Course Description
At the
end of WWII the international community established a set of institutions designed
to prevent the scourge of world war from recurring in human history. Three
important elements of this system for ensuring international peace were the
United Nations Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the
economic and political leadership of a “benevolent hegemon” -- the United
States of America. But tensions among these elements soon emerged.
The UN
Charter was enacted upon the assumption that nation states were sovereign and
should not meddle in each other’s internal affairs, and human rights were seen
as matters of domestic concern. However, during the past fifty plus years,
human rights have increasingly come to be seen as matters of international
concern about which nations may, and sometimes should, attempt to influence the
behavior of other nation states. The idea that national sovereignty is a shield
against such scrutiny has all but dissolved, and on several occasions during
the decade of the 1990s states or coalitions of states intervened in the
affairs of other states at least in part for humanitarian reasons. At the same
time, during the period of the Cold War (1949-1989), U.S. foreign policy became
increasing governed by a realist approach to international relations that
construed U.S. national interests narrowly in terms of balance of power
politics. While the US trumpeted the values of free markets, democracy, and
human rights, it sometimes used its power to prop up authoritarian states whose
anti-communistic postures were to its liking, often with disastrous results for
human rights in those countries.
This
constellation of factors has produced an extended debate over the question:
“What is the proper role for human rights issues and considerations in the
formulation and execution of foreign policy?”
With the end of the Cold War and the emergence of economic globalization
as a dominant trend in world affairs, scholars have expanded this debate to
encompass the emerging roles of important type of non-state actors in
international affairs. Increasing attention is now being paid to the roles of
nongovernmental organizations, transnational corporations, and
intergovernmental organizations in world affairs, and a new model of the
process of global governance is emerging, which, while not denying the
importance of nation states, places increasing emphasis on the roles of
non-state actors both at the subnational and the transnational levels.
This
course will examine a range issues related to the question of the role of human
rights in international relations. The first unit of the course will consist in
a rapid immersion in the idea of international human rights as it has emerged
in the past half century in the form on international declarations and
conventions accepted by the majority of the world’s nations. The goal of this
unit is to provide a detailed understanding of the nature of human rights as
they are presently understood.
The
second unit of the course will be devoted to an examination of several
important cases in which human rights conditions in particular countries raised
the question of humanitarian intervention: Somalia, Bosnia, Rwanda and Kosovo.
The goal of this unit is to add complexity and nuance to the consideration of
the basic issue by taking a hard look at a range of actual cases that
policy-makers had to grapple with during the decade of the 1990s.
In the
third and concluding unit of the course we will turn our attention to the
phenomenon of globalization, and examine the roles that social movements and
nongovernmental organizations, transnational corporations and international
economic organizations such as the WTO and World Bank, and finally,
international terrorist networks, are now playing shaping international
affairs.
Required Texts and
Readings
Students taking this course
for credit should expect to do approximately 80 pages of reading a week. Most
of the required reading will be found in either of the two main course texts,
or in the course pack that will be distributed shortly after the course begins.
Additional readings will be placed on reserve in West Library, distributed as
handouts, or accessed via the World Wide Web.
Main Course Texts:
David P. Forsythe, Human
Rights in International Relations [Cambridge, 2000].
Joel H. Rosenthal, ed. Ethics and International Affairs; A Reader 2nd
ed. [Washington, D.C., 1999].
Course Pack. (available from instructors).
Subscription to World
Press Review. (class discount).
Cases from Pew series [Georgetown Univ] and Teaching
Human Rights Online [THRO] (available online)
Recommended
Texts:
Richard
A. Falk. Human Rights Horizons: The Pursuit of Justice in a Globalizing
World. New York NY: Routledge, 2000.
Paul
Gordon Lauren. The Evolution of International Human Rights: Visions Seen. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania
Press, 1998.
Jessica
Stern. The Ultimate Terrorists. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press,
1999.
Thomas
G. Weiss and Cindy Collins. Humanitarian Challenges and Intervention: World
Politics and the Dilemmas of Help. Boulder CO: Westview Press, 1996.
Course Requirements
Students
in this course will be evaluated by means of several types of assignments. In
addition to midterm and final exams, students will be asked to participate in
and submit group reports on a series of cases dealing with various dilemmas of
involving human rights and international relations. Students will each be asked
to make one presentation to the class on a recommended reading and to submit a
short summary and précis. Students will also be asked to prepare a research
paper of no more than 20 pages on a topic or issue related to the course
material, with the approval of the instructors. The breakdown of each of these types of assignments as they will
affect the final grade is as follows:
Mid term
exam………………………………………………………… 15 %
Final exam……………………………………………………………... 20%
Presentations on recommended
books and articles……………… 10%
Participation…………………………………………………….….…….10%
Research
paper………………………………………………………….25%
Team case
report………………………………………………………..20%
Instructors
This course will be team-taught
by Dr. Marianna Sullivan, Professor of Political Science, and Dr. Morton
Winston, Professor of Philosophy. Office hours and contact information for each
instructor will be supplied in class.
Schedule of
Readings/Discussions:
N.B. Asterisks [*] indicate
required readings. Other listed readings are recommended.
*Forsythe, “Introduction: Human Rights in International Relations.”
Chapter 1, pp 3-27.
*Stanley Hoffman, “The Political Ethics of International Relations” In
Rosenthal, pp. 28-49.
*Universal Declaration of Human Rights [course packet]
Paul Gordon Lauren,
“Proclaiming a Vision: The Universal
Declaration of Human Rights” [reserve],
Shestack, “The Philosophical Foundations of Human Rights,” Human
Rights Quarterly, 20 (1998):
201-234 [reserve];
Richard A. Falk, “Theoretical Foundations of Human Rights.”[reserve]
January 28,31
Development of International Human Rights
*Forsythe, “Establishing Human Rights Standards,” Chapter
2, pp. 28-52.
*Forsythe, “Global
Application of Human Rights Norms,” Chapter 3, pp. 55-83.
*Jack Donnelly, “Post-Cold War Reflections on the Study of International
Human Rights,” in Rosenthal, pp. 242-270.
*International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights. (course pack)
*International Convenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. (course pack)
*Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action (course pack)
Paul Gordon Lauren,
“Transforming Visions into Reality: Fifty Years of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights” [reserve].
Henry Shue. “Security and
Subsistence.” In Winston. The Philosophy of Human Rights. pp. 152-171.
Case I Tom J. Farer Human Rights and Foreign Policy: What the Kurds learned: A Drama in One Act
[Pew Case # 515].
February 4, 7
Constructing a Global
Consensus for Human Rights
*Forsythe, “Regional
Application of Human Rights Norms.” Chapter 5, pp 110-128.
*Frances V. Harbour, “Basic
Moral Values: A Shared Core.” In Rosenthal, pp. 103-123
*Amartya Sen, “Human Rights
and Asian Values.” In Rosenthal, pp. 170-193.
*European Declaration of Human Rights (course pack)
*Convention of the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
*Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment.
*Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against
Women.
Mark R. Amstutz, International Ethics, ch 4 [reserve] ;
Dalai Lama. “Human Rights
and Universal Responsibility.” [reserve]
Fernando Teson.
“International Human Rights and Cultural Relativism.” [reserve].
Plano/Riggs pp 326-345;
Kegley/Wittkopf pp 197-254
February 11, 14
Humanitarian
Intervention: Somalia
*Michael J. Smith. “Humanitarian Intervention: An Overview of the
Ethical Issues.” In Rosenthal, pp. 271-295.
Thomas G. Weiss and Cindy
Collins. “Evolution of the Humanitarian Idea.” [reserve].
Amstutz ch 6;
*Commentaries on Pasic and
Weiss by Natsios, Winston, Destexhe and Mapel. In Rosenthal, pp. 334-355.
*Martha Finnemore. “Constructing
Norms of Humanitarian Intervention.” [course pack]
Case III Steven Lamy, The Dutch in Srebrenica: A Noble Mission Fails. [Pew Case
#241].
February 25,28
The Failure of
Humanitarian Intervention: Genocide in Rwanda
*Samantha Powers. “Bystanders
to Genocide.” The Atlantic Monthly. September 2001. [course pack].
*Romeo A. Dallaire. “The End
of Innocence.” [course pack]
Kristen Renwick Monroe. “The
Psychology of Genocide.” In Rosenthal.
Video: “Forsaken Cries: The
Story of Rwanda.”
Case IV “Rape and Genocide in Rwanda: The ICTR’s Akayesu
Verdict.” [THRO case, available online].
March 4,7 Humanitarian Intervention: Kosovo
*Charles William Maynes, et
al “America’s Fading Commitment to the World” [course pack]
Multicultural Lecture: Kerry Kennedy Cuomo. (March 6th).
Mid-term Exam
March 11, 14
Spring Break
March 18, 21
Globalization and Human
Rights
*United Nations, General
Assembly. “Globalization and Its Impact on the Full
Enjoyment of All Human Rights.” 31 August 2000. [course packet].
Presentation on NIKE and
Sweatshops in Indonesia (March 20th).
Film: “Globalization and
Human Rights”
Case V Unocal:
Slavery in Burma [available online].
March 25, 28
Corporate Social Responsibility for Human Rights
*Forsythe, Chapter 8
“Transnational Corporations and Human Rights.” pp. 191-213.
*Thomas Donaldson, “Moral
Minimums for Multinationals.” In
Rosenthal, pp. 455-480.
*International Labor
Organization Standards [course pack]
*Convention on the Rights of
the Child [course pack]
Garth Meinjes. “An
International Human Rights Perspective on Corporate Codes.” [reserve].
Marina Ottaway. “Reluctant Missionaries.”
Foreign Affairs, July 2001 (course pack)
Edna Boachich & Richard
P. Appelbaum, “Beyond the Label” [course pack]
Cynthia Enloe, “Bananas,
Beaches and Bases” Chapter 7 [course pack].
April 1-4 Corporate Responsibility for the Environment
* Robert Goodin.
“International Ethics and the Environmental Crisis.” In Rosenthal, pp. 435-454.
*The Earth Charter. (course
pack)
*The Ceres Principles
(course pack)
*Business Charter for
Sustainable Development
Lisa Newton. “Who Speaks for
the Trees? Considerations for Any Transnational Code.” [reserve]
Robert Massie. “Effective
Codes of Conduct: Lessons from the Sullivan and CERES Principles.
*Morton Winston. “NGO
Strategies for Promoting Corporate Social Responsibility” [course pack].
*Apparel Industry
Partnership Code of Conduct [course pack]
*SA8000 [course pack]
*UN Global Compact [online]
David M. Schilling. “Making
Codes of Conduct Credible: The Role of Independent Monitoring” [reserve]
Conference: Corporate Codes:
Are They Making a Difference? (April 11th)
April 15,18
NGOs and Activism
*Forsythe, Chapter 7. “Nongovernmental organizations and human
rights,” pp. 163-190.
*William Korey.
“Nongovernmental organizations and human rights” Ethics and International
Affairs. Volume 13, 1999: 151-174.
Jessica T. Matthews. “Power
Shift.” Foreign Affairs. Jan/Feb (1997). [reserve]
Neil Stammers. “Social
Movements and the Social Construction of Human Rights.” Human Rights
Quarterly. 21 (1999): 980-1008. [reserve].
Morton Winston. “Assessing
the Effectiveness of International Human Rights NGOs: Amnesty International.”
[reserve]
Widney Brown. “Human Rights
Watch: An Overview.” [reserve]
Claude E. Welch Jr. “Amnesty
International and Human Rights Watch: A Comparison.” [reserve].
April 22, 25
Terrorism
*Augustus Richard Norton.
“Drawing the Line on Opprobrious Violence.” In Rosenthal, pp. 356-369.
*Jessica Stern. “Terrorism
Today,” and “Definitions,” Chapters 1 and 2 from The Ultimate Terrorists.
(Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, 1999). [reserve]
*Kenneth J. Long,
“Understanding and Teaching the Semantics of Terrorism: An Alternative Perspective,” [course pack]
Donna M. Schlagheck, International
Terrorism, Chapter 9 [reserve]
Martha Crenshaw ???
April 29, May 2
Concluding Reflections:
Who are the Real Realists?
*Forsythe, “The Politics of
Liberalism in a Realist World” Chapter 9, pp. 217-237.
*Benjamin R. Barber. “Beyond
Jihad vs. McWorld: On Terrorism and the New Democratic Realism.” The Nation.
January 21, 2001: 11-18 [handout].
TERM PAPERS DUE