War is at best barbarism….

Its glory is all moonshine

It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor

Heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded,

who cry aloud for blood, more vengeance, more desolation

…War is Hell

-General William Tecumseh Sherman (1820-1891)

War, Peace and Strategic Defense

Political Science 3123-001

Fall 2021

Lecture Times: Tuesdays & Thursdays 11:10-12:25am in Hale 230

Syllabus: http://socsci.colorado.edu/~gyoung/home/3123/3123_syl.htm

Instructor: Dr. Gregory D. Young

Office: Ketchum Hall, Room 212

E-mail: gyoung@colorado.edu

Office Hours: Tuesdays & Thursdays 1:00-2:00pm or Wednesday on ZOOM by appointment

Teaching Assistant: Andrew McLeer

Office: Ketchum 412

Email: andrew.mcleer@colorado.edu

Office Hours: Monday from 10:15-12:15, Tuesday 12:30-1:30, and by appointment.

COURSE LINKS

· Weekly Thought Paper Questions

· Course POD assignments for Reading Summaries and Current Events

· Link to Potential Midterm Questions

· Midterm Grading Statistical Summary

· Link to Final Exam Study Guide

· Power Point Slides

· War & Peace Booklist

Course Objectives and Description

Currently, the most pertinent topic in American domestic political discourse (and quite possibly international discussions as well) is the end of the war in Afghanistan, the potential conflict with China and the potential threat of North Korea. Any academic investigation of war without an examination of the causes or conduct of the American intervention in Iraq as well would be remiss. In response to that need, this course will cover both the specific (that is a study of the elements which led the U.S. to intervene in Iraq & Afghanistan, the strategy for these wars, and the criteria by which forces may be extricated from the country) and move to the general (theoretical discussion of the causes of war). War is the most dramatic element in the course of human events. War is conflict with tremendous human impact. International politics is certainly more than just war, but war is what we notice. Despite all the attention war generates, it is extremely rare in comparison to peace. Most books, movies, and computer games are about war; it is the event that most often guides the march of history. Peace is almost an afterthought. Students should be able to understand not only what causes war, but also what causes peace; that is, war termination or what prevents wars from occurring.

Course Requirements

SURGEON GENERAL’S WARNING

This is only a three-credit course, but with a substantial workload. In addition to a midterm and a final exam, this course requires substantial reading and writing. Please familiarize yourself with the course requirements. If you are not sure now that you will be able to commit the necessary time and effort to complete the required work, you should consider dropping the course.

Required Readings

There are no textbooks to purchase for this class. All course readings delineated in the course schedule are linked to this syllabus behind password protection. The readings for this course are interdisciplinary, including works from political science, history, economics and geography. All of the readings are required. Your instructor was able to eliminate the purchase of textbooks due to a grant provided by OPEN CU. Excerpts from the following texts and other articles and chapters can be found in the Course Readings

READING, ATTENDANCE AND CLASS PARTICIPATION

It is essential that students attend every class on time. Regular attendance and active participation in any class discussion will enhance your understanding of the course material and almost certainly improve your performance on both midterm exams and the final, which are together worth 50% of the course grade. Attendance is also a large portion of your 10% participation grade. Excused absences only require notification of the professor in advance via email. Five unexcused absences will facilitate the student failing the course. In this semester, the required readings range from 100 to 150 pages per week, as set out in the course schedule. Students should come to class having already completed (and thought carefully about) the assigned reading for each class period. Your knowledge and understanding of the required readings will be tested in the midterms and final exams.

MIDTERMS AND FINAL EXAM

The midterm exam will be held on Thursday, October 21^st in the usual class meeting time and place. The final exam is Tuesday, Decmeber 14^th from 1:30 to 4:00pm in the normal classroom. The potential essay questions for the final exam will be posted on Monday in the last week of class. The final exam will be short, but comprehensive. Students must write each exam in order to pass the course. Blue books for each exam should be purchased by each student and brought in the class period prior to the exam; 8.5x11 Blue books are preferred. Do not put your name on your Blue book. Make-up exams will not be given unless the instructor has been notified in advance.

READING SUMMARY & CURRENT EVENTS

By the end of the second day of class, all students will be assigned to PODs to complete reading summaries of the day’s assigned reading and present current events in the class for the same day. For each section of the reading, each POD of 2-3 Students will summarize all of the readings due in class that day. In a 1–2 page synopsis of each assigned article/chapter, the designated students will give an overview of the key points of the reading. The summary can either be in outline form or complete paragraphs. The summary should include an answer to the “so what?” question, in other words, why should one read it when studying about war and peace. The Summary is due by midnight the day before that reading is discussed in class; the students will submit an electronic copy (email attachment in WORD) that the instructor will post on the web for the review of your classmates. The POD will briefly (5-10 minutes) present their summaries to the class.

In addition, each POD will present a current event orally at the beginning of class each day. The presentation should be no more than five minutes in length. The source should be from a respected news source, be less than one week old and pertain in some way to issues related to war, peace or strategic defense. Each presenter should try to relate the article to some element of what we have been discussing in class. News reports on the Internet are acceptable sources. Presenters will pose a discussion question to the class at the end of their briefing. The POD will also submit an Ecopy of the current event article along with the reading summaries by midnight the night before. These Reading Summaries and the Current Event presentations are 10% of your final grade. Late Reading Summaries will be docked 10% per class day up to 50%. How the workload is distributed among POD member is up to the POD. All Pod members will receive the same grade.

GROUP PRESENTATIONS FOR WAR FICTION

On the 28^th and 30^th of September the assigned Students will write short summaries and give a 10-minute presentation on the assigned fictional short stories about war. Each of these PODs will contain three-four students. Students should give a very brief synopsis of the story, then detail what the story says about war, what causes war, the impact of war and how wars are fought. Students should connect bio of the author to the story in an effort to explain why he/she wrote the story.

WEEKLY THOUGHT PAPERS

Beginning on September 9^th, and then at the end of lecture each Thursday, a thought question will be posed to the class and posted on the course web site. The question will relate to either the topic in that week’s lectures. Students will write a two-page, single-spaced (Approximately 900-1000 words) response to the question to turn in the following Tuesday by class time on to CANVAS. Please include a word count on the first page. These papers should be properly documented and footnoted using the course readings. Papers will be graded 50% on content and 50% on grammar, punctuation and spelling. Late Papers will not be accepted unless prior arrangements have been made. There will be ten questions posted. Each student must answer at least three of them. Students completing fewer than three will have zeros averaged in with their grades on the completed papers. Those students completing more than two will only have two best grades included. These thought papers account for 25% of your final course grade. Re-read your essay for clarity, grammar, spelling and punctuation, since poor execution of these elements will also affect your grade. No research beyond the assigned readings is required. Append a bibliography and provide references or footnotes where appropriate. Each paper will be submitted in electronically in Word. The electronic copy will be submitted to Canvas and will be run through their anti-plagiarism service to which CU subscribes.

grading Criteria

POD Reading Summary & Current Event 10%

Midterm Exam 25%

Weekly Thought Papers 30%

Final Exam 30%

Attendance & participation 5%

Total 100%

Final Course Grades will be curved unless a straight 90/80/70/60 etc… proves more beneficial to the students (higher overall class grade average). If curved, the mean overall average will become the highest C grade, and two standard deviations below the mean will be necessary to fail the course. One standard deviation about the mean becomes the criteria for an A grade. The grading policy will be explained in detail on the first day of class.

Fall 2021 Course Schedule

Day, Date	Class Topic	Assignment
Tues Aug 24	Course Administration	None
Thur Aug 26	Course Introduction Writing for Political Science	None
Tues Aug 31	Humanity, Society and War	· Margaret MacMillan, War, Intro and Chapter One, pp. xi-49
Thur Sep 2	Theories of Interstate War (Part I)	· Cashman & Robinson, An Introduction to the Causes of War, Introduction
Tues Sep 7	Theories of Interstate War (Part II)	· Kenneth Waltz, "The Origins of War in Neorealist Theory" · Keohane & Nye, "Power and Interdependence" · Sigmund Freud, "Why War?" · Margaret Mead, "Warfare Is Only an Invention - Not a Biological Necessity"
Thur Sep 9	Theories of Interstate War (Part IV) – The Causes of Peace	· Joseph Schumpeter, "Imperialism and Capitalism" · Geoffrey Blainey, "Power, Culprits, and Arms" · Geoffrey Blainey, "Paradise Is a Bazaar" · Geoffrey Blainey, The Causes of War, Ch. 1, “The Peace that Passeth Understanding” · John Garnett, “The Causes of War and the Conditions of Peace” in Strategy in the Contemporary World.
Tues Sep 14	Theories of War & Peace Case Study – WWI Thought Paper 1 Due	· Cashman & Robinson, An Introduction to the Causes of War, Ch. 2 ·
Thur Sep 16	Nuclear Deterrence: The ultimate paradox	· Robert Jervis, “The Utility of Nuclear Deterrence” in The Use of Force · Kenneth Waltz, "The Spread of Nuclear Weapons: More May Be Better"
Tues Sep 21	Theories of Intrastate War (Part I) Thought Paper 2 Due	· Ted Gurr, People vs. States Chapter 3 · John R. Bowen, “The Myth of Global Ethnic Conflict”
Thur Sep 23	Theories of Intrastate War (Part II)	· T.E. Lawrence, "Science of Guerrilla Warfare" · Chaim Kaufmann, “Possible Solutions to Ethnic Civil Wars
Tues Sep 28	A Study of War in Fiction Group Presentations Part 1 Thought Paper 3 Due	· Leo Tolstoy, "The People's War" · Ernest Hemingway, "The Chauffeurs of Madrid" · Kurt Vonnegut, "Wailing Shall Be in All Streets" · Isaac Babel, "My First Goose"
Thur Sep 30	A Study of War in Fiction Group Presentations (Part II)	· Sakaguchi Ango, "The Idiot" · Tim O'Brien, "Mori" · Tayama Katai, "One Soldier" · Jean-Paul Sarte, "The Wall"
Tues Oct 5	Strategic Culture: The U.S. Way of War Thought Paper 4 Due	· Gregory D. Young, “Strategic Culture” · John Nagl, Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife. Ch.1
Thur Oct 7	The Hard Lessons of Insurgency	· John Nagl, Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife. Ch.2-3
Tues Oct 12	The British Counterinsurgency in Malaya Thought Paper 5 Due	· John Nagl, Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife. Ch.4-5
Thur Oct 14	The American Adventure in Vietnam, “The Advisory Years” Movie: “Fog of War” (Excerpts)	· John Nagl, Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife. Ch.6
Tues Oct 19	The American Adventure in Vietnam (Part II) “The Fighting Years”	· John Nagl, Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife. Ch.7 · Ed Palm, “Tiger Papa Three”
Thur Oct 21	Make up day and review for midterm	· Review
Tues Oct 26	Midterm Examination	· Study
Thur Oct 28	The Road to Iraq	· Cashman & Robinson, An Introduction to the Causes of War, Ch. 7 (Iraq 1, Iraq 2, Iraq 3)
Tues Nov 2	The War in Iraq (Part I) Thought Paper 6 Due	· Thomas Ricks, Fiasco, Chapters 5-8
Thur Nov 4	Go Over Midterm Exam	None
Tues Nov 9	The War in Iraq (Part II) Movie: “No End in Sight” (Excerpts) Thought Paper 7 Due	· Video: Insurgent attack on an Iraqi Army convoy · Thomas Ricks: The Gamble - Chapter One · Thomas Ricks: The Gamble - Chapter Two · Kaplan, “What Rumsfeld got right”, The Atlantic, Jul/Aug 08
Thur Nov 11	The War in Iraq (Part III) Movie: “Why We Fight” (Excerpts)	· Filkins, “Back in Iraq, Jarred by the Calm”, New York Times, Sun 21 Sep 08 · Mike Davis, Buda’s Wagon: A Brief History of the Car Bomb, Chs. 1, 2, 21
Tues Nov 16	Counter insurgency Theory: The new global fad? Thought Paper 8 Due	· Global Issues 2010, Chapter x, “ The Rise in Counterinsurgency” · David Kilcullen – 28 Articles: Fundamentals of Company-Level Counterinsurgency · John Nagl, Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife. Ch.8-9
Thur Nov 18	The Need to Intervene?	· Michael W. Doyle, “International Intervention” CH. 11 in Ways of War and Peace · David M. Kennedy “Two Concepts of Sovereignty” In To Lead the World. · Edward Luttwak, “Give War a Chance.” · Paul Diehl “The Criteria for Success in Peacekeeping · Francis Fukuyama “Soft Talk, Big Stick” in To Lead the World
Tues Nov 23	Fall Break	No Class
Thur Nov 25	Fall Break	No Class
Tues Nov 30	The War in Afghanistan Movie “Restrepo” (excerpts) Thought Paper 9 Due	· Rubin & Rashid, "From Great Game to Grand Bargain: Ending Chaos in Afghanistan and Pakistan", Foreign Affairs, Nov/Dec 2008, pp.30-44. · Filkins, “Right at the Edge”, Sunday Magazine New York Times, 7 Sep 08 · Stewart, “The ‘Good War’ isn't worth Fighting”, New York Times, Sun 23 Nov 08 · Rumsfeld, “One Surge does not fit all”, New York Times, Sun 23 Nov 08 · Bacevich, “Petraeus Doctrine”, The Atlantic, Oct 08 · Johnson & Mason, “All counterinsurgency is local”, The Atlantic, Oct 08
Thur Dec 2	The War in Afghanistan (Part II) Movie: PBS Frontline “Obama’s War” http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/	· The Economist, “The Next Surge”, 20 Dec 09 · Baylis, Wirtz & Gray, “Afghanistan” in Strategy in the Contemporary World, 3^rd Ed. 2010 · Global Issues 2010, “Afghanistan On the Brink” · Michael O’Hanlon, “Staying Power”, Foreign Affairs, Sep/Oct 2010 · Chivers, Rubin, & Morgan (Feb 27, 2011), “US pulling back in Afghan Valley it called Vital to War.” NY Times
Tues Dec 7	The War in Afghanistan (Part III) The US withdrawal Thought Paper 10 Due	· Carter Malkasian (2020), Foreign Affairs, “How the Good War Went Bad: America’s Slow-Motion Failure in Afghanistan”
Thur Dec 9	What Causes War? What Causes Peace? Review and Makeup Day	· Cashman & Robinson, An Introduction to the Causes of War, Ch. 8 · Geoffrey Blainey, The Causes of War, Ch. 18, “War, Peace and Neutrality”. · “Handle with Extreme Care” & Strategic Confusion”, The Economist, April 22, 2017 · James A. Winnefield, “The Morning After Korea’s ICBM Test”, US Naval Institute Proceedings, Jul 2017. · Motoko Rich, “First Strike is an Option Few Can Stomach” New York Times, July 6, 2017
Tues Dec 14	Final Examination (Will begin at 1:30pm)	Study, Study, Study

ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION:

Classroom Behavior

Both students and faculty are responsible for maintaining an appropriate learning environment in all instructional settings, whether in person, remote or online. Those who fail to adhere to such behavioral standards may be subject to discipline. Professional courtesy and sensitivity are especially important with respect to individuals and topics dealing with race, color, national origin, sex, pregnancy, age, disability, creed, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, veteran status, political affiliation, or political philosophy.  For more information, see the policies on classroom behavior and the Student Conduct & Conflict Resolution policies.

Requirements for COVID-19

As a matter of public health and safety due to the pandemic, all members of the CU Boulder community and all visitors to campus must follow university, department and building requirements and all public health orders in place to reduce the risk of spreading infectious disease. Students who fail to adhere to these requirements will be asked to leave class, and students who do not leave class when asked or who refuse to comply with these requirements will be referred to Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution. For more information, see the policy on classroom behavior and the Student Code of Conduct. If you require accommodation because a disability prevents you from fulfilling these safety measures, please follow the steps in the “Accommodation for Disabilities” statement on this syllabus.

As of Aug. 13, 2021, CU Boulder has returned to requiring masks in classrooms and laboratories regardless of vaccination status. This requirement is a temporary precaution during the delta surge to supplement CU Boulder’s COVID-19 vaccine requirement. Exemptions include individuals who cannot medically tolerate a face covering, as well as those who are hearing-impaired or otherwise disabled or who are communicating with someone who is hearing-impaired or otherwise disabled and where the ability to see the mouth is essential to communication. If you qualify for a mask-related accommodation, please follow the steps in the “Accommodation for Disabilities” statement on this syllabus. In addition, vaccinated instructional faculty who are engaged in an indoor instructional activity and are separated by at least 6 feet from the nearest person are exempt from wearing masks if they so choose. Students who have tested positive for COVID-19, have symptoms of COVID-19, or have had close contact with someone who has tested positive for or had symptoms of COVID-19 must stay home.

Accommodation for Disabilities

If you qualify for accommodations because of a disability, please submit your accommodation letter from Disability Services to your faculty member in a timely manner so that your needs can be addressed.  Disability Services determines accommodations based on documented disabilities in the academic environment.  Information on requesting accommodations is located on the Disability Services website. Contact Disability Services at 303-492-8671 or dsinfo@colorado.edu for further assistance.  If you have a temporary medical condition, see Temporary Medical Conditions on the Disability Services website.

Preferred Student Names and Pronouns

CU Boulder recognizes that students' legal information doesn't always align with how they identify. Students may update their preferred names and pronouns via the student portal; those preferred names and pronouns are listed on instructors' class rosters. In the absence of such updates, the name that appears on the class roster is the student's legal name.

Honor Code

All students enrolled in a University of Colorado Boulder course are responsible for knowing and adhering to the Honor Code academic integrity policy. Violations of the Honor Code may include, but are not limited to: plagiarism, cheating, fabrication, lying, bribery, threat, unauthorized access to academic materials, clicker fraud, submitting the same or similar work in more than one course without permission from all course instructors involved, and aiding academic dishonesty. All incidents of academic misconduct will be reported to the Honor Code (honor@colorado.edu); 303-492-5550). Students found responsible for violating the academic integrity policy will be subject to nonacademic sanctions from the Honor Code as well as academic sanctions from the faculty member. Additional information regarding the Honor Code academic integrity policy can be found on the Honor Code website.

The development of the Internet has provided students with historically unparalleled opportunities for conducting research swiftly and comprehensively. The availability of these materials does not, however, release the student from appropriately citing sources where appropriate; or applying standard rules associated with avoiding plagiarism. Specifically, the instructor will be expecting to review papers written by students drawing ideas and information from various sources (cited appropriately), presented generally in the student’s words after careful analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. An assembly of huge blocks of other individuals' existing material, even when cited, does not constitute an appropriate representation of this expectation. Uncited, plagiarized material shall be treated as academically dishonest, and the paper will be assigned an ‘F’ as a result. Papers submitted by any student, written in part or in whole by someone other than that student, shall be considered to constitute fraud under the University Honor Code, and result in the assignment of an 'F' for the entire course. If the student is confused as to what constitutes plagiarism, he/she should review the CU Honor Code on this topic. If you have any questions regarding proper documentation in your writing, please discuss it with your instructor.

Sexual Misconduct, Discrimination, Harassment and/or Related Retaliation

The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder) is committed to fostering an inclusive and welcoming learning, working, and living environment. CU Boulder will not tolerate acts of sexual misconduct (harassment, exploitation, and assault), intimate partner violence (dating or domestic violence), stalking, or protected-class discrimination or harassment by or against members of our community. Individuals who believe they have been subject to misconduct or retaliatory actions for reporting a concern should contact the Office of Institutional Equity and Compliance (OIEC) at 303-492-2127 or email cureport@colorado.edu. Information about OIEC, university policies, reporting options, and the campus resources can be found on the OIEC website.

Please know that faculty and graduate instructors have a responsibility to inform OIEC when made aware of incidents of sexual misconduct, dating and domestic violence, stalking, discrimination, harassment and/or related retaliation, to ensure that individuals impacted receive information about their rights, support resources, and reporting options.

Religious Holidays

Campus policy regarding religious observances requires that faculty make every effort to deal reasonably and fairly with all students who, because of religious obligations, have conflicts with scheduled exams, assignments or required attendance.  In this class, all absences are excused merely by notifying your instructor in advance. A comprehensive calendar of the religious holidays most commonly observed by CU-Boulder students is at http://www.interfaithcalendar.org/

Cel Phone and Computer Policy

Needless to say, all cellular phones must be turned off and put away at the beginning of each class meeting. Classes failing to comply will be issued a stern warning on the first occasion. The entire class will have a pop quiz over the previous reading assignments/lectures on the second and subsequent occurrences. Phones, Laptops, tablets, MP3 players etc. will not be out on desks or used during any quiz or examination.

Laptop computers have been allowed in my classes for the 20 years that I have been teaching at CU, beginning this semester however they will not be allowed to be out or open in class. I still believe that they can assist learning in the classroom, but significant new research shows that taking notes by hand increases learning. Also, a new study shows that laptops open and displaying non-class materiel are distracting not only to the user, but the students in view of the laptop and inhibit learning. Students can apply for exceptions for reason of disability or a proven track record of in class note-taking on the computer. Here is a link to an article about laptop impact on education: “Laptops Are Great. But Not During a Lecture or a Meeting”, New York Times Op Ed, By SUSAN DYNARSKI NOV. 22, 2017