1. POL 454
Theories of International Relations
University of Arizona
Summer Session I 2015
Instructor: Nicholas Thorne
Office: Social Sciences 134
Office Hours: Contact for meeting times
Email: nothorne@email.arizona.edu
Course Description and Objectives
This course explores the main theories of international relations. By the end of the course
students should be fluent in basic IR theory and have the intellectual equipment to understand,
criticize, and apply these theories of international relations. The course is also designed to
provide students with an understanding of the potential and limitations of theory in the study of
international politics.
Because this is an online class it is imperative that you take responsibility for accessing
the information required by the class yourself. Half of the assigned course material is in a
print book but the other half of the assigned material is available on D2l. I cant stress this
enough, If you have any difficulty in the class, or would like to discuss the material in
more detail, feel free to contact me and set up an appointment to meet. I am usually in the
office during the week from 10-4.
Academic Integrity
I take academic integrity very seriously. Each paper, and discussion, is checked by myself
and D2l to ensure a person is not merely copying and pasting from websites or books. If
any paper or discussion is found to be plagiarized, a zero will be given on the assignment
and a possible dismissal from the course.
Academic respect
Since this course will require discussions it will not be uncommon for you to hold
varying opinions and not everybody will share your view. That being said, keep your
arguments and attacks focused on issues; personal attacks will not be tolerated.
Students with Disabilities
If you anticipate issues related to the format or requirements of this course, please contact
me. I would like us to discuss ways to ensure your full participation in the course. If you
determine that formal, disability-related accommodations are necessary, it is very
important that you be registered with Disability Resources (621-3268; drc.arizona.edu)

2. and notify us of your eligibility for reasonable accommodations. We can then plan how
best to coordinate your accommodations.
Course Requirements:
Quizzes
Each section (Week 1, Week2 etc.) will have 2 long answer questions (at least 450 words
each) given at the beginning of the week that are meant to test your understanding of the
text. The answers to the questions will be due the following Sunday by 11:30 PM. These
are important questions, and are worth 50% of your grade. I expect each paper to show
that you are able to engage and interpret the text in a novel way and not just give me a
book report of the assigned readings.
Discussions
Each unit will have an online discussion question. For these discussions, I want you to
respond to our original question and, separately, ask a question of your own for the week.
Next, I want you to respond to somebody else’s question. This means that for each week,
you need to post at least three times – once responding to us, once to a colleague, and
once with an original question. Naturally, you should feel free to continually respond all
you want – but I will “grade” those three. I put grade in quotes here because we are not
really grading you on length or content – just quality of participation. Think of it like an
in class discussion – I just want to see you participating in a useful manner. The purpose
of the class is not to see how well you memorize the material, but how you can use it to
better understand the world around you.
Final Paper
There will be a final paper due at the end of the session. The paper is required to be at
least 10 double spaced pages, 12pt times new roman font, and default sized margins. For
the paper, you will be required to choose 2 of 4 questions to answer. I will announce the
posting of the Final paper questions and the questions will be posted in the dropbox
during week 2 in order to give you ample time to structure and write the paper. The paper
will be due on the last day of classes at 11:30pm in the drop box folder labeled “final
paper”
Readings
The primary reading for this class is John Hobson, “The State and International Relations”. The
book is available through the library in an ebook format, so I provided the link to the reading on
the D2l website. Each week will cover a different primary topic and chapter within the Hobson
book so please begin each subject with the Hobson book. The book gives a very good description
of each international relation theory as well as flow charts to assist in understanding where each
theory is nested in overall international relations theory.

3. In addition to the primary reading this class will also rely upon various journal articles to provide
further context to each theory, as well as familiarize the reader with some of the major concepts
and scholars within each theory.

4. Tentative Schedule
Week Topic Sub-Topics Assigned Readings
Week 1 Realism • Neo-Realism
• Classical Realism
(Morganthau)
• Classical Realism
(Carr)
• Hobson: Chapter 1
and 2
• Walt (1998):
International
Relations: One
World, Many
Theories
• Legro, Moravcsik
(1998) Is Anybody
Still A realist?
•
• Waltz(1988): The
Origins of War in
Neorealist Theory
•
• James (1995):
Structural Realism
and the Causes of
War
Week 2 Liberalism • Individual Centric
liberalism
• Liberal
Institutionalism
• State Centric
Liberalism
• Hobson: Chapter 3
• Moravcsik 1997:
Taking Preferences
Seriously
• Keohane 20 years
of Institutional
Liberalism
• Gartzke et al 2001:
Investing in the
Peace: Economic
Interdependence
and International
Conflict
Week 3 Marxism • Classical Marxism
• Orthodox Neo-
Marxism
• World Systems
Theory
• Hobson: Chapter 4
• Cox (1981): Social
Forces, States and
World Orders:
Beyond
International
Relations Theory
• Davenport 2013:
Marxism in
Internatioanl
Relations:
Condemed to a
Realist Fate
Tentative Schedule
Week

5. Grading Scheme
Week 4 Constructivism • International society-
centric constructivism
• Radical constructivism
(postmodernism)
• State Centric
Constructivism
• Hobson: Chapter 5
• Wendt 1994:
Collective Identity
Formation and the
International State
• Finnemore and
Sikkink 1998:
International Norm
Dynamics and
Political Change
• Tannenwald 2005:
Stigmatizing the
bomb: Origins of the
Nuclear Taboo
• Wohlforth 2011: No on
Loves a Realist
Explanation
Topic Sub-Topics Assigned Readings
Tentative Schedule
Week
Assignment Points per Assignment Total Possible Points
Quizzes: Long Answers (2
each week)
75pts 500pts (50%)
Discussion (1 each week)
• First Response
• Ask a Question
• Respond to a Question
• Total
25pts
25pts
25pts
75pts
300pts (30%)
Final Paper (1 due at end of
semester)
200pts 200pts (20%)
Total 1000 Points