2. LG514 International Relations Theory in the New World Order Dr Ken McDonagh School of Law and Government

3. Overview: Part I: Who am I? Outline of Course Practical Issues: – Lectures – Reading – Assessment Questions? Part II: What is IR?

4. Who am I? Ken McDonagh – IR Theory – US Foreign Policy – Discourse Theory – Security Studies Ext. 6476 Kenneth.mcdonagh@dcu.ie C225 – Wednesdays, 10-12 or by appointment Who are you?

5. Aims of the Course: What is International Relations Theory?

6. Course Outline: A full course outline is available on Moodle The course is divided into 2 parts: Part 1: – examines the dominant perspectives in International Relations Theory from the initiation of the discipline to the present Part 2: – looks at more recent developments that offer critiques of the mainstream approaches

7. Course Outline Topic 1: Introduction & Overview: What is International Relations? PART I Topic 2: Classical theories of IR: Thucydides, Hobbes & Machiavelli Topic 3: The Emergence of IR as an academic discipline Topic 4: Carr, Morgenthau & the Birth of Realism Topic 5: Science v Tradition: Behaviouralism v the English School Topic 6: Structure and Systems: Neo Realism and Neo-Liberalism Week 7: Reading Week

8. Course Outline PART II Topic 8: Post-positivism/Post-structuralism – Critique or Crisis? Topic 9: Constructivism – A via media? Topic 10: Critical Theory Topic 11: Add women & stir? – Feminism and IR Topic 12: Overview/Review: Theorising International Relations in the 21 st Century

9. Teaching methods: 1 Lecture per week 45-50 minutes Followed by a seminar led by student presentations based on the presentation topic assigned for that week Lecture notes will be available via the Moodle system #LG514 on Twitter (@kennethmcdonagh)

10. Presentation topics Each student is required to present in a seminar The topics are available in the course outline Where more than one student is presenting, you will need to collaborate to ensure no repetition Presentations should last between 10-15 minutes E-mail me by 6pm Monday with your top 3 choices of presentation topic These will be allocated on a first come, first serve basis The point of the presentation is to generate discussion!

11. Presentation topics: Topic 2: Classical theories of IR: Thucydides, Hobbes & Macchiavelli –Discuss the conflict in Syria from the perspective of one of the classical theorists of International relations. Topic 3: The Emergence of IR as an academic discipline –Why did the League of Nations fail? Discuss with reference to the Inter-war IR scholarship Topic 4: Carr, Morgenthau & the Birth of Realism – Is ‘Pragmatic’ a better description of the writings of the modern Realists than ‘Realist’? Topic 5: Science v Tradition: Behaviouralism v the English School –Is prediction possible in International Relations? Topic 6: Structure and Systems: Neo Realism and Neo-Liberalism – If the EU survives the current financial crisis, can we consider Neo-Realism to be falsified as a theory of state behaviour? Topic 8: Post-positivism – Critique or Crisis? –If there is ‘nothing outside of discourse’, does this mean that language is all there is and reality is only a product of the imagination? Topic 9: Constructivism – A via media? – “States are people too” (Wendt, 1999) Discuss this statement with reference to the Constructivist school of International Relations Theory Topic 10: Critical Theory – Compare and contrast how Poststructuralist and Critical theories understand the concept of ‘power’ Topic 11: Add women & stir? – Feminism and IR – Would more women in positions of power affect the practice of international politics?

12. Reading: It is strongly recommended that you purchase the following text: Dunne, Tim et al. 2010 International Relations Theories: Discipline and Diversity (2nd Ed.) Oxford: Oxford University Press A good twentieth century history text would also be advisable

13. Further Reading: In the readings associated with each lecture you should note that the essential readings are marked with an *, therefore you should ensure that you read the marked reading(s) first. REMEMBER: The reading list is intended as a guide but is NOT exhaustive! http://scholar.google.com is a good place to start when researching a particular topic http://scholar.google.com

14. Assessment 1: Essays 2 Essays each worth 40% of the mark The first essay is due Friday, 23 rd November at 3pm The second essay is due Friday, 11 th January at 3pm 2,500 words in length A list of topics will be posted on moodle in Week 2 One essay should be based on a topic picked from the list, the other essay should be based on a topic related to the students presentation Guidelines for essay writing will also be posted on Moodle and we will discuss these in class later in the semester

15. Assessment 1: Essays 1 hard copy to the School drop box on the 2 nd floor of the Henry Grattan building 1 electronic copy to www.turnitin.com submitted via Moodlewww.turnitin.com (.doc,.rtf) You should familiarise yourself with the School’s policy on Plagiarism

16. Assessment 2: Review 1 book review worth 20% of the final grade 2000 words long Due Friday 14 th December 3pm – Submitted in the same manner as the essay Books for review are detailed in the course outline. Each review should summarise the main arguments of the piece and provide some critical commentary highlighting the strengths and weaknesses Examples can be found in leading IR journals E.g. Millennium: Journal of International Studies

17. Questions?

18. Part II - Overview: Why Theory? What is IR Theory? Traditions Great Debates The current state of play Does anybody care?

19. The problem of Observation

20. More than one story to tell…

21. What is IR theory? International Relations – National – Relations Interstate? Theory – Scientific? – If not, then what? How then to answer the question? – Traditions & Debates

22. IR Theory as ‘Traditions’ Martin Wight & ‘Why there is no International Theory?’ The Three R’s Realism (Machiavellians) Rationalism (Grotians) Revolutionaries (Kantians) Problematic but influential

23. IR Theory as ‘Traditions’ Problems: Classification – – Donnellan (1990) suggests 5 – Nardin and Mapel (1992) suggest 12 Strawmen – – Ideal positions rather than reflecting actual theorists Debate – Can disagreements between traditions be resolved?

24. IR Theory as ‘Great Debates’ Walt (1998) “The study of international affairs is best conceived as a protracted competition between the realist, liberal and radical traditions” The 1 st Great Debate: Liberalism v Realism – 1930’s & 1940’s – with Realism emerging as dominant over the earlier Liberal traditions – Response to the failure of the League of Nations and the outbreak of WWII

25. IR Theory as ‘Great Debates’ The 2 nd ‘Great Debate’ – the 1950’s & 60’s Realists emerged as dominant in the first debate Between Realists – Traditionalists v Behaviouralists – History, law, politics v positivism, quantification and science – Bull v Kaplan – In the US, at least, the Behaviouralists won

26. IR Theory as ‘Great Debates’ A third ‘Great Debate’? The 2 nd debate left a rift in the discipline In the 1970’s, 80’s and 90’s this rift widened and diversified The inter-paradigm debate? – Realism/Neo-realism v Liberalism, Globalism, Pluralism v neo-Marxism-Structuralism Positivist v Post-positivist debate? Rationalist v Reflectivists?

27. IR Theory as ‘Great Debates’ The problem with the debates approach: Did the debates actually happen? 1 st Debate – no, not really 2 nd Debate – somewhat, but didn’t involve the discipline as a whole 3 rd Debate – disagreement over what is to be debated…. “In effect each paradigm deals with its own research agenda and leaves the others alone” Smith (1995)

28. The Current State of Play A Neo-Neo Synthesis? – Neo-Liberalism and Neo-Realism share much common ground – Are commensurable approaches and should engage in dialogue The proliferation of paradigms – Feminism, Post-modernism, Post-positivism, Critical Theory, Environmentalism, Globalisation… A new ‘via media’ – Constructivism? – Wendt (1999), Onuf (1989)

29. Does anybody care? What is International Relations theory for? Is policy relevance important? Who gets to set the agenda? What should be the focus of IR theory?

30. Questions? Next Lecture: Classical Theories of IR – Thucydides, Machiavelli & Hobbes