No Class Tuesday, September 27th

I am out of town unexpected, and am cancelling class for Tuesday, September 27th. The test for the "Peace and War" section of the course is also moved, but we'll decide when it will be at Thursday's class.

Sorry for the short notice.

First Extra Credit Book: "Sowing the Wind" by John Keay

The first extra credit book is Sowing the Wind: The Seeds of Conflict in the Middle East by John Keay (Amazon.com link). This is a moderately long history of the interaction of Britain, France, the US and other foreign countries into the culture and politics of the Middle East. It covers the period from about 1880 to 1960. This is history (though well written and interesting; it's gotten really good reviews), and we'll read it with an eye towards how well the theories we learn in class explain what we're reading.

This is extra-credit: you don't have to read this if you don't want to. You don't have to buy the book from Amazon (you can use any bookstore or online store you like). You just need to get a copy of the book, have it read by the end of the month, and then come a meeting where we talk about it. If you have any questions, please post them.

Review for Quiz/Test 1

This review is only a list of terms and concepts from the first two weeks of class. This test will be relatively simple (we haven't covered much material so far), but important for the later sections of the course. If you have any questions, post them as comments and I will answer them.

The list of terms refers back to concepts and theories we have talked about. The best way to study is to be able to define each term, but also be able to link each term with others up and down the list.

Politics
States
Territory
Government
Legitimacy
Loyal Population
Recognition
Sovereignty
Nation
Nation-State
Nations in States
Nations spread among many States
Trends in Cold War
Post-Cold War World
Containment
Realism
Globalization
"Bad" People, Piles of "Stuff"
Power
Demonstrate, Maintain and Increase Power
Security Dilemma
Liberalism
Rational basis for cooperation
"Economies of Scale"
Cheating
Domestic Politics
Balance of Power Simulation
"Isles of Ted and Jane" Simulation

Again, if you have any questions, post them and I will try to answer. Obviously, posting questions late Wednesday night is less likely to get an answer than earlier.