Discusssion for Diamond's "Guns, Germs, and Steel"

Given the huge numbers of students who claim to be reading this, the two classes will meet separately for the discussion.

The morning section of PS 103 will meet on Tuesday, November 1st (the test day) at 5:00 PM in the regular classroom (102 Woodburn). If there happens to be a class in there at the time, hang out and wait for me and we'll find another room to move to.

The afternoon section of PS 103 will meet on Monday, November 7th (almost a week later) at 12:15 PM (just after noon) at the Black Bear Restaurant across from 123 Pleasant street, on Pleasant Street, downtown.

If anyone has any questions, let me know.

Review for Quiz/Test 3: Economics and Globalization

As usual, be able to not only understand each word, but look above and below each entry to see how that particular word matches with other topics and concepts. If you have any questions, post them and I'll answer as best I can.

Developed vs. Underdeveloped States
Rich versus Poor States: how rich versus how poor?
GNP and GNP/PC
Purchasing Power Parity (What isn’t measured in GDP?)
Industrialization vs. Basic Needs
Cycle of Underdevelopment
Dual Economy
Low Productivity
Insufficient Capital
Few Human Services
Trade
Foreign Aid
Private Investment
Technical Assistance
Lack of Social Cohesion
Insufficient Natural Resources
Explosive Population Growth
Colonial Legacy (positives and negatives)
Cash Crops
Tariff Barriers
Non-Tariff Barriers
Quota, Subsidy, Regulation
Stronger vs. Weaker Currencies (What effect does this have on trade?)
Liberal Economics
Comparative Advantage
Specialization
Free Trade
Dependency
Import Substitution
Export Driven Growth
Participatory Development
Globalization: Definitions
Globalization: Mechanisms:
Convergence
Pressure on Government/Policy (Why fewer and less regulations, taxes, etc?)
International Monetary Fund
Two Roles (formal and informal)
Benefits and Criticisms
"Golden Straightjacket"
East Asian Financial Crisis: Two explanations
Globalization: Positives and Negatives
Pros and Cons (lots here)
Effects (not just economic)
Indonesian Experience: Sovereignty, East Timor, Democracy, “Revolution from Beyond”

Third Test Date Finally Set: November 1st

By popular demand, the test on the Economics section will be Tuesday, November 1st. The format will be the same as the other tests. I will post a review guide sometime towards the end of this week.

Second Extra Credit Book: Diamond's "Guns, Germs, and Steel"

The second extra-credit book is "Guns, Germs, and Steel" by Jared Diamond (Amazon Link). You can order it from the link, or almost certainly find it in any local bookstore.

Plan on having it read by the tail end of this month, or (at the latest) the first week of November.

Discussion for Keay's "Sowing the Wind"

As noted on Tuesday, those who have read the extra credit book (Keay's "Sowing the Wind") can meet at the Black Bear at 4:00 PM on Friday (October 7th).

Since there were only a few of you in each class, both classes are meeting together.

Review for Quiz/Test 2: Peace and War

I have listed below the terms and concepts from this section of the course. As per the previous test, you should not only be able to find the terms that are linked together, but be able to understand how the terms are linked up and down. If you have any questions, I'll be happy to answer them. We covered a lot of ground, so this is a long list.

War and Violence, Violence as part of Bargaining

Rationality and War

Sovereignty applied to Foreign Policy

Sovereignty as cause of war

Anarchy vs. Hierarchy

Power (different dimensions)

Models of Peace and War

Deterrence

Revisionist States/Status Quo States

State Sovereignty Perspective

World Order Perspective

Hegemony, US power

Reasons for violating sovereignty

Objections to Sovereignty

Human Rights Issues

Failed States

Genocide

Doctrine of Preemption

Organization/History of UN

UN role in Interventions since 1990

Iraq and Sovereignty

Terrorism

Terrorists Acts

Objectives/Purposes of Terrorism

Justifications for Terrorism

Terrorists as criminals or prisoners of war

"Enemy Combatants"

Sponsorship of Terrorism

Causes of Terrorism: society, psychological, states

Al Qaeda as heirarchy and network

Antiterrorism, Counterterrorism

Ethnic Conflict

Civilizations (Huntington)

Arguments pro and con on Huntington

Water in Mid East

Oil in Azerbaijan/Armenia

Sierra Leone

National Missile Defense (argument, pros & cons)

Security Dilemma

Arms Racing

Multilateral versus Unilateral

Externalities of US Missile Shield