Download Fa2010

GLOBAL GOVERNANCE AND THE UNITED NATIONS
PA188G
September 30-October 28, 2010
Dr. Catherine Weaver
[email protected]
SRH 3.358
Ph: 512.232.3443
Office Hours: Wednesday 10-12 & by appt
Course description:
This short course will analyze the history, structure, and current challenges facing the United Nations (UN)
and its role in global governance. We will start with a background discussion on the formation of the
United Nations post-WWII. We will then tackle the problems the UN and its specialized agencies face on
the ground today in tasks related to peacekeeping, humanitarian intervention, women’s development,
refugee and migration assistance, and post-conflict reconstruction and reconciliation. We will have several
prominent guest speakers during this five week session.
Course Goals:
 Attain substantive knowledge of the history, structure and diverse functions of the United Nations system
 Critically analyze current challenges facing the United Nations in its global governance roles
 Propose and defend policy recommendations for reforming various aspects of the UN’s mandates,
operations and agencies.
 Interact with key experts on the UN and learn about potential internship and employment opportunities.
Assignments:
Student may choose one of the following options:
I.
Weekly reading memos (5 @ 15% each = 75% of course grade; 1-2 pages each, single-spaced)
--- OR --II. One final 5-6 page paper (not including references) on the topic of “Reforming the United Nations:
Key Challenges and Priorities.” (75% of course grade). This paper may focus on one or two key issues
for reform at the UN, such as peacekeeping reform. One-page proposals for papers (with list of
possible references) should be submitted to Prof. Weaver no later than Thursday, October 14 in class.
In addition, all students enrolled in the class must participate weekly in the online discussion forum on the
course Blackboard site. The online and in-class participation will count for 25% of your overall grade.
1
On Academic Integrity:
Students are expected to respect the LBJ School's standards regarding academic dishonesty. You owe it to
yourself, your fellow students, and the institution to maintain the highest standards of integrity and ethical
behavior. A discussion of academic integrity, including definitions of plagiarism and unauthorized
collaboration, as well as helpful information on citations, note taking, and paraphrasing, can be found at the
Office of the Dean of Students webpage (http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/sjs/acint_student.php) and the
Office of Graduate Studies (http://www.utexas.edu/ogs/ethics/transcripts/academic.html). The University
has also established disciplinary procedures and penalty guidelines for academic dishonesty, especially Sec.
11.304 in Appendix C of the Institutional Rules on Student Services and Activities section in UT's General
Information Catalog.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 30:
INTRODUCTION TO THE HISTORY AND STRUCTURE OF THE UNITED NATIONS
DR. KATE WEAVER, LBJ SCHOOL OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS
Required Readings:
Linda M. Fasulo. 2009. An Insider’s Guide to the UN. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Thomas G. Weiss, Tatiana Carayannis, and Richard Jolly. 2009. “The ‘Third’ United Nations,” Global
Governance 15: 123-142.
Recommended Readings:
Inis Claude, Jr. 1956. Swords into Plowshares: The Problems and Progress of International Organization.
New York: Random House. Pp.41-80.
Paul Kennedy. 2007. The Parliament of Man: The Past, Present and Future of the United Nations. New
York: Vintage Press.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 7:
HISTORICAL AND CONTEMPORARY CHALLENGES TO UN
PEACEKEEPING
GUEST SPEAKER: DR. MICHAEL LIPSON, CONCORDIA
UNIVERSITY (MONTREAL, CANADA)
Required Readings:
UN peacekeeping background note. http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/bnote.htm
Center on International Cooperation, "Strategic Summary 2009," in Annual Review of Global Peace
Operations 2010 (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 2010), pp. 2-9.
2
UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations. United Nations Peacekeeping Operations: Principles and
Guidelines ["Capstone Doctrine"]. (New York: United Nations, 2008), pp. 8-43.
http://pbpu.unlb.org/pbps/Library/Capstone_Doctrine_ENG.pdf
UN Departments of Peacekeeping Operations and Field Support. A New Partnership Agenda: Charting a
New Horizon for UN Peacekeeping. (New York: United Nations, 2009), pp. 2-38.
http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/newhorizon.shtml
Richard Gowan, "The Strategic Context: Peacekeeping in Crisis, 2006-08," International Peacekeeping 15,
4 (August 2008), 453-469.
Philip Cunliffe, "The Politics of Global Governance in UN Peacekeeping," International Peacekeeping 16,
3 (June 2009), 323-336.
Center on International Cooperation, "Mission Review: Democratic Republic of Congo," in Annual Review
of Global Peace Operations 2010 (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 2010), pp. 43-49.
Center on International Cooperation, "Mission Review: Sudan," in Annual Review of Global Peace
Operations 2010 (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 2010), pp. 66-73.
Center on International Cooperation, "Mission Review: Timor-Leste," in Annual Review of Global Peace
Operations 2010 (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 2010), pp. 74-79.
Speaker Biography:
Dr. Michael Lipson specializes in the study of international organizations. His SSHRC- and FQRSCfunded work employs organizational theory to analyze the role of various actors —including the United
Nations, NATO, national militaries, and NGOs—in the coordination and conduct of peace and stability
operations. Dr. Lipson’s current focus is on researching a book entitled Organizing Peace, which examines
the origins and coordination of complex peace operations and draws a number of lessons for reform of the
current peacekeeping paradigm. In addition to this focus on peacekeeping, Dr. Lipson is also interested in
a variety of research topics, including international organizations, international relations theory, nonproliferation, and the intersection between technology and world politics.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 14: MEDIATING PEACE
GUEST SPEAKER: DR. JOYCE NEU, FACILITATING
PEACE
Note: This class session will be preceded by a lunch for all MGPS students from 12:15-1:30. Class will
then meet from 2-4:00 pm.
Required Readings
United Nations Secretary General. 2009. Report on Enhancing Mediation and Its Support Activities. April
2009. [on BB]
United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1888 (2009); 1889 (2009); 1820 (2008); and 1325 (2000).
3
Tryggestad, Torunn L. (2009). “Trick or Treat? The UN and Implementation of Security Council
Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security,” Global Governance, 15(4): 539-557.
Speaker Biography
Joyce Neu has served as a mediator in the Republic of Congo, Mali, and between Sudan and Uganda. She
has conducted conflict assessments or facilitated dialogues in Albania, Central African Republic, Comoros,
Côte d’Ivoire, Estonia, Georgia, Kenya, Macedonia, Madagascar, and Rwanda. She is founder and senior
associate of Facilitating Peace, a consultancy network, and has advised the UN, the International Criminal
Court, and governmental and nongovernmental organizations. From 2008-9, she served as Team Leader of
the United Nations Standby Team of Mediation Experts and prior to that, was founding Executive Director
of the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice at the University of San Diego where she remains Special
Advisor. Throughout the 90s, Neu worked in the Conflict Resolution Program at The Carter Center.
Neu has focused on promoting women’s participation in peace processes internationally, facilitating
discussions and trainings with Burundian, Cypriot, Kenyan, Pakistani, Rwandan, South African, and
Sudanese women. She has been part of high level meetings at the UN on the implementation of UN
Security Council Resolutions 1325, 1820, 1888, and 1889.
From 2006 – 2007, Neu was a Jennings Randolph Senior Fellow at the U.S. Institute of Peace in
Washington, DC where she researched the role of war crimes tribunals on peace processes. She has
published articles on conflict resolution, negotiations, and intercultural communication and has given talks
and conducted trainings globally. Neu has taught at the University of Southern California, the University of
California at Irvine, Penn State, Emory University, and the University of San Diego. She was a senior
Fulbright scholar in Poland and a Peace Corps volunteer in Senegal. She has a Ph.D. in linguistics from the
University of Southern California and a BA from the University of Colorado.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 21:
THE UNHCR AND INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION IN
THE REFUGEE REGIME
GUEST SPEAKER: ALEXANDER BETTS, OXFORD
UNIVERSITY
Required Reading:
Betts, Alexander. 2009. Protection by Persuasion: International Cooperation in the Refugee Regime.
Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. (select chapters to be announced)
Speaker Biography:
Dr Alexander Betts is Hedley Bull Research Fellow in International Relations in the Department of Politics
and International Relations at the University of Oxford, where he is also Director of the MacArthur
Foundation-funded Global Migration Governance project. He received his MPhil (with distinction) and
DPhil from the University of Oxford.
His research focuses on the international politics of refugee protection and migration. His main academic
focus is on understanding the conditions under which international cooperation takes place in the refugee
regime and other areas of migration. In particular, the theoretical focus of his work is on the dynamics of
international institutions: on a ‘horizontal’ level (across issue-areas and policy fields) and on a ‘vertical’
level (between the global and the national level). He has worked on a range of policy issues including
forced migration and development, protracted refugee situations, and the protection of vulnerable irregular
migrants. His research has a geographical focus on Sub-Saharan Africa, and he has carried out extensive
4
fieldwork across the region, including in South Africa, Botswana, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Djibouti, and
the DRC. He has taught a range of graduate courses including ‘International Relations Theory’ and
‘International Relations of the Developing World’ (on the MPhil in IR) and ‘Forced Migration and
International Relations’ (on the MSc in Forced Migration). He is on the Executive Committee of the
International Association for the Study of Forced Migration (IASFM). He has previously worked for
UNHCR, and been a consultant to UNHCR, IOM, the Council of Europe, and the Commonwealth
Secretariat. In 2010-11 he will hold a visiting fellowship at Stanford University.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 28:
THE UN ON THE GROUND IN CONFLICT AND POSTCONFLICT SETTINGS
GUEST SPEAKER: DR. GEORGE GAVRILIS
Required Readings:
Autesserre, Séverine. 2009. “Hobbes and the Congo: Frames, Local Violence, and International
Intervention.” International Organization, 63: 249-280.
Cooley, Alex, and Ron James. 2002. "The NGO Scramble: Organizational Insecurity and the Political
Economy of Transnational Action." International Security, 27: 5-39.
Gavrilis, George. 2009. "The Tajik Solution: A Model for Fixing Afghanistan." Foreign Affairs online
(November).
http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/65690/george-gavrilis/the-tajik-solution?page=sho
United Nations Peacekeeping Operations: Principles and Guidelines, 2008
Speaker Biography:
George Gavrilis is assistant professor of international relations and author of The Dynamics of Interstate
Boundaries (Cambridge University Press, 2008). He held an appointment as an International Affairs
Fellow with the Council on Foreign Relations. During his fellowship, he worked with the UN on
international policy issues affecting Central Asia and Afghanistan.
5