Steve:



IR 371 – Spring 2016

Global Civil Society: Non-State Actors in World Politics

Professor Geoffrey Wiseman

Class Time: 12.30–1.50 p.m. T, Th.

Room: LVL B16

E-mail: gwiseman@usc.edu

Office Hours: T 2.00–3.00, Th 2.00–3.00 (VKC 319) and by appointment.

TA: Jillian Hegedus. Email: jhegedus@usc.edu

Course Description and Objectives

This course helps students critically explore the roles and diplomatic relationships between established major players in the international system (such as sovereign states and international governmental organizations) and a wide range of new and emerging players (such as transnational non-state actors, including nongovernmental organizations) in the development of global peace and security policies, broadly defined.

Students will enhance their knowledge and understanding of the historical, theoretical, and current policy roles of, and relationship between, these entities, including their limits and potential, focusing on security policy-oriented non-governmental organizations, think tanks, influential individuals, and transnational advocacy networks. Building on individual interests and goals, students will study the international activism, “diplomacy,” and policy roles of such benevolent groups as major international philanthropies (e.g., the Gates Foundation and the Ford Foundation), influential think tanks (e.g., the Council on Foreign Relations); long-established international humanitarian organizations, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross); human rights activist groups (such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch); activist religious groups and leaders (such as the Catholic Church, the papacy, and the Dalai Lama); secular groups that have become involved in active resolution of international conflict and complex humanitarian emergencies including Mozambique, Cambodia, Bosnia, Kosovo, and East Timor; celebrity activists (e.g., Bono) and former leaders (e.g., Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton); policy-oriented scholars engaging in “unofficial” diplomacy in different world regions; “blue-ribbon” international commissions; and protest campaigns, such as the International Campaign to Ban Landmines; cities, such as Sao Paola and Los Angeles; and Federated states, such as California. In addition to these benevolent actors, the course examines malevolent ones such as transnational criminal organizations, rogue private military contractors, pirates, and terrorists.

This course aims to meet a rising scholarly interest in transnational, non-state actors as new sources of authority and action in world affairs and the consequential interdisciplinary needs and interests of students. On successful completion of the course, students will be able to apply their enhanced knowledge about the socio-political influence and activities of transnational actors to academic, governmental, private sector, journalistic, and non-governmental professional career settings.

Course Learning Goals and Strategies

In order to have a productive learning experience, students will do the assigned essential readings, prepare brief summaries (based on systematic criteria) in advance of each class discussion, make brief presentations designed to stimulate class discussion, and write up rapporteurial summaries at the end of the week. These reading-based discussions will be linked to current crises and controversies in world politics. A key learning device is the op-ed format, a format that is also offered as a midterm option.

The course is designed to be responsive to student interests and learning goals. It will have an applied (normative) component linked to a basic (fundamental, conceptual) component, both of which are combined to help students address the critical issues facing the diplomacy of global civil society today. Full attendance, punctuality, and at least one, substantive course-focused office visit is expected during the semester. Points will be deducted for late submission of assignments, unnecessary emails that can better be handled in person, and for non-excused class absences. The final grade will be determined as follows:

1. Class Participation (includes one substantive office visit) 10%

2. One presentation/written summary (or rapporteurship) 20%

3. Short 10-point tests (two of three count toward final grade) 20%

4. Mid-term essay 20%

5. Final exam (take-home) 30%

Note on electronic devices: This is a seminar-based, interactive discussion course designed inter alia to strengthen verbal and personal communication skills, such as engaged listening. Therefore, laptop computers, cell phones, and similar electronic devices are not permitted in class. However, you are strongly encouraged to use your computers outside class to complement the readings and class discussion.

Required Texts

1. Ann M. Florini (ed.), The Third Force: The Rise of Transnational Civil Society, Washington DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2000.

2. Shamima Ahmed and David M. Potter, NGOs in International Politics, Bloomfield, CT: Kumarian Press, 2006.

3. In addition to the above text, many readings will be placed on Blackboard. Go to Blackboard IR 371/Course Documents/Week #. You can also download many journal articles through USC libraries online subscriptions. Note that op-ed articles are an integral part of course learning materials. You will need to download such articles directly from, for example, The New York Times website. Recommended readings are being placed on Blackboard and Leavey Reserve, wherever possible.

1. COURSE OVERVIEW (Jan. 12, 14)

Distribution of the syllabus. Discussion of course goals, expectations, and grading.

Jack Snyder, “One World, Rival Theories”, Foreign Policy, December 2004, pp. 53-62 [Class Blackboard: hereafter, BB].

Ahmed and Potter, NGOs in International Politics, ch.1, “NGOs and International Relations Theory,” pp. 5-17 (Course textbook; this chapter is also on BB/course documents/week#1).

Geoffrey Wiseman, “’Polylateralism: Diplomacy’s Third Dimension,” PD Magazine, Summer 2010, pp. 24-39.

2. NGOs AS INTERNATIONAL ACTORS (Jan 19, 21)

Ahmed and Potter, NGOs in International Politics, ch. 4, “NGO Relations with States,” pp. 57-74 [Course textbook; also on BB].

Florini and Simmons, “What the World Needs Now?,” ch1. in Florini (ed.), The Third Force, pp.1-15 [BB].

Kal Raustiala, “NGOs in International Treaty-Making,” ch. 6 in Duncan B. Hollis (ed.), The Oxford Guide to Treaties, Oxford University Press, pp. 150-174.

Fred Halliday, “The Romance of Non-state Actors,” pp.21-37 ch. 2 in Josselin and Wallace Non-State Actors in World Politics [also on BB].

Recommended

Daphne Josselin and William Wallace, ch. 1 “Non-state Actors in World Politics: a Framework,” Daphne Josselin and William Wallace (eds.), Non-State Actors in World Politics, Houndmills, Basingstoke (UK), Palgrave 2002, pp.1-20. [BB].

Richard Langhorne, “The Diplomacy of Non-State Actors”, Diplomacy and Statecraft, vol.16, no.2, 2005, pp. 331-339 [BB].

Hans Peter Schmitz, “Being (Almost) like a State: Challenges and Opportunities of Transnational Non-Governmental Activism”, unpublished paper, pp.1-35 [BB].

3. TRADITIONAL NON-STATE ACTORS: THE INTERNATIONAL RED CROSS (ICRC), THE CATHOLIC CHURCH (Jan 26, 28)

Martha Finnemore, “Norms and War: The International Red Cross and the Geneva Conventions,” in National Interests in International Society, Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1996, pp.69-88 [BB].

ICRC video-documentary “War and dignity”. (to be shown in class).

ICRC Web Site, especially section on “About the ICRC,” “History of the ICRC,” and “International Humanitarian Law.”

David Ryall, “The Catholic Church as a Transnational Actor,” ch. 3 in Josselin and Wallace, Non-State Actors in World Politics, pp.41-58

4. THINK TANKS AND INDEPENDENT COMMISSIONS (Feb 2, 4)

Lee Michael Katz, “American Think Tanks: Their Influence is on the Rise,” Carnegie Reporter, Spring 2009, pp.12–23 [BB].

Eric Lipton, Brooke Williams and Nicholas Confessore, “Foreign Powers Buy Influence at Think Tanks,” The New York Times, Sept. 6, 2014 (8 pages) (Download from NYT website).

Gareth Evans, “Commission Diplomacy,” in Andrew F. Cooper, Jorge Heine, and Ramesh Thakur (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Modern Diplomacy, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013, pp. 278-302.

Recommended

Donald E. Abelson, “Think tanks in the United States,” in Diane Stone, Andrew Denham and Mark Garnett (eds.), Think tanks across nations: A comparative approach, Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 1998, pp. 107-126 [BB].

Diane Stone, “The ‘Policy Research’ Knowledge Elite and Global Policy Processes,” ch.7 in Josselin and Wallace Non-State Actors in World Politics, pp.113-32.

James McGann, “7th Annual Global Go-To Think Tanks Index Report”, January 2014

(available online at ).

5. PHILANTHROPIC FOUNDATIONS: FROM ANDREW CARNEGIE TO BILL GATES (Feb 9, 11)

Test #1, Th. Feb 9, 12:30–1:00 p.m.

Jean Strouse, “How to Give Away $21.8 Billion,” The New York Times Magazine, April 16, 2000 [download from NYT web-site].

Nicholas Confessore, “Policy-Making Billionaires,” The New York Times, November 26, 2011 [download from NYT web-site].

Recommended

Julian Eckl, “The power of private foundations: Rockefeller and Gates in the struggle against malaria,” Global Social Policy, vol. 14 (1), 2014, pp.91-116.

Gerald Freund, “Modern Philanthropy and Exceptional Individuals,” ch. 1 in Narcissism and Philanthropy: Ideas and Talent Denied, New York: Viking, 1996, pp.1-27 [BB].

Kirk Semple, “Asians in U.S. Gain Influence in Philanthropy,” The New York Times, Jan. 9, 2013 (Download from NYT website).

6. ROLE OF TRANSNATIONAL PEACE MOVEMENTS AND ORGANIZATIONS IN ENDING THE COLD WAR IN EUROPE AND APARTHEID IN SOUTH AFRICA (Feb 16, 18)

Thomas Risse-Kappen, “Ideas Do Not Float Freely: Transnational Coalitions, Domestic Structures, and the End of the Cold War,” in Richard Ned Lebow and Thomas Risse-Kappen, International Relations Theory and the End of the Cold War, New York: Columbia University Press, 1995, pp.187-222 [BB].

Audie Klotz, “Transnational Activism and Global Transformations: The Anti-Apartheid and Abolitionist Experiences,” in European Journal of International Relations, vol. 8, no. 1 (March 2002), pp. 49-76 [BB].

MID-TERM FEB. 23: 12:30–1:50 P.M.

7. CAMPAIGNS AGAINST ANTI-PERSONNEL LANDMINES AND THE TRADE IN SMALL ARMS (Feb 25)

Landmines:

Ahmed and Potter, NGOs in International Politics, ch. 8, “NGOs and International Security,” esp. pp. 153-63.

8. PRIVATIZING FOREIGN POLICY: PRIVATE MILITARY CONTRACTORS AND LOBBYING FIRMS (March 1, 3)

PMCs:

Charles Glass, “The Warrior Class: A golden aged for the freelance soldier,” Harper’s Magazine, April 2012, pp. 28-37 [BB].

Recommended

Christopher Coker, “Outsourcing War” in Josselin and Wallace, pp. 189-202.

Deborah D. Avant, “Mercenaries,” Foreign Policy,” July/August 2004, pp. 20–28 [BB].

Jeremy Scahill, “Bush’s Shadow Army,” The Nation, posted online, March 15, 2007, pp. 1-10 [BB].

Lobbyists:

John Newhouse, Diplomacy, Inc.: The Influence of Lobbies on U.S. Foreign Policy,” Foreign Affairs, vol. 88, no 3 (May/June 2009), pp. 73–92 [BB].

Recommended

Ken Silverstein, “Their Men in Washington: Undercover with D.C.’s lobbyists for hire,”

Harper’s Magazine (July 2007, pp.53–61 [BB].

9. THE NEW COLONIALIST THESIS (March 8, 10)

Michael A. Cohen and others, “The New Colonialists,” Foreign Policy, July/August, 2008, pp. 74-79 [BB].

Chetan Kumar, “Transnational Networks and Campaigns for Democracy,” ch. 5 in Florini (ed.), The Third Force, pp. 115-142.

Ahmed and Potter, NGOs in International Politics, ch. 7, “NGOs and Transnational Accountability in Bangladesh,” pp.125-51. See also ch. 5, “NGOs and IGOs”, pp. 75-96.

Recommended

Ahmed and Potter, NGOs in International Politics, ch. 8, “NGOs and International Security,” esp. pp. 163-82.

Clifford Bob, The Marketing of Rebellion: Insurgents, Media, and International Activism, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2005; ch. 5, pp.178-95 [BB].

Spring recess: M March 14–F March 18

10. INFLUENTIAL INDIVIDUALS: EMINENT POLITICAL FIGURES, CELEBRITY DIPLOMATS (Mar 22, 24)

Daniel W. Drezner, “Foreign Policy Goes Glam,” The National Interest, no. 92 (Nov./Dec. 2007), pp. 22-28 [BB].

Daniel Bergner, “Attention-grabber for Sudan’s Cause,” The New York Times Magazine, December 2, 2010 (Download from NYT), pp. 1-10.

Andrew F. Cooper, “Formal Leaders on the Global Stage,” ch. 1 in Diplomatic Afterlives, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2015, pp. 1-18 [BB].

Recommended:

Daniel L. Byman and Kenneth M. Pollack, “Let Us Now Praise Great Men: Bringing the Statesman Back In,” International Security, vol.25, no.4 (Spring 2001), pp.107-146.

11. INSIDIOUS NON-STATE ACTORS: CORRUPT CORPORATIONS, TERORISTS, PIRATES (Mar 29, April 31)

Test #2, T Mar 29, 12:30–1:00 p.m.

Fredrik Galtung, “A Global Network to Curb Corruption: The Experience of Transparency International,” ch. 2. in Florini (ed.), The Third Force, pp.17-47.

Walter Laqueur, “Postmodern Terrorism,” Foreign Affairs, vol.75, no.5 (Sept/Oct 1996), pp.24-36 [Download via USC libraries online].

Max Boot, “Pirates, Then and Now: How Piracy Was Defeated in the Past and Can Be Again,” Foreign Affairs, vol. 88, no. 4 (July/August 2009), pp.94–106 [BB].

12. SUB-STATE ACTORS, CITIES, ISSUES NETWORKS, NEW TECHNOLOGY (April 5, 7)

Rodrigo Tavares, “Foreign Policy Goes Local: How Globalization Made Sao Paolo into a Diplomatic Power,” Foreign Affairs, October 9, 2013 BB].

Clay Shirky, “The Political Power of Social Media: Technology, the Public Sphere, and Political Change,” Foreign Affairs, vol. 90, no. 1 (Jan./Feb 2011), pp. 28-41[BB].

Malcolm Gladwell, “From Innovation to Revolution: Do Social Media Make Protests Possible?,” Foreign Affairs, vol. 90, no. 2 (March/April 2011, pp. 153-4 [BB].

Recommended:

Noe Cornago, “On the Normalization of Sub-State Diplomacy,” The Hague Journal of Diplomacy, vol. 5, nos. 1-2, 2010, pp. 11-36 [Download via USC libraries online].

Abraham F. Lowenthal, “Building Cosmopolitan Capacity,” in Global California: Rising to the Cosmopolitan Challenge, Stanford, CA: Stanford Univ. Press, 2009, pp.116-38 [BB]

C. Richard Neu, Global Los Angeles, A report for the Pacific Council on International Policy, February 2015, Summary i–xv; pp. 1–87.

Jean-François Rischard, “Global Issues Networks: Desperate Times Deserve Innovative Measures,” The Washington Quarterly, vol.26, no.1 (Winter 2003–03), pp. 17–33 [BB]

13. TRANSNATIONAL CIVIL SOCIETY AND HUMAN RIGHTS, (April 12, 14)

Thomas Risse, “The Power of Norms versus the Norms of Power: Transnational Civil Society and Human Rights,” ch.7 in Florini (ed.), The Third Force, pp.177-209.

14. LESSONS FOR GLOBAL CIVIL SOCIETY (April 19, 21)

Ann Florini, “Lessons Learned,” ch. 8 in Florini (ed.), The Third Force, pp.211-40.

John Robert Kelley, “The New Diplomacy: Evolution of a Revolution,” Diplomacy & Statecraft, vol. 21 (2010), pp.286-305.

15. COURSE SUMMARY AND REVIEW (April 26, 28)

April 26: 12.30-1:00 Optional test #3

Evaluating the courses main propositions

FINAL EXAM PAPER DUE: W MAY 11 AT 2 P.M

Academic Conduct

Plagiarism – presenting someone else’s ideas as your own, either verbatim or recast in your own words – is a serious academic offense with serious consequences.  Please familiarize yourself with the discussion of plagiarism in SCampus in Section 11, Behavior Violating University Standards.  Other forms of academic dishonesty are equally unacceptable.  See additional information in SCampus and university policies on scientific misconduct, .

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Support Systems

A number of USC’s schools provide support for students who need help with scholarly writing.  Check with your advisor or program staff to find out more.  Students whose primary language is not English should check with the American Language Institute , which sponsors courses and workshops specifically for international graduate students.  The Office of Disability Services and Programs provides certification for students with disabilities and helps arrange the relevant accommodations.  Certification must be delivered to me by the end of the third week, i.e., well before the first test so that appropriate arrangements can be made. If an officially declared emergency makes travel to campus infeasible, USC Emergency Information provide safety and other updates, including ways in which instruction will be continued by means of blackboard, teleconferencing, and other technology.

Jan 10, 2016

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