PLS 2253: Introduction to International Relations
Fall 2013

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  • Course Information
  • Introduction to International Relations (PowerPoint slides)
  • Theories of International Relations (PowerPoint slides)
  • Foreign Policy and Diplomacy (PowerPoint slides)
  • International Organizations--The United Nations (PowerPoint slides)
  • Public International Law (PowerPoint slides)
  • Theories of Regional Integration and the European Union (PowerPoint slides)
  • Theories of International Political Economy (PowerPoint slides)
  • International Trade (PowerPoint slides)
  • International Monetary Systems and Policies (PowerPoint sides)
  • International Development (PowerPoint slides)

    • Course Information:

  • The syllabus is available here
  • Here is the D2L link to the course
  • Click here for the EIU library
  • Daily Show
  • My StumbleUpon page
  • BBC World News
  • Student profile
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    Introduction to International Relations:

  • APSA organized sections
  • Break away states of the former Soviet Union
  • List of non-recognized states
  • Transnistria as a defacto state
  • Concert of Europe
  • Congress of Berlin
  • Greenbook on foreign assistance
  • Ethnicity as a characiertic of nation (map1, map2)
  • IGOs
  • Languages of India
  • Map of religions in Iraq
  • Marshall Plan was revolutionary in its vision
  • Montevideo Convention
  • NTBs
  • North-South Gap
  • Greenpeace is an important NGO
  • Amnesty International is one of the world's leading human rights NGOs
  • Nationalism
  • Role that large armies play in a post Cold War environment
  • Sovereignty is a basic concept in international relations
  • Switzerland's decision to become full member of UN
  • Treaty of Westphalia
  • Uncommon Knowledge discusses the role of the UN
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    Theories of International Relations:

  • Idealism was embodied in the League of Nations (here is a map of the League membership and a timeline)
  • Photo of Chamberlain and Hitler and paper proclaiming "peace in our times"
  • Realism
  • Waltz's view of structural neorealism
  • General discussion of structural theories
  • Dependency theory
  • Example of unipolar language
  • Video that compares liberalism and realism
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    • Foreign Policy and Diplomacy:

  • General Issues of Foreign Policy and Diplomacy
  • Cuban Missile Crisis
  • Football war
  • Diplomacy
  • Diplomatic ranks
  • Example of Persona non grata
  • Another example of persona non grata
  • Georgian diplomatic immunity waived (1 and 2)
  • More on the Georgian case
  • US Embassy personnel in Belarus declared persona non grata
  • US Ambassador in Bolivia declared persona non grata (followed by US response and Venezuela, 1 and 2)
  • U.S. State Department
  • U.S. Embassy in Britain
  • Bio US Ambassador to Britain
  • U.S. Embassy in Moldova
  • Jackson negotiations for US troops with Serbia
  • Recognition of Kosovo
  • General Foreign Policy Issues
  • Foreign policy and population
  • Foreign policy and the wealth of states
  • Foreign policy and type of government
  • Foreign policy and democratic peace theory
  • Landmines in Cambodia
  • Military spending (1 and 2)
  • Military spending as GDP
  • Neutrality under international law
  • Non-aligned movement
  • NATO
  • Casus foederis in regards to NATO
  • NATO Treaty
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    International Organizations--The United Nations:

  • UN
  • History of the UN
  • UN Charter
  • How UN votes in new members
  • UN Security Council Members
  • UN Security Council reform
  • Documents related to reform
  • Payments to the UN
  • UN Secretary-General Annan Report in 2005
  • Chavez's speech against Bush at the UN
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    Public International Law:

  • General Information:
  • Amnesty International is one of the world's leading human rights NGOs
  • Human Rights Watch
  • International Campaign to Ban Landmines
  • Landmines in Cambodia
  • International Court of Justice
  • Conventions and Treaties:
  • Geneva Conventions
  • Genocide Convention
  • State-based definitions of genocide
  • Statement from Human Rights Watch questioning the U.S. commitment to the Geneva Conventions
  • UN Charter
  • UN Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitrate Awards
  • UN Declaration of Human Rights
  • US Declaration of Independence
  • International Criminal Court (ICC):
  • International Criminal Court
  • Debate on indictment of Bashir
  • Coalition for the International Criminal Court
  • Video of the inauguration of the ICC
  • Audio of discussion of the ICC
  • International Criminal Tribunals:
  • ECCC
  • ICTY
  • ICTR
  • Home page of the SCSL
  • List of Tribunals (from the Financial Times)
  • Legal Concepts:
  • Jus ad bellum
  • Jus in bello
  • Pacta sunt servanda
  • Private international law
  • Public international law
  • Natural Law Theory
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    • Theories of Regional Integration and the European Union:

  • Europa is the official site of the European Union
  • Council of the European Union
  • European Commission
  • European Court of Justice
  • European Parliament
  • ECSC
  • Enlargement of EU
  • Future enlargement of the EU
  • ECB's section devoted to the euro
  • Member-states of the EU (interactive map of enlargement)
  • Neofunctionalism
  • Schengen travel in Europe
  • Robert Schuman Bio
  • Jean Monnet Bio
  • Treaties of the EU
  • Maastricht Treaty
  • Single European Act
  • Treaty of Lisbon
  • Treaty of Nice
  • Treaty of Nice voting scheme in the Council of the European Union (more on the voting scheme)
  • World War II effects
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    • Theories of International Political Economy:

  • Lenin's "theory of imperialism"
  • Thomas Mun was a leading British mercantilist
  • David Ricardo formalized the concept of comparative advantage
  • Adam Smith
  • Hegemonic stability theory
  • Public good
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    International Trade:

  • Trade Barriers
  • US views on anti-dumping
  • Anti-dumping definition
  • Export subsidies (US and EU)
  • Non-tariff barriers (NTBs)
  • Quotas
  • US Commerce Department Subsidy Enforcement Office
  • US Trade Representative's Office negotiates trade agreements on behalf of the president
  • US trade statistics
  • Regional Trade
  • Customs union of the EU
  • Common market of the EU
  • RTB diagram
  • Role of regional trading blocs
  • EFTA as a free trade area
  • GATT/WTO
  • GATT trade rounds
  • World Trade Organization (WTO) covers a variety of trade-related issues
  • NGOs active in monitoring the WTO
  • WTO has a video about the changes from the GATT to WTO
  • Economic statistics
  • Trade statistics since the 1950s
  • More trade statistics
  • WTO trade statistics
  • GDP per capita
  • List of Fortune top MNCs and compared to state GDP
  • Other
  • Bretton Woods
  • Europa is the official site of the European Union
  • Economy of Cuba
  • Economy of North Korea
  • The Economist Big Mac indicator
  • Georgian energy crisis
  • Comecon conducted communist trade
  • Financial crisis in graphs and charts (BBC)
  • G8 Information Centre houses documents and publications about the annual G8 summit and participating countries
  • Import substitution industrialization (ISI)
  • Inter-American Development Bank is a regional bank of the Americas
  • North-South Gap
  • Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
  • Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries
  • Prisoner's dilemma in trade
  • Click here for USAID
  • Venezuela's nationalization of industry
  • Weimar Republic inflation
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    International Development:

  • General Development Issues
  • Relationship between democracy and economic development
  • African and Asian urbanization
  • Child labor practices
  • Convergence theory
  • List of Fortune top MNCs and compared to state GDP
  • Failed states
  • GDP per capita
  • Ranking of country GDP
  • Spending on defense in USD
  • Spending on defense as a % of GDP
  • Import substitution industrialization (ISI)
  • Marshall Plan was revolutionary in its vision
  • Population life expectancy
  • Population growth in LDCs
  • Population growth worldwide
  • Population growth in urban areas
  • North-South Gap
  • Transparency International
  • UNDP combats international poverty
  • Click here for USAID
  • Regional Banks
  • Asia Development Bank provides loans to Asian countries
  • European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) helps finance economic transitions
  • Inter-American Development Bank is a regional bank of the Americas
  • Debt and Development
  • International Monetary Fund (IMF) features general information and publications
  • IMF Youtube channel
  • General information on IMF quotas
  • IMF quotas as a basis of lending
  • Videos chronicling the history of the IMF
  • Paris Club
  • World Bank
  • World Bank features general background and information by region and country
  • Video on World Bank efforts to reduce poverty
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    International Monetary Systems and Policies:

  • Bretton Woods
  • Europa is the official site of the European Union
  • European Monetary System
  • History of the euro
  • Exchange rates
  • Financial crisis in graphs and charts (BBC)
  • Zimbabwe currency
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