Geography 4712
Fall Semester 2007 POLITICAL
GEOGRAPHY
Instructor:
John O’Loughlin
201h Guggenheim
303-492-1619 or 303-492-3671
email: johno@colorado.edu
Office
Hours: MW
Personal
Homepage: http://www.colorado.edu/IBS/PEC/johno/johno.html
Teaching
Assistants:
Guggenheim 312 Guggenheim 312 Guggenheim 310
492-3728 492-3728 492-6854
adam.levy
@colorado.edu andrew.m.linke@colorado.edu gustafaf@colorado.edu
Office Hours: Th
This course focuses on the international and
cross-national perspectives of political geography. It deals with political, economic and social
aspects of international relations from a geographical perspective and examines
societies in transition in the post Cold War and 9-11 world. As such, the course has an integrative
character and requires basic knowledge about international affairs. Frequent reading of a substantive newspaper
or magazine, such as The New York Times,
The Guardian, Christian Science Monitor, or the Economist would help
significantly to acquire (or develop) knowledge of global locations and current
events.
The course is designed for the upper-division level. It surveys some important aspects of the
discipline of political geography but does not engage in a systematic survey of
regional issues and conflicts. Instead,
contemporary developments in the world’s regions (especially the Balkans and
the former
In response to student requests, we restructured the
course in 1996 as a two lectures- one discussion period per week. (Formerly we
had 3 lectures per week). This
experiment is successful when all students come to the discussion sections
having already read the material and with questions. The TA will pass out a list of key
concepts/terms from the lectures and readings and will organize discussion
around them; students will be assigned to a group for purposes of leading a
discussion. Further details in the first
recitation section meeting. Details
about the format and requirements of the research paper will also be given in
the discussion sections.
There is no text though we will read various text-like
chapters as well as research articles on electronic reserve. Details on accessing the electronic files are
given on the course webpage - http://www.colorado.edu/geography/class_homepages/geog_4712_f07/ PDF files of the class materials (text-only
and key diagrams/maps) used in lecture are also available via the website for
pre-lecture printing and this should help to alleviate frantic
note-taking. The username for these
notes is geog4712 and the password
is xxxxxx
Success is this course is a function of the usual formula
(class attendance, staying current with the readings, and asking for help when
needed). Use of the lecture notes from
the website is no substitution for class attendance. The TAs will take weekly recitation
attendance.
Course
Overview:
We begin with a short review of “geopolitics”
particularly as the field developed in the
Grades are assigned on the basis of 30% midterm; 30%
final examination; 30% term paper and 10% discussion section performance. The midterm will be held on 15th October at
Lecture
Outline
Week 1: (Aug. 27) Introduction
What
is political geography? Illustration from Bosnia-Herzegovina
Week 2: (Sept 3) Labor Day (no class)
Classical
Geopolitics
Week 3: (Sept. 10) Heartland Theory and
German
Geopolitics
Week 4: (Sept. 17)
Cold
War
Week 5: (Sept. 24) Critical Geopolitics
US
Geopolitics and the Promotion of Democracy
Week 6: (Oct. 1) Democratization and its Discontents
Restructuring
in the
Week 7: (Oct. 8) Substantive and procedural
democracy in post-Communist societies
Review
for Midterm Examination
Week 8: (Oct. 15) Review
for MIDTERM EXAMINATION October 15 at
World-Systems
Theory - Wallerstein
Week 9: (Oct. 22) World-Systems Theory - Modelski
Critiques
of World-System Theories
Week 10: (Oct. 29) Crises
of the State in Capitalist Societies
The
Politics of Failure in the
Week 11: (Nov. 5) Globalization
and its Effects
World
Cities as nodes in the global networks
Week 12: (Nov. 12) Theories
of Nationalism
Applications
of Theories of Nationalism
THANKSGIVING
WEEK – No classes or recitations
Week 13: (Nov. 26) Ethno-territorial
conflicts
The
political geography of civil wars
Week 14: (Dec. 3) The
aftermath of war:
Week 15: (Dec. 10) The nature of conflicts in the future
Chaos and Cosmos in the World System
________________________________________________________________________
Geography 4712
Fall 2007
Discussion Sections and
NOTE: DISCUSSION
SECTIONS BEGIN ON WEEK OF AUGUST 27th.
(The keyword in ALL CAPS after the title is the title of
the electronic reserve;
‘see link’ refers to webpage in the bibliography below)
Week 1 (Aug.27) Introduction
Reading: Dahlman/O Tuathail
“Broken Bosnia: localized displacement .” (BROKEN
Week 2 (Sept 3) Classical Geopolitics
Agnew “The three ages of geopolitics” (THREE
AGES)
Week 3 (Sep. 10) German Geopolitics
O’Tuathail (from Critical Geopolitics) pp. 111-136 (GERMAN
GEOPOLITICS)
Week 4 (Sep. 18)
Agnew “A new age of global geopolitics” (NEW
AGE)
Week 5 (Sep. 25) Critical Geopolitics
O’Tuathail “Thinking critically” ( from Geopolitics
Reader) (THINKING CRITICALLY)
Week 6 (Oct. 1) Globalization and
Development
Sachs, et al “Geography of poverty” (GEOG OF POVERTY)
Week 7 (Oct. 8) Democratization
Dalby
“Global geopolitics” (GLOBAL GEOPOLITICS)
Week 8 (Oct. 15) Post-Communism and Illiberal Democracy
Zakaria “Illiberal democracy”
(ILLIBERAL DEMOCRACY)
Week 9 (Oct. 22) World systems theory
Week 10 (Oct. 29) Politics of Failure in the
Baxter “Cotton subsidies squeeze
Week 11 (Nov. 5) Effects of Globalization
Week 12 (Nov. 12) Theories of Nationalism
Week 13 (Nov. 26) Ethno-territorial conflicts
Week 14 (Dec. 3) Aftermaths of wars
Reading:
O’Loughlin “All are cold but few are frozen:
O’Loughlin and Ó Tuathail “Accounting for separatist
sentiment” (see link)
Week 15
(Dec. 10) Conflicts in the Post Cold War world
Barnett “The Pentagon’s New Map”
(PENTAGON’S MAP)
It is
imperative that all students come prepared to the discussion section with the
weekly reading completed. The same
readings will be the basis for the questions on half of the mid-term and final
examinations.
CLASS
Agnew,
J. Geopolitics: Revisioning
World Politics.
Barnett,
T.J. “The Pentagon’s new map: It
explains why we are going to war and why we will keep going to war.” Esquire (March 2003) 174-179, 227-228.
Baxter,
J. “Cotton subsidies squeeze
Collier,
P. et al. Breaking the Conflict Trap.
Dahlman, C. and G Ó Tuathail “Broken
Dalby,
S. “Global Geopolitics” in K.Cox, M. Low and J.
Robinson (eds) A Handbook of Political Geography.
Ignatieff, M. “The American empire: The burden.” In G. Ó Tuathail, S. Dalby and P. Routledge
(eds) The Geopolitics Reader. 2nd edition.
Lieven,
A. “
Luke,
T.W. “Postmodern geopolitics” in J. Agnew, G Ó.Tuathail and K. Mitchell (eds) A
Companion to Political Geography.
O’Loughlin,
J “Ordering the ‘Crush Zone’: Geopolitical Games in Post-Cold War Eastern
Europe.” in
O’Loughlin,
J “Global democratization: Measuring and explaining the diffusion of democracy”
In C. Barnett and M. Low (eds)
Spaces of Democracy.
O’Loughlin,
J “The political geography of conflict: Civil wars in the hegemonic shadow” in
C. Flint (ed) The
Geography of War and Peace: From Death Camps to Diplomats.
O’Loughlin,
J. “All are cold but few are frozen: Secessionist conflicts, with a focus on
O’Loughlin,
J. and G. Ó Tuathail “Accounting for separatist sentiment: Bosnia-Herzegovina
and the
Ó Tuathail, G Critical Geopolitics.
Ó Tuathail, G “Thinking critically about geopolitics” in G. Ó Tuathail, S. Dalby and P. Routledge
(eds) The Geopolitics Reader. 2nd ed.
Sachs, J, et al. “The
geography of poverty” Scientific
American March 2001, 70-75.
Secor, A. 2005. "Islamism, democracy, and the
political production of the headscarf issue in
Zakaria, F. “The rise of illiberal
democracy.” Foreign Affairs 76 (6), 1997, 22-43.
Honor Code and Plagiarism
The
http://www.colorado.edu/academics/honorcode/
Turnitin.com
A key
element of this code is that CU students will not plagiarize (using the words
and thoughts of others as your own). As
part of the effort to control plagiarism and to ensure that submitted works
from students are fully their own, the University has subscribed to
TurnItIn.com. It is the instructor’s
intent to submit the student papers in Geog. 4712 to TurnItIn.com and to give a
grade of F in the course to any student in violation of the CU Honor Code. Note that you cannot submit the same paper
or part of a paper for two different classes without the express permission of
both instructors. If a student has
any questions about this procedure or about any matter regarding proper
citation and the Honor Code, he or she should talk to a TA or the instructor.
Disability
Accommodations:
If you qualify for accommodations because of a disability, please
submit a letter from Disability Services in a timely manner so that your needs
may be addressed. Disability Services determines accommodations based on
documented disabilities. Contact: 303-492-8671, Willard 322, and www.Colorado.EDU/disabilityservices
Religious Accommodation:
Campus policy regarding religious observances requires that
faculty make every effort to reasonably and fairly deal with all students who,
because of religious obligations, have conflicts with scheduled exams,
assignments or required attendance. If you believe that you might have such a
conflict, please see the instructor.
Classroom Behavior:
Students and faculty each have responsibility for maintaining an
appropriate learning environment. Students who fail to adhere to such
behavioral standards may be subject to discipline. Faculty
have the professional responsibility to treat all students with
understanding, dignity and respect, to guide classroom discussion and to set
reasonable limits on the manner in which they and their students express
opinions. Professional courtesy is especially important with respect to
individuals and topics dealing with the politically-sensitive subject matter of
this class. Diversity of opinion is
welcomed.