Geography 4712
Fall Semester 2003 POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY
Instructor:
John O’Loughlin
201h Guggenheim
492-1619
email: johno@colorado.edu
Office Hours: MW
Homepage: http://www.colorado.edu/IBS/PEC/johno/johno.html
Teaching Assistants:
201h Guggenheim 201h Guggenheim 201h Guggenheim
492-4371 492-4371 492-4371
witmer@colorado.edu
sam.schueth@colorado.edu marco.antonsich@colorado.ed
Office Hours: Office Hours: Office Hours:
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. It also helps significantly to acquire (or develop) knowledge of global locations and current events through frequent reading of a substantive newspaper or magazine, such as The New York Times, Christian Science Monitor, or the Economist.
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 Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, the Middle East and Africa) are used to illustrate the concepts from the lectures and readings.
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.
The readings are on
electronic reserve. Details on accessing the electronic files are given
on the course webpage - http://www.colorado.edu/geography/courses/geog_4712_f03/
The text is Peter J. Taylor and
Course Overview:
We begin with a short review of “geopolitics” particularly as the field developed in the U.S. before and after the Cold War. We then turn to a comprehensive framework for understanding contemporary global economic and political changes, “world-systems theory”. After these two short theoretical exegeses, we then use the theories to understand contemporary changes in the world regions. We examine economic changes first, particularly under the rubric of “globalization” and look at what effects these dramatic changes have on localities in parts of the Third World. Then we turn to the “Third Wave of Democracy” and examine the recent developments in Eastern Europe, Russia, Middle East and Africa. Finally, we analyze the reasons why “nationalisms” and civil wars seem to be booming, both literally and figuratively. We conclude with some considerations of what the political geography of the post 9-11 world might resemble.
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 or about 14
October. The final examination will be held on Wednesday 17th December,
Week 1: (Aug. 25) Introduction
The New Geopolitics
Week 2: (Sept. 1) Labor Day (no class)
Classical Geopolitics
Week 3: (Sept. 8) Heartland Theory and Eurasia
German Geopolitics
Week 4: (Sept. 15) “Democratic Geopolitics”
Cold War US Geopolitcs
Week 5: (Sept. 22) NATO in Kosovo - Aberration or Model for the Future
US Geopolitics and the Promotion of Democracy
Week 6: (Sept. 29) World-Systems Theory - Wallerstein
World-Systems Theory - Modelski
Week 7: (Oct. 6) Review for Midterm
MIDTERM EXAMINATION (Oct 8)
Week 8: (Oct. 13) Globalization and its Effects
World Cities as nodes in the global networks
Week 9: (Oct. 20) Challenging Globalization
Restructuring in the Third World
Week 10: (Oct. 27) Democratization and its Discontents
Islamist Politics and Globalization
Week 11: (Nov. 3) Crises of the State in Capitalist Societies
The Politics of Failure in the Third World
Week 12: (Nov. 10) Political Transitions in Africa and Middle East
Islam and Democracy
Week 13: (Nov. 17) Democrats, Stalinists, Socialists and Patriots in post-Communist societies
Transition to Democracy; The case of Russia
Week 14: (Nov. 24) Theories of Nationalism
Applications of Theories of Nationalism
Week 15: (Dec. 1) Ethno-territorial conflicts
The nature of conflicts in the future
Week 16: (Dec. 8) Political Geography – US hegemony and conflcits
Chaos and Cosmos in the World System ________________________________________________________________________
Geography 4712
Fall 2003
Discussion Sections and Readings
NOTE: DISCUSSION SECTIONS BEGIN ON AUGUST 26TH.
(The keyword in ALL CAPS after the title is the name of the electronic reserve)
Week 1 (Aug.25) Introduction
Reading: Economist “The road to 2050: A survey of the New Geopolitics.” (ROAD TO 2050)
Taylor and Flint, 1-12
Week 2 (Sep. 1) Classical Geopolitics
O’Tuathail (Critical Geopolitics) pp. 111-136 (GERMAN GEOPOLITICS)
(Note – students in Monday recitations attend another section this week – Labor Day)
Week 3 (Sep. 8) US Geopolitics
Reading: Taylor and Flint, pp. 62-104
O’Tuathail “Thinking critically” (Geopolitics Reader) (THINKING CRITICALLY)
Week 4 (Sep. 15) Post Cold War Geopolitics
Reading: Taylor and Flint, pp. 12-48
O’Loughlin “Ordering the Crush Zone.” (CRUSH ZONE)
Week 5 (Sep. 22) World Systems Theory
Reading: Taylor and Flint, 105-144
Week 6 (Sept. 29) Hegemonic Cycles
Reading: Taylor and Flint, pp. 144-172
Wallerstein “Twin Towers as Metaphor” (see web address)
NOTE: Students in sections on TH/F attend another section this week – Fall Break)
Week 7 (Oct. 6) Contemporary World (Dis)Order
Reading: review for exam
MIDTERM
Week 8 (Oct. 13) Globalization
Reading: K. Ohmae (End of the Nation-State), pp. 7-57 (END OF THE NATION STATE)
Taylor and Flint, 321-328
Week 9 (Oct. 20) Localities in the Globalized World
Readings: M. Watts “Conjunctures and crisis” (CONJUNCTURES)
Economist “Globalisation: Expelled from Eden” (BANANAS)
D. Nutt “Cottoning onto fair trade”
Presidents in NY Times
Week 10 (Oct. 27) Notions of Democracy
Reading: Taylor and Flint, 172-191
Kramer “Islamist notions of democracy” (ISLAMIC DEMOCRACY)
Hefner “September 11 and the Struggle for Islam” (see web link)
Week 11 (Nov. 3) Politics of Failure in the Third World
Reading: Taylor and Flint, pp. 245-266, 270-285
Huntington “West unique, not universal” (WEST UNIQUE)
Week 12 (Nov. 10) Political Dilemmas in Transition Societies
Reading: Barber, Jihad vs. McWorld, pp. 219-59 (JIHAD AND MCWORLD)
Week 13 (Nov. 17) Transitions to Democracy in Eastern Europe and Russia
Week 14 (Nov. 24) Nationalism Theories
(NOTE- Students in sections on TH/F attend another section this week -THANKSGIVING)
Week 15 (Dec. 1) Conflicts in the Post Cold War world
Barnett “The Pentagon’s New Map” (see web link)
Week 16 (Dec. 8) Review for Final Examination.
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.
RESERVE READINGS
Economist “A
survey of the new geopolitics: The road to 2050”
G. O’Tuathail “Thinking critically about geopolitics” in G. O’Tuathail, S. Dalby and P. Routledge (eds) The Geopolitics Reader. London: Routledge, 1997, pp. 1-12.
G. O’ Tuathail Critical Geopolitics.
Kenichi Ohmae. The End of the Nation-State: The Rise of
Regional Economies
S. Huntington “The West: Unique, not universal.” Foreign Affairs 75 (6) Nov-Dec, 1996, 28-46.
M. Watts. “Conjunctures and crisis: Food, ecology and population and the internationalization of capital.” Journal of Geography 86 (1987), 292-299.
Economist “Globalisation: Expelled from Eden” 20 December, 1997, 35-38.
B. Barber, Jihad vs. McWorld: How Globalism and Tribalism are Reshaping the World, pp. 219-259
J. O’Loughlin “Ordering
the ‘Crush Zone’: Geopolitical Games in Post-Cold War Eastern Europe.” in
G. Kramer, “Islamist notions of democracy.” Middle East Report July-Aug, 1993, pp. 2-8.
I. Wallerstein “
R.W. Hefner “September 11 and the Struggle for Islam” Social Science Research Council Reflections on September 11 essays (www.ssrc.org/sept11/essays/hefner.htm)
D. Archibugi “Terrorism and Cosmopolitanism” Social Science Research Council Reflections on September 11 essays (www.ssrc.org/sept11/essays/archibugi.htm)
O. Roy “Neo-Fundamentalism” Social Science Research Council Reflections on September 11 essays (www.ssrc.org/sept11/essays/roy.htm)
J. O’Loughlin “The political geography of war: Civil wars in the hegemonic shadow” in C. Flint (ed) The Geographies of War. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004 (http://www.colorado.edu/IBS/PEC/johno/pub/War_Book_web.htm)
Thomas P.M. Barnett “The Pentagon’s New map” Esquire Magazine March 2003.
http://www.nwc.navy.mil/newrulesets/ThePentagonsNewMap.htm
Honor Code and Plagiarism:
The College of Arts and Sciences passed an Honor Code last year. 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.
The following is from the Honor Code website - “This service allows faculty to submit sentences, paragraphs, or entire term/research papers or other scholarly works to the TurnItIn.com website for review. After the service scans more than 1.5 billion pages on the Internet, the faculty member will receive a report including the percentage of the material that has been identified as drawn from other sources, the degree of similarity in the matching material, and live hyperlinks to the original source material so that each faculty member can determine for themselves whether plagiarism has indeed occurred. In order to utilize this service, individual Pass Codes have been obtained and are available to university faculty.” The electronic files submitted will then become part of the TurnItIn “closed database”. According to the CU Honor code website “This procedure not only ensures that multiple submissions of the same material can be detected, regardless of the passage of time or the location of the submission, but protects the integrity of each student's scholarly efforts. No additional access to, use, or publication of the material in this paper bank is made by 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 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. You can see more about this issue at http://www.colorado.edu/academics/honorcode/Pass_Code.html