Start of the Cold War Notes

Here are the notes on Spanier's interpretation of the start of the Cold War. And here are the notes based on Gaddis.

Here are the notes from Gamson and Modigliani with the tests of Spanier versus Gaddis.

Also, follow this link to the recommended book by Gaddis. It's available on-line via the History E-Book Project.

Week 1 Notes

Here are the notes from the first week of American Foreign Policy.

And so it begins...

Nuclear proliferation seems increasingly more likely in the Middle East. Here is a story that King Abdullah II of Jordan is thinking of pursuing nuclear power for peaceful means.

Which only makes sense if you think about their strategic situation. You have Iran to the east pursuing nuclear power, and Iranian backed Hamas continuing a stand-off against a nuclear Israel. Here is a decent map of the area.

Here is some of what King Abdullah had to say in response to this question:
Do you see a clear link between the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the Iranian nuclear threat and the threat of terrorism?

"Through Hamas, Iran has been able to buy itself a seat on the table in talking about the Palestinian issue. And, as a result, through Hamas it does play a role in the issue of the Palestinians, as strange as that should sound.

"If we start moving the process forward, then there's less reason for engagement on the Palestinian issue.

"But, the rules have changed on the nuclear subject throughout the whole region. Where I think Jordan was saying, 'we'd like to have a nuclear-free zone in the area,' after this summer, everybody's going for nuclear programs.

"The Egyptians are looking for a nuclear program. The GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council] are looking at one, and we are actually looking at nuclear power for peaceful and energy purposes. We've been discussing it with the West."

Another way of looking at the trade-offs in American Foreign Policy...

Here is the story from the NYTimes.

Another story from the NYTimes (here) about retired US generals testifying before a Senate Committee. Note the following line:

“There is no way to win a war that is not in your interests." That's from Lt. Gen. William E. Odom, a former director of the National Security Agency. He said the principal beneficiary of the war was Iran and Al Qaeda, not the United States.

PS413 Simulation Roles and Assignment

Here are a list of roles for the simulation. Here is the paper assignment sheet.

Remember: the paper is due January 26th at 1:00pm!

First Reading for PS413/513 Now Available!

Dear American Foreign Policy Students--

UPDATE (1/17): The Michalak chapter is now available here.

The first reading (the Michalak chapter) is not available and won't be before it's due on the syllabus. So, just cross that reading off the list of additional readings, and we'll cover most of the points in class this week. Continue reading the Hook and Spanier book.

Syllabus for PSC644 International Conflict

Here is the syllabus for the graduate-level International Conflict course.

NOTE: Most of the readings from this syllabus refer to journal articles that are available using the electronic journals link at UA (http://www.lib.ua.edu/ejournals/). A few of the journals are not listed on this source, or no coverage exists for certain years of the journal, so students will have to go to the library to make copies of these articles. Finally, ome of the readings refer to book chapters that will be distributed to the class as the semester progresses.