Raymond Tanter                          rtanter@umich.edu
World Wide Web                         http://www-personal.umich.edu/~rtanter
PS 672 Fall 1998                         Conferencing on the Web (COW)
Thursday 3-5                               444B Mason Hall, Angell Computing Site

            INTERNATIONAL PEACE AND SECURITY AFFAIRS

COURSE OBJECTIVES

This course introduces students to seminal literature in the field of security studies. It treats theory and policy as mutually reinforcing pursuits.

In connection with theory, the course emphasizes both rational choice and bounded rationality approaches. It treats rational choice in the context of deterrence and coercion. The course includes cognitive constraints on rationality that explain why deterrence and coercion fail. Prospect theory from the field of psychology is a main focus.

Also with respect to theory, the course addresses strategies of deterrence and coercive diplomacy applied to international outlaws, such as states that sponsor international terrorism and that engage in proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), "rogue regimes." Also included are "freelancers" who collude with rogue states spreading terror as well as creating nuclear, biological, and chemical armaments.

During the Cold War, the Soviet threat was known, there was consensus in the West on how to meet that threat. During the post–Cold War era, aggression by regional states with large conventional forces, such as Iraq, was the menace of the moment. With the defeat of Iraq after its invasion of Kuwait, came the post–Gulf War era. Then, state–sponsored terrorism and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction by rogue regimes constituted the main threat. But there was much less accord on how to counter the rogue state threat. During this time, free lancers operating from failing states became the danger of the day. As the 21st Century opens, nonstate free lance terrorists who seek to acquire and use chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction are challenging rogue regimes as the main threat facing the United States.

At issue is what policies should Washington adopt to meet the new threats. Extreme policies range from "doing nothing" to "doing too much," such as sending ground combat troops. Midrange policies consist of adopting economic sanctions and launching cruise missiles against suspect terrorist installations and facilities for the construction of WMD.

A specific topic the class addresses is whether policies intended to deter and coerce have the effect of provoking undesirable behavior. The course discusses deterrence and coercion as strategic approaches to bargaining. In addition, the course addresses persuasion and search as complementary approaches to bargaining.

The class draws upon ideas from the fields of psychology, economics, and political science to make
inferences about conditions for successful application of strategy and persuasion.

In dispute is the relevance of concepts developed for superpower relations to lesser threats. "Can a dog intended to fight a cat "lick" the kittens?" Can American Cold War policies originally directed at the former Soviet Union also deter rogue states like Iran, Iraq, and North Korea? Can policies successfully implemented in Europe coerce a failed state like Afghanistan? Is it possible to coerce nonstate freelancers? Given the fact that weapons of mass destruction are not politically usable by a superpower, what would deter and compel a country like Iraq or a freelance terrorist?

The strategy of coercive diplomacy aimed to induce states to cease undesirable behavior or to take an action the United States favored. In the post-Cold War period, deterrence and coercion appear to be less
applicable: Because of the breakup of empires and the presence of failed states, international actors are less amenable to strategic threats and promises. In contrast to such strategic action, persuasion seeks to change behavior by convincing others that it is in their own best interest to act.

Persuasion or its antithesis, military action, rather than strategy may be the guiding principles of the new world order. Because challengers are less concerned with relative capabilities, resolve, and risk calculations than in the Cold War, they are less subject to strategy. Similarly, they are more constrained by their cognitive structures and thus not as influenced by threats of punishment and promises of reward.

Washington's battle to limit trade with rogue states confronts Moscow's willingness to trade with them. And in the post-Cold War relaxation of tensions, American allies also engage in trade with "rogue regimes." As a result, Washington charges that the allies facilitate international terrorism and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The allies counter that America creates enemies by isolating states with which it has political differences.

The course begins with a discussion of themes like bargaining theory, deterrence, and coercive diplomacy.

READINGS

Barbara Farnham (ed.) Avoiding Losses/Taking Risks: Prospect Theory and International Conflict (Ann
Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1994

Richard Haass, (ed.) Economic Sanctions and American Diplomacy (A Council on Foreign Relations
book, Washington DC: Brookings Institution Press, 1998)

Robert Jervis, Richard Lebow, Janice Stein, (eds.) Psychology and Deterrence (Baltimore: The Johns
Hopkins Press, 1985)

Michael Klare, Rogue States and Nuclear Outlaws (NY: Hill and Wang, 1995)

Raymond Tanter, Rogue Regimes: Terrorism and Proliferation (NY: St. Martin's Press, 1998)

Lecture Notes are available under Fall 1998 Notes and Instructions at:

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~rtanter/F98PS472Notes/
 

NOTE-TAKING

Please learn to take notes using a word processing program. Prior to a class, see
notes on the topics to be covered in  that class. Upon entering the class,
copy and paste the day's notes into a word processing document.
The students own notes on the material presented in class that day may then
be added to the lecture notes. The student should save their work for that
day to their IFS home directory.

On an IBM machine with Windows NT, your IFS home directory may be
found on the desktop.  In addition, when saving a file to your IFS home directory,
you may go to the H:\ drive to save the file.  The H:\ drive is your IFS home
space.

GRADING

Grades for this course derive from scores earned via midterm exam (35%), a
research paper (35%), class participation (10%) and participation in Conferencing
on the Web -- COW (20%):

COW

Student scores from COW derive from quantity––frequency with which you nest an
argument within the context of colleagues' thoughts and the extent to
which they take your ideas into account when framing their own.

Grades also include an assessment of the quality of argumentation and an  indication that participants conducted Internet research to locate primary sources. Before drawing an inference or advocating an option, students should search for documents.

Additionally, ps672 students serve as monitors for COW postings in ps472. Those in ps672 should register for the ps472 COW, post their own contributions there, and provide feedback on both ps472 and ps672 contributions. When you register, indicate in your profile that you are a ps672 monitor.

Before using a web Search Engine like AltaVista, Excite, or Yahoo!, access:

http://www.lib.umich.edu/libhome/Documents.center/ps472.html
 

ASSIGNMENTS

1) All students MUST obtain an e-mail account immediately. Without this
account it is not possible to participate in this class. In rare instances, course administrators may communicate via a class email group:

ps672f98@umich.edu

Instructions for joining and leaving this group are at:

ps472f98@umich.edu

Substitute ps672f98 for ps472f98 in the instructions.

2) Participants should complete readings before the date on the syllabus.

3) Students should select the topic upon which they wish to conduct research  and place a research question on COW by 15 October. By 5 November, students should post a draft outline on COW. Please comment on each others questions and outlines.

The final paper must be posted on the PS 672 Fall 1998 Term Papers page and delivered in hard copy
on the last day of class, 10 December. With respect to style, all papers should be double spaced, in 14 point font, full justification, and in HTML.

4) Students should be prepared to discuss their research on appropriate class dates. Students will benefit from class and COW  concerning paper topics.

TERM PAPER

Students should choose an actor on which to write their papers. That actor might be a state or a nonstate entity or person that is in conflict with the United States.

Before choosing a topic or actor, see other contributions to knowledge from prior ps672, ps472, and ps498 students, e.g., at:

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~rtanter/F97PS672PAPERS/http://www-personal.umich.edu/~rtanter/F97PS472PAPERS/

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~rtanter/F96PS672PAPERS/http://www-personal.umich.edu/~rtanter/F97PS472PAPERS/

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~rtanter/F97PS472PAPERS/

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~rtanter/F96PS472PAPERS/

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~rtanter/W98PS353498PAPERS/

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~rtanter/W97PS498PAPERS/

In citing sources, students must use the Turabian style guide for endnotes. There is no need to have a bibliography in the term paper.
 

SCHEDULE

 
Thursday 10 SEP--OVERVIEW OF SYLLABUS AND COMPUTER REQUIREMENTS; THEMES AND PLOTS.

Here is the assignment to be completed for class on Monday 14 SEP.

1) Using the Documents Center page for International Security Affairs Political Science 472, find the vote count in the House and the Senate for the Iran and Libya Sanctions Act of 1996.

Also find the United Nations Security Council Resolution that authorized Member states to take "all necessary  means" in order to oust Iraqi forces from Kuwait.

2) Using the University of Michigan Documents Center, which is also located on the Documents Center page for International Security Affairs Political Science 472, locate the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Online via GPO Access, find the President's "Address to  the Nation on Military Action Against Terrorist Sites" of August 20, 1998.

What did the President say about Osama bin Laden (a.k.a. Usama bin Ladin)?

3) For numbers one and two above, post the locations of the pages as links on COW.

And post a paragraph on COW regarding your search procedure. Post all responses on COW as HTML.
 

Monday 14 SEP Grace York,  the Documents Center Librarian

Thursday 17 SEP--COMPREHENSIVE RATIONAL ACTION

        BARGAINING THEORY: SEARCH, PERSUASION, AND STRATEGY.

Thursday 24 SEP--STRATEGY: ARMS AND INFLUENCE

        DETERRENCE AND COERCIVE DIPLOMACY

Thursday 1 OCT--BOUNDED RATIONAL ACTION: PSYCHOLOGY OF DETERRENCE

        BOUNDED RATIONAL ACTION: PSYCHOLOGY OF DETERRENCE

Thursday 8 OCT--BOUNDED RATIONAL ACTION: PSYCHOLOGY OF DETERRENCE

        Jervis, Lebow, and Stein 125-179 (Calculation, Miscalculation, and Conventional Deterrence)
        
        PROSPECT THEORY: AVOIDING LOSSES/TAKING RISKS

Thursday 15 OCT--PROSPECT THEORY: AVOIDING LOSSES/TAKING RISKS

        RESEARCH QUESTION DUE ON COW

        PROSPECT THEORY: AVOIDING LOSSES/TAKING RISKS

        READINGS: Farnham 119-157 (Prospect Theory and International
        Relations; Prospect Theory and Political Analysis; Conclusions)

Thursday 22 OCT--REVIEW
 
 

Thursday 29 OCT--MIDTERM 

Thursday 5 NOV--PLOT: RESEARCH OUTLINE DUE ON COW.

        Haass: Foreword, Introduction, Conclusion

        Michael Klare -- Pay particular attention to endnotes.

        Chapter 1. In Pursuit of Enemies: The Remaking of U.S. Military Strategy
 
        Chapter 2. Operation Desert Storm: The Liquidation of a Rogue State

Thursday 12 NOV--PLOT:

        Chapter 3. The True Path to Victory: Lessons of Desert Storm
 
        Chapter 4. Fighting "Demons and Dangers": Military Policy in the Clinton Era

        Chapter 5. Rogues, Outlaws, and Hegemons: A Pentagon Roster of the "Iraqs of the Future"

        Chapter 6. The Ambivalent Crusade: Washington's War Against Proliferation
 
Thursday 19 NOV

        Klare: Chapter 7, Beyond the Rogues: Military Doctrine in a World of Chaos

        Haass: Chapter 7, Pakistan

        No Lecture; Lab Assignment

        Tanter, Rogue Regimes 

Thursday 26 NOV--Thanksgiving

Thursday 3 DEC--PLOT:

        Tanter: Chapter 2, Iran:  Balance of Power versus Dual Containment.

                   Chapter 3, Iraq:  Accommodation or Containment

        Haass: Chapter 4, Iran
 
                   Chapter 5, Iraq
 
Thursday 10 DEC--TERM PAPERS DUE

        Tanter: Chapter 4, Libya, Contain or Embrace.
 
        Haass: Chapter 6, Libya 
 
        Tanter: Chapter 5, Syria, Contain or Embrace.

        Tanter: Chapter 6, Cuba, Contain and Embrace.
 
        Tanter: Chapter 7, North Korea, Contain and Embrace.

        Freelance terrorism and proliferation
 
Classes end 11 DEC.