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Political Science 552, Autumn 2005    (17248-1)
Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio

Security Policy During and After the Cold War

Monday, Wednesday 3:30-5:18, Knowlton 250

John Mueller
Derby 2112 and Mershon Center (8th and Neil) 220D
Department of Political Science
614-247-6007
614-292-2407 (fax)
bbbb@osu.edu
http://polisci.osu.edu/faculty/jmueller

Office hours:
Tuesday, 9:15-10:30, Mershon Center 220D (8th and Neil)
Wednesday, 1:45-2:30, Derby 2112
Or by appointment at bbbb@osu.edu

The course will deal with national security and military policy issues as they have emerged and changed during and after the Cold War. Of central concern will be considerations about how external threats are identified and the reactions (or overreactions) they inspire. The material will be presented roughly in chronological order beginning with the framing of the containment and deterrence policies at the end of World War II and concluding with an examination of national security policy issues confronting the United States and the world at the present time. Included will be discussions of such concerns as the Korean War, the Berlin and Cuban crises, Vietnam, the Iran hostage crisis, the demise of the Cold War and of the Soviet Union, the unification of Europe, ethnic conflict, economic sanctions, and the rise of democracy and capitalism on a global basis. There will be considerable consideration of terrorism, of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and of the potential for the proliferation of "weapons of mass destruction." Of particular interest, as well, will be an assessment of broad historical trends as they have played out since 1945.

The course will be in lecture format, with ample opportunity for questions and discussion. There will be considerable use of Powerpoint slides as well as documentary material on videotape.

Grading. There will be a midterm (October 24) and a final examination (December 5) as well as an optional 4 to 6 page paper (due during the last week of classes). If the student does not submit a paper, the midterm exam will count for 1/3 of the grade and the final exam will count 2/3. If the student does submit a paper, the midterm exam will count for 1/3 of the grade, the final exam will count 1/3, and the paper 1/3. The advantage of doing the paper is that it allows the student to focus on a topic of interest and it allows the grade to be partly based on something other than exams. The exams will be about half objective (short answer, identification, etc.) and half essay. Copies of previous exams will be available on the course website.

Assigned books:

1. Jeffrey D. Simon, The Terrorist Trap (Second edition, 2001) (won't be used until after the mid-term exam)

2. Robert C. DiPrizio, Armed Humanitarians (won't be used until after the mid-term exam)

3. John Mueller, The Remnants of War
amazon.com is currently selling this book for $18.87, a 37% discount.

4. Robert Pape, Dying to Win (won't be used until after the midterm exam)
amazon.com is currently selling this book for $16.97, a 35% discount.

5. Robert H. Johnson, Improbable Dangers
This book will be available in three ways:
1. on reserve in the Main Library
2. as a downloadable PDF file:
complete book--high quality (36MB)
complete book--somewhat lower quality (7 MB)
text--somewhat lower quality--without notes or index (5MB)
3. As a course pack (at less than $10). Order at Cop-Ez (Tuttle) or through www.copez.org