IR4701E: International Relations Since 1900

This year IR 4701 will return to the challenge presented to the International community by Afghanistan. The course will attempt to cite Afghanistan within Central Asia, a system of states sharing similar and interconnected problems, many of which cannot be solved within the borders of any single state.
In the Autumn Term, the course will focus on providing students with an accentuated awareness of the current situation in the region. In the Spring Term, students will work to identify possible future solutions, realizable within the timeframe 2012-2022. The course will culminate with each student producing a major paper addressed to the theme ‘how do we win in Afghanistan’.

Paul Collier, Wars, Guns and Votes: Democracy in Dangerous Places (New York: Harper 2010). ISBN-10: 9780061479649

Ehsan Entezar, Afghanistan 101 (New York: XLibris, 2010). ISBN-10: 1425792820

Ahmed Rashid, Descent into Chaos: the US and the Disaster in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asia (New York: Penguin, 2009). ISBN-10: 014311557X

Ashraf Ghani and Clare Lockhart, Fixing Failed States: A Framework For Rebuilding a Fractured World (New York: Oxford U.P., 2009). ISBN-10: 0195342690

Oliver Roy, The New Central Asia: Geopolitics and the Birth of Nations (New York: NYU Press, 2007). ISBN-10: 9780814776094

RAND Corporation, The Beginner’s Guide to Nation Building (available for free download through RAND website)

Other readings are indicated in the course outline. In all cases these will be either distributed, or are available electronically. Further guidance regarding treatment of readings will be forthcoming.

Participation: 20%

Presentation: 20%

Research Paper: 40%

Exam: 20%