Host Harry Kreisler welcomes Harvard political scientist Stephen M. Walt for a discussion of how to think about balancing power in international politics. They also consider the role theory might play in formulating foreign policy and consider the way the world is responding to the U.S. hegemony in the aftermath of 911 and the Iraq War. (58 min)

Conversations host Harry Kreisler welcomes Ambassador James Dobbins for a discussion of the problem of failed states. He compares the record of the United States and the United Nations in addressing the problem, analyzes the aftermath of the Iraq War, and suggests policy choices the future. (57 min)

Conversations host Harry Kreisler welcomes military analyst Max Boot for a discussion of his new book, War Made New: Technology, Warfare, and the Course of History 1500 to Today. He offers his reflections on the Afghanistan War, the Iraq War and the 2006 Lebanon War in light of his historical analysis. He also evaluates the successes and failures of the Bush Administration. (58 minutes)

Conversations host Harry Kreisler welcomes General John Abizaid for a discussion of the role of the military in the 21st century. Drawing on his experience as commander of the U.S. Central Command, he discusses the problems confronting the next President in the Middle East. He analyzes the lessons of the Iraq War and reflects on issues such as intelligence, the Geneva Conventions, and the role of military contractors. (53 minutes)

Josef Joffe, editor and publisher of Die Zeit, joins UC Berkeley's Harry Kreisler for a discussion of U.S.- European relations one year after the start of the Iraq War. (59 min)

Host Harry Kreisler welcomes Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, U.S. Army (ret.), for a discussion of the break down of the national security process in the G.W. Bush Administration. Col. Wilkerson offers an insider's view of the Cheney-Rumsfeld cabal that drove American policy in the wake of the Al Qaeda attack on 911. The Vice President’s manipulation of the policy process, he argues, led to a lack of a post conflict planning for Iraq and the failure to abide by the Geneva conventions. Wilkerson analyzes the motives of Cheney/Rumsfeld, their penchant for secrecy, and speculates long term costs to American democracy and power. (58 minutes)

The four major wars in which American women served after World War II can be split into two pairs. Korea and Vietnam were conflicts fought in Asian countries divided by the politics of the Cold War. The Persian Gulf War and the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq were fought in the Middle East and grew out of tensions over aggression in that region and, in the latter instance, the 9/11 attacks. For women, the first two wars signaled few advances in their roles in military service, but in the two recent wars, the areas of women’s participation expanded immensely, with potentially more dire consequences.

Have you purchased gasoline and wondered at the price changes? Or worn your polyester jacket and wondered how it kept you warm, or been thankful your phone didn't break when you dropped it? These are just some benefits the petroleum industry brings to our world. Other aspects to the global world market involve natural disasters, wars, rumors of wars, national security, and consumer demand. Learn about oil production and how nations respond as EGEE 120 gives you a foundation of how industry interacts with you, governments, transportation, politics, and the world. You will become a more informed citizen, able to support your opinion about oil and the environment. As John McCain said, \Whoever controls oil controls much more than oil.\"

This manual provides you with a variety of creative and engaging strategies to help students think about how wars have been defining moments in both the history of the nation and the lives of individual Americans.

This is a module framework. It can be viewed online or downloaded as a zip file

As taught in Autumn Semester 2009/10

The War on Iraq and the US and British invasion of the country in 2003 has led to huge tensions in geopolitics. At the same time, the supposed ‘threat’ of international terrorism and continuing financial turmoil in the world economy have both brought to the fore the global politics of co-operation and confrontation. Whilst it might be possible to agree on the significance of these events, the explanation and/or understanding of them is dependent on prior theoretical choices.

The purpose of this module is to make students aware of the diversity of approaches to international theory. Within International Relations (IR) theory there exist highly divergent interpretations and applications of key concepts (e.g. power, the state, agency, structure, and world order) as well as contested views about the practical purpose underpinning theories of world politics. The overall aim of the module is to provide students with a solid theoretical and conceptual grounding of this diversity. As a result, it will be possible to recognise not only how international theory informs policy-making and practice but also, perhaps, how truly contested the underlying assumptions of world politics are.

Suitable for Postgraduate Level

Dr Adam D. Morton, School of Politics and International Relations

Dr. Adam D. Morton is Associate Professor of Political Economy within the Centre for the Study of Social and Global Justice (CSSGJ) in the School of Politics and International Relations at the University of Nottingham. His research specialises in the themes of political economy, state theory, historical sociology and development in relation to the making of modern Mexico. His next book is Revolution and State in Modern Mexico: The Political Economy of Uneven Development (Rowman & Littlefield, 2011) and he has published peer-reviewed journal articles on various dimensions of the political economy of Mexico in Third World Quarterly (2003); Bulletin of Latin American Research (2003); New Political Economy (2005); Journal of Peasant Studies (2007); and Latin American Perspectives (2010). He has also published in many of the major peer-reviewed journals in International Relations and International Political Economy (IPE), including European Journal of International Relations (2001); Review of International Political Economy (2003); Review of International Studies (2005); and International Studies Quarterly (2008). Email: Adam.Morton@nottingham.ac.uk

This course is for students who want to know how the dollars we spend on national security relate to military forces, systems, and policy choices, and who wish to develop a personal tool kit for framing and assessing defense policy alternatives.