-0776.

(Jan 15, 2013)

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