Grad School Notes Collection (Africa, IR, Ethnic Conflict, Economics, Writing)

IMPORTANT NOTE: DON'T CHEAT. DON'T PLAGIARIZE. Notes and Papers are shared here for reference and for studying. Footnote as appropriate.

Grad School Notes Collection (Africa, IR, Ethnic Conflict, Economics, Writing, Islam, Comparative Politics)

Below are the links to all the notes I have previously published here on FUUO.  They are organized into a few areas: Africa, IR, Islam

AFRICA:

Notes (Discussion) Iliffe’s Africans: The History of a Continent

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2012/02/notes-of-iliffes-africans-history-of.html

Notes (Extensive) on Iliffe's Africans

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2012/08/grad-schol-extensive-notes-on-iliffes.html

Notes (Partial) on Paul Nugent’s Africa Since Independence

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2012/07/grad-school-partial-notes-on-paul.html

Notes and Summary: Achebe's Arrow of God

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2012/07/grad-school-notes-and-summary-on.html

Notes (Discussion) and Summary: Achebe's Arrow of God

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2012/01/arrow-of-god-notes.html

Notes (Discussion) and Summary Anthills of the Savannah 

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2012/04/anthills-of-savannah-discussion-notes.html

Notes (Discussion) and Summary: Achebe's Man of the People

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2012/02/disclaimer-these-are-my-notes-that-i.html

Notes (Discussion) and Summary: Achebe's No Longer At Ease

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2012/02/no-longer-at-ease-notes.html

Notes (Discussion) and Summary: Achebe's Things Fall Apart

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2012/01/things-fall-apart-notes.html

Notes on Rye Barcott's It Happened on the Way to War

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2011/07/notes-on-barcotts-it-happened-on-way-to.html

Notes/Summary (Partial) on Getting Somalia Wrong: Faith, War, and Hope in a Shattered State by Mary Harper (her blog is GREAT)

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2012/12/gettingsomaliawrong.notes.summary.maryharper.html

Notes on Hartley's The Zanzibar Chest

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2012/11/thezanzibarchest.aidenhartley.summary.review.notes.html

Notes on Democratization in Africa (Ottaway, Joseph, Bratton & Walle)

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2012/11/democratization.africa.huntingtonisandiot.html

Notes on African Judicial Systems (Akech, Von Doepp, Suberu)

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2012/11/african.judiciary.akech.vondoepp.suberu.notessummary.html

Notes on Clientelist State-Society Relations(Barkan, Fatton, Pitcher et al)

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2012/11/clientstatesociety.barkan.fatton.pitcher.sparknotes.html

Notes on African Elections as Vehicles for Change by Nic Cheeseman

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2012/10/alternation.africa.politics.elections.cliffnotes.fao.html

Notes on Patrimonialism in Africa (Theobald, Bach, Pitcher and Moran)

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2012/10/patrimonialism.africa.bach.theobald.pitcher.sparknotes.html

Notes (Brief) and Discussion Questions on Bradbury's Becoming Somaliland

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2012/10/bradbury-becomingsomaliland-sparknotes.html

Notes (Partial) on Gallab's The First Islamist Republic 

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2012/10/sudan-islamistrepublic-gallab-sparknotes.html

Notes (Brief) on O'Kane and Hepner's  Biopolitics, Militarism, and Development: Eritrea in the Twenty-first Century 

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2012/09/biopoliticsertireasomaliaokane.html

Notes for Debate Arguing that Counter-Piracy HAS been effective in the Horn of Africa

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2012/06/counter-piracy-has-been-effective-in.html

Paper on Libyan Coalition/Intervention

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2012/04/libya-coalition-to-what-end-and.html

Paper reviewing and analyzing "Sometimes in April"

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2012/03/i-wrote-earlier-footnoted-version-of.html

Paper (Average Grade) on British and French Colonial Legacies in West Africa
http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2012/07/essay-on-british-and-french-legacies-in.html

Paper on the Unexpected Pattern of Democratization in Africa
http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-pattern-of-democratization-in-africa.html

Paper on Copts in Egypt: A Wedding Feast for Copts and Christians
http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2012/09/copticchristianegyptembassycairo.html

Poem: The Guilt of the Silent: An Analysis of Raoul Peck's "Sometimes in April"

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2012/02/guilt-of-silent-analysis-of-raoul-pecks.html

Endnotes for Sometimes in April/Rwanda Genocide Analysis Paper

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2012/02/sometimes-in-april-analysis-paper.html

EVENTS:

Notes from 2010 Maritime Safety and Security Conference "African Maritime Interests: Security and Development" Plenary Session 1

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2010/10/mss-conference-african-maritime.html

Notes from MSS Conference Speech by Ambassador Huddleston Speech

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2010/10/mss-conference-ambassador-huddleston.html

Notes from MSS Conference Speech by Ambassador Carson

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2010/10/mss-conference-speech-by-ambassador.html

MSS Conference Keynote Speech by AU Deputy Chairman Dr. Mwencha

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2010/10/mss-conference-keynote-speech-by-au.html

Notes on Senator Isakson's Speech at SAIS on 31 March 2011

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2011/04/senator-isaksons-speech-at-sais-from-31.html

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS:

Notes for entire IR Course

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2012/09/entire-notes-for-grad-school.html

Notes for Chapter 12 from Force and Statecraft: Diplomatic Challenges of Our Time

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2012/08/notes-on-force-and-statecraft-chapter-12.html

Notes on Selected Chapters of Force and Statecraft by Lauren, Craig and George

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2012/08/notes-on-selected-chapters-of-force-and.html

Notes (1st four chapters) on Nye's Understanding International Conflicts: An Introduction to Theory and History (7th Edition)

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2012/08/notes-on-nyes-understanding.html

Notes on Power and Levels of Analysis
http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2012/08/ir-notes-on-power-and-levels-of-analysis.html

Notes on Mearsheimer and Walt's "An Unnecessary War"
http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2012/08/notes-on-mearsheimer-and-walts.html

Notes on Stephen Walt's The Relationship between theory and policy in IR, 2005
http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2012/08/notes-on-relationship-between-theory.html

Notes on Stephen Walt's "IR: One World, Many Theories" (1998)
http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2012/08/notes-on-stephen-walts-ir-one-world.html

Paragraph on Libya as a Case Study in Developing a Democracy from Scratch
http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2012/08/libya-as-case-study-in-difficulty-of.html

Paragraph on Twitter as the New Nuke and the Convergence with Technology
http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2012/08/twitter-as-new-nuke-and-convergence.html

Pargraph on The Dangers of Half-Hearted IR Policy Implementation
http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2012/08/on-dangers-of-half-hearted-ir-policy.html

Paper on Considerations for a US Response to an Alien Communication Signal
http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2012/08/thoughts-on-us-response-to-alien-signal.html

WRITING:

How to do a Literature Review

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2012/09/literaturereviewhowto-nps.html

In Praise of Refworks--The Best Reference Management Tool?

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2012/09/in-praise-of-refworks-best-reference.html

How to Write an A+ Paper in Grad School

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2012/08/how-to-write-a-paper-in-grad-school.html

Paper (presentation) on the importance of revision

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2012/03/on-revising-well-or-taking-ax-to-your.html 

ETHNIC CONFLICT:

Notes on "The Enduring Power of Ethnic Nationalism" (2008) by Muller

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-enduring-power-of-ethnic.html

Notes on “From a Theory of Relative Economic Deprivation (RED) Towards a Theory of Relative Political Deprivation”  by Walker Connor (2001)

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2012/08/theory-of-relative-political.html

Notes on Genocide in Syria and Harff's "No Lessons Learned from the Holocaust"
http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2012/08/genocide-in-syria-early-warning-systems.html

ECONOMICS:

Notes on Kraska's The Freakonomics of Maritime Piracy

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2012/11/freakonomics.maritimepiracy.africa.html

Notes on Have and Have Nots-African Style by Pascal Zachary

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2012/11/ginicoefficient.africa.haveandhavenots.html

Notes on Economic Geography of Regional Integration (Gill &Deichmann)

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2012/11/notes-on-economic-geography-of-regional.html

Notes on "Nigeria’s Shot at Redemption" by Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (Dec 2008)

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2012/11/nigeriaoilcurse.needfordistributionalfund.html

Notes on "Africa's Capitalist Revolution by Kapstein (July 2009)
http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2013/01/notes.africacapitalism.revolution.kapstein.html

ISLAM: 

Notes on Origins of Islam

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2012/10/origins-of-islam-notes.html

COMPARATIVE POLITICS:

Notes on Social Theory and Comparative Politics (CP) by Mark Lichbach

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2012/04/grad-school-notes-on-social-theory-and.html

VIETNAM/DECISION-MAKING:

Paper on the Gulf of Tonkin: "The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution: A Response to Which Campaign?"

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2012/09/johnsongulfoftonkinvietnammatterhorn.html

Entire Notes for Grad School International Relations Notes

BONUS LINK:  My entire (so far) grad school notes collection can be found here. 

Entire Notes for Grad School International Relations Notes

IR Notes on Power and Levels of Analysis

BONUS LINK:  My entire (so far) grad school notes collection can be found here. 

IR Notes on Power and Levels of Analysis

Power =

            - Ability to affect others to get the outcomes one wants

            - Ability to get others to do what they wouldn’t otherwise do

            *This is the difference between getting your kids to go outside and play and getting them to clean their room

- Typically realists align with hard power (using force to get what you want)

            Hard power = military (but this hard power comes in degrees: WAR vs COIN)     

            Soft power = material power/ideas

**Power must be addressed/examined in context because each situation may require different power resources

- Power is a relational concept that must be though of within BoP context

- BoP can be outcome or policy

- Walt also talks about the “balance of threat”

- Levels of analysis is a method of categorized events/causes:

           

            System (neorealists)

                        Structure (mechanical metaphors)

                        Process (biological metaphors)

            State (liberalists for the most part)

                        Types of states (democracies, autocracies)

                        Traits of states (nationalism)

            Sub-state

                        Aspects of states (bureaucratic politics, organizational process)

                        Disaggregated sovereignty

            Individuals (constructivists for the most part)

                        Human nature (psychological processes)

                        Particular people

Notes on Mearsheimer and Walt's "An Unnecessary War"

BONUS LINK:  My entire (so far) grad school notes collection can be found here. 

Mearsheimer and Walt, An Unnecessary War, 2003

- Here the authors take apart the notion of intervention/war in Iraq as a preventive measure against an undeterrable lunatic Saddam Hussein. 

-  Written from a realist perspective where they show Saddam as a leader trying to survive; he initiated the wars for realist reason

- Iran-Iraq war we were on his side and fed him intel that allowed him to use his biological weapons against Iran.

- in the Gulf War, State Dept earlier told Saddam we had no part in any border disputes with Kuwait—was this true, or was the truth more nuanced?

-  Finally, it didn’t matter whether Saddam had WMDs or nukes, because we could use deterrence against him—we had bigger weapons and nuclear arsenal.  Saddam was a survivor and would have caved. 

LINKS:

http://mearsheimer.uchicago.edu/pdfs/A0032.pdf

Grad School Notes and Summary on Force and Statecraft (Chapter 12)

BONUS LINK:  My entire (so far) grad school notes collection can be found here. 

Notes of Chapter 12 from Force and Statecraft: Diplomatic Challenges of Our Time

Considerations - Ethical questions as fulcrum of transnational impact

            What is the legacy of the ethics of state sovereignty?

            Do transnational realities create cosmopolitan ethics?

Ethics and International Politics

Definition: “Judgments about human relations made on the basis of normative standards.”
- 3 standards:

            Limits on behavior

            Cognizance of consequences

            Responsibility for conduct

- Problem of the absence of ethical agreement

            F and S: state ‘realities’ vs. religious ‘aspirations’—deep historical roots

            But: enduring, transcendent & universal principles’ can be seen in many formulations other than religion

            For example: human security and human rights

           

- Theme throughout chapter: Can ends justify means?

- Full Challenge: reconciliation of should and can (ends and means), given uncertain outcomes

            Niebur: politics ‘where conscience and power meet’

            Problem of determining ethical action in conditions of uncertainty

- Raison d’etat as an ethics of state responsibility

            Prudence as restraint (vs. ends justify means)

            Maybe: challenge is not state vs. ethics but state based ethics vs. non state based   ethics.

            *Ends are results of the means (constructivist)

- Principle of non-agression

- Flip side is inviolability of sovereignty

            Ethical goal of delegitimating

- Concomitant criteria of jus in bello (justice in war)

            Protection of innocents

            Proportionality

            Basic of Geneva Protocol, CWC, landmine ban

            Presnece of norm despite absence of enforcement

- Jus in bello in the nuclear age: problems of deterrence

            oppositie of protection of the innocents

            absence of control or proportionality

- Jus ad bellum in a transnational world

            anticipatory self-defense in the age of terrorism

            human rights, humanitarian intervention

            distributive justice and migrations

            environmental issues

- Root of the problem: conflict of ethical foundations

            Hoffman: duties beyond borders, to individuals

            National security vs. human security

            State security vs. cosmopolitan security

*WRT enforcement of ethics—the realists would say that the strong do what they can on the basis of their might.  The strong set the norms. 

Notes on "The Relationship between theory and policy in IR" by Walt

BONUS LINK:  My entire (so far) grad school notes collection can be found here. 

Stephen Walt, The Relationship between theory and policy in IR, 2005

The gap between theory and policy can be narrowed only if the academic community begins to place greater value on policy relevant theoretical work

-policy-makers disdain academics and are rarely selected for their IR scholarship

-on the other side of the coin, scholars have little incentive to develop ideas that might be useful

What types of knowledge do policy makers need?

- policy-makers rely on factual knowledge, rule of thumb, typologies, empirical laws and theories.

- IR theory work: “efforts to account for interstate and trans-state processes, issues and outcomes in general causal terms”

What is a good theory?

- should be logically consistent and empirically valid, complete, explanatory, explain an important phenomenon, be useful in its recommendations, and be stated clearly

How Theory can Aid Policy

- Bad IR policies can lead policy makers astray and good IR theory can make good policy

- policy problems can also bring innovation in IR as happened with the advent of nuclear weapons

*4 ways theory can help:

            - Diagnosis (coopt or contain, relevance of information)

            - Prediction (anticipate events, behaviors, preferences) however, policy-makers    can also affect event outcomes themselves

            - Prescription (show how to affect a desired outcome, don’t bomb civilian pop,    just military targets)

            - Evaluation (did we achieve the desired results)

THESIS:
So realists believe China is out to get US?  This seems to be the prevailing view among military leadership…are military leaders more prone to realism?

Different Agendas

- Policy makers can be less interested in figuring out a tendency than how to overcome it

- Even the best theory does not often help policy makers with their large hurdle of implementation

Notes on Stephen Walt's "IR: One World, Many Theories"

BONUS LINK:  My entire (so far) grad school notes collection can be found here. 

Stephen Walt, IR: One World, Many Theories 1998

*We are better off with a diverse array of competing ideas than a single theoretical orthodoxy.

Where are we coming from?

-  study of IR is protracted competition between realist, liberal and radical

*Realism: struggle for power among self-interested states, pessimistic about prospects for peace

            Classical:     states (like humans) have innate desire to dominate others

            Neorealist:   effects of international system, a number of great powers trying to                                    survive

            Defensive:states merely seek to survive and guarantee security through                                                alliances and defensive military postures

*Liberalism:

            - economic interdependence would discourage states from using force against each other

            - Spread of the democracy the key to world peace (democratic states more peaceful than autocratic ones)

            - encourage states to forgo immediate gains for greater benefits of long term           

            cooperation

*Radicalism:

            - orthodox Marxism say capitalism central cause of conflict

            - neomarxist dependency theory says large capitalists states ally with elites of developing world to exploit the masses

            - deconstructionist emphasize importance of language and discourse but haven’t   

            offered a lot on alternatives to mainstream theories

New Wrinkles in Old Paradigms

*In Realism redux, the problem of relative and absolute gains arises. 

*New Liberalism:

            - Democratic peace theory says democracies rarely fight each other, however in new democracies, the states are more prone to war, so promoting democracy can actually promote instability

            - Institutionalist point to NATOs ability to adapt

*Constructivism

            - the impact of ideas, such as Gorbachev embracing ‘common security’

            - Wendt: Anarchy is what states make of it

Domestic politics Reconsidered:

- emergence of interest in the concept of culture which intersects and overlaps with constructivists

*Walt points to realism as the most compelling framework for the future

Libya as a Case Study in the Difficulty of Developing a Scratch Democracy

BONUS LINK:  My entire (so far) grad school notes collection can be found here. 

          Libya as a Case Study in the Difficulty of Developing a Scratch Democracy

             Owens is clear that there is no reliable method to determine the cost and method by which to create a democracy (there’s not even a prevailing opinion on the matter).  So then perhaps the best solution is to espouse Huntington’s “Peace Among Civilizations;”  it stands to reason that the states best poised to assist a country in transitioning to a democracy would come from within their own civilization.  If one is to accept the claim of Mansfield and Snyder that adolescent or “partial” democracies fight more often (and are a larger threat externally) than stable, mature democracies, then a carefully structured and supported transition is of ultimate importance.  The problem with this rationale emerges when then if there are no (or few) democratic states in that civilization.

            

              An example of this is found in Libya.  This nation stands as a daily study in the difficulty of developing a democracy.  In Libya’s case, completing the first step of instituting a rule of law is a behemoth task, since Gaddafi stifled any and all institutions during his 40-year reign.  That Libya only has existed as a nation for just over 60 years (previous to that it was a federation of three provinces) adds to the difficult undertaking.  Libya’s case is further complicated in that it is not a cohesive nation-state, but rather a coalition (as opposed to a more permanent alliance) of disparate ethnic, tribal and religious groups.  This was evident in the revolution against the Gaddafi regime.  This international effort turned out to be a coalition within a coalition—disparate groups only temporarily cooperating for a common goal. 

Further question for discussion:

If emerging democracies tend to be outwardly aggressive, are they also more likely to be inwardly suppressive (toward minority or disenfranchised groups)?

On the Dangers of Half-Hearted IR Policy Implementation

BONUS LINK:  My entire (so far) grad school notes collection can be found here. 

On the Dangers of Half-Hearted IR Policy Implementation- A Historical Example    

   The post-WWI isolationist Congress’ handcuffing of Wilson’s idealism/liberalism and aspirations for a “community of power,” illustrates well the dangers of half-heartedly attempting to implement any sole international relations theory.  From the onset, the absence of crucial members sapped the power of the League of Nations; this weakness was further amplified by the lack of any concrete means to enforce its charter.  Finally, the League’s impotence was fully realized in the flawed policy of appeasement that grew from it.  The most obvious counterfactual to first explore then is: How effective would the League have been with the membership and the U.S., Germany and Japan?  

      Even the full-blown implementation of Wilson’s plan, however, likely would have met defeat (at some level) because liberalism (and realism) assume too much about the nature of man (and require every state to buy into the same interpretation).  Liberalism assumes a common value system shared by every person and state, when in reality many states have very different value systems; and it also assumes (and continues to assume) democracy as the best answer.  It was these different value systems that made the effects of appeasement so egregious in the time period leading up to WWII.  In appeasing Germany the aggressor state, the allies ignored the associated territorial and human losses.  While appeasement can be an effective diplomatic tool,[1] its effects can be devastating when the appeased operate on a different value system from the appeasers.  Had the allies operated under the realist assumption of the selfish, dominant nature of man (and by extension state), they never would have trusted the promises of Hitler.  Unfortunately, Hitler demonstrated the power of an unbridled realist, one who forged public opinion to his foreign policy desires, and not the other way around, as was the case with Wilson. 

Questions for further discussion include:

1.  How has the U. S. presidential election cycle (and the equivalent cycle in other democratic states) correlated to significant foreign policy decisions throughout history?

In other words, is decision-making about conflicts arising closer to an election ‘season’ influenced more by public opinion?  To that end, is the influence of public opinion less pronounced on newly elected leaders?

2.  How has the assumption of democracy as a ‘value system’ shaped and continue to shape foreign policy?  Does this assumption affect both realism and liberalism equally?  How does monarchy fit into state-state interactions today?

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[1] Nye, Understanding International Conflicts: An Introduction to Theory and History (New York, Pearson Longman, 2009), 111.