“You can’t say civilizations don’t advance…for every war they
kill you in a new way.” -Will Rogers
IAFS
3000/Regional
War & Peace:
Vietnam
and The Wars in Iraq & afghanistan
CU
BOULDER Spring 2021
Lecture Times: Tuesdays
& Thursdays, 9:35 - 10:50am - Remote Synchronous
Syllabus also at: http://spot.colorado.edu/~gyoung/home/IA
3000/3000_syl.htm
Instructor: Dr. Gregory D. Young
Office: CU – Ketchum 212 (Remote this
semester)
Office Hours: Tuesdays & Thursdays from 2:00 to 3:00 and Wednesday by appointment
Course Links
Link to Current Event Schedule
Link to
Reading Summaries and Schedule
Link to
Midterm Exam Terms List
Link to
Final Exam Study Guide
Sample Presentation
Grade Sheet
Course Objectives and Description
This course is the one of many for
the inter-disciplinary CU major which encompasses political science,
anthropology, geography, economics, and history. In this course we will
undertake a comparative study of recent U.S. conflicts overseas. The Economist in a cover story last
summer referred to the conflict in Afghanistan as “Obama’s Vietnam”.
Previously, at the height of the Sunni insurgency in 2005, the Iraq invasion
was referred to similarly as “Bush’s Vietnam”. Are these comparisons valid?
Using theories of interstate war and a comparative approach this course will
exam the American strategic culture and its engagement in Vietnam with the
invasion of Iraq and the decision to go into Afghanistan. In addition, this
course will examine the conduct of these three conflagrations using theories of
insurgency and counterinsurgency. Ultimately, students will assess the chance
of and criteria for success against ISIL in Iraq and Syria and why that
strategy had been chosen.
Course Requirements
Surgeon General’s Warning
This is a three-credit course with a substantial workload. In
addition to the midterm and final exams, this course requires a substantial
amount of 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.
Attendance,
Readings and Class Participation
It is essential that students zoom into 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 the mid-term and final exams, which are together worth 50% of
the course grade. Attendance on zoom with you camera on is also a large portion
of your 10% participation grade. Notifying your instructor by email prior to
class will constitute an excused absence. Send email absence notifications to gyoung@colorado.edu. In this semester, the
required readings range from 100 to 150 pages per week, as set out in the
course schedule. Your knowledge and understanding of the required readings will
be tested in the mid-term and final exams. Students should come to class having
already completed (and thought carefully about) the assigned reading for each class
period.
Mid-Term Exams
The first mid-term exam will be held
on Thursday, March 18th in the usual class meeting time. The
second midterm exam will be on Thursday,
April 15th also in the regular lecture time. The second midterm
exam will be comprehensive, but will focus primarily on the materiel after the
first midterm. Students must write both exams in order to pass the course. Both exams will be open book/note and will be
emailed to students at the beginning of the exam period. The completed exam
will be uploaded to CANVAS at the end of the one hour and fifteen-minute
period. Make up exams will not be given unless the instructor has been notified
in advance or a doctor’s note is provided. Both examinations will be short
answer and essay in format. A study guide for both exams will be linked to this
course syllabus one week prior. There is no additional final exam.
Current
Events
One or two students will
present a current event orally in class each class period. 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
topical conflict issues, preferably the topic for that class period. Each
student should try to relate the article to some element of what we have been
discussing in class. Assigned students will email the article that they intend
to present to their instructor the night before their scheduled date. You will
add a discussion question with the emailed article. After your presentation you
will lead the class in an additional five-minute discussion. Each student will present one current event
during the semester. The current event presentations will be part of your 10%
participation grade.
Thought Papers
Each week, on
Thursday (Except, the first week, midterm week, and Spring pause week), a
thought question will be posed to the class and posted on this course web site.
The question will relate to the topics in the previous week of class. Students
will write a two-page, single-spaced (Approximately 900-1000 words) response to
the question to turn in the following Tuesday. Include a word count on the
first page. These papers should be properly documented and footnoted using the
course readings (outside research is not required, but is certainly allowed).
Papers will be graded 50% on content and 50% on grammar, punctuation, and
spelling. There will be ten questions posted total. Each student must answer
THREE of them. Students completing fewer than THREE will have zeros
averaged in with their grades on the completed papers. Students completing more
than three will only have the top three grades averaged for their thought paper
grade. These thought papers account for 25% of your final course grade. Late
Papers will not be accepted unless prior arrangements have been made. Papers
will be graded on a 100 point scale. Electronic copies of all thought papers in
Word will be uploaded to the Assignment box on CANVAS and will be run through
turnitin.com as a deterrent for plagiarism.
Reading
Summary
Each student in the
class will sign up for a daily section of the course reading. For each section
of the reading one/two student(s) will summarize the readings that are due in
class that day. If more than one student is assigned that day’s reading, each
student will still summarize ALL the assigned reading for that day. In a 1-2
page synopsis of each assigned article or section, the designated student 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 War & Peace, International
Affairs or Global Issues. By midnight the night before the due date, the
students will email an electronic copy (in WORD) that the instructor will post
on the web for the review of your classmates. These summaries are 5% of your
final grade. Late Reading Summaries will be docked 10% per class day up to 50%.
Book Analysis
Presentation
Each student in the
course will be required to complete an analysis/research presentation that
examines in-depth one of the canon of the literature regarding war and peace
from Vietnam, Iraq or Afghanistan. The books are delineated in the link above.
All are available online or in the Library. If you have trouble finding the
book you have chosen, consult with your instructor. Some of these books are of
considerable length; therefore you should begin the book immediately. Please do
not pick a book that you have read previously, since it is necessary that you
look at the book you study from a new perspective. If you wish to analyze a
book not on the list, you may ask your instructor. The list however is a
compilation of six different lists of the most widely respected books in this
area. Requests therefore, are likely to be denied. On Monday, the twelfth week
of class, student will begin to present their research to the class.
Presentation
Requirements:
ONE Page outline of 8-10 minute
in-class presentation (can be single-spaced)
Approximately, a 3 minute summary of
the key elements of the book
Approximately, a 7 minute analysis
answering these key questions:
·
How does this work
relate to studies of the theories of war and its causes?
·
How does this book
influence or what does it have to say regarding the conduct of war (i.e.
strategy or tactics)?
·
Does this book alter or
add to the conventional historical wisdom regarding the conflict(s) that it
depicts?
·
Does the book provide a
different perspective than the traditional American one regarding it analysis
of war?
(Each of these questions may not
apply specifically to your book).
The written outline is due on the
day of your presentation. This presentation is worth 10% of your final
grade. A sample presentation grade sheet is linked to this syllabus.
grading Criteria
Mid-term exam 25%
Thought Papers 25%
Reading Summary 5%
Final exam 25%
Class presentation 10%
Current event, attendance & participation 10%
Total 100%
Final Course Grades will be curved unless a straight 90/80/70/60 etc…
proves more beneficial to the students (higher overall 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.
Required Readings
The following textbook
sand the other required articles are available online at America and the World: http://aatw.me Subscription cost is $49.95. This cost pays
for copyright purchase. Other readings will be linked to this syllabus.
1. (RICKS)
Ricks, Thomas E. (2006) Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq
2003-2005. Penguin Press.
ISBN-13: 978-0143038917
2. (NAGL) Nagl, John A. (2002/2005),
Learning to Eat Soup With a Knife: Counterinsurgency Lessons from Malaya and
Vietnam. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
ISBN-13: 978-0226567709
3.
(BARITZ) Baritz,
Loren (1985/1998), BackFire: A History of How American Culture Led US into
Vietnam. Balitmore: Johns Hopkins University Press
ISBN
0-8018-5952-0
SCHEDULE OF LECTURES, READINGS, AND ASSIGNMENTS:
|
IAFS
3000/Course Schedule Spring 2021 |
||
|
Day/Date |
Topic |
Assignment due in class |
|
Thurs 14 Jan |
Course
Introduction & Administration |
None |
|
Tues 19 Jan |
·
Cashman
& Robinson, An Introduction to the
Causes of War -: Introduction |
|
|
Thurs 21 Jan |
·
Geoffrey
Blainey, The Causes of War, Ch. 1,
“The Peace that Passeth Understanding |
|
|
Tues 26 Jan |
·
Strategic Culture
Handout – Gregory D. Young · NAGL Chap 1 |
|
|
Thurs 28 Jan |
·
NAGL – Chaps 2-3 |
|
|
Tues 2 Feb |
·
NAGL – Chaps 4-5 |
|
|
Thurs 4 Feb |
US Strategic Culture and the
Vietnam War |
·
Baritz – Chap 1 ·
NAGL – Chap 6 |
|
Tues 9 Feb |
The Vietnam Conflict (Part II) Movie: The Fog
of War (Excerpts) |
·
NAGL – Chap 7 |
|
Thurs 11 Feb |
·
Ed Palm “Tiger Papa
Three |
|
|
Tues 16 Feb |
·
NAGL – Chaps 8-9 |
|
|
Thurs 18 Feb |
·
Global
Issues 2010, Chapter x, “The Rise in Counterinsurgency” |
|
|
Tues 23 Feb |
·
Cashman
& Robinson Ch.7 The Iraq War (Part I, II & III) |
|
|
Thurs 25 Feb |
The Road to Iraq (Part II) |
·
RICKS,
Fiasco – Chaps 5-8 |
|
Tues 2 Mar |
·
RICKS
Fiasco, Chaps 9-10 |
|
|
Thurs 4 Mar |
· Ricks Fiasco, Chaps 11-13 ·
Ricks
Fiasco, Chaps 14-16 |
|
|
Tues 9 Mar |
· RICKS Gamble, Chaps 1-2 ·
Nate
Braden, “Coin of the Realm” |
|
|
Thurs 11 Mar |
The Iraq War: The Surge (Part II) |
· Kaplan, “What Rumsfeld got right”, The Atlantic, Jul/Aug 08 ·
Filkins, “Back in Iraq, Jarred by the Calm”, New York Times, Sun 21 Sep 08 · Finkel, The Good Soldiers, Chapter 7 ·
Davis,
Buda’s Wagon, Chaps 1,2 & 20 |
|
Tues 16 Mar |
·
None |
|
|
Thurs 18 Mar |
·
Review
and Study |
|
|
Tues 23 Mar |
Spring Pause No Assignments 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 ·
Gordon,
“Strategy Shift for Afghan War poses stiff Challenge for Obama”, New York Times, Tues 2 Dec 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 ·
The Economist, “The Next Surge”, 20 Dec 09 ·
Phillips,
“Beyond Vietnam: Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Future” in Why Vietnam
Matters, pp.305-314 |
|
Thurs 25 Mar |
Spring
Wellness Day |
·
No Class |
|
Tues 30 Mar |
The Afghan War (Part II) |
· Baylis, Wirtz & Gray, “Afghanistan” in Strategy in the Contemporary World, 3rd Ed. 2010 · Global Issues 2010, “Afghanistan on the Brink ·
NYT,
"Taliban Overhaul Image to Win Allies", Jan 2010. ·
NYT,
"Coalition Troops Storm a Taliban Haven", Feb 2010. ·
NYT,
"Afghan Attack Gives Marines a Taste of War", Feb 2010. ·
NYT,
"New Model for Afghan War: 'Population is the Prize”, Feb 2010. · NYT, "U.S. Turns a Blind Eye to Opium in Afghan Town" Mar 2010 ·
NYT,
"Marines Do Heavy Lifting as Afghan Army Lags in Battle", Feb 2010. · NYT, "In Ambush, a Glimpse of a Long Afghan Summer" May 2010 ·
NYT,
"A Test for the Meaning of Victory in Afghanistan", May 2010 · Michael O’Hanlon, “Staying Power”, Foreign Affairs, Sep/Oct 2010 ·
NYT,
"Afghan Army at Crossroads", Oct 2010. ·
NYT,
"Troops Tread Lightly in Afghan Village", Nov 2010. ·
NYT,
"Contrary to Hopes, Afghan Vote Disappoints", Dec 2010. ·
NYT,
"NATO's Kandahar Push Deals a Setback to the Taliban", Dec 2010. ·
NYT,
"Amid Terror Reign by Armed Groups, Taliban Extend Their Reach to
North", Dec 2010. · NYT, "Inroads by the Taliban Challenges U.S. Troops in Eastern Afghanistan", Dec 2010. |
|
Thurs 1 Apr |
·
None |
|
|
Tues 6 Apr |
The Afghan War (Part III) Frontline Documentary
on the Afghan Counterinsurgency: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline /obamaswar/view |
·
NYT,
"In Afghanistan, Insurgents Let Bombs Do the Fighting", Jan 2011. ·
NYT,
"In Eastern Afghanistan, at War with the Taliban's Shadowy Rule",
Feb 2011 ·
NYT, “U.S.
Pulling Back in Afghan Valley It Called Vital to War”, Feb 2011 ·
NYT, "Petraeus Says Coalition
Has Stymied Taliban in Much of Afghanistan", Mar 2011. ·
NYT,
"Putting Afghan Plan into Action Proves Difficult", Mar 2011. NYT, "Taliban Show Strain as Afghan Fighting Nears", Apr 2011. ·
NYT,
"A Slice of Afghanistan Well Secured by Afghans", May 2011. ·
NYT,
"Steeper Pullout Raised as Option for Afghanistan", Jun 2011. ·
NYT,
"U.S. Ambassadorial Nominee Warns of Risk of Abandoning Afghanistan",
Jun 2011. ·
NYT, "Afghan Taliban Ceded
Ground in South, but Fear Lingers", Jun 2011. |
|
Thurs 8 Apr |
The American Fight Against ISIL Thought Question
10 Assigned Review
for Midterm II |
·
Baker & Schmidt, NYT, “Discordant Verdicts on US
forces in Syria: Too Much, or Too Little.” 1 Nov 15 ·
Gordon and Schmidt, NYT, “Former US Commander Sharply
Criticizes Syria Policy” 23 Sep 15 ·
NYT “US Ends Effort to Train Rebels in Syrian Fight” 10
Oct 15 ·
Schmidt & Gordon, NYT, : US Aims to put More
Pressure on ISIS in Syria.” 5 Oct 15 ·
Mazzetti & Apuzzo, NYT Military Analyst Again Raises
Red Flags on Progress in Iraq.” 24 Sep 15 |
|
Tues 13 Apr |
Midterm Exam II Thought Question
10 Due |
·
Study |
|
Thurs 15 Apr |
7 Student Presentations |
None |
|
Tues 20 Apr |
7 Student
Presentations |
·
None |
|
Thurs 22 Apr |
·
None |
|
|
Tues 27 Apr |
·
None |
|
|
Thurs 29 Apr |
·
None |
|
|
Sun 2 May |
No Final Examination Student
Presentation Makeups (4:30-7:00pm) |
·
None |
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
Code of Conduct.
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 public health orders in
place to reduce the risk of spreading infectious disease. Required safety
measures at CU Boulder relevant to the classroom setting include:
·
maintain 6-foot distancing when possible,
·
wear a face covering in public indoor spaces and
outdoors while on campus consistent with state and county health orders,
·
clean local work area,
·
practice hand hygiene,
·
follow public health orders, and
·
if sick and you live off campus, do not come onto
campus (unless instructed by a CU Healthcare professional), or if you live
on-campus, please alert CU
Boulder Medical Services.
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 policies on COVID-19
Health and Safety and classroom
behavior and the Student
Code of Conduct. If you require accommodation because a disability prevents
you from fulfilling these safety measures, please see the “Accommodation for
Disabilities” statement on this syllabus.
All students who are new to campus must complete
the COVID-19
Student Health and Expectations Course. Before coming to campus each day,
all students are required to complete the Buff Pass. {Faculty, add if
applicable: In this class, you may be reminded of the responsibility to
complete the Buff Pass and given time during class to complete it.}
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. In this
class, if you are sick or quarantined, {Faculty: insert your procedure
here for students to alert you about absence due to illness or quarantine.
Because of FERPA student privacy laws, do not require students to state the
nature of their illness when alerting you. Do not require "doctor's
notes" for classes missed due to illness; campus health services no longer
provide "doctor's notes" or appointment verifications.}
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. Violations of the policy may include: 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 at the Honor Code
Office website.
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 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 cureport@colorado.edu. Information
about the OIEC, university policies, anonymous
reporting, 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 options for reporting and support resources.
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, to obtain
an excuse absence students need only to email their instructor in advance of
class regarding their upcoming absence.
See the campus
policy regarding religious observances for full details.
Taking
this course signifies acceptance of the terms and conditions stated in this
syllabus.